PUBLIC NOTICEIn an effort to protect and keep residents safe from the Spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), there will be no public access to the Ocean County Surrogates Offices, effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020. However, during this time, residents are encouraged to contact the Ocean County Surrogate’s Office via phone 732-929-2011 to speak with a member of the office in order to address questions and filing needs.
We thank you for your patience and consideration during this time.
JEFFREY W. MORAN
Ocean County Surrogate
The Surrogate is a Constitutional Officer who is elected to the position every five years. The Surrogate serves as Clerk of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part as well as Judge of the Surrogate's Court.
The word Surrogate means "one who takes the place of another." The Surrogate in each county is actually taking the place of the Governor, who in 1710, received from the Archbishop of London the authority to probate wills, issue marriage licenses and perform those functions which at the time were in the province of the Church. That power eventually went to the governor of the crown colony of New Jersey. The Surrogates were recognized as a separate office in the 1844 Constitution of New Jersey and allowed to run for election in each county to hold office for a five year term. Through subsequent statutes and modification, the powers and duties of County Surrogates were changed to meet present needs.
The duties of the Surrogate are mostly administrative. These duties provide for the administration of an estate, whether it be the process of admitting a will to probate or grant letters of administration to an appropriate person to carry on the duties of the decedent. Letters of Guardianship are also granted to persons for minor children who are awarded funds through a court or from an estate as well as guardians for mentally incapacitated persons.
As Clerk of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Probate Part, the Surrogate's Court reviews and files adoptions, declaration of death actions, appointment of guardian for an incapacitated persons, trusteeships, conservatorship and accounts.
Ocean County Surrogate's Court is administering a program called the Guardianship Monitoring Program wherein volunteers are used to monitor the wards and the guardians for incapacitated persons to see that their needs are met.
Permanent records of all wills and other estate administrations papers are filed in the Surrogate's Court on microfilm along with our new Computerized Scanning System making the court a great source of information for title searchers and genealogists.
The Court collects certain filing fees, set by New Jersey Statue, which are turned over to the Board of Chosen Freeholders on a monthly basis. The Surrogate and staff are paid salaries set by the Board of Freeholders and receive no part of the fees collected.
|