Sample: Informal Accounting (N.J. Surrogate style) for the Estate of Eleanor M. Doe

Everything about this estate is made up except the format. Every figure below is produced by the ledger from ordinary entries (a house sold at a gain, dividends, the funeral bill, two distributions), and it balances to the penny. Yours would look like this, with your numbers.

Estate of Eleanor M. Doe

SURROGATE COURT COUNTY

IN THE MATTER OF ELEANOR M. DOE

DECEASED

INFORMAL ACCOUNTING

NOT a court form; New Jersey prescribes none statewide. Modeled on Cape May County’s Informal Accounting template and N.J.S.A. 3B:17-1’s release-in-lieu-of-accounting route.

ASSETS (list and indicate date of death values for bank accounts, stocks, bonds, vehicles, insurance, real estate, business Interests, refunds, etc.); DEBTS (Administration Expenses, Funeral, Taxes, etc.)

No.	ASSETS	Amount	DEBTS	Amount
1.	Checking account, First National Bank	$18,240.17	Funeral costs Riverside Funeral Home	$8,940.00
2.	Savings account, First National Bank	$42,500.00	Obituary notice The Local Gazette	$312.00
3.	Brokerage account, Vanguard	$186,320.44	Final medical bill Overlook Medical Center	$1,208.40
4.	214 Maple Street, house and lot	$410,000.00	Utilities PSE&G	$210.00
5.	2021 Subaru Outback	$17,800.00	Filing fee for letters testamentary Surrogate's Court	$128.57
6.	Life insurance policy payable to the estate	$50,000.00	Attorney fee for estate administration Doe & Associates, Esq.	$2,400.00
7.	Household furnishings and personal effects	$6,500.00	Real property appraisal Cornerstone Appraisals	$450.00
8.	Property received: Coin collection found in decedent's safe deposit box	$2,150.00	Homeowner's insurance State Farm	$1,140.00
9.	Quarterly dividend Vanguard Brokerage	$412.55	Utilities PSE&G	$235.00
10.	Refund of unused homeowner's insurance premium State Farm	$340.00	Credit card payoff Chase Card Services	$2,214.90
11.	Savings interest First National Bank	$63.12	Filing fee for the inventory Surrogate's Court	$95.00
12.	Gain on sale: Sale of 214 Maple Street Meridian Title Co. (closing)	$17,500.00	Lawn care and snow removal Green Acres Landscaping	$620.00
13.	Quarterly dividend Vanguard Brokerage	$398.20	Property tax County Tax Collector	$3,860.00
14.	Savings interest First National Bank	$61.80	Utilities PSE&G	$248.00
15.	Quarterly dividend Vanguard Brokerage	$421.90	Utilities PSE&G	$260.00
16.		$ ______	Federal fiduciary income tax (Form 1041) U.S. Treasury	$1,080.00
17.		$ ______	Executor commission Daniel R. Doe, executor	$9,400.00
	TOTAL	$752,708.18	TOTAL	$32,801.87

NET ESTATE REMAINING FOR DISTRIBUTION: $719,906.31

Specific Bequests (Under Will)

No.	Description	Amount
1.		$ ________
2.		$ ________
3.		$ ________
4.		$ ________
5.		$ ________
TOTAL		$ ________

BALANCE $ ________

The app carries nothing that separates a specific bequest from a residuary or intestate share, so this schedule is left for you to complete by hand. Net Estate Remaining for Distribution above, and the residuary schedule below, are figured as if every recorded distribution is a residuary or intestate share. Move any specific bequest here and recompute both balances if that is not the case for this estate.

Balance to Residuary Legatees/Intestate Heirs

No.	Description	Amount
1.	2021 Subaru Outback distributed in kind to Michael Doe	$17,800.00
2.	Distribution to Sarah Doe	$60,000.00
3.	Distribution to Michael Doe	$60,000.00
TOTAL		$137,800.00

BALANCE $582,106.31

The residuary schedule does not exhaust the net estate: the two differ by $582,106.31. Cape May’s own form prints a fixed “BALANCE $ -0-” line, so a real filing has to reach zero. The usual causes: a debt, receipt, or asset value still missing from the record, or a distribution that belongs in the Specific Bequests schedule above instead. Resolve this before circulating the accounting.

I certify this information to be true and correct. If any information is willfully false, I understand that I am subject to punishment.

Daniel R. Doe

Personal Representative

Date: ____________

What happens next

This accounting goes to the beneficiaries. Each signs a Refunding Bond and Release before receiving their distribution, filed with the county Surrogate (N.J.S.A. 3B:23-24 through 3B:23-27).

A formal account, filed in the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part, is the exception: it is used only when someone will not sign, the Attorney General requires one because a charity is a beneficiary, or the fiduciary chooses to seek court protection for a complex estate (R. 4:87-1(b)).

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