Probate Family Allowance Requirements in New Jersey

At a glance

Requirements one by one

A support allowance tied to a will contest

Section 3B:3-30 does not authorize routine support merely because an estate is open. Its trigger is a pending contest over probate of a paper purporting to be a will. While that dispute continues, the Superior Court may order the person holding the estate to pay a support-and-maintenance allowance from estate income.

The award is discretionary. The statute says the court may set the amount it “may deem just”; it gives no fixed ceiling, formula, or installment schedule. A second allowance for expenses of conducting the contest may also come from income or, if necessary, estate corpus. That litigation-expense component is separate from the family-support amount.

Eligible spouse, children, and grandchildren

An application may come from the decedent's surviving spouse, any child, or a child of one of the decedent's deceased children. Section 3B:3-30 states no age, minority, dependency, or actual-support test for either generation of children.

The original text uses “widow or widower” and requires a ceremonial marriage plus living together as spouses at death. Sections 37:1-32 and 37:1-33 extend probate rights and references to marriage, spouse, widow, and widower to civil- union couples, so the parallel civil-union status is included.

Application, duration, proof, and payment source

The right is not automatic. An eligible person must apply to the Superior Court, and the court retains discretion whether and how much to award. Section 3B:3-30 states no special petition form, verification, notice method, hearing procedure, or filing period measured in days. Its operative proof points are the pending will contest and the applicant's statutory relationship; a spouse or civil-union partner must also satisfy the formal-union and cohabitation condition.

The support authority lasts only while the contest is pending. The statute does not state separate death, remarriage, majority, or estate-closing termination rules. It directs support payment from estate income and states no creditor priority or insolvency rule. Corpus is expressly available only for the further allowance covering contest expenses.

Inheritance effect and the separate family exemption

Section 3B:3-30 does not say that support is charged against or added to an intestate share, will gift, or elective share, and it supplies no waiver formalities. Those questions are therefore not resolved by this allowance section.

The similarly named § 3B:16-5 family exemption is different. It protects the decedent's wearing apparel and $5,000 of personal property for a qualifying resident family against creditors, subject to the will. It is a property set-off with its own statutory setting, not the will-contest maintenance allowance described on this page.

What trips people up

• No will contest means no § 3B:3-30 support order. Ordinary delay in estate administration is not the statutory trigger.
• Children are not limited to minors. The section lists the decedent's children and the children of deceased children without an age or dependency qualifier.
• Support and litigation expenses use different property language. Support comes from income; the separate contest-expense allowance may reach corpus if needed.
• The statute has no fixed dollar cap. “As the court may deem just” makes the amount case-specific.
• The $5,000 family exemption is not this allowance. It protects designated personal property and does not replace the contest-pending support remedy.

Common questions

Can a grandchild apply?

Yes, if the grandchild is the child of one of the decedent's deceased children. The statute does not extend the class to every grandchild whose parent is alive.

Must the surviving spouse have lived with the decedent?

Yes. Section 3B:3-30 requires both the formal relationship and living together as spouses at death. The civil-union parity statutes apply the corresponding status to civil-union couples.

Can the court use principal to pay ordinary family support?

Section 3B:3-30 directs the support-and-maintenance allowance to come from estate income. Its express permission to use corpus applies to the further allowance for expenses of conducting the contest.

Statutes and sources

• N.J. Stat. § 3B:3-30 — trigger, applicants, amount, duration, source, and spouse condition. The court may set support “as the court may deem just” while the contest is pending. Official current-code result (accessed 2026-08-03).
• N.J. Stat. §§ 37:1-32(c), 37:1-33 — civil-union parity. Probate law applies in like manner, and statutory references to “widow” or “widower” include a civil union. Official P.L.2006, c.103 PDF (accessed 2026-08-03).
• N.J. Stat. § 3B:16-5 — separate family-property exemption. It reserves wearing apparel and $5,000 in personal property for the qualifying family. Official current-code result (accessed 2026-08-03).