For many, designating a portion of one’s estate to charities and charitable purposes is an essential and significant part of their Last Will and Testament. Those seeking to make contributions to causes and organizations they are passionate about should be wary of the costs entailed in how such contributions are distributed. Under New Jersey law, when such contributions are designated in the form of a residuary bequest, the State Attorney General is required to exercise its power to protect the public’s interest in charitable gifts and seek costly accounting and lengthy review services, which ultimately drain the estate of funds it could have extended to the aforementioned charitable causes and organizations.

Under N.J. Ct. R. 4:80-6 and R. 4:28-4, the New Jersey State Attorney General is required to review and approve the accounting and administration of an estate when the estate leaves a residuary, or percentage, amount to a charitable organization. The Office of the Attorney General will require the filing of: (1) intermediate and/or final Accounting; (2) statement and calculations of any commissions paid to trustees or executors; (3) final distribution and disbursement schedule of bequests; (4) affidavit of any attorney’s and accountant’s rendered services; and (5) Refunding Bond and Releases executed by the charitable beneficiaries.

After receiving such documentation, the Attorney General’s office must approve the amount the charitable beneficiaries are being given, and such approvals could face backlogs and other administrative delays. Further, a thorough examination into the charitable organization could jeopardize its ability to receive its bequest and could even result in a court redirecting the bequest to a different charity under the cy pres doctrine, as a recent decision in the Appellate Division revealed. See Matter of Estate of Heinecke, No. A-3604-21, 2024 WL 1125186 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. March 15, 2024).