A 4951

ASSEMBLY, No. 4951
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� VINCENT M. "VINNIE" KEARNEY
District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
���� Exempts transfers of residential real property
between family members from inheritance tax.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act exempting certain transfers of residential real
property from the inheritance tax and amending chapter 34 of Title 54 of the
Revised Statutes.
���� Be It
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� R.S.54:34-4 is amended to read as follows:
���� 54:34-4.� The following transfers of property
shall be exempt from taxation:
���� a.���� Property passing to or for the use of the
State of New Jersey, or to or for the use of a municipal corporation within the
State or other political subdivision thereof, for exclusively public purposes.
���� b.��� Property passing to a beneficiary or
beneficiaries having any present or future, vested, contingent or defeasible
interest under any trust deed or agreement heretofore or hereafter executed by
a resident or nonresident decedent, to the extent that the trust fund results
from the proceeds of contracts of insurance heretofore or hereafter in force,
insuring the life of such decedent, and paid or payable, at or after the death
of such decedent, to the trustee or trustees under such trust deed or
agreement.
���� c.���� Property passing to (i) a trustee or
trustees of any trust deed or agreement heretofore or hereafter executed or
(ii) to a trustee or trustees of a trust created by the will of a decedent, by
virtue of any contract of insurance heretofore or hereafter in force insuring
the life of a resident or nonresident decedent and the proceeds of which are
paid or payable at or after the death of such decedent to such trustee or
trustees for the benefit of a beneficiary or beneficiaries having any present
or future, vested, contingent or defeasible interest under such trust deed,
agreement or will.
���� d.��� That part of the estate of any decedent
which passes to, for the use of or in trust for any educational institution,
church, hospital, orphan asylum, public library or Bible and tract society or
to, for the use of or in trust for any institution or organization organized
and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, benevolent, scientific,
literary or educational purposes, including any institution instructing the
blind in the use of dogs as guides, no part of the net earnings of which inures
to the benefit of any private stockholder or other individual or corporation;
provided, that this exemption shall not extend to transfers of property to such
educational institutions and organizations of other states, the District of
Columbia, territories and foreign countries which do not grant an equal, and
like exemption of transfers of property for the benefit of such institutions
and organizations of this State.
���� e.���� That part of the estate of any decedent
who has heretofore died, or may hereafter die, received, either heretofore or
hereafter, by the legal representatives of such decedent, whether directly from
the United States, or through any intervening estate or estates, by reason of
any war risk insurance certificate or policy, either term or converted, or any
adjusted service certificate, issued by the United States. Nothing contained in
this subsection e. shall entitle any person to a refund of any tax heretofore
paid on the transfer of property of the nature aforementioned; and provided
further, that the exemption provided for in this subsection e. shall not extend
to that part of the estate of any decedent composed of property of the nature
aforementioned, when such property was received by the decedent before death.
���� f.���� The proceeds of any contract of insurance
heretofore or hereafter in force insuring the life of a resident or nonresident
decedent paid or payable at or after the death of such decedent to any
beneficiary or beneficiaries other than the estate or the executor or
administrator of such decedent.
���� g.��� Any transfer, relinquishment, surrender or
exercise at any time or times by a resident or nonresident of any right to
nominate or change the beneficiary or beneficiaries of any contract of
insurance heretofore or hereafter in force insuring the life of such resident
or nonresident irrespective of whether such transfer, relinquishment, surrender
or exercise of such right took place or whether the proceeds of such policy
were paid or payable, before or after the taking effect of this act.
���� h.��� The value of any pension, annuity,
retirement allowance, return of contributions, or benefit payable by the
Government of the United States pursuant to the Civil Service Retirement Act to
a beneficiary or beneficiaries other than the estate or the executor or
administrator of a decedent.
���� i.���� The value of any annuity payable by the
Government of the United States pursuant to the Retired Serviceman's Family
Protection Plan or the Survivor Benefit Plan to a beneficiary or beneficiaries
other than the estate or the executor or administrator of a decedent.
���� j.���� The value of any pension, annuity,
retirement allowance or return of contributions, regardless of the source,
which is a direct result of the decedent's employment under a qualified plan as
defined by section 401(a), (b) and (c) or 2039(c) of the Internal Revenue Code,
payable to a surviving spouse, or a domestic partner as defined in section 3 of
P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), and not otherwise exempted pursuant to this
section or other law of the State of New Jersey.
���� k.��� Residential real property passing to a
family member who has co-ownership of the residential property.
���� As used in subsection k:
���� �Residential real property� means any parcel
of residential real property, including land or, in the case of condominiums,
an interest in a lot of land, which real property shall consist of a single
one-or two-family dwelling, including appropriate garages or other
outbuildings.
���� �Co-ownership� means ownership by two or more
family members who are exempt from the transfer inheritance tax, and brothers,
sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, sisters-in-law, and
brothers-in-law.
(cf: P.L.2003, c.246)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1
next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill amends the New
Jersey transfer inheritance tax to eliminate the tax on transfers of
residential real property between family members who co-own residential real
property.� Currently, transfers of property between family members are only
exempt from taxation if the family members are spouses, civil union partners,
domestic partners, children, legally adopted children, mutually-acknowledged
children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, parents, grandparents, and
stepchildren.� This bill amends the New Jersey transfer inheritance tax to
exempt property transfers between certain family members who co-own the
residential real property.� This bill will take effect immediately and apply to
taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the year next following
enactment.