Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In New Jersey, you have 4 months to contest a will that has already been admitted to probate, running from probate or the grant of letters (6 months for anyone who lived outside New Jersey when probate was granted).
How long do you have to contest a will in New Jersey?
| Deadline to contest an admitted will | 4 months |
| What starts the clock | probate or the grant of letters (6 months for anyone who lived outside New Jersey when probate was granted) |
| Dedicated will-contest statute? | Yes |
“any person aggrieved by that action may, upon the filing of a complaint setting forth the basis for the relief sought, obtain an order requiring the personal representative, guardian or trustee to show cause why the probate should not be set aside or modified…provided, however, the complaint is filed within four months after probate or of the grant of letters of appointment, as the case may be, or if the aggrieved person resided outside this State at the time of the grant of probate or grant of letters, within six months thereafter.”
Source: N.J. Court Rule 4:85-1
What makes New Jersey different
New Jersey’s controlling deadline lives in a Supreme Court-promulgated Court Rule rather than a probate-code statute, and it’s genuinely two-tier: 4 months for state residents, 6 months for anyone who lived outside New Jersey when probate was granted. The controlling authority is N.J. Court Rule 4:85-1, and the window runs from probate or the grant of letters (6 months for anyone who lived outside New Jersey when probate was granted).
A note on sourcing: The New Jersey Courts’ own rules site was not fetchable this session; the rule text is confirmed via two independent secondary mirrors (courtrules.net and a law-firm summary) that quote it word-for-word identically.
What happens once this deadline passes?
Once the window above closes, New Jersey’s probate of the will generally becomes final and binding on everyone who had the chance to object, subject only to the tolling or discovery exceptions described above; a separate objection New Jersey allowed at the original probate hearing does not reopen or extend it.
Sources
| Statute / rule | N.J. Court Rule 4:85-1 |
| New Jersey courts (general reference) | New Jersey judicial branch |
| New Jersey (additional reference) | New Jersey.gov |
| New Jersey (further reference) | New Jersey.gov |
| Confidence | Medium |
Every statute or rule quoted on this New Jersey page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/court/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; whether a specific contest is still timely can turn on facts (exactly when notice was given, how the will was probated, whether a disability applies) that only your own New Jersey probate court file can confirm.