Probate & Estates Clerk — Public Service

Care Manager

Office on Aging & Disability Services, 27 Warren Street, Somerville, NJ 08876

Richard Hall Community Health Ctr, 500 N. Bridge St. Bridgewater NJ 08807

Richard Hall Community Health Ctr, 500 N. Bridge St. Bridgewater NJ 08807

Richard Hall Community Health Ctr, 500 N. Bridge St. Bridgewater NJ 08807

Richard Hall Community Health Ctr, 500 N. Bridge St. Bridgewater NJ 08807

Emergency Services Training Academy, 402 Roycefield Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844

911 Communications Center, 40 North Bridge St, Somerville, NJ 08876

Surrogate's Office, 20 Grove St. Somerville NJ 08876

Full-Time

Essential Functions

• Interacts with customers and other members of the public in a professional and friendly manner, showing compassion and understanding when dealing with customers who have experienced a loss.
• Follows procedures to completion for probating wills, administering intestate estates, qualifying guardians for minors, qualifying trustees in a testamentary trust, and processing small estate affidavits for a surviving spouse or next of kin by reading wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents, analyzing documents, and entering information in a database as part of the probate process. Also completes the process for all standard applications made through the Surrogate's Office.
• Represents the County of Somerset as appropriate.
• Interacts with the legal community.
• Retrieves mail twice daily from Post Office and Mail Room.
• Interacts with customers and other members of the public in a professional and friendly manner, showing compassion and understanding when dealing with customers who have experienced a loss.
• Follows procedures to completion for probating wills, administering intestate estates, qualifying guardians for minors, qualifying trustees in a testamentary trust, and processing small estate affidavits for a surviving spouse or next of kin by reading wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents, analyzing documents, and entering information in a database as part of the probate process. Also completes the process for all standard applications made through the Surrogate's Office.
• Represents the County of Somerset as appropriate.
• Interacts with the legal community.
• Retrieves mail twice daily from Post Office and Mail Room.
• Opens, date-stamps and distributes mail to probate and court clerks.
  
  Enters appropriate information into Bluestone System for post issue.
  
  Receives, numbers and file-stamps, and indexes all proof of mailings, refunding bond and release forms, claims, release of claims, notices of appearances, summons, and other filings.
  
  Monitors and redacts information as per Daniel's Law.
• Monitors and redacts information as per Daniel's Law.
• Supports staff members by assisting in training new hires.
• Prepares boxes for scanning.
• Assists Archives with scanning documents.
• Sends and receives boxes of scanned documents to and from Archives.
• Staples, sorts, and files all scanned documents and file folders.
• Submits requests to records department in Trenton prior to shredding of documents.
• Shreds files and prepares wills for archiving.
• Logs all documents into the Daily & Miscellaneous books.
• Searches records as needed to assist clients.
• Collects proper fees from clients for copies.
• Prepare and charge clients for Exemplified copies of probates, administrations, and guardian ships.
• Mails out "fees due" cards for improper payments and missing payments.
• Monitors and responds or forwards appropriately to emails.
• Answers phones, takes phone orders and payments for copies and updated certificates as needed.
• Looks up old cases in Papervision system when necessary.
• Assists Title Searchers when needed.
• Pulls film jackets or reels and makes copies for searchers and/or resends to archives for scanning corrections, as needed.
• Performs other related duties as assigned by the Surrogate and Deputy Surrogate.

Qualifications

• Associate degree and prior experience in an office environment as a paralegal or legal secretary with experience in litigation.
• Public policy knowledge of applicable New Jersey Statutes and Rules of Court applicable to the functions of the Surrogate Office, including ethics and rules of conduct and the Judicial Code of Conduct.
• Proficiency with Windows and advanced knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite for document preparation.
• Demonstrated ability to interact with the public in a mature, sensitive, and compassionate manner without supervision.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, time management, and organizational skills.

35 hours/week: 8:30 AM-4:30 PM Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri; 10:00 AM-6:00 PM Wed

Benefits include health insurance coverage (medical, prescription, and dental), paid time off (vacation, sick and 14 County holidays!), automatic enrollment in the NJ State Pension System, and a deferred compensation plan.