Choosing your share of a deceased spouse's property

(a) Elective-share amount. The surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of a decedent who dies domiciled in this State shall have a right of election, under the limitations and conditions stated in this part, to take an elective-share amount equal to fifty per cent of the value of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate. (b) Supplemental elective-share amount. If the sum of the amounts described in sections 560:2-207, 560:2-209(a)(1), and that part of the elective-share amount payable from the decedent's net probate estate and nonprobate transfers to others under section 560:2-209(c) and (d) is less than $90,000, the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary shall be entitled to a supplemental elective-share amount equal to $90,000 minus the sum of the amounts described in those sections. The supplemental elective-share amount shall be payable from the decedent's net probate estate and from recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others in the order of priority set forth in section 560:2-209(c) and (d). (c) Effect of election on statutory benefits. If the right of election is exercised by or on behalf of the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary, the surviving spouse's or reciprocal beneficiary's homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, if any, are not charged against but are in addition to the elective-share and supplemental elective-share amounts. (d) Non-domiciliary. The right, if any, of the surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of a decedent who dies domiciled outside this State to take an elective share in property in this State is governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at death.