Bergen County, New Jersey
An inherited house in Franklin Lakes, handled with care.
When your family sells the property to us, we handle the probate at the Bergen County Surrogate's Court and can cover its costs, including the family's estate attorney fees. We speak with each heir separately and privately, and we take the property as it stands.
Inherited property in Franklin Lakes
What families find in Franklin Lakes.
Franklin Lakes covers close to ten square miles of northwest Bergen County, with Route 208 across its middle and an I-287 exit inside its borders. Created in 1922 and given the name of William Franklin, the last royal governor of colonial New Jersey, it takes in lake localities like Shadow Lake, Crystal Lakes and Blauvelt Lakes, older place names like Pulis Mills and Campgaw, and 13 houses on the National Register. Inherited property here is often a large house on a big lot, costly to keep while the estate is settled.
Thirteen registered houses
Franklin Lakes has 13 houses on the National Register, several along Franklin Lake Road, among them the Van Blarcom, Van Winkle and Storms houses. A parent's older home nearby may have stone walls, original framing or systems that need specialists. Gembrook takes such a house from the estate without asking the family to restore it.
Living by the water
Water covers about 4.75 percent of the borough, spread among lakes and ponds like Hopper Lake and Bakers Pond. Homes near a shoreline can raise drainage, water-rights and flood-status questions when an estate sells. We review those details ourselves and take the property in its present condition.
Expensive to hold
In its 2010 ranking, Forbes listed a median home price of about $1,306,000 for the borough's ZIP code. On a house at that level, taxes, insurance and grounds care keep adding up each month the estate holds it empty. Gembrook works with the family on the estate side so the property doesn't sit indefinitely.
Probate for a Franklin Lakes property
The Bergen County Surrogate's Court, handled for you.
In New Jersey, an estate is opened in the county where the person who passed away lived. For Bergen County that's the Bergen County Surrogate's Court in Hackensack. With a will, the executor is appointed there; without one, an administrator is appointed, and the other heirs typically sign renunciations.
Before an inherited house can be sold, New Jersey also usually needs an inheritance tax waiver — or, for close family, an affidavit — and any liens, judgments or back taxes have to be resolved. We coordinate all of it for you. Read our full New Jersey probate guide →
1 · Reach out
A short, unhurried call about the property and your family.
2 · Private offer
A private, written offer for the property, with every number shown.
3 · We handle probate
We handle it with the Bergen County Surrogate.
4 · Get paid
Close as-is, often in 30 to 60 days.
Franklin Lakes and the towns around it
Neighboring towns we also serve
We serve every municipality in Bergen County and all 21 New Jersey counties.
Franklin Lakes questions
Our parents' Franklin Lakes house is large and dated. Do we need to update it before the estate sells?
No. Gembrook takes inherited houses with older interiors and systems, and the estate isn't asked to renovate first.
The Franklin Lakes house sits on one of the lakes. Does Gembrook look at waterfront property?
Yes. We consider the lot, the frontage and the house together, and explain to the family how each affects what we pay.
Where is probate filed for a house in Franklin Lakes?
Probate for someone who lived in Franklin Lakes is handled by the Bergen County Surrogate's Court in Hackensack. That's where a will is admitted, or an administrator is appointed when there's no will. When your family sells to Gembrook Properties, we handle this step with you, and in most cases you just sign where needed.
Can you cover the probate costs for a Franklin Lakes property?
Yes, when your family sells the inherited property to Gembrook Properties. In many cases we cover the cost of opening the estate, including the family's estate attorney fees, so the family pays nothing out of pocket.
What if the heirs don't agree?
That's common. We speak with each heir separately and privately, so no one has to negotiate as a group, and the executor or court-appointed administrator signs the sale.
Inherited a house in Franklin Lakes?
Talk to a real person — not a call center.
No pressure, no cost. Just an honest conversation about the property and your options.
New Jersey counties we serve