30 Apr My dad died. Is he really losing his ANCHOR benefit?

Q. My father was a taxpaying resident of New Jersey his whole life. He died on
Feb. 23, 2024 at the age of 95. His estate received a $1,750 ANCHOR rebate for the year 2021 in February 2025 after applying in the fall of 2024. The recent changes in the ANCHOR law have apparently eliminated the program years 2022 and 2023, so my father’s estate seems to have been screwed out of $1,750 for each of those years. Does his estate (the heirs, actually) have any recourse?
— Annoyed

A. We’re sorry to hear about your dad.

But you are out of luck.

When the Stay NJ law was passed, it created a combined application for Senior Freeze and ANCHOR.

It also made changes to the program to streamline eligibility dates.

Because ANCHOR — since it was called the Homestead Rebate — always worked behind the actual calendar year, lawmakers needed to make a change so the benefit year matched the other benefits, which were working on the 2024 year in name.

That meant the 2022 and 2023 benefit years for ANCHOR went away.

Lawmakers argued that no one was really losing a benefit because they were still being paid out on an annual basis.

But indeed, when the Star NJ Task Force released its report on how to implement Stay NJ, it noted that some estates would indeed lose out on the benefit year.

Why? No one ever said it on the record, but dead people don’t vote.

Sorry we don’t have better news for you.

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This story was originally published in April 2025.

NJMoneyHelp.com presents certain general financial planning principles and advice, but should never be viewed as a substitute for obtaining advice from a personal professional advisor who understands your unique individual circumstances.