(a) A person named executor in a will who has knowledge thereof shall file a death certificate and petition to open the decedent's estate in the Probate Division of the Superior Court where venue lies with reasonable promptness.

(b) A petition to open an estate need not be filed when no assets require probate administration. The named executor may file with the court an original death certificate and will without filing a petition to open an estate by notifying the court that no assets appear to require probate administration. (Amended 1985, No. 144 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011; 2017, No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)