Short answer
The Division of Taxation lists exempt deeds, including deeds between husband and wife or parent and child, deeds from an executor or administrator to an heir, deeds for a price under $100, and certain deeds recorded within 90 days after a divorce decree. A sale to an unrelated buyer is not on the list.
Family and estate transfers
The Division's Realty Transfer Fee page says the fee does not apply to a deed between husband and wife, or parent and child. It also lists a deed by an executor or administrator of a decedent to a devisee or heir to carry out the distribution of the estate under the will or the state's intestate laws. That means an estate that deeds the house to an heir, without a sale, does not pay the fee on that deed. A sale from the estate to an outside buyer is a different thing.
Divorce and low-price deeds
The page also exempts a deed recorded within 90 days following the entry of a divorce decree that dissolves the marriage between the grantor and the grantee. A deed for consideration of less than $100 is exempt. If a house is being deeded as part of a divorce, the 90-day clock matters, so ask the attorney handling the case to calendar it.
Court, bankruptcy and tax-sale deeds
Other listed exemptions include a deed on a sale for delinquent taxes or assessments, a deed on partition, a deed by a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy or liquidation, or assignee for the benefit of creditors, a deed solely to provide or release security for a debt, a deed in specific performance of a final judgment, and a deed that confirms or corrects a deed previously recorded. The Division also lists deeds by or to the United States or New Jersey and its agencies.
What is not on the list
An arm's-length sale to a buyer who is not a relative does not fall under these exemptions, so the seller pays the fee as described on the page. A parent who deeds a house to a child for little or nothing should also ask an attorney about gift, Medicaid and tax effects, since the transfer fee exemption is only one piece. The state pages I reviewed do not address those issues.
Selling instead of deeding
If a family would rather sell an inherited or shared house than keep it, Kaizen Home Buyers makes cash offers on New Jersey houses as-is, with no repairs and no agent commission. We can give an offer within 24 hours and close in 14 to 30 days or on the date you choose. Call 267-329-0084. A sale to us would be a sale to an outside buyer, so ask the closing attorney what fees apply. Listing with an agent is another path.