Surrogate Heather J. Darling, Esq.

Heather grew up in Morris County and was raised by her dad after her mother’s passing when Heather was just five years old.  Her Dad was older and brought Heather up to be an independent woman.  Heather’s education was at the forefront of her upbringing.  Heather is an accomplished attorney.  She received her Bachelor’s degree from New York University in Finance and International Business in 1990.  After some years in the finance and real estate industries, she went on to earn her law degree in 2002 from Seton Hall School of Law.

Heather opened her own law practice and focused on Family, Wills, Trusts and Estates in addition to Criminal law serving Morris County for over 15 years. She is a member of the New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Morris County Bar Associations.  As an attorney she volunteered her professional time to assist at the Morris County Court as an Early Settlement Panelist and Special Civil Mediator. She has also assisted at the Morris County Housing Partnership with first-time home buyers and at the County College of Morris Women’s Center.

Heather successfully ran for Freeholder in 2017 and took office in 2018.  While Freeholder and Deputy of the Board, she ran for Morris County Surrogate.  Having advocated for people’s rights her entire career, being Morris County’s Surrogate aligns with Heather’s compassion and experience in caring for Morris County’s most vulnerable citizens.  After taking office in January of 2020, Heather has made significant advancements to the Surrogate’s Court including services such as the virtual filing of documents to probate wills and to manage trusts and estates. This was an idea conceived by Heather to serve seniors and citizens with mobility issues but the need was deemed necessary to the public by COVID-19 and became a must have to conveniently serve clients of the Surrogate’s Court’s in Heather’s opinion.

Heather is dedicated to community service.  She has served her local municipality as Vice Chair of the Roxbury Economic Development Committee.  She was a member of the Roxbury Zoning Board and also served on Roxbury’s Environmental Commission and Dog Park Committee.  She has been a member of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, the Roxbury Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Morris, the Parsippany Chamber of Commerce and the Roxbury Rotary.

Heather spends much of her community service time helping those in need by serving at local food banks and distributing food to those in need.  She has also focused much of her attention, using her office as a platform bringing attention to the special needs community advocating to the Governor of the State to bring back jobs to People with Disabilities that were shut down by the state during COVID-19.  She has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association to raise awareness about this disease and to provide a platform for Morris County residents who are caretakers to understand the needs and desires of those in their care, especially loved ones and family members, so they can be best prepared for the battle they are in.

Heather Darling resides in Roxbury where she has lived most of her life in her family home.  She has two dogs who are the center of her family, she enjoys hiking and working out.