Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in New Hampshire

At a glance

Requirements one by one

First identify full administration or the waiver track

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 553:32(I)-(II) eliminates the inventory in several waiver-of-administration cases. They include a sole beneficiary or sole heir who serves, all beneficiaries or heirs serving together or assenting to another administrator, a sole testamentary-trust beneficiary with trustee assent, and other circumstances the court finds appropriate.

An interested person may petition for full administration for good cause. If the court grants it after the waiver track began, § 553:32(II)(b) starts the inventory deadlines on the date of the full-administration grant. This is not the same as excusing an overdue inventory in a full administration.

Full administration uses an oath-backed approved court form

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 553:13(I)(a) makes the administrator's bond conditional on returning a true and perfect inventory upon oath within 90 days after appointment. Section 554:1 separately requires filing under penalties of law with the court within the same 90 days and makes a false statement punishable as unsworn falsification.

Probate Division Rule 4 requires the approved form. Form NHJB-2125-P includes the fiduciary's sworn certification and signature, but no notary block. Rule 12 moves a last day falling on a weekend, legal holiday, or other court-closed day to the next open day. The cited law states no broader extension standard for the initial inventory.

The inventory identifies property, death-date value, and valuation source

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:1 requires a full, true, and itemized inventory of known estate property. It lists real and personal property at fair market value as of death and states how each value was determined—by appraisal, tax information, bank statement, or another source.

Section 554:4 excludes specified family apparel and ornaments from estate assets. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:5 separately excludes, unless a will directs otherwise, the decedent's apparel, Bibles, pictures, photographs, albums, and other sentimental rather than intrinsically valuable trinkets. The approved form totals real and personal estate categories. Neither § 554:1 nor that form states a general encumbrance-listing requirement.

Appraisal is an exception, not the default

Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:1(II), no appraiser is ordinarily required. The court may appoint one or more on an interested person's motion or its own action when the nature of the property, estate size, or another cause makes appraisal advisable.

Probate Division Rule 104 bars the administrator's bond surety and anyone beneficially interested in the estate from appointment as appraiser or commissioner. The official filing guide also explains that amounts need not be exact and a materially high or low fair-market value may be corrected by an amended inventory or later accounting.

Copies start a short objection period

Form NHJB-2125-P requires certification that copies went to parties who filed an appearance or who are otherwise interested, by hand delivery, U.S. mail, or email when the parties previously agreed. Under Probate Division Rule 105-A, a party or beneficially interested person who received a copy has ten days after the filing date to object or waives the objection and further hearing notice.

Rule 112 separates information made confidential by law from the public file. It does not make the whole inventory confidential or sealed merely because it contains estate values.

Amendment and default use separate procedures

The approved form states that a fiduciary who learns of further estate property will immediately amend the inventory. Probate Division Rule 135 requires the entire approved form to be resubmitted, without a motion; the form marks the filing as amended and calls for a written explanation. The court guide permits a materially inaccurate value to be corrected by amended inventory or later accounting.

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:26-a(I)-(II) treats the fiduciary as in default 30 days after the 90-day due date. The clerk mails notice within ten days. The fiduciary then has 30 days after that notice to file or show good cause; otherwise the judge issues a citation and default/citation fees apply. The citation is also mailed to the surety, appeared persons, residuary beneficiaries, and, when applicable, the director of charitable trusts.

What trips people up

The waiver track is not merely a filing extension. A qualifying estate has no inventory duty unless full administration is later granted, at which point a new inventory clock begins.

The official form is not optional. Rule 4 requires approved forms, and the form supplies the oath, service certification, source-of-value choices, and amendment promise that the core inventory statute does not spell out.

The live statute no longer says what older citations imply. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:3 was repealed in 2014, and current § 554:4 concerns limited family articles rather than a general requirement to state each item's appraised value.

Common questions

Does every full-administration estate need an independent appraiser?

No. The court appoints an appraiser only when the property, estate size, or another cause makes that advisable.

Can a beneficiary serve as the court-appointed appraiser?

No. Probate Division Rule 104 bars a person beneficially interested in the estate, as well as a bond surety, from that appointment.

Must an amended inventory be preceded by a motion?

No. Rule 135 dispenses with a motion, but requires resubmission of the entire approved form.

Statutes and sources

• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 553:13(I)(a) — bond-conditioned oath and 90-day inventory: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 553:32(I)-(II) — waiver-of-administration cases and later full-administration clock: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:1 — filing, contents, valuation, false statements, default, and court-appointed appraisal: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/554/554-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 554:3-:5 — repealed former section and articles excluded from estate assets or inventory: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/554/554-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 554:26-a(I)-(II) — default notice, opportunity to file or show cause, citation, fees, and citation recipients: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/554/554-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-08-10).
• New Hampshire Probate Division Rules 4, 12, 104, 105-A, 112, and 135 — approved form, time computation, appraiser disqualification, objections, confidential information, and amendments: https://www.courts.nh.gov/rules-circuit-court-state-new-hampshire-probate-division (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Form NHJB-2125-P and official filing overview — sworn signature, valuation sources, service, objection notice, later property, and value correction: https://www.courts.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt471/files/documents/2021-04/nhjb-2125-p.pdf and https://www.courts.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt471/files/documents/2021-07/prepareinventory.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).