Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in North Dakota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The deadline is the later result of two calculations

N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-06 requires preparation and filing or mailing by the later of six months after appointment or nine months after death. If appointment occurs two months after death, the nine-month date controls. If appointment occurs six months after death, the six-month-after-appointment date controls.

The duty excludes a special administrator and a successor when another representative already discharged it. Section 30.1-18-06 states no extension standard and does not require a signature, oath, or verification.

Filing and nonfiling create different recipient duties

The representative may file the original with the court. On that route, the representative sends a copy only to interested persons who request it. If the representative elects not to file, N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-06 requires mailing to each heir in an intestate estate or each devisee if a will has been probated, plus any other interested person who requests it.

That distinction matters: the unfiled route is not a requester-only system, and the statute specifies mailing rather than a general choice among delivery methods. The inventory statutes state no inventory-specific confidentiality, redaction, or sealing rule.

Each item includes gross value and encumbrance information

The inventory lists property the decedent owned at death in reasonable detail. Each item carries fair market value as of death and the type and amount of any encumbrance. N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-06 does not state category-specific exclusions or direct that encumbrances be subtracted to present only net value.

Appraisal is optional for reasonably doubtful values

Under N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-07, the representative may employ a qualified and disinterested appraiser for an asset whose value may be subject to reasonable doubt. Different appraisers may handle different asset types, and their names and addresses appear with the items they appraised.

The section does not require appraisal of every asset or prescribe an appraiser certificate, oath, or signature.

A supplement corrects both omissions and misleading information

N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-08 requires a supplementary inventory or appraisement for newly known property or an erroneous or misleading value or description. It shows the new item's death-date market value or the revised value or description and identifies any appraisers or other data relied upon.

If the original was filed, the supplement is filed. Otherwise, copies or information go to persons interested in the new information. The section states no separate supplement deadline.

A person interested in the estate may petition for removal under N.D.C.C. § 30.1-17-11. Cause includes disregarding a court order or failing to perform a duty of the office; the inventory statutes state no inventory-specific fine or automatic removal.

What trips people up

Optional filing does not mean optional distribution. Choosing not to file activates the heir-or-devisee mailing requirement.

The recipient class depends on whether a will was probated. Intestacy uses heirs; the probated-will route uses devisees.

A successor is excused only after prior discharge of the duty. The statute does not exempt every successor simply because another representative served.

Common questions

May the representative keep the inventory out of the court file?

Yes, but then § 30.1-18-06 requires the specified mailings to heirs or devisees and requesting interested persons.

Must the inventory be notarized?

Sections 30.1-18-06 to -08 do not require a signature, oath, verification, or notarization for the inventory.

Is an outside appraiser required for every item?

No. Section 30.1-18-07 makes an outside appraiser optional for an asset whose value may be subject to reasonable doubt.

Statutes and sources

• N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-06 — later-of deadline, representative exclusions, property, value, encumbrances, and filed-versus-unfiled recipient routes: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c18.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-07 — optional qualified disinterested appraiser and item identification: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c18.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-08 — omitted property, erroneous or misleading information, valuation support, filing, and recipients: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c18.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).
• N.D.C.C. § 30.1-17-11 — removal petition, procedure, and cause: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t30-1c17.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).