Executor and Personal-Representative Bond Requirements in Kansas
At a glance
| Governing law and default bond rule | Kansas Probate Code chapter 59 makes bond the default for every fiduciary, including ordinary personal representatives, before duties begin; the district court directs the amount and approves the bond and sureties (§§ 59-102(1)-(4), 59-1101 to -1102). Statutory excuses apply under § 59-1104. Simplified-estate bonds follow the Probate Code (§ 59-3203(b)); informal administration uses the separate § 59-3304 regime |
|---|---|
| Covered representative and proceeding | 'Personal representative' includes executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed, and administrator de bonis non, and 'fiduciary' includes personal representatives (§ 59-102(2)-(3)). The ordinary rule governs supervised administration and, through § 59-3203(b), simplified administration. Informal administration separately permits an appropriate bond and requires security from the court-designated debt-and-expense payer unless a testamentary instrument excuses it (§ 59-3304(a)(2)(F), (b)(1)). Special-administrator bonds are outside this survey |
| Will waiver and limits | A will must expressly waive the executor's bond under the ordinary rule (§ 59-1104(1)); the text does not extend that will-waiver clause by name to an administrator with the will annexed. If a probated will does not waive bond, all devisees and legatees may use the separate written-waiver route (§ 59-1104(2)). Any waiver remains subject to an interested party's application or the court's own motion to require bond at any time. In informal administration, a testamentary instrument may excuse the designated payer's separate bond (§ 59-3304(b)(1)) |
| Beneficiary, heir, or distributee waiver | All known heirs may file a written waiver when no will has been probated; under a will that does not waive bond, all devisees and legatees must file (§ 59-1104(2)). A duly appointed conservator, guardian ad litem, or named trustee may waive for the represented conservatee, ward, or trust beneficiary, except when the conservator or trustee is the fiduciary (§ 59-1104(3)). The statute sets no petition-attachment or filing deadline, does not require unknown heirs or creditors to join, and preserves the court's anytime override |
| Demand and court discretion | Any interested party may apply for bond, and the court may require it on its own motion at any time (§ 59-1104). For good cause, the court on its own motion or any interested person's application may require a new or additional bond; it may reduce a bond found larger than necessary or cancel one found unnecessary (§ 59-1106). A surety may obtain an accounting and a new bond after notice (§ 59-1107), and a bonding company may move for cancellation for just cause with an accounting that must be approved (§ 59-1109). During a simplified-estate objection, the court may require bond before the hearing (§ 59-3206) |
| Amount, property base, and reduction | The court directs the amount, but the ordinary floor is 125% of personal property plus probable annual real-estate income that will come into the fiduciary's possession (§ 59-1101). A separate general statute states that a bond executed or guaranteed by an authorized corporate surety must be at least 125% of the amount involved in the trust or the actual value of estate property coming into the representative's hands and control (§ 78-109). The court may reduce liability to the proper amount when a bond is larger than necessary, cancel an unnecessary bond, and require additional security for further assets from a real-property sale, lease, or mortgage (§§ 59-1106, 59-2306). Informal administration uses at least 125% of the money authorized for debts and expenses (§ 59-3304(b)(1)). No blocked-deposit or collateral-based reduction formula appears in these provisions |
| Surety, collateral, deposits, and corporate exceptions | Bond must have sufficient sureties, run to Kansas, and cannot be approved until the district court is fully satisfied with the sureties (§§ 59-1101 to -1102). Cofiduciaries may file separate bonds or one joint bond (§ 59-1103). An authorized corporate surety may serve alone (§ 78-102); state or county officers and their deputies may not be sureties on an executor's or administrator's bond, and a practicing attorney may not be taken on such a legal-proceeding bond in the attorney's resident district (§ 78-101). Bond is excused for a bank with trust authority or a trust company organized and principally based in Kansas, subject to later court demand (§ 59-1104(4)). The cited statutes specify no cash collateral, pledge, mortgage, restricted account, or blanket-bond substitute |
| Nonresident and special qualification rules | Kansas imposes no separate nonresident bond formula. A nonresident executor or administrator of a resident estate may receive letters after appointing an agent under § 59-1706; becoming nonresident causes revocation until the agent is appointed (§ 59-706). As amended by 2026 SB 480, the written appointment and the agent's written acceptance must be filed in the appointing district court, and the agent may reside anywhere in Kansas (§ 59-1706). Cofiduciaries may use separate or joint bonds (§ 59-1103), and the institutional exception is limited to the entities described in § 59-1104(4) |
| Filing timing, letters, suspension, removal, and lapse | The ordinary bond is filed before fiduciary duties and, with the oath, before letters issue (§§ 59-1101, 59-2227). A testate appointee who does not qualify within 10 days may be replaced; an administrator's neglect for 10 days after court-directed written notice to file the oath and bond is deemed refusal and permits another appointment (§§ 59-2227, 59-2232). Before letters, a named executor has only the limited conservation and funeral-expense authority in § 59-704. Failure or refusal to file a surety-requested new bond requires removal (§ 59-1107), and failure to obey another lawful bond order may support discretionary removal under § 59-1711. Section 59-1109 requires court-approved accounting before bonding-company cancellation but states no automatic lapse of letters |
Requirements one by one
Ordinary administration starts with a court-approved bond
Kansas defines an executor, administrator, and administrator with the will annexed as personal representatives and fiduciaries in § 59-102. Section 59-1101 then requires every fiduciary, unless excused, to file bond before entering the trust. Its ordinary floor is 125% of the personal property plus probable annual real-estate income that will come into the fiduciary's possession. Section 59-1102 makes the bond run to Kansas and requires the district court to approve the sureties.
Joint fiduciaries may give separate bonds or one joint bond under § 59-1103. An authorized corporate surety may act alone under § 78-102, while §§ 78-101 and 78-109 add surety-eligibility and amount rules.
Waivers remain subject to court control
Section 59-1104 recognizes an express will waiver for an executor, unanimous written waivers by the listed heirs, devisees, or legatees, representative waivers for certain protected interests, and the qualifying Kansas bank or trust-company exception. Even then, an interested party may apply for bond and the court may require it on its own motion at any time.
Sections 59-1106, 59-1107, and 59-1109 let the court require new or additional security, reduce or cancel an unnecessary bond, address a surety's request for replacement, and act on a bonding company's cancellation request after an approved accounting.
Simplified and informal administration use distinct routes
Simplified administration remains subject to the Probate Code bond provisions under § 59-3203(b), and § 59-3206 permits security while an objection is being resolved. Informal administration is different: § 59-3304 allows an appropriate bond and separately requires the court-designated payer of debts and expenses to give security based on at least 125% of the authorized amount unless the testamentary instrument excuses it.
Bond and oath precede ordinary letters
Sections 59-2227 and 59-2232 tie qualification to the oath and bond and provide replacement routes when an appointee does not timely qualify. Before letters, § 59-704 limits a named executor to conservation and funeral-expense acts. Sections 59-2306 and 59-1711 support added security for later-controlled assets and removal for failure to obey a lawful order. A nonresident uses the filed Kansas-agent procedure in §§ 59-706 and 59-1706; the latter reflects the 2026 Senate Bill 480 amendment.
What trips people up
- A will waiver must fit § 59-1104 and remains subject to the anytime court or interested-party override.
- The ordinary 125% formula and informal-administration payer bond protect different proceedings and different property bases.
- Section 59-2306 can require added security when a real-property transaction brings more assets under the representative's control.
- Nonresidence changes the agent-filing requirement, not the ordinary amount formula.
Common questions
Can all heirs waive the bond?
All known heirs may file written waivers when no will has been probated. Under a will that does not itself waive bond, all devisees and legatees must use the written-waiver route in § 59-1104.
What happens if replacement bond is not filed?
Under § 59-1107, failure or refusal to provide the new bond required through a surety proceeding requires removal; other disobedience can also support removal under § 59-1711.
Statutes and sources
The quoted Kansas provisions begin at K.S.A. § 59-102(1)-(4), § 59-1101, § 59-1102, § 59-1103, § 59-1104, § 59-1106, § 59-1107, § 59-1109, § 78-101(a), § 78-102, § 78-109, § 59-3203(b), § 59-3206, § 59-3304(a)(2)(F), § 59-1706, § 59-706, § 59-2227, § 59-2232, § 59-704, § 59-2306, and § 59-1711.
- K.S.A. §§ 59-102 and 59-1101 to 59-1109 — covered fiduciaries, default, amount, court approval, waivers, cofiduciaries, and later security — https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_011_0001.html — accessed 2026-08-29.
- K.S.A. §§ 78-101, 78-102, and 78-109 — eligible sureties and corporate- surety amount rules — https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch78/078_001_0001.html — accessed 2026-08-29.
- K.S.A. §§ 59-3203, 59-3206, and 59-3304 — simplified and informal administration — https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_033_0004.html — accessed 2026-08-29.
- K.S.A. §§ 59-704, 59-706, 59-1706, 59-1711, 59-2227, 59-2232, and 59-2306 — pre-letters authority, nonresident agent, qualification, additional security, and removal — official Kansas Revisor and Legislature text, accessed 2026-08-29.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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