Executor Resignation and Removal Requirements in New Hampshire

At a glance

Requirements one by one

New Hampshire uses administrator broadly. RSA § 553:1 includes both a person granted administration and a person granted execution of a will, so the chapter's administrator rules also reach an appointed executor.

General removal is discretionary; two narrow routes are mandatory

Under RSA § 553:10, the judge may revoke the administration after due notice when absence, bodily or mental infirmity, or wasteful or fraudulent management makes the fiduciary unfit to discharge the trust or unsafe to hold it. The word “may” makes that general remedy discretionary. Section 553:11 separately lets the judge revoke with the executor's or administrator's consent when proper.

The mandatory rules are narrower. RSA § 553:6 requires revocation of the prior administration when a will-named minor executor reaches adulthood and requests the unadministered estate, unless the earlier grant was to a coexecutor. RSA §§ 553:25, 553:27, and 553:28 require a qualifying nonresident or departing administrator to maintain a resident agent; noncompliance “shall” produce removal.

Resignation requires a court request and approval

RSA § 553:12 permits resignation only on the executor's or administrator's request and when the judge finds it proper. The Judicial Branch's current NHJB-2140-Pe e-file form asks the court to accept the resignation and appoint a replacement. The statute supplies no fixed notice period, beneficiary-consent rule, or automatic effective date for a private resignation statement.

Vacancy, accounting, and bond duties shape the transition

After death, extinguishment, or revocation, RSA §§ 553:7 and 553:8 let the probate court grant administration de bonis non over the unadministered estate, with due regard to the original priority rule. The court may choose a proper successor; the departing executor's own executor has no automatic right to take over.

The ordinary bond conditions in RSA § 553:13 require a sworn inventory within 90 days, an account within one year and annually thereafter until final allowance, delivery of the residue after the allowed final account or summary motion, and return of the certificate of appointment if a later appointment is granted. Chapter 553 does not add a separate resignation-or-removal discharge, compensation, reserve, or surety-release rule.

Special administration has its own appeal rule

RSA §§ 553:20, 553:20-a, 553:22, 553:23, and 553:24 allow a special administrator when the final grant of administration is delayed and a temporary administrator, on petition or the court's own motion, to determine estate assets. Those provisions do not create a general suspension remedy pending removal of an already-appointed executor. An appeal from appointment of a special administrator does not suspend that administrator's duties, although an interested person's bond challenge can produce a new-bond order and an absolute or qualified stay.

What trips people up

The ordinary fitness and misconduct grounds are discretionary, but failure to maintain the resident agent required by RSA §§ 553:25, 553:27, and 553:28 triggers mandatory removal. Those are different decision points.

A private resignation notice does not itself satisfy RSA § 553:12. The fiduciary asks the probate court to allow the resignation, and the current statewide filing asks the court to accept it and appoint someone else.

Common questions

Who can petition to remove the executor?

Section 553:10 does not identify an exclusive petitioner or a surety removal right. It gives the judge the revocation power after due notice when the listed condition exists. Section 553:13 separately lets an administrator or beneficially interested person move for a further bond.

Is a hearing always required?

The general removal statute requires “due notice” but does not prescribe a fixed hearing deadline, service list, show-cause sequence, or proof standard. Current court instructions and any case-specific order control the filing mechanics.

Does an appeal stop a replacement fiduciary?

The surveyed ordinary removal and resignation provisions state no special stay or reinstatement rule. The express no-stay provision in RSA § 553:24 applies to appointment of a special administrator, not ordinary removal.

Statutes and sources

• RSA §§ 553:1, 553:10, 553:11, 553:12, and 553:13 — covered office, discretionary revocation, consent, resignation, and bond/account/turnover conditions. Official current Chapter 553 (accessed August 28, 2026).
• RSA §§ 553:2, 553:6, 553:7, 553:8, 553:20, 553:20-a, 553:22, 553:23, 553:24, 553:25, 553:27, and 553:28 — mandatory revocation, successor administration, special and temporary administration, appeal effect, resident agent, and mandatory noncompliance removal. Official current Chapter 553 (accessed August 28, 2026).
• New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Resignation of Fiduciary (e-File Only) — court filing asks that the resignation be accepted and another person be appointed. Official filing page (accessed August 28, 2026).