50-State Surveys › Letters of Administration Appointment Requirements by State
Letters of Administration Appointment Requirements by State
When a person dies without an effective executor, who has priority to obtain letters of administration, what petition, qualification, consent, bond, notice, and hearing rules apply, and when may the court appoint someone else?
51 of 51 jurisdictions verified
every entry statute-checked, oldest 2026-08-09
What this survey covers
When no executor is able to act, the person who files first is not necessarily the person who receives authority. State law may prefer a surviving spouse, someone selected by a majority of heirs, the nearest relative, a devisee, a creditor, or another competent person. The same system may separately bar an otherwise preferred person because of age, incapacity, criminal history, residence, or failure to complete an oath or bond.
This survey compares the ordinary opening appointment for a domestic estate. It includes both a genuinely intestate estate and the administrator-with-will- annexed situation, but it keeps appointment separate from the validity of a will, inheritance shares, small-estate shortcuts, and later administration.
Why nine separate columns are necessary
Florida separates filing eligibility from appointment preference. Any interested person may petition for administration, but in an intestate estate the statutory order is “The surviving spouse,” then “The person selected by a majority in interest of the heirs,” then “The heir nearest in degree.” A nonresident ordinarily cannot qualify unless one of the listed family routes applies, and bond is required unless the will or court waives it. Fla. Stat. §§ 733.301, 733.304, and 733.402 (accessed 2026-08-09).
The District of Columbia uses a longer hierarchy. Section 20-303 moves from a will nominee through a surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, legatees, other kin, the largest creditor, and finally any other person. The same section contains exclusions, permits written heir or legatee nominations, requires a nonresident to file an irrevocable service power, and lets the court vary the order “for good cause shown.” D.C. Code § 20-303 (accessed 2026-08-09).
Wyoming illustrates why petition facts, nonresident status, and competing petitions cannot be collapsed into the priority column. Its hierarchy begins with the surviving spouse or the spouse's requested competent person, then children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, next of kin, creditors, and any legally competent person. A nonresident needs a Wyoming coadministrator. The written petition states jurisdictional facts, known heirs, and the value, character, and location of property; an interested person may oppose it or file a competing petition. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 2-4-201 to -207 (accessed 2026-08-09).
What the completed table shows
There is no single national “spouse first” rule. The District of Columbia puts the spouse, domestic partner, and children of an intestate decedent in one class, retains ten more classes, and permits good-cause variation. Wyoming instead uses a sequence from spouse or the spouse's requested person through children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, next of kin, creditors, and any competent person. D.C. Code § 20-303 and W.S. § 2-4-201 (accessed 2026-08-09).
Procedure and bond rules vary just as much as priority. South Dakota separates targeted-notice informal appointment from noticed formal proceedings. Delaware makes bond exceptional, while Vermont requires a bond but lets the court decide whether surety is necessary. SDCL §§ 29A-3-301 to -414, 12 Del. C. §§ 1521-1524, and 14 V.S.A. § 906 (accessed 2026-08-09).
How to read the table
Start with estate type, court, venue, and filing eligibility. A statute may let any interested person open the case while reserving appointment for a narrower priority class.
Then compare priority with qualification. A spouse or child can rank first and still be disqualified, while a nonresident may need a resident agent, coadministrator, special consent, or family relationship. Read consents and renunciations separately: another person's nomination may alter who is selected without changing the underlying statutory order.
Finally, read notice, hearing, bond, oath, and issuance together. Some courts can appoint an uncontested applicant on papers; others require advance service or a hearing. An appointment order may still leave the applicant without power until acceptance, oath, bond, and letters are complete.
Get this answered for your state
This survey compares every state side by side. Ask about your specific situation and see what your state's law says, with citations to the statutes.
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| State | Governing law and estate type | Court and venue | Who may petition | Appointment priority | Disqualifications and nonresident rules | Petition contents and documents | Consents, renunciations, and nominations | Notice, hearing, and competing petitions | Bond, oath, and effect of letters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama verified 2026-08-09 | Separate letters of administration for intestacy; letters with the will annexed go first to the residuary legatee, then principal legatee, then the intestate-priority classes when no executor serves (§§ 43-2-27, 43-2-40) |
Probate court; decedent's Alabama county of inhabitancy, then specified county-of-death or asset routes for a nondomiciliary, with a three-month asset-county fallback for an Alabama resident's estate (§§ 12-13-1, 43-2-40) |
The opening statutes tie the application to a person seeking letters: priority claimants retain their right for 40 days; after that deemed relinquishment, the judge may appoint the statutory fallback (§§ 43-2-42 to -45) |
Spouse; next of kin entitled to distribute; largest in-state creditor; then any judge-selected person, except § 43-2-42(b) counties insert the county/general administrator before the catch-all. Court chooses among equal claimants and prefers whole blood to half blood (§§ 43-2-42, -44) |
Appointee must be willing and satisfactory. A nonresident cannot be administrator unless already qualified as executor or administrator of the same estate elsewhere; § 43-2-22 also lists under 19, infamous crime, intemperance, improvidence, or want of understanding as executor unfitness grounds (§§ 43-2-22, -42) |
No statewide ordinary-administration checklist is enumerated in Article 2; the probate court may examine the applicant and witnesses under oath about the death, any will, and jurisdictional facts (§ 43-2-45) |
Priority holder may relinquish by an in-court declaration entered of record or by an acknowledged writing filed and recorded; no application by the first three classes within 40 days is deemed relinquishment (§§ 43-2-25, -43) |
The opening provisions prescribe sworn examination at the court's discretion, not a universal hearing schedule. Competing applicants stop issuance through the appeal period and, if appealed, until final disposition (§§ 43-2-45, -46) |
Court-required bond defaults to controlled estate capital plus one year's estimated income, with stated deductions; an express will exemption is subject to protective exceptions. Powers begin on appointment, and letters conclusively evidence authority from their date (§§ 43-2-48, 43-2-831, 43-2-851) |
| Alaska verified 2026-08-09 | Unified personal-representative system for testate or intestate estates: verified informal application to registrar or formal appointment by superior court after notice (Alaska Stat. §§ 13.06.050, 13.16.080, 13.16.145) |
Superior court; judicial district of domicile, or for a nondomiciliary a district containing property or the qualifying fiduciary; first-filed court controls, subject to transfer (§§ 13.06.065-.070, 13.16.055) |
Interested person, including heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, estate claimants, appointment-priority holders, and representative fiduciaries (§§ 13.06.050, 13.16.115, 13.16.140) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse-devisee; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; after 45 days, any creditor, with formal objection exceptions (§ 13.16.065(a)-(b)) |
Must be 19 or older and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings; no individual-residency bar stated, and the domiciliary representative generally has priority (§ 13.16.065(f)-(g)) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; decedent/death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs/devisees and minor ages; venue, existing representatives, notice demands, timing, will status, nominee name/address/priority, and equal/higher claimants; formal intestacy petition adopts these and requests heir/intestacy findings (§§ 13.16.080, 13.16.145) |
Covered priority holders and an otherwise-entitled 18-year-old may nominate a qualified person; a person 18+ may renounce by filed writing; shared-priority holders who do not renounce must concur; conservator or qualifying guardian may act for a protected person (§ 13.16.065(c)-(d)) |
Informal: notice to demandants and unwaived equal/higher-priority persons, with no other notice; formal: notice to interested successors, current representative, and priority claimants, generally 14-day mail/delivery or 3 weekly publications for unknowns (§§ 13.06.110, 13.16.125, 13.16.145, 13.16.205) |
Verified application; acceptance and any required bond before letters; bond is default unless will, heir/devisee waiver, corporate-fiduciary, or statutory-deposit exception applies; administration starts with letters (§§ 13.16.015, 13.16.110, 13.16.245-.265) |
| Arizona verified 2026-08-09 | UPC-based informal registrar appointment or formal superior-court appointment; either may appoint a personal representative for intestacy or when no will nominee effectively serves (A.R.S. §§ 14-1201, 14-3301, 14-3414) |
Superior court; first informal or formal appointment filing in domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary in any county containing decedent property. Wrong informal venue may be transferred after notice (§§ 14-1201, 14-3201) |
Informal applicant: spouse; adult child, parent, sibling, heir; will nominee; specified domiciliary representative/nominee; Veterans' Services; creditor after 45 days; then public fiduciary. An interested person may seek formal orders, including a priority or qualification ruling (§§ 14-3105, 14-3301, 14-3414) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse who is devisee; other devisees; spouse; other heirs; Veterans' Services for veteran families; creditor after 45 days (not funeral director/owner controlling remains); public fiduciary. Domiciliary representative has overriding priority subject to a different Arizona will nominee (§ 14-3203) |
Disqualified: below majority, court-found unsuitable in formal proceedings, or foreign corporation. No categorical natural-person nonresident bar; domiciliary representative or nominee receives special priority (§ 14-3203(F)–(G)) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; decedent/death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs, devisees and minor ages; nondomiciliary venue; existing representatives; notice demands; timeliness; and proposed appointee's name/address/priority. Will-annexed request identifies the will/probate. Formal appointment petition adopts core facts and describes the priority/qualification dispute (§§ 14-3301(B), 14-3414) |
Priority classes 2–5 and a 14+ person otherwise entitled may nominate a qualified person. An adult may renounce appointment or nomination by filed writing; shared-priority persons who do not renounce must concur in a nominee or joint application. Court can honor majority-in-value acceptance after objection (§ 14-3203(B)–(C)) |
Informal applicant notices demanders and each unwaived prior/equal-priority person; no other advance informal notice. A formal priority/qualification case stays informal appointment and proceeds after notice to successors, existing representative, and all priority claimants (§§ 14-3310, 14-3414) |
Informal appointment normally waits 120 hours after death (30 days for many nondomiciliaries). Before letters, appointee files acceptance and required bond. Bond is default unless will, unanimous heir/devisee waiver, listed fiduciary, public fiduciary, or small-estate spouse/nominee exception applies (§§ 14-3307, 14-3601, 14-3603) |
| Arkansas verified 2026-08-09 | Arkansas Circuit Court uses general personal-representative appointment under Title 28 for intestacy and for administration with the will annexed when no executor is nominated or the nominee is disqualified, unsuitable, or refuses; administration ordinarily must be granted within 5 years after death (§§ 28-40-103, 28-40-107) |
Circuit Court probate division; decedent's residence county, then for a nonresident the county holding the greater Arkansas property value, then Arkansas death county if no residence/property, then any county where the representative may maintain a cause of action (§ 28-40-102) |
Any interested person may seek probate, executor appointment, administrator appointment, or a combined order, even without possessing the will. Filing eligibility is broader than priority to receive letters (§ 28-40-107) |
Will nominee; surviving spouse or spouse nominee on a petition filed within 30 days after death; one or more distributees or their nominees in the court's discretion if application is made within 40 days when there is a spouse or within 30 days when there is none; any other qualified person (§ 28-48-101(a)) |
Disqualified: under 18, unsound mind, convicted unpardoned felon, corporation unauthorized as Arkansas fiduciary, court-found unsuitable person, or nonresident natural person without appointing the clerk or a court-approved resident of the probate county as process-and-notice agent (§ 28-48-101(b)) |
Petition states decedent name/age/residence/death date and place; reasonably ascertainable heirs and devisees with ages, relationships, and addresses; separate probable real/personal values; nonresident Arkansas property; fallback-venue facts; unfiled-will contents; will nominees; and proposed appointee's name/address, relationship, or other entitlement facts. Official Form 2 adds petitioner identity/interest, nomination, signature, contact fields, and an affidavit block (§ 28-40-107; Form 2) |
The spouse and each person entitled to a distributive share may nominate another person; the petition identifies the nominee and appointment basis. The statute does not create a majority-heir selection rule or make written consent from every heir a condition of the ordinary petition (§§ 28-40-107, 28-48-101(a)) |
No notice demand and no opposition: court may hear immediately or later without notice. Opposition or a filed demand: hearing and notice required; named/addressed heirs and devisees receive a § 28-1-112 method, and demandants receive nonpublication notice. The will and appointment requests may be combined (§§ 28-40-108 to -110) |
Court may require bond before letters or later; an interested-person written demand triggers immediate bond/increase or an early hearing, and court may increase, decrease, or dispense with bond for good cause. If no bond is required, appointee files written acceptance; official Form 8 is the acceptance. The appointment order itself empowers the administrator, while letters notify third parties (§§ 28-48-102, -201, -206; Forms 6, 8, 10) |
| California verified 2026-08-09 | Cal. Prob. Code div. 7 formal administration; appointment may be as administrator for intestacy or administrator with will annexed when no executor can serve (§§ 8000, 8405, 8440, 8460) |
Superior court; California domicile county. Nondomiciliary: county of death if property is there, otherwise any property county; first ancillary filing controls if property spans counties (§§ 7050-7052) |
Any interested person may petition at any time after death for appointment, will probate, or both (§ 8000) |
Intestate hierarchy: spouse/domestic partner; children; grandchildren; other issue; parents; siblings; their issue; grandparents; their issue; predeceased partner's descendants/parents/their issue; other next of kin; qualifying conservator/guardian; public administrator; creditors; anyone else (§§ 8461-8463). Administrator-with-will-annexed priority favors takers and a >50%-value taker or nominee (§§ 8440-8441) |
Barred if minor, conserved/incapable/unfit, removable, not a U.S. resident, or an objected-to surviving business partner; non-U.S.-resident priority holder may nominate, but that nominee must be a California resident and ordinarily bonded (§§ 8402, 8465(d)-(f)) |
Mandatory DE-111, signed by all petitioners and verified by one; death/residence, heirs and devisees, estate character/value, proposed representative, requested appointment/authority/bond, intestacy or will facts, priority or nomination, and required attachments (§ 8002; Cal. R. Ct. 7.103; Form DE-111) |
Will petition states whether named executor consents or waives. Eligible priority holder, qualifying non-U.S.-resident priority holder, or guardian/conservator may file a written nomination; close-family nomination ranks just after nominator's class, while other nominations remain subject to same-class priority and court discretion (§§ 8002(b)(3), 8465) |
Hearing normally 15-30 days after filing, or 30-45 days on timely request. Deliver notice at least 15 days before to known/ascertainable heirs and all devisees/executors/alternates in offered wills; publish 3 times with statutory spacing. Competing claimant files a petition and both are heard together (§§ 8003-8005, 8110, 8120-8124) |
Bond before letters unless statutory waiver; court fixes up to personal property + probable annual income + covered real-property value, with 2x for personal sureties. Before letters, oath and duties acknowledgment; authority begins only when letters issue (§§ 8400, 8403-8405, 8480-8482) |
| Colorado verified 2026-08-09 | Colorado Probate Code, Title 15, art. 12: informal appointment by registrar or formal appointment by court, for intestate administration and testate administration when no will nominee serves; supervised administration is a separate overlay (§§ 15-12-301, -307, -402, -414) |
District court, except Denver Probate Court. First appointment proceeding lies in domicile/residence county, or for a nondomiciliary any county containing decedent property; informal case may transfer on interested-person application (§§ 15-10-201(10), 15-12-201) |
Interested person may apply informally; interested person may petition for formal testacy/intestacy with appointment relief. A formal priority/qualification petition may address an applicant or an existing informal appointee (§§ 15-12-301, -401, -402(4), -414) |
Probated-will nominee; devisee spouse; devisee civil-union partner; designated-beneficiary-agreement priority; other devisees; spouse; civil-union partner; other heirs; creditor after 45 days. Formal objection allows statutory creditor-solvency or majority-value heir/devisee alternatives (§ 15-12-203(1)-(2)) |
Must be 21+ and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings. No resident-agent or cofiduciary requirement; domiciliary foreign representative has priority except where the will names different Colorado and domicile representatives (§ 15-12-203(6)-(7)) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; decedent identity/death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs, devisees/minors; venue; existing representatives; notice demands; timeliness; and proposed appointee name/address/priority plus prior/equal rights for intestacy. Formal intestacy petition adopts those facts, requests intestacy/heir findings and appointment, and states whether supervision is sought (§§ 15-12-301, -402(4)) |
Priority holders from devisee-spouse through other-heir classes—and an 18-to-20-year-old otherwise entitled but for age—may nominate a qualified person. Adult may renounce by filed writing; shared-priority nonrenouncers must concur. Conservator/qualified guardian may act for protected person or ward (§ 15-12-203(3)-(5)) |
Informal appointment notices only demanders and unwaived prior/equal priority holders; no other notice. Objection is formal only. Formal priority/qualification proceeding stays informal appointment, restricts an existing appointee to preservation after notice, and ends with court selection after notice; ordinary hearing notice is 14 days (§§ 15-10-401, 15-12-203(2), -310, -414) |
Informal applicant swears/affirms application; appointment is subject to qualification and acceptance and fully establishes office. Before letters, file acceptance and required bond. Informal bond is normally none; formal will waiver controls unless interested-party request makes bond desirable, while will-required bond may be excused if unnecessary (§§ 15-12-307-.308, -601-.603) |
| Connecticut verified 2026-08-09 | Separate letters of administration for intestacy; administration with the will annexed uses the intestate priority order but generally prefers a devisee or the devisee's designee over a nondevisee (§§ 45a-290(a), 45a-303) |
Probate Court for the district of the Connecticut domicile; a nondomiciliary estate uses the last-residence, property, account/intangible, named-fiduciary, cause-of-action, or debtor district routes, with first-assuming court control (§§ 45a-287(a), 45a-303(a)) |
The official PC-200 instructions allow any person to petition, but filing eligibility does not establish appointment priority; the petitioner and proposed administrator may be different people (PC-200; § 45a-303(c)) |
Persons entitled to share: surviving spouse; child or child's guardian; grandchild or guardian; parents; siblings; next of kin. Each class may use a designee; refusal, incapacity, failure to bond, or a reasonable heir/creditor objection permits another proper appointee (§ 45a-303(c)) |
Priority may yield for refusal, incapacity, failure to give bond, or a reasonable heir/creditor objection. A nonresident may serve, but appointment is ineffective until an acknowledged certificate appoints the probate judge for service of process (§§ 45a-303(c), 52-60) |
Signed, penalty-of-false-statement petition identifying the requested action, parties, legal representatives, death/domicile, heirs and disabilities, known will, proposed fiduciary, state-aid history, and asset estimate; file death-certificate copy or other proof if unavailable, plus confidential SSN sheet (Rules 7.2-.4, 30.2-.4; PC-200/200CI) |
A priority holder may act through a designee. All interested persons may sign and file a written notice waiver; PC-200 also provides signed no-objection/waiver lines, and the proposed fiduciary signs an acceptance. Silence is not a statutory waiver (§ 45a-303(b)-(c); PC-200) |
Court notice goes to heirs, proposed administrator, petitioner, known-will executors/beneficiaries, counsel, and others ordered. Streamlined notice may replace an attended hearing if no timely request is made; contested or testimony-dependent matters receive a scheduled hearing (Rules 8.5-.7, 30.4-.5; § 45a-303(b)) |
No separate administrator oath appears in the cited opening rules; the proposed fiduciary signs acceptance. Bond is statutory but may be excused or reduced under Rule 35; when required, appointment is ineffective until court acceptance. The clerk's certificate proves authority for one year (§§ 45a-139, 45a-200, 45a-303(d); Rule 35; PC-171) |
| Delaware verified 2026-08-09 | Separate letters of administration for intestacy and administration with the will annexed when no executor serves (12 Del. C. §§ 1501-1505) |
County Register of Wills where a Delaware domiciliary was domiciled; nondomiciliary ancillary proceedings may begin in any county, with the first lawful grant controlling statewide (§ 1504) |
Any interested person may petition the Register of Wills of a proper county (§ 1505(e)) |
First living, non-incapacitated class: spouse; children; parents; full- and half-blood siblings; all eligible, nonrenouncing members serve, subject to any required bond (§ 1505(b)) |
Minority, mental incapacity, or an oath-disqualifying conviction bars appointment; a nondomiciliary or foreign corporation must file an irrevocable service power before letters (§§ 1506, 1508) |
Current Chapter 15 states no statewide factual checklist or generally required opening attachment; § 1506 separately requires a nondomiciliary or foreign corporation's service power before issuance |
Priority members may renounce; if all fail to bond, renounce, or are incapacitated, all non-incapacitated members of that class may agree in writing on another appointee (§ 1505(b)(2)-(3)) |
Chapter 15 states no general preappointment notice or automatic-hearing rule; unresolved disagreement within the first qualifying class goes to Chancery, which selects in its discretion (§ 1505(c)) |
Fidelity oath; no bond unless a will expressly requires it or Chancery orders it; any required bond and nondomiciliary service power precede letters, and no one may act without letters (§§ 1501, 1506, 1509, 1521-1524) |
| District of Columbia verified 2026-08-09 | Title 20 opening-estate system: abbreviated or formal probate determines testacy/intestacy and appoints a personal representative; abbreviated probate may proceed without formal-prior notice (D.C. Code §§ 20-301, 20-311-.312, 20-321-.324) |
Probate Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; petition states jurisdictional facts, with no county-level venue hierarchy (§§ 20-101(b), 20-304(a)(3)) |
Interested person may open an estate or seek abbreviated probate; interested person or creditor may seek formal probate; Register may petition with Court approval after no filing within a reasonable time (§§ 20-101(d), 20-301, 20-311, 20-321) |
Admitted-will nominee; spouse/domestic partner or children of intestate, or spouse/partner of testate; residuary legatees; testate children; grandchildren; parents; siblings; next of kin; other relations; largest applying creditor; any other person (§ 20-303(a)) |
Bars filed renunciation, under 18, stated mental/conservatorship status, recent unpardoned felony, nonpermanent-resident alien, specified judges/court employees; nonresident must file irrevocable service power (§ 20-303(b)) |
Petition gives decedent, petitioner, jurisdiction, other proceedings, estate/debt estimates, interested persons, will witnesses, testacy, unavailable-information reasons, proceeding choice, and requested appointment/letters relief; testate filing exhibits original or already-filed copy (§ 20-304) |
Heirs of intestate or legatees of testate may nominate in writing; a person may renounce nomination or appointment by filed writing; Court chooses one or more within a class and may vary priority for good cause (§ 20-303(c)-(d)) |
Abbreviated may proceed without formal-prior notice; formal petitioner promptly notifies known interested persons and publishes weekly for 2 successive weeks; Court resolves proof and appointment, with no automatic evidentiary hearing stated for every uncontested case (§§ 20-311-.312, 20-323-.324) |
Acceptance, any required bond, and written jurisdiction consent are appointment conditions; bond accounts for will and interested-person waivers, nonwaivers, demand, and exceptions; Register issues letters after appointment (§§ 20-501-.503) |
| Florida verified 2026-08-09 | Florida Probate Code formal administration; one personal-representative system covers administrators, administrators with will annexed, and executors, and all authority documents are called letters of administration (§ 731.201(24), (28); ch. 733) |
Circuit court; Florida domicile county, then any county containing property, then county where a debtor resides; improper county venue is transferable without invalidating earlier acts (§§ 26.012(2)(b), 733.101) |
Any interested person may petition for administration; filing eligibility is broader than appointment priority (§ 733.202) |
Intestate: surviving spouse, majority-in-interest heir selection, nearest-degree heir; court chooses best qualified within the nearest-degree tie. Testate without an acting nominee: majority-in-interest selection, then devisee. If no listed person applies, court appoints a capable person (§ 733.301) |
Individual must be 18+, mentally and physically able, and free of felony and elder/disabled-adult abuse convictions. Nonresident must fit § 733.304's specified family routes; qualified Florida and federally authorized fiduciary institutions may serve (§§ 733.302-.305) |
Verified Rule 5.200 petition: petitioner/attorney, decedent/death/domicile, spouse and beneficiaries, venue, proposed appointee priority and qualifications, foreign proceedings, asset nature/value, and intestate no-unrevoked-will statement; death record may be filed later under Rule 5.205 |
Majority in interest of heirs may select the intestate appointee. Equal/higher-priority persons may waive in writing; a waiver or consent must be signed, identify the person's interest and representative capacity, state exactly what is waived or consented to, and be filed (§§ 731.302, 733.301; Fla. Prob. R. 5.180, 5.201) |
Preferred applicant ordinarily needs no notice or automatic hearing. Nonpreferred applicant must formally notify known qualified persons with equal/higher preference unless they waive in writing; a caveat also triggers formal notice. A previously unserved, unwaived higher-priority person may seek revocation and appointment after formal notice and hearing (§§ 731.110, 733.301(4); Fla. Prob. R. 5.201) |
Before letters: address and usually resident-agent designation/acceptance, sworn faithful-administration oath, court bond determination, and any required surety. Bond applies unless will/court waiver or bank/trust-company exemption; letters issue after compliance and confer estate authority (§§ 731.201(24), 733.402; Fla. Prob. R. 5.110, 5.235, 5.320) |
| Georgia verified 2026-08-09 | O.C.G.A. ch. 53-6 separates intestate letters of administration (§§ 53-6-20 to -24) from administration with the will annexed when a testate estate lacks an acting executor (§§ 53-6-13 to -16) |
Probate court in decedent's county of domicile; if decedent was not Georgia-domiciled, a county containing any estate property. C.t.a. follows the will-probate or existing-estate proceeding (§§ 53-6-15, 53-6-21) |
Section 53-6-21 regulates every petition rather than limiting filing to one preference class: petitioner states address/domicile, while § 53-6-20 separately controls selection. C.t.a. petition follows § 53-6-15 |
Intestate: unanimous heir selection; otherwise court's estate-best-interests order—spouse (unless pending divorce/separate maintenance), heirs or majority-in-interest nominee, any eligible person, creditor, county administrator. C.t.a.: unanimous capable-beneficiary choice; otherwise beneficiary/trustee, then last three intestate classes (§§ 53-6-14, 53-6-20) |
Individual must be 18+ and free of legal disability, but citizenship and residence do not disqualify; a nonindividual may serve if otherwise qualified as a Georgia fiduciary. Court still applies eligibility and best-interests appointment rules (§§ 53-1-2, 53-6-1, 53-6-14, 53-6-20) |
Intestate petition: decedent name, legal domicile, death date; petitioner address/domicile; each heir's name, age/majority, address, relationship; omitted-fact reasons; prayer for letters. C.t.a. adds capable beneficiaries, vacancy reason, probate date/status, and specified prior fiduciaries; current statewide forms are GPCSF 3, 7, and 8 (§§ 53-6-15, 53-6-21) |
All heirs may select unanimously; if no unanimity, majority in interest may select within second preference. Guardian acts for non-sui-juris heir. C.t.a. choice may be expressed by beneficiary, guardian/conservator/custodian, trustee, represented trust beneficiary, or deceased beneficiary's personal representative. Service waiver/consent is sworn written and filed (§§ 53-6-14, 53-6-20, 53-11-6) |
Intestate: court first-class-mails known heirs at least 30 days before objection deadline; unknown heir/address gets weekly publication for 4 weeks. C.t.a.: Chapter 11 personal/mail/publication service on capable beneficiaries and specified nominees/fiduciaries, generally with 30 days. Citation may permit grant without hearing if no timely objection (§§ 53-6-15, 53-6-22, 53-11-3 to -4, 53-11-9 to -10) |
Administrator takes statutory oath; c.t.a. takes will-execution oath. Intestate bond defaults, but qualifying institutions and unanimous-heir consent provide exemptions; amount is 2x estate, or 1x with licensed commercial surety, excluding realty until conversion. Qualified status requires oath, any bond, and issued letters (§§ 53-1-2, 53-6-16, 53-6-23 to -24, 53-6-50 to -51) |
| Hawaii verified 2026-08-09 | Hawaii Uniform Probate Code; one personal-representative system covers informal or formal appointment for intestate estates and testate estates without an acting executor (HRS ch. 560, art. III) |
Circuit court. First proceeding: decedent's domicile judicial circuit, or for a nondomiciliary, any circuit containing property at death; an informal case may be transferred after notice (HRS §§ 560:1-201, 560:3-201) |
Informal applicant must appear to be an interested person; a formal priority/qualification petition adopts core application facts and states the issue to resolve (HRS §§ 560:3-308, 560:3-414) |
Probated-will priority; devisee spouse/reciprocal beneficiary; other devisees; spouse/reciprocal beneficiary; other heirs; creditor after 45 days. Formal creditor-insolvency and majority-value exceptions apply (HRS § 560:3-203) |
Express bars: under 18 or court-found unsuitable. No separate applicant-residence or resident-agent condition stated; domiciliary personal representative or nominee has priority absent a different Hawaii will nomination (HRS § 560:3-203(f)-(g)) |
Verified informal application states applicant identity/interest; death, age, domicile, spouse/reciprocal beneficiary, children, heirs, devisees/minors; venue; existing representatives; notice demands; five-year timeliness; and route-specific will/no-will, proposed-appointee, priority, and prior/equal-right facts (HRS § 560:3-301) |
Adult may renounce nomination/appointment by writing filed with court; priority holders in classes (2)-(5) may nominate a qualified person. Unrenounced equal-priority holders must concur; conservator or qualifying guardian may exercise specified rights (HRS § 560:3-203(c)-(d)) |
Informal: notice to filed demandants and unwaived prior/equal claimants; no other notice or automatic hearing. Formal disputes proceed after notice; hearing notice ordinarily uses 14-day mail/personal service or two-week publication ending 10 days before hearing (HRS §§ 560:1-401, 560:3-310, 560:3-414) |
Before letters, file acceptance and any required bond; no separate qualification oath is stated, though application is verified under oath/affirmation. Informal bond generally needs will, exception, or court order after a >$10,000 demand; appointment establishes the office subject to qualification (HRS §§ 560:3-307 to -308, -601, -603 to -605) |
| Idaho verified 2026-08-09 | Idaho Uniform Probate Code; one personal-representative system covers informal or formal appointment in intestate estates and testate estates without an acting nominee (Title 15, ch. 3) |
Magistrate division of district court. First proceeding: domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary, any county where property was located at death; an informal case may be transferred to the proper county (§§ 1-2208, 15-3-201) |
Informal applicant must appear to be an interested person; an interested person may commence formal testacy, and § 15-3-414 governs formal priority or qualification disputes (§§ 15-3-308, -401, -414) |
Probated-will priority; devisee surviving spouse; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; creditor after 45 days; public administrator after a petition and 60 days without a proper consent. Formal-case exceptions apply (§ 15-3-203) |
Express bars: under 18 or court-found unsuitable. No separate applicant-residence condition is stated; a domiciliary personal representative or nominee has priority except where the will names different Idaho and domicile representatives (§ 15-3-203(f)-(g)) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; death, age, domicile, spouse, children, heirs, devisees, minor ages/addresses; venue; existing representatives; notice demands; timeliness; and route-specific will/no-will, proposed-representative, priority, and prior/equal-right facts (§ 15-3-301) |
Adult priority holder may renounce by writing filed with court; priority holders in classes (2)-(5) may nominate a qualified person. Unrenounced equal-priority holders must concur; conservator or qualifying guardian may exercise specified rights (§ 15-3-203(c)-(d)) |
Informal: § 15-1-401 notice to filed demandants and unwaived prior/equal claimants; no other notice or automatic hearing. Objections and nonpriority appointments require formal proceedings; formal disputes proceed after notice to interested persons (§§ 15-3-203, -310, -401, -403, -414) |
Before letters, file acceptance with oath and any required bond. Informal appointment generally needs no bond unless will, written demand, or exception requires it; formal court may order bond. Informal appointment establishes the office subject to qualification and acceptance (§§ 15-3-307, -601, -603 to -605) |
| Illinois verified 2026-08-09 | Illinois Probate Act Article IX; letters of administration issue for intestacy, while the same priority governs administration with the will annexed requested through the will-probate petition (§§ 6-2, 9-2 to 9-5) |
Circuit court; county of known Illinois residence, then county containing greater part of Illinois real estate, then county containing greater part of Illinois personal estate (§ 5-1) |
Anyone desiring intestate letters may petition; anyone desiring will probate may combine a request for administration with the will annexed, stating entitlement and nominee facts (§§ 6-2, 9-4) |
Spouse/nominee; legatees/nominees, preferring child legatees; children/nominees; grandchildren/nominees; parents/nominees; siblings/nominees; nearest kindred/nominees; deceased ward's estate representative; Public Administrator; creditor. Court selects one or more within equal class (§ 9-3) |
Administrator must be 18+, a U.S. resident, of sound mind, not adjudged disabled, and not a convicted felon. Qualified trust corporation may serve by filing acceptance; no Illinois-residence rule appears (§§ 9-1, 12-1) |
Intestate § 9-4 petition: death/residence, Illinois estate values, every heir/address and disability/priority status, nominee, petitioner's right, successor reason, and personal fiduciary unless supervised. C.t.a. adds will, reason, entitlement, nominee, prior/equal persons, and prior-probate facts (§§ 6-2, 9-4) |
Each listed priority class may nominate; only a qualified person may nominate, except a guardian may act for a person disqualified solely by minority/disability. Court may choose claimant(s) or nominee(s) within a tie; adult nondisabled person may waive notice by filing (§§ 9-3, 9-5(c)) |
Mail petition/hearing details at least 30 days before hearing to named-address prior/equal claimants. Within 14 days after order, mail other heirs and publish for unknown heirs 3 weeks. An omitted prior/equal claimant has 3 months to seek replacement letters with 10 days' hearing notice (§§ 9-5, 9-7) |
Before duties, individual files oath and approved bond. Surety: 2 acceptable persons or 1 qualified company; amount at least 2x personal estate with individual/excused surety or 1.5x with company, plus court-set realty income. Qualified corporation files acceptance and no ordinary bond (§§ 12-1 to 12-5) |
| Indiana verified 2026-08-09 | One in-rem probate-and-administration proceeding; personal representative includes executor, administrator, and administrator with will annexed, and 'letters' includes testamentary and administration letters (§§ 29-1-1-3, 29-1-7-2) |
Court having probate jurisdiction; Indiana domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary any county containing estate property. First-filed county decides competing venue; transfer is available for wrong venue or estate interests (§§ 29-1-1-3(4), 29-1-7-1) |
Any interested person or a personal representative named in the will may seek probate, letters testamentary, an administrator with will annexed, or an intestate administrator (§ 29-1-7-4(a)-(b)) |
Admitted-will executor; spouse who is a devisee; other devisee; spouse or spouse nominee(s); heir or heir nominee(s); then any other qualified person. A pending divorce can bar spouse appointment in intestacy unless eligible distributees waive (§§ 29-1-7-4(e)-(f), 29-1-10-1(a)) |
Barred if under 18, disqualifying incapacity, convicted felon absent court exception, unauthorized resident corporation, or unsuitable. Nonresident individual files acceptance, resident-agent notice, and special bond; nonresident cofiduciary also bonds (§ 29-1-10-1(b)-(g)) |
Signed and verified; decedent name, domicile, death date, adult/minor status; heirs or devisees/legatees and residences/adult status; testacy; nondomiciliary property; lost/unwritten-will terms; named executor; proposed administrator facts; attorney; and any pending divorce (§§ 29-1-1-9, 29-1-7-5) |
Spouse and heirs may nominate a qualified person under the priority ladder. A person entitled to letters may renounce in a writing filed with the clerk. Eligible distributees may sign the limited pending-divorce waiver before appointment, except minors and incapacitated persons (§§ 29-1-7-4(f), 29-1-10-1(a), 29-1-10-2) |
No service of the initial filing or hearing; term-time petition is heard forthwith. After letters, publish once weekly for 2 consecutive weeks and serve listed heirs, devisees, legatees, and known creditors by court e-filing or first-class mail. Priority controls competing applicants (§§ 29-1-7-4(d), 29-1-7-7(a)-(c), 29-1-10-1) |
Ordinary default is no bond unless the will requires it or the court finds protection necessary; nonresident rules separately require bond subject to unsupervised-estate discretion. Faithful-duty oath and any approved required bond precede issuance of letters (§§ 29-1-10-1(c)-(e), 29-1-10-3, 29-1-11-1) |
| Iowa verified 2026-08-09 | Iowa Code chapter 633 uses an administrator for an intestate estate and calls a court-appointed representative of a testate estate an executor, including when the will nominee does not serve (§§ 633.3(18), (33), 633.227, 633.290-.294) |
Iowa District Court sitting in probate; county of the decedent's residence at death, or for a nonresident a county where the decedent had, left, or later had property brought for administration. The first proper county to commence proceedings retains jurisdiction (§§ 633.10, 633.12, 633.14) |
Intestate: surviving spouse, heirs, creditors, then other persons showing good grounds, in the successive periods fixed by §§ 633.227-.228. Testate: any interested person may file a verified petition to probate the will, appoint the executor, or request a preappointment hearing (§ 633.290) |
Intestate law prioritizes the opportunity to petition, not necessarily the petitioner's personal appointment: spouse first for 20 days, then heirs, creditors, and other-good-grounds petitioners for 10 days per class; administration may be granted to any qualified person, and a passed-over class member may still petition before letters issue. Testate preference: will designee; beneficiary or beneficiary nominee; creditor or creditor nominee; other qualified person (§§ 633.227-.228, 633.294) |
Resident natural person: full age (18 or married), competent, and suitable; qualifying banks and trust companies may serve. A nonresident natural person otherwise qualified ordinarily needs a resident cofiduciary, but the court may allow solo service for good cause; an out-of-state bank or trust company needs reciprocity (§§ 633.3(20), 633.63-.64) |
All probate petitions must be written and verified, acknowledged, or certified under penalty of perjury. Intestate petition: death, domicile, out-of-state-decedent jurisdiction basis, known spouse/heirs and addresses, estimated personal property, and estimated gross annual administration income. Testate appointment petition: proposed executor's name/address and qualification, reason a will nominee is not proposed, and—unless the will waives bond—the same property/income estimates (§§ 633.35, 633.229, 633.290-.292) |
The intestate opening sections do not create a consent or renunciation form or a majority-heir selection rule; instead they control who may petition and when, while permitting appointment of any qualified person. For a testate estate, a beneficiary or creditor may nominate the preferred appointee in that class (§§ 633.227-.228, 633.294) |
The intestate appointment sections do not prescribe advance service or an automatic hearing; orders entered without notice remain reviewable before final-report approval. After letters issue, the administrator promptly publishes notice once weekly for 2 weeks and mails known potentially unpaid claimants. If another probate matter requires notice, court-set notice ordinarily gives at least 20 days; a testate petitioner may request a hearing before appointment (§§ 633.37, 633.40, 633.230, 633.290) |
Before duties, every fiduciary takes an oath or certifies faithful performance under penalty of perjury. Bond with sufficient surety is the default, ordinarily set at personal-property value plus estimated gross annual income; will, bank/trust-company, written-distributee, and court good-cause exceptions apply. After oath/certification and any required bond are filed, the clerk issues sealed letters conferring statutory powers (§§ 633.168-.175, 633.178) |
| Kansas verified 2026-08-09 | Kansas Probate Code, K.S.A. ch. 59: ordinary administration for intestacy; administration with the will annexed when no legally competent named executor accepts (§§ 59-701, -705) |
District court. Resident with realty in residence county: that county; otherwise residence county or any county containing realty. Nonresident: any county with estate to administer; first legally commenced case controls; wrong venue transfers (§ 59-2203) |
Any person interested in the estate may petition after the testator's or intestate's death; filing eligibility is broader than appointment priority (§ 59-2221) |
Suitable, competent surviving spouse or next of kin, or person(s) selected by any of them; then creditors or nominees if the first class is incompetent, unsuitable, or declines; then anyone when best for estate and all interested persons (§ 59-705) |
Administrator must be suitable and competent; § 59-705 has no separate felony list. Nonresident may serve after filing a written appointment, with acceptance, of an agent residing anywhere in Kansas (§§ 59-706, -1706; 2026 SB 480) |
Signed and verified. General petitioner/interest/jurisdiction/relief facts plus decedent residence/death, reasonably ascertainable heirs, realty/personalty character and probable value, proposed appointee, and simplified-administration election/reasons (§§ 59-2201, -2202, -2219) |
Spouse or any next of kin may select appointee(s). All heirs/devisees/legatees may file acknowledged appearances waiving notice and consenting to immediate hearing; all known heirs may file written bond waiver in intestacy (§§ 59-705, -1104, -2223) |
Court fixes hearing. Default: 3 weekly publications; within 7 days after first, mail notice, petition, attachments, and applicable will to known heirs/devisees/legatees; hearing 10–30 days after last publication. Court may direct another method; full waiver can permit immediate hearing (§§ 59-2209, -2222, -2223) |
Court appoints after hearing and fixes bond. Appointee has 10 days after written appointment notice to file oath and required bond or is deemed to refuse. Default bond at least 125% of personalty plus probable annual realty income; statutory waivers apply, but court may later require bond (§§ 59-1101, -1104, -1702, -2232) |
| Kentucky verified 2026-08-09 | Kentucky personal-representative system: executor, intestate administrator, and administrator with will annexed. The will-annexed appointee follows intestate entitlement but cannot hold interests antagonistic to the will (§§ 395.040, 395.050) |
District Court handles nonadversarial probate; residence county, then for no known Kentucky residence the devised-land county, or if no devised land, county of death, estate property, or debt owed to decedent (§§ 24A.120, 394.140, 395.030) |
Kentucky-resident adult, authorized bank/trust company, or legally adult nonresident within the specified family routes may qualify. Nonresident application designates a county resident service agent (§§ 395.005, 395.015(6)) |
Surviving spouse or spouse's suitable nominee; then next distributees, one or more whom court judges will best manage; after 60 days without those applicants, creditor or any other person in court discretion (§ 395.040) |
Resident individual generally 18+; qualifying banks and trust companies may serve. Nonresident must be related by blood, marriage, or adoption, or be the spouse of such a relative, and must designate a resident county service agent; will-annexed appointee cannot be antagonistic to the will (§§ 395.005, 395.015, 395.050) |
Duplicate written application under oath: known spouse/heirs and postal/email addresses, death date, applicant debt, statutory acknowledgment, and testate will-return data; present will if testate and separately file sealed good-faith financial disclosure. Perjury declaration may satisfy stated acknowledgments (§ 395.015) |
Surviving spouse may nominate a suitable administrator. In the multiple-resident-heir hearing scenario, spouse and all known heirs may waive the hearing; all notice-entitled competent parties may waive notice in writing (§§ 395.015(7), 395.016, 395.040) |
Hearing required in specified will-annexed/no-spouse and spouse-unavailable/multiple-resident-heir cases, subject to the stated waiver; court otherwise decides whether a hearing is needed. When ordered, mail written notice at least 5 days before, with statutory proof or written waiver (§§ 395.015-.016) |
No ordinary personal-representative bond unless court orders surety to protect estate interests. Hearing case requires court oath; no-hearing case may use authorized perjury declaration. Appointment is effective after signed order, required bond, and oath/declaration; letters precede acting (§§ 395.105, 395.120, 395.130) |
| Louisiana verified 2026-08-09 | Code of Civil Procedure administration: administrator for intestacy; dative testamentary executor when no named executor serves. Independent administration may be authorized by testament or unanimous successor/legatee designation (arts. 3083, 3396.2, 3396.4-.5) |
District court in decedent's domiciliary parish; nondomiciliary succession where Louisiana immovable property lies, or movable property if no Louisiana immovable. First competent filing controls competing courts (arts. 2811-2812) |
Named executor petitions for confirmation; any interested party may move for a dative executor. Administrator/dative applicants must be spouse, heir, legatee, qualifying representative or nominee, creditor, or immovable co-owner (arts. 3081, 3083, 3097(B)) |
Best qualified spouse/heir/legatee or representative; then best qualified nominee of that group; then best qualified decedent/estate creditor or immovable co-owner. Best qualified means personal fitness plus training and experience (art. 3098) |
Barred: under 18, interdicted or proved mentally incompetent, convicted felon, nonresident without filed Louisiana service agent, unauthorized corporation, or person proved unfit for bad moral character; administrator/dative class limits also apply (art. 3097) |
Application triggers inventory or descriptive list. Jurisdiction, death, marriage, and heir relationship may be proved by official certificates or affidavits; affidavit proof requires two knowledgeable affiants filed in the record (arts. 2821-2822, 3094) |
Ordinary priority includes qualifying successor nominees. Independent route: testament may authorize; otherwise all general/universal legatees may agree and designate a dative executor, or all intestate successors may agree and designate an administrator (arts. 3098, 3396.2, 3396.4-.5) |
Interested person may prefile a notice request. If timely, applicant serves the application and hearing notice; hearing is at least 11 days after service. Otherwise court may appoint after 10 days from death. Opposition alleges superior right or disqualification and is tried before appointment (arts. 3091-3096) |
Administrator security exceeds total succession property by one-fourth, subject to reduction; dative executor uses the same rule, while named executor ordinarily has no security. Special mortgage may replace bond. Oath and required security precede letters and entry on duties (arts. 3151, 3153, 3157-3159) |
| Maine verified 2026-08-09 | Maine Uniform Probate Code, 18-C M.R.S. art. 3; one personal-representative office covers executor and administrator functions, with informal appointment by the register and formal appointment by the Probate Court |
County Probate Court; county of Maine domicile at death, or for a nondomiciliary, any county containing decedent property. A wrongly placed first informal proceeding may be transferred (18-C M.R.S. §§ 1-201(8), 1-302, 3-201) |
An interested person may seek formal relief; an informal applicant must appear from the verified application to be an interested person, a broad class including heirs, devisees, spouse, creditors, beneficiaries, priority holders, and fiduciaries representing them (§§ 1-201(26), 3-308, 3-401) |
Will nominee; devisee-spouse; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; after 45 days, any creditor; after 6 months with no testacy proceeding or appointment, the State Tax Assessor. A no-priority appointment requires formal proceedings and notice (§ 3-203) |
At least 18 and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings. No separate applicant-residency bar; a domiciliary-court personal representative has priority unless the will nominates different Maine and domiciliary representatives (§ 3-203(6)-(7)) |
Verified informal application states interest; death, age, domicile, spouse, children, heirs and devisees; venue; existing representatives; demands for notice; timeliness; and the proposed appointee's name, address and priority. Intestacy requires a no-unrevoked-will statement and names of prior/equal claimants; a testate application supplies the original or authenticated will (§ 3-301) |
Priority holders in the devisee-spouse-through-heir classes may nominate a qualified person; renunciation is by appropriate writing filed with court, and co-priority holders who do not renounce must concur in a nominee or joint application (§ 3-203(3)) |
Informal appointment has no hearing but requires statutory notice to demandants, unwaiving heirs/devisees, prior/equal priority holders, and DHHS if the decedent was 55 or older. Objections and no-priority appointments proceed formally after notice, with the court deciding entitlement (§§ 3-310, 3-414) |
Informal appointment ordinarily has no bond unless the will, special-administrator rule, or qualifying demand requires it; formal appointment may include court-ordered bond, subject to will and judicial exceptions. Before letters, the appointee files any required bond and an acceptance; informal appointment itself establishes the office (§§ 3-307, 3-601, 3-603-.605) |
| Maryland verified 2026-08-09 | Estates and Trusts Titles 5-7 use one personal-representative system for intestate administration and a testate estate lacking an acting executor; administrative probate is before the register, judicial probate before the orphans' court (§§ 1-101(r), 5-101, 5-301, 5-401) |
Register of wills for administrative probate; orphans' court (or court exercising that jurisdiction) for judicial probate. Maryland domicile controls first; current nonresident fallbacks and first-filed transfer rules come from 2026 ch. 504 (§§ 2-101, 5-103) |
An interested person may file administrative probate; an interested person or, if no administrative probate occurred, a creditor may institute judicial probate. The register may file after unreasonable delay (§§ 1-101(j), 5-301, 5-401, 5-402) |
Will nominee; will-authorized nominee; then one class containing intestate spouse, registered domestic partner, and children (or testate spouse); residuary legatees; qualifying testate children; grandchildren; qualifying parents; siblings; other relations; largest applying creditor; other pecuniary-interest applicant; anyone else (§ 5-104) |
Trust companies, authorized corporations, and qualified individuals may serve. Bars: under 18, mental incompetence, serious crime absent good cause, most noncitizens, listed full-time judges/court officials, and written renunciation. Nonresident must file an irrevocable designation of a Maryland resident for service (§ 5-105) |
Current RW1112 states petitioner identity/eligibility, death/domicile/venue, priority, competence and disqualification facts, will search and accompanying will, other proceedings, acceptance, jurisdiction consent, requested relief, perjury affirmation, and Schedule A values. Situational statewide forms cover higher-priority consent, resident agent, bond/nominal bond/waiver, notice, and interested persons (§ 5-206; RW1112 packet) |
A person may file a written declaration renouncing the right to administer. Official RW1118 lets a will nominee or other priority holder request another appointee and consent; the consent cannot be withdrawn while that appointee serves absent good cause. Bond consent is separate (§ 5-105(c); Form RW1118) |
Administrative probate may proceed without prior notice. Judicial probate gets prompt direct notice to interested persons, 2 weekly newspaper notices, and a plenary hearing; an interested person may require that route. After appointment, publish 3 weeks; appointment objections are due within 6 months (§§ 5-301, 5-402 to -404, 7-103) |
Before appointment file acceptance, required bond, and Maryland-jurisdiction consent. Full bond is default unless the will or all interested persons waive it, but a debts/inheritance-tax bond remains; banks/trust companies are exempt. Letters issue after appointment, and powers begin on issuance with good-faith relation back (§§ 6-101 to -105) |
| Massachusetts verified 2026-08-09 | Massachusetts UPC uses informal appointment before the Probate and Family Court or magistrate and formal judicial appointment after notice; administration covers testate and intestate estates (G.L. c. 190B, §§ 1-201, 3-301, 3-414) |
Probate and Family Court; first appointment filing in domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary any county containing decedent property. Wrong informal venue may be transferred after notice (§§ 1-201(7), 3-201) |
An interested person may seek informal or formal appointment; the class includes heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, priority holders, fiduciaries, and others with a relevant estate right or claim (§ 1-201(24)) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse who is devisee; other devisees; spouse; other heirs; if no known spouse or next of kin, public administrator. Objections are formal; creditors may petition for a qualified appointee when anticipated unsecured claims exceed the available estate (§ 3-203) |
Must be 18+ and appointment must not be contrary to estate's best interests. No categorical natural-person nonresident bar; domiciliary representative or nominee has special priority, while many nondomiciliary informal appointments wait 30 days (§§ 3-203(f)–(g), 3-307) |
Verified informal petition states interest; decedent/death/age/address; spouse, children, heirs, devisees/minors and incapacity; nondomiciliary venue; existing representatives; certified MassHealth transmission; timeliness; no-will or will facts; death certificate; proposed appointee's name/address/priority; and prior/equal claimants (§ 3-301) |
Spouse-through-heir priority holders may nominate a qualified person; anyone may renounce appointment or nomination by filed writing. Shared-priority persons who do not renounce must concur. Conservator or qualifying guardian may act for a protected person or ward (§ 3-203(c)–(d)) |
Informal petitioner gives 7-day advance written notice to heirs, devisees, unwaived prior/equal claimants, existing representative, and MassHealth; publication follows within 30 days. Formal priority/qualification case stays informal appointment and proceeds after notice to successors, existing representative, and priority claimants (§§ 3-306, 3-414) |
Informal appointment ordinarily after 7 days from death (30 days for many nondomiciliaries). Before letters, appointee accepts and files a bond in every case; will, unanimous heir/devisee waiver, bank/trust-company, or best-interest finding can waive sureties, not the bond (§§ 3-307, 3-601, 3-603) |
| Michigan verified 2026-08-09 | EPIC uses one personal-representative office for intestate and testate estates, with informal appointment by register or formal appointment by court; a will must be probated before it controls appointment (§§ 700.3102-.3103, 700.3307-.3308, 700.3414) |
Probate court; domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary a county holding decedent property at death. Wrong-county informal case may be transferred after application and notice (§§ 700.1302, 700.3201) |
Informal application: interested person, plus after 28 days a person with an otherwise unenforceable right/cause. Formal appointment petition: either category (§§ 700.3301, 700.3414) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse who is devisee; other devisees; spouse; other heirs; creditor's suitable nominee after 42 days; public administrator after 63 days or exigency under listed conditions. Formal objections can trigger statutory alternatives (§ 700.3203) |
Under 18 or found unsuitable in formal proceedings. EPIC gives a domiciliary personal representative priority but states no separate Michigan-residence or resident-agent bar in the general appointment rules (§ 700.3204) |
Sworn informal application states applicant interest; decedent/death/age/domicile; spouse, children, devisees, heirs and minor ages; venue; existing representative; will/intestacy facts; and proposed appointee name, address, priority, and prior/equal claimants. Formal petition imports those facts and frames the issue (§§ 700.3301, 700.3402, 700.3414) |
Spouse/devisee/heir priority holder may nominate a qualified person or renounce by filed writing; unrenounced equal holders must concur. Conservator or guardian may exercise protected person's rights; hearing notice/consent may be waived by signed filed writing (§§ 700.1402, 700.3203-.3204) |
Informal applicant notifies every unwaived prior/equal claimant; § 700.1401 generally uses 14-day mail/publication or 7-day personal service. Objection requires formal proceeding; formal appointment follows notice to interested persons and adjudication, with publication for unknowns (§§ 700.1401, 700.3203, 700.3310, 700.3403, 700.3414) |
Filed acceptance and any required bond precede letters; no separate oath. Informal bond is ordinarily unnecessary except will/demand routes; formal court may order bond subject to will rules. If amount unspecified, minimum is estimated personal estate plus expected one-year personal/real income; letters start authority (§§ 700.3103, 700.3601, 700.3603-.3605) |
| Minnesota verified 2026-08-09 | Minnesota Uniform Probate Code; one personal-representative office includes executor and administrator. Informal appointment may cover testate or intestate estates before the registrar; formal appointment proceeds before the court (§§ 524.1-201(32), (41), 524.3-301, 524.3-401-.402) |
District court; decedent's domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary any county containing decedent property. Competing Minnesota cases follow first commencement, and an informal case may transfer when venue belongs elsewhere (§§ 524.1-201(9), 524.1-303, 524.3-201) |
Informal applicant must appear to be an interested person. An interested person or will-named personal representative may commence formal testacy, and the intestacy petition may request appointment (§§ 524.1-201(34), 524.3-308(a)(3), 524.3-401-.402) |
Probated-will priority; devisee spouse; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; creditor after 45 days; undischarged conservator after 90 days under § 524.5-428(b). Formal objection can produce the statutory creditor or majority-value/suitable-person alternatives (§ 524.3-203(a)-(b)) |
Must be 18+ and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings. No separate Minnesota-residency bar appears; a domiciliary personal representative has priority subject to listed exceptions, and a Minnesota-appointed nonresident accepts Minnesota jurisdiction and statutory service (§§ 524.3-203(f)-(g), 524.3-602) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; decedent birth/death/domicile; spouse, children, heirs, devisees/minors; venue, existing representatives, notice demands; and testate or intestate appointment facts, proposed appointee identity/address/priority, and prior/equal rights. Formal intestacy petition adopts those facts, seeks intestacy/heir findings, and states whether supervision is requested (§§ 524.1-310, 524.3-301, 524.3-402(b)) |
Priority classes from devisee spouse through other heirs may nominate a qualified person. An adult may renounce nomination or appointment by a writing filed with court; nonrenouncing people sharing priority must concur. A conservator or qualifying guardian may exercise protected-person rights; notice waiver is signed and filed (§§ 524.1-402, 524.3-203(c)-(d)) |
Informal: preappointment notice to demanders and unwaived prior/equal priority holders; after appointment, 2-week publication and mail to interested persons other than creditors. Formal: notice and hearing, generally 14-day mail/personal service and 2-week publication; priority disputes stay informal appointment and are decided after notice to successors, prior appointee, and priority claimants (§§ 524.1-401, 524.3-310, 524.3-401-.403, 524.3-414) |
Before letters, file required bond and oath, or corporate acceptance. Informal bond is normally absent unless the will or court-demand route requires it; formal no-bond routes include will relief, qualifying written requests, and court dispensation, subject to protection orders. Powers commence on appointment and relate back for beneficial preappointment acts (§§ 524.3-601, 524.3-603-.605, 524.3-701) |
| Mississippi verified 2026-08-09 | Separate Mississippi administration system: ordinary letters for intestacy; administration with the will annexed when no executor can or will act (§§ 91-7-39, -63) |
Chancery Court. Intestate: fixed-residence county; if none, county where land was owned; if neither, death county. Testate venue separately follows residence, devised-land, then personalty/death fallbacks (§§ 91-7-1, -63; 2022 SB 2034) |
Applying relatives receive the first statutory consideration; after 30 days without such an application, a creditor or any other suitable person may receive administration (§ 91-7-63) |
Applying spouse first; then applying relatives next entitled to distribution; court selects the best estate manager among equal relatives. If kindred are incompetent, stranger/state trust company/national bank; after 30 days, creditor or any suitable person (§ 91-7-63) |
Under 18, unsound mind, or any felony conviction bars administration. Nonresidence is not an opening bar, but neglect by a nonresident appointee can support notice and revocation (§§ 91-7-65, -89) |
No comprehensive statewide contents or attachment checklist appears in §§ 91-7-63 to -67; papers must be filed before presentation. Application must establish the statutory venue, applicant class, qualification, and requested letters (UCCR 2.01) |
No majority-heir nomination rule. Court chooses among equal relatives; 30 days without a preferred application opens creditor/other-suitable-person appointment. Will-annexed route recognizes executor renunciation; all competent heirs may jointly seek bond waiver/reduction (§§ 91-7-39, -63, -67) |
No universal heir-consent or advance-notice rule in the ordinary intestate opening provisions; court applies priority and its equal-class selection standard. Before will-annexed letters, every nonrenouncing named executor must be summoned to show cause (§§ 91-7-39, -63) |
At or before grant, intestate administrator takes statutory oath and posts bond equal to all personalty; chancellor may waive/reduce for a sole-heir administrator or all competent heirs' sworn petition. Will-annexed appointee takes its statutory oath and full-estate bond (§§ 91-7-41, -67) |
| Missouri verified 2026-08-09 | One in-rem estate-administration proceeding in the probate division of circuit court; application selects supervised or independent administration. Court may refuse full letters in § 473.090's no-remaining-estate or <=$15,000 creditor cases (§§ 472.020, 473.013, 473.017, 473.090) |
Probate division of circuit court; domicile county, then Missouri-property county with a realty-majority rule, then a county needed to protect a legal right. First-filed application controls competing venue (§§ 472.020, 473.010) |
A person entitled under § 473.110 may apply during the first 20 days after death; if none does, any interested person—including a claimant attaching the required debt-basis affidavit—may petition (§ 473.020.1) |
Testate: will nominee(s), then another qualified person if all fail. Intestate: spouse; distributee the court believes will best manage/preserve; then another person if no preferred person is suitable or a directed person fails to apply. Shared-priority nominees require concurrence (§§ 473.020.3, 473.110) |
Bars listed judges/clerks except close-family estates, under-18 or unsound persons, crime-disabled persons, habitual drunkards, listed foreign entities, and successor representatives. Qualified nonresident natural person/corporate fiduciary may serve but files a Missouri resident service-and-notice agent designation before letters (§§ 473.110.3, 473.117) |
Ordinary application: decedent identity/death/domicile; spouse, heirs, devisees, legatees, minors/disability and conservators; values and Missouri property; unavailable-will contents; executors; intestate nominee and priority facts; attorney; fiduciary undertaking; supervised/independent choice. Post-20-day petition has a shorter 3-item list (§§ 473.017, 473.020.2) |
Spouse or qualifying distributee may nominate a qualified person; a priority holder may renounce appointment or nomination by an appropriate writing filed with the court; shared-priority nonrenouncers must concur. Heirs/devisees may separately waive post-letters mailed notice in writing (§§ 473.033, 473.110.2(4)) |
Post-20-day interested-person petition gets a hearing within 15 days and court-directed notice to all interested persons; court may direct the entitled person to apply/qualify, appoint another on default, refuse letters, or dismiss. After letters, publish 4 weeks and mail listed heirs/devisees (§§ 473.020.3, 473.033) |
Probate division or clerk grants letters; default bond with sufficient security must be approved before duties. Will no-bond request, qualifying corporation, or good cause may avoid bond; deposited assets reduce it proportionally. Cited opening provisions add no separate representative oath (§§ 473.023, 473.157, 473.160) |
| Montana verified 2026-08-09 | Montana UPC unified personal-representative system; clerk-led informal appointment or judge-led formal appointment covers administrators and executors (§ 72-1-103) |
District court; first proceeding in county of Montana domicile, or for a nondomiciliary, any county containing decedent property; an informal case may be transferred after notice and a venue finding (§§ 72-1-103, 72-1-202, 72-3-112) |
A person interested in the estate may apply informally to the clerk or petition formally for a court order; the interested-person definition includes heirs, devisees, spouse, children, creditors, beneficiaries, priority holders, and representative fiduciaries (§§ 72-1-103, 72-3-105) |
Probated-will nominee; devisee surviving spouse; custodial parent of minor decedent; other devisees; surviving spouse; parent of adult decedent survived only by minor issue; other heirs; public administrator; creditor after 45 days (§ 72-3-502) |
Disqualified if under 18 or formally found unsuitable. Section 72-3-501 states no applicant-residency condition; for a nondomiciliary decedent, the domiciliary personal representative or nominee ordinarily has priority (§§ 72-3-501, 72-3-506) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; death, age, domicile, family/devisee data; venue; existing representatives; notice demands; timeliness; and intestacy no-will, priority, and prior/equal-right facts. Formal intestacy petition adopts those facts, requests findings on no will and heirs, and states whether supervision is sought (§§ 72-3-201-.204, 72-3-301) |
Priority classes (2)-(7) may nominate a qualified person; any priority holder may renounce appointment or nomination by an appropriate writing filed with the court. Unrenouncing equal-priority holders must concur, or the court may appoint any qualified person (§ 72-3-504) |
Informal: statutory notice only to demandants and unwaived prior/equal priority holders. Formal: hearing is fixed; listed family, will parties, representatives, demandants, and unknown/address-unknown interested persons receive notice or publication. A formal priority case stays informal appointment and resolves competing claims (§§ 72-3-221, 72-3-305, 72-3-307, 72-3-319) |
Appointment generally waits 120 hours after death; informal appointment establishes the office. Before letters, file acceptance and any required bond. Informal bond is ordinarily not required; formal bond is discretionary subject to will and demand rules. Powers begin on appointment and relate back for beneficial preappointment acts (§§ 72-3-225, 72-3-512-.514, 72-3-601) |
| Nebraska verified 2026-08-09 | Nebraska Probate Code unified personal-representative system; informal registrar appointment or formal court appointment covers intestate administrators and testate estates without an acting nominee (§§ 30-2403, 30-2405, 30-2420, 30-2438) |
County court; domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary any county containing property. An informal case may be transferred after notice if venue lies elsewhere (§§ 24-517(1), 30-2410) |
An interested person may apply to the registrar for informal appointment or petition the court for a formal order; filing eligibility does not itself confer appointment priority (§ 30-2405) |
Probated-will nominee; devisee spouse; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; creditor after 45 days. Objections and no-priority appointments require formal proceedings; creditor insolvency and majority-value heir/devisee exceptions apply (§ 30-2412) |
Must be 19+ and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings. No separate residency bar appears in the full qualification list; a domiciliary representative or nominee has priority subject to a conflicting Nebraska will nomination (§ 30-2412(f)-(g)) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; death, age, domicile, family and devisee facts; venue; existing appointments and notice demands; plus will facts or intestate no-will diligence, proposed appointee priority, and prior/equal claimants. Formal intestacy petition adopts those facts and states whether supervision is sought (§§ 30-2414, 30-2426) |
Adult priority holder may file a written renunciation or nominate a qualified person; nonrenouncing people sharing priority must concur. Conservator or qualifying guardian may exercise a protected person's nomination, objection, and majority-preference rights (§ 30-2412(c)-(d)) |
Informal route: preappointment notice to filed demandants, no automatic hearing, then 3 weekly appointment publications. Formal priority/qualification case: notice to interested successors, any existing representative, and priority claimants; ordinary hearing notice is 14 days by mail/personal delivery plus 3 weekly publications (§§ 30-2413, 30-2420, 30-2438, 30-2220) |
File a statement accepting office and any required bond before letters. Bond defaults on, subject to will/heir/devisee, guardian/conservator, adult, institutional-fiduciary, and summary-estate exceptions; letters begin administration (§§ 30-2403, 30-2444, 30-2446-.2448) |
| Nevada verified 2026-08-09 | NRS chapter 139 governs ordinary intestate administrators; when every will nominee is disqualified, renounces, or fails to qualify, chapters 138 and 139 govern an administrator with the will annexed (§§ 138.020(2), 138.090, 139.010-.170) |
Nevada District Court. Jurisdiction exists for a Nevada resident decedent or any Nevada estate property; venue is initially proper in any Nevada District Court, subject to the § 136.010 convenience hierarchy and the first court's exclusive jurisdiction after a properly noticed hearing (NRS 136.010) |
The § 139.040 priority holders and nominees may seek letters; the hierarchy also reaches the public administrator, lifetime creditors, fourth-degree kindred, and another legally qualified good-cause petitioner. Any petitioner may receive letters if higher-priority persons fail to appear and claim them after due notice (§§ 139.040, .050, .080-.090) |
Spouse; children; grandchildren; other issue; parent; sibling; other distributing kindred; public administrator/designee; lifetime creditor; other unlisted kindred within fourth degree; qualified good-cause appointee. Minor/incapacitated heir's custodial parent, guardian, or equivalent fiduciary may take that priority; without a spouse, the court may favor equal/larger-interest heirs or appoint an independent representative; equal-priority selection is discretionary (§§ 139.040, .070) |
Barred: minor; felony conviction unless court excuses it; conflict, drunkenness, improvidence, lack of integrity/understanding, or other compelling reason. A nonresident person or unauthorized bank ordinarily needs a Nevada resident or authorized-bank coadministrator; a will nominee in a pending probate may receive a discretionary exception (§ 139.010) |
Signed written petition: jurisdiction; known heirs, addresses, relationships, and minor ages; estate character/value; proposed administrators and any coadministrator addresses; and felony history. A catch-all good-cause applicant also needs heir-search due-diligence evidence, including an heir-finder report and certified-mail proof to identified potential heirs, plus a qualification statement (§§ 139.040(1)(k), 139.090) |
A priority holder may file a written request for one or more qualified persons; the request supplies the current address and the requester receives hearing notice. A class member may nominate a Nevada resident or qualified bank, whose priority equals the nominator's. For a will-annexed case, named executors' disqualification, renunciation, or failure to qualify triggers that route (§§ 138.020(2), 139.040(4)(b), 139.050) |
Clerk sets hearing; heirs and the Human Services Director receive notice, and an outsider petition also notices the public administrator. Known recipients ordinarily get mail/personal notice at least 10 days before hearing, with 3-date public notice. An interested person may oppose qualification or counterpetition for self/nominee; competing petitions are noticed and heard together (§§ 139.100-.120; 155.010, .020, .160) |
Before letters, the representative files an oath/affirmation. Bond is court-discretionary regardless of will terms, with unnecessary-bond and blocked-account options; ordinary amount is all personal property plus 1 year's real/personal income. A will bond waiver ordinarily does not carry to an administrator with will annexed unless expressly provided; after due qualification the letters form states the representative may act (§§ 138.090(2), 142.010, .020, .070; 143.800) |
| New Hampshire verified 2026-08-09 | RSA ch. 553 uses one broad administrator concept for both intestate administration and execution of a will; the official NHJB-2145-Pe petition separately identifies executor (will) and administrator (no will) |
Circuit Court Probate Division; county of the decedent's last New Hampshire residence, or for a nondomiciliary, any county containing estate property or a personal-representative/kin cause of action (RSA 490-F:3-.4; 547:8) |
The proposed executor or administrator files the statewide Petition for Estate Administration, NHJB-2145-Pe; filing the petition does not override the appointment order in RSA 553:2-.3 |
Named executor; surviving spouse or any next of kin, or their suitable nominee; a devisee or creditor; then any person the judge thinks proper. Earlier classes must renounce in writing or neglect to apply for 30 days before a later class is appointed (RSA 553:2-.3) |
Applicant must be at least 18 and not be deemed unsuitable. A nonresident has no appointment right from priority alone unless the judge finds other circumstances make appointment proper; once appointed, the nonresident must file a written appointment of a New Hampshire resident agent (RSA 21-B:1; 553:4-.5, :25) |
Verified NHJB-2145-Pe states petitioner identity, relationship, residence and requested role; decedent, death, residence and will status; prior fiduciary; beneficiaries or heirs; New Hampshire estate value; and route requested. A certified death record is required before appointment; an original will and codicils accompany a testate original filing |
A spouse or next of kin may nominate a suitable person; an earlier-priority person may renounce in writing, and written assent or waiver can dispense with otherwise-required citation and notice (RSA 553:2-.3; 550:13) |
The judge may appoint the entitled person or that person's nominee without notice. If notice is required, interested parties receive a citation or order to appear and be heard, ordinarily at least 12 days before the hearing; priority and suitability govern competing applicants (RSA 550:4-.8; 553:2-.5) |
Full administration defaults to judge-approved bond with sureties or acceptable security; estates of $25,000 or less use a personal bond without sureties, and the judge may waive bond/security. The petition is verified under penalty of perjury; the appointment order directs issuance of the certificate, sometimes only after a corporate surety bond is filed (RSA 553:13; NHJB-2145-Pe) |
| New Jersey verified 2026-08-09 | Title 3B general administration for intestacy; letters of administration with the will annexed are available when a will is probated without an acting executor (§§ 3B:10-2, 3B:3-17; R. 4:80-1(a)) |
Uncontested resident estate: Surrogate's Court in the decedent's domicile county; Superior Court also may grant will-annexed letters, and any surrogate dispute or doubt requires Superior Court direction (§§ 3B:2-5, 3B:3-17; R. 4:80-1(a)) |
Intestate spouse/domestic partner or heir may apply in the statutory order; if none accepts, another willing person may apply, and after 40 days without an heir claim any fit applicant may receive letters (§ 3B:10-2) |
Intestate: surviving spouse/domestic partner; then remaining heirs, one or more; then another willing person; after 40 days without an heir claim, any fit applicant. Will-annexed letters are authorized, with disputes resolved by Superior Court order (§§ 3B:10-2, 3B:2-5, 3B:3-17) |
Applicant must be of full age; the post-40-day catch-all requires a fit person. Rule 4:80-1 requires applicant residence, but § 3B:10-2 states no categorical nonresident bar; ordinary administration remains subject to bond (R. 4:80-1(a); §§ 3B:10-2, 3B:15-1) |
Sworn Rule 4:80-1 application states applicant residence; decedent identity, death, domicile, and any will date; spouse, heirs, next of kin, other persons entitled to letters, relationships/addresses, minor ages, and unknown-person explanation. Official packets also call for death proof, asset values, and renunciations (§ 3B:2-6; R. 4:80-1(a)) |
Adult persons with prior or equal right provide renunciation/consent; the official renunciation gives up the signer's administration right and requests another appointee. Silence is not treated as consent (§ 3B:10-2; official Surrogate materials) |
Routine uncontested surrogate processing uses prior/equal renunciations rather than an automatic hearing. Any dispute or doubt stops surrogate action until a Superior Court order directs the matter (§ 3B:2-5; official Surrogate materials) |
Administrator signs a sworn qualification and ordinarily posts court-approved bond based on estate value; exception for surviving-spouse administration when the entire estate is payable to that spouse. Appointment is not granted until required bond is received; issued short certificates evidence authority (§§ 3B:2-6, 3B:15-1; official Surrogate materials) |
| New Mexico verified 2026-08-09 | New Mexico Uniform Probate Code, NMSA 1978 ch. 45: informal appointment in probate or district court; formal appointment in district court after notice; same personal-representative system covers intestacy and testate estates (§§ 45-3-301, -307, -402, -414) |
First informal/formal testacy or appointment: domicile county; if not New Mexico domiciled, any county containing decedent property. Later proceedings follow the first venue; improper informal venue may transfer after petition and notice (§ 45-3-201) |
Informal applicant must be an interested person and seek a priority-entitled appointee; an interested person may file formal intestacy/appointment or priority/qualification proceedings (§§ 45-3-301, -308, -401, -414) |
Probated-will priority nominee; devisee spouse; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; after 45 days, any creditor. Formal objections may produce a majority-in-value acceptable appointee or another suitable person under statutory conditions (§ 45-3-203) |
Under age of majority or formally found unsuitable is unqualified. No general New Mexico-residency bar; domiciliary representative has priority except where the will names different New Mexico and domicile-state representatives (§ 45-3-203(F)-(G)) |
Verified informal application: interest; death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs, devisees and minor ages; nonresident venue; existing representatives; notice demands; timeliness; will status if relevant; proposed appointee name/address/priority; for intestacy, reasonable-diligence no-will statement and prior/equal priority holders. Formal petition adopts these facts (§§ 45-3-301, -402) |
Adult priority holder may file written renunciation; eligible priority holders, including a minor through an authorized representative, may file a signed nomination. Shared-priority holders who do not renounce must concur in the nominee or joint application (§ 45-3-203(C)-(D)) |
Informal appointment: advance notice only to demandants; no hearing, but court may decline and require formal route. Formal priority/qualification case: notice to interested successors, current representative, and all persons claiming priority; ordinary hearing notice is 14-day mail/service or 3 weekly publications for unknowns (§§ 45-1-401, 45-3-309, -310, -414) |
Before letters, file acceptance and required bond. Informal appointment usually has no bond; formal bond is discretionary, subject to will waiver and interested-person demand. If amount not fixed, floor is personal-estate value plus expected one-year real/personal income. Informal appointment fully establishes status and powers, subject to qualification (§§ 45-3-307, -601, -603, -604) |
| New York verified 2026-08-09 | SCPA Article 10 governs intestate administration; SCPA § 1418 separately governs administration c.t.a. when no executor or administrator with will annexed is qualified to act (§§ 1001-1005, 1418) |
Surrogate's Court; New York domiciliary's county of domicile. Nondomiciliary: county of New York property, later-arrived unadministered personal property, or wrongful-death defendant's domicile; first proper filing controls if several counties qualify (§§ 201, 205-206) |
Interested person, consent nominee, public administrator, county chief fiscal officer, creditor, or qualifying litigation claimant may seek letters for self or another. For c.t.a., any § 1402 probate petitioner may apply (§§ 1002, 1418) |
Intestate: spouse; children; grandchildren; either parent; siblings; other distributees, favoring largest share; then statutory fiduciary/consent routes, public administrator or chief fiscal officer, petitioner, or another person. C.t.a.: sole beneficiary, residuary beneficiaries, other interested persons, public administrator/treasurer, petitioner, then court designee (§§ 1001, 1418) |
Ineligible: infant, incompetent, restricted non-domiciliary noncitizen, or person unfit through substance abuse, dishonesty, improvidence, want of understanding, or otherwise. Court may bar English illiteracy or a felony adverse to estate welfare; authorized entities may serve (§ 707) |
Verified §§ 303-304 and 1002 petition plus statewide A-1 packet: parties, jurisdiction, citizenship, intestacy/no-will search, assets and 18-month rents, distributees/disabilities, debts, prior proceedings, relief, death certificate, and applicable schedules; c.t.a. begins through the will-probate proceeding |
Prior/equal claimant may renounce and waive process by acknowledged filed instrument. Intestate nomination generally needs acknowledged filed consent of all eligible distributees—or all distributees if none eligible—with disability representatives allowed; c.t.a. uses parallel beneficiary-consent rules (§§ 1001(6)-(7), 1003(3), 1418(6)-(7)) |
Serve every unrenounced eligible person with prior/equal right; added disability parties apply to creditor/litigation petitions, with statutory dispensation routes. Returned due process and no objection permit decree; court may require mailed notice to other distributees, and a § 709 qualification objection may stay letters (§§ 709, 1003-1005) |
Before letters: acknowledged domicile/clerk-service designation, official oath unless exempt, and required bond. Administrator bond is default; court may waive/reduce for whole-estate appointee or qualifying interested-person consents. Amount starts with personal property + 18-month rents + probable litigation recovery; letters conclusively evidence authority (§§ 703, 708, 801, 805) |
| North Carolina verified 2026-08-09 | Chapter 28A uses letters of administration for intestacy and, when no will nominee or authorized substitute qualifies, administration under the same priority order; § 28A-8-1 separately recognizes an administrator with the will annexed (§§ 28A-4-1, 28A-8-1) |
Clerk of superior court, ex officio judge of probate; domicile county, then a county containing property with first-filed priority, or any county for the specified nonresident-motorist case (§§ 28A-2-1, 28A-2-4, 28A-3-1) |
A qualified person claiming entitlement under § 28A-4-1 may apply; applicant or attorney signs the sworn application, and an interested person may petition to disqualify or contest (§§ 28A-4-1(c), 28A-6-1, 28A-6-4) |
Spouse; devisee; heir; next of kin by closer kinship; predeath creditor; good-character county resident; other qualified good-character person. Clerk may vary for estate's best interests; equal applicants may be compared or appointed together (§ 28A-4-1) |
Bars under-18, current adjudged incompetence, unrestored felony, unauthorized corporation, Chapter 31A rights loss, illiteracy, unsuitability, renunciation, and listed property-finder conflicts; nonresident must file a resident process agent (§ 28A-4-2) |
Sworn § 28A-6-1 application: death/domicile, applicant address, heirs/devisees/guardians, entitlement/renunciations/qualification, and property nature/value/location, plus nonresident-estate facts. AOC-E-202 adds venue, no-other-proceeding, interpreter, heir, and preliminary-inventory fields (§ 28A-6-1; AOC-E-202) |
Express renunciation is signed and acknowledged/proved; after 30 days a noticed or petitioned priority holder gets 20 days to qualify, seek more time, or be deemed to renounce, and after 90 days clerk may deem all prior rights renounced. Express renouncer may nominate a qualified substitute with the same priority (§ 28A-5-2) |
Letters generally issue without notice; nonpriority applicant gives equal-or-higher preferences 15 days' written notice unless they renounced, and clerk may require more notice. Interested-person contest before letters triggers hearing (§§ 28A-6-2, 28A-6-4) |
Oath and bond precede letters. Bond default has trust-institution, all-property recipient, resident-intestate/all-adult-heir written-waiver, and resident-c.t.a./all-adult-devisee written-waiver routes; current formula is generally 1.25x personalty with corporate surety or 2x with other security (§§ 28A-6-1, 28A-7-1, 28A-8-1 to -2) |
| North Dakota verified 2026-08-09 | Unified personal-representative system for testate or intestate estates: verified informal application or formal appointment after notice and hearing (N.D.C.C. §§ 30.1-01-06, 30.1-14-01, 30.1-15-02) |
District court in domicile county; for a nondomiciliary, any county containing property; first-filed court controls, subject to transfer (§§ 30.1-02-02 to -03, 30.1-13-01) |
Interested person, including heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, estate claimants, appointment-priority holders, and representative fiduciaries, as the matter requires (§§ 30.1-01-06(27), 30.1-12-05, 30.1-14-08) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse-devisee; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; decedent's guardian/conservator; trust company; after 45 days, any creditor, with formal objection exceptions (§ 30.1-13-03) |
Must be 18 or older and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings; no individual-residency bar stated, and the domiciliary representative generally has priority (§ 30.1-13-03(6)-(7)) |
Verified informal application states applicant interest; decedent/death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs/devisees and minor ages; venue, existing representatives, notice demands, timing, will status, nominee, priority, and equal/higher claimants; formal intestacy petition adopts these and requests heir/intestacy findings. Court supplies state-prepared informal forms on request (§§ 30.1-14-01 to -01.1, 30.1-15-02) |
Spouse-devisee through heir tiers may nominate; any person may renounce by filed writing; shared-priority holders who do not renounce must concur; conservator or qualifying guardian may act for a protected person (§ 30.1-13-03(3)-(4)) |
Informal: notice to demandants and unwaived equal/higher-priority persons, with no other notice; formal: notice and hearing, including successors, current representative, and priority claimants, generally 14-day mail/delivery or 3 weekly publications for unknowns (§§ 30.1-03-01, 30.1-14-10, 30.1-15-14) |
Verified application; acceptance and any required bond before letters; informal bond only for stated exceptions, while formal bond depends on will, demand, and court order; administration starts with letters, due within 10 working days after informal requirements are met (§§ 30.1-12-03, 30.1-14-07, 30.1-17-01 to -05) |
| Ohio verified 2026-08-09 | R.C. chs. 2109 and 2113 use separate intestate letters of administration and letters of administration with the will annexed when no executor can act (§§ 2113.05-.07) |
Probate court in decedent's county of residence for a resident intestate; for a testate estate, the probate court that admitted the will grants testamentary or administration letters (§ 2113.01) |
The proposed executor or administrator applies for appointment on statewide Form 4.0; a noticed priority holder who wants consideration must file an application (§ 2113.07; Civ.R. 73.2; Form 4.4) |
Intestate: resident spouse, then resident next of kin; if none, unsuitable, or they neglect to apply within reasonable time, a suitable Ohio resident, including a creditor, may serve. C.t.a.: suitable devisee/legatee who would have intestate priority unless will says otherwise, then another suitable person (§§ 2113.05-.06) |
Administrator, de bonis non administrator, and administrator with will annexed must reside in Ohio; minors cannot exercise their otherwise-priority right, and the court finds the appointee suitable and competent. Form 4.0 recognizes an Ohio-qualified trust company (§§ 2109.21, 2113.05-.07; Form 4.5) |
Form 4.0: death date, domicile, requested office, will status, attached spouse/children/next-of-kin/legatee/devisee list, estate and rental values, applicant-estate debts, bond route, and written acceptance; intestacy also requires no-known-will statement (§ 2113.07; Form 4.0) |
Equal-or-higher priority persons may sign the statewide written waiver; without waiver they receive notice to take or renounce, and Form 4.4 says failure to apply is treated as renunciation. No general heir-nomination route appears (§§ 2113.06-.07; Forms 4.0, 4.3-.4) |
If priority holders fail to take or voluntarily renounce, court sets hearing and serves unwaived equal-or-higher claimants; minors who would have priority but for age also receive Civil Rules notice. Claimant must apply to be considered (§§ 2113.06-.07; Forms 4.0, 4.4) |
Written acceptance precedes letters. Default bond is court-set, at least 2x personal property plus annual real-property rentals, with will/court and sole-beneficiary statutory routes; Form 4.5 appointment entry itself is letters, and ordinary preletters acts are invalid (§§ 2109.02, 2109.04, 2109.07; Forms 4.0, 4.5) |
| Oklahoma verified 2026-08-09 | Separate Oklahoma offices and letters: executor; intestate administrator; and administrator with will annexed when the executor is incompetent, renounces, does not apply, or does not qualify (58 O.S. §§ 103-104, 121-130) |
District court. Oklahoma resident: residence county. Nonresident: first death county if estate there; then county holding estate property; then death county if no Oklahoma estate. If property spans counties under the nonresident rule, first application controls (58 O.S. §§ 1, 5-6) |
For intestacy, the priority statute ends with any legally competent person, so a qualifying person may seek letters subject to higher rights; creditor is an express class. A person interested in a will may file written executor objections together with a will-annexed petition (§§ 104, 122, 127) |
Surviving spouse or spouse's requested competent person; children; father or mother; siblings; grandchildren; next of kin entitled to distribution; creditors; any legally competent person. Surviving partner is barred. Whole blood wins an equal tie; court chooses one or more equal candidates and may bypass a creditor at another creditor's request (§§ 122-124) |
Barred at appointment: under age of majority; crime that makes the court find the person unfit for fiduciary duties; or court-found incompetence from drunkenness, improvidence, or want of understanding or integrity. Surviving business partner cannot serve. Nonresident must appoint in writing a resident agent in the appointment county and consent to equivalent process service before acting (§§ 122, 126, 162) |
Written petition signed by applicant or counsel: jurisdiction facts; known heirs' names, ages, and residences; and estate value and character. Section 127 does not require petition verification, notarization, a death-record attachment, SSN, creditor list, or will-search recital (§ 127) |
Spouse may request a competent appointee. If the applicant has prior right, or the petition includes waivers from every person with a prior appointment right, opening notice is omitted and the court hears without delay. Silence is not a waiver (§§ 122, 128(D)) |
Judge sets hearing. Mail known heirs at least 10 days before; if any heir name/address is unknown, also publish once at least 10 days before. No notice for prior-right applicant or complete higher-priority waivers, but court still hears. Interested person may oppose for incompetency or assert own appointment right within 30 days after appointment, with 5-day mailed contest notice; court orders letters to best-entitled party (§§ 128-130) |
Before letters, administrator takes subscribed oath before an authorized officer. Default bond to Oklahoma with 2+ sufficient sureties; court sets penalty after oath examination concerning personalty, annual realty rents, and circumstances, but may order no bond if unnecessary. Nonresident agent filing precedes duties. Letters follow hearing/order, oath, and any required bond (§§ 161-162, 171) |
| Oregon verified 2026-08-09 | Unified Oregon personal-representative system covering executor, administrator, administrator with will annexed, and administrator de bonis non; special administrators remain separate (§ 111.005(26)) |
County court in Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman, and Wheeler Counties; circuit court elsewhere. Venue may lie at domicile or abode, property location, death county, or a county where a qualifying injury/death claim could be maintained; wrong county is not jurisdictional (§§ 111.075, 113.015-.025) |
Any interested person with an estate property right or claim that may be affected, or the person nominated as personal representative in the will (§§ 111.005(19), 113.035) |
Will-named representative; distributee surviving spouse or spouse's nominee; intestate taker who is a distributee; other distributee; specified DHS/OHA director or approved attorney; Veterans' Affairs in the protected-person route; any other person. State Treasurer ordinarily must serve if wholly intestate with no known heirs (§ 113.085) |
Court must find the candidate qualified and suitable. Bars: incapacity/financial incapability, minority, specified Oregon-lawyer discipline/resignation, and funeral practitioner except listed relationships. Felony nominee must disclose; conviction disqualifies only on the statutory unfaithfulness/neglect finding. No special nonresident agent or cofiduciary rule; acceptance submits resident or nonresident personally to probate-court jurisdiction (§§ 113.087, .092, .095) |
Written petition with perjury declaration: identity, age, domicile/address and death details; testate/intestate status; venue; proposed representative and qualification; heirs and search/omissions; devisees and failed devises; asserted will/contract and parental-desertion interests; original will status and lost-will facts; estate nature/extent for bond; and no-asset or wrongful-death purpose facts when applicable (§§ 111.205, 113.035) |
Will nomination and a distributee spouse's nomination receive express priority. Chapter 113 states no majority-heir selection rule or special renunciation form. A competent adult, guardian, guardian ad litem, conservator, or attorney may waive required notice by filed writing or appearance (§§ 111.225, 113.085) |
No automatic preappointment hearing: court may rule without one and a probate commissioner may act on an uncontested petition. Court may require a reasonable attempt to notify higher-priority candidates; formal required notice generally precedes an objection deadline/hearing by 15 days. Commissioner order may be challenged within 30 days. After appointment, mail/deliver statutory information to listed heirs, devisees, and specified interested persons and file proof within 30 days (§§ 111.095, .185, .215, 113.085, .145) |
Default court-set surety bond based on assets, income, debts, and taxes. Exceptions include will waiver, sole heir/devisee, listed public representatives, and no known assets; court may waive on a reasoned creditor-disclosure request or reduce for restricted assets. No separate fiduciary oath is stated; the opening petition carries a perjury declaration. Letters issue after filing any required bond and reflect court limitations (§§ 111.205, 113.105, .125) |
| Pennsylvania verified 2026-08-09 | 20 Pa.C.S. ch. 31 grant-of-letters system before Register of Wills; ordinary letters of administration for intestacy and letters of administration c.t.a. when a will exists but no executor qualifies (§§ 901, 3155, 3158) |
Register of Wills in county of decedent's last family or principal residence; nondomiciliary may use any county containing estate property, and the first grant is exclusive statewide (§§ 901, 3151) |
RW-02 permits one or more adult petitioners to apply for administration or c.t.a.; the sworn petition must establish entitlement, but § 3155—not filing alone—controls who receives letters (§ 3153; Form RW-02) |
Except for good cause: residuary takers under will; surviving spouse; intestate takers selected by register with preference by share size; principal creditors; other fit persons; renouncer's nominee; guardianship support agency; redevelopment authority. Lower creditor/fit/authority classes ordinarily wait 30 days (§ 3155) |
Barred if under 18, unauthorized corporation, unfit unless will-named executor, specified foreign-country interest nominee, or charged with covered homicide/manslaughter tied to death. Register may refuse any nonresident administrator (§§ 3155(d), 3156-3157) |
Sworn § 3153 / RW-02 petition: decedent identity, age, domicile/residence, death, property values and Pennsylvania locations, proposed representatives, entitlement facts, will/c.t.a. status or no-will search, spouse/heirs, relevant circumstances, petitioners' addresses, and administration oath |
A priority holder may renounce; register may prefer that person's nominee over later classes. RW-06 records capacity, express renunciation, requested appointee, signature, and register-office oath or out-of-office acknowledgment. Classes (4), (5), and (8) may receive letters before day 30 only with consent of classes (1)-(3) (§ 3155(b)(6), (c); Form RW-06) |
No general pregrant notice/hearing in cited scheme. A caveat delays letters beyond 10 days only with $500-$5,000 bond unless extended; register may certify a letters dispute to court, and an aggrieved interested party may appeal the decree (§§ 906-908) |
Before letters: faithful-administration oath and default surety bond set by personal-estate value. No bond for listed corporations or qualifying resident sole residuary taker/next of kin or all-adult nominee unless will/court requires it. Letters granted in proper nondomiciliary county are exclusive statewide (§§ 3151, 3161, 3171, 3174) |
| Rhode Island verified 2026-08-09 | Separate administrator for intestacy; suitable administrator with will annexed if no named executor qualifies (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-8-4, 33-8-8) |
City or town probate court of decedent's residence; for a nonresident, where Rhode Island property is located, with first filing controlling (R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-11) |
Spouse or next of kin initially; after 30 days, a party in interest may petition for any suitable person if priority holders did not apply, renounced, or were unsuitable (§ 33-8-8) |
Surviving spouse and/or one or more next of kin, with no order stated within that class; then any suitable person on an interested party's petition after the statutory fallback (§ 33-8-8) |
Appointee must be suitable and competent; a nonresident has no right to appointment unless the court finds other circumstances make it proper (§§ 33-8-7, 33-8-8) |
Written, signed, and under oath; petitioner, domicile/jurisdiction, spouse and heirs, disability details, and will beneficiaries if applicable; official PC-1.1 also asks death, estate estimate, nominee, and relationships (§§ 33-22-1, 33-22-2) |
Spouse/next of kin may renounce administration; all interested parties may waive notice and assent in writing; PC-1.1 permits a requested nominee and co-nominee (§§ 33-8-8, 33-22-5) |
Publication plus prepaid mail at least 10 days before hearing, or 3 weeks for an address outside the continental U.S.; file mailing affidavit and notice copy; unanimous written waiver permits hearing without publication or further notice (§§ 33-22-3, 33-22-5) |
Court-set bond before acting; spouse or sole heir needs no surety, and another heir may obtain a discretionary surety waiver; failure to file approved bond within 30 days may count as declining (§§ 33-17-1, 33-17-1.2, 33-17-5, 33-17-7) |
| South Carolina verified 2026-08-09 | South Carolina Probate Code; one personal-representative office includes executor and administrator. Informal appointment uses an application outside circuit-court civil rules; formal appointment uses served summons and petition under those rules (§ 62-1-201(1), (17), (22), (33)-(34); §§ 62-3-301, -401) |
Probate court has exclusive original estate jurisdiction; qualifying formal appointment matters may be removed to circuit court de novo. Venue is domicile county, then any county containing decedent property; an informal case may transfer (§§ 62-1-302(d)(1), 62-3-201) |
Informal applicant must appear to be an interested person. An interested person commences formal testacy by serving summons and petition, and the intestacy petition may request appointment (§§ 62-1-201(23), 62-3-308(a)(3), 62-3-401-.402) |
Probated-will priority; devisee spouse; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; qualifying creditor after 45 days; DOR-requested suitable person after 4 months. Priority holder may nominate another, but a testator nominee ranks higher; formal objection permits statutory creditor or majority-value/suitable-person alternatives (§ 62-3-203(a)-(b)) |
Must be 18+ and suitable. For a South Carolina domiciliary, listed out-of-state/foreign corporations without South Carolina business and their representatives acting for them are barred; probate judges have a narrow family exception with transfer. No general nonresident-individual bar; domiciliary representative has priority (§ 62-3-203(e)-(f)) |
Verified informal filing states applicant interest; decedent name/death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs, devisees/minors; venue, existing representatives, notice demands, 10-year timeliness; and testate or intestate appointment facts, proposed appointee identity/address/priority, and prior/equal rights. Formal intestacy petition adopts those facts, seeks intestacy/heir findings, and states whether Part 5 administration is requested (§§ 62-3-108, 62-3-301, 62-3-402(b)) |
A priority holder may nominate another unless the will shows contrary intent. Equal/higher holders may file written renunciations naming the same nominee; guardians, conservators, and custodial parents may exercise protected-person rights. Equal-priority notice gives 30 days to object, nominate, or file a competing application/petition; notice waiver is signed and filed (§§ 62-1-402, 62-3-203(a)(8), (c)-(d), 62-3-310) |
Informal: written notice to each unwaived equal-priority person, with a 30-day response window; contest makes court decline the application. Formal: summons and petition served on spouse, children, heirs, devisees, named/existing representatives; hearing notice generally 20 days. Priority disputes stay informal appointment and are adjudicated after service. PR gives heirs/devisees appointment information within 30 days (§§ 62-1-401, 62-3-310, 62-3-403, 62-3-414, 62-3-705) |
Before letters, file required bond and acceptance statement; no oath provision appears in § 62-3-601. Bond exceptions cover unanimous heirs/devisees, sole heir/devisee, qualifying institutions, and will-named representatives, plus a separate under-$20,000 affidavit/written-agreement route; court demand starts above $5,000. Powers commence on appointment and relate back for beneficial acts (§§ 62-3-601, -603 to -605, -701) |
| South Dakota verified 2026-08-09 | Unified personal-representative system for testate or intestate estates: informal appointment by clerk or formal appointment by circuit court (SDCL §§ 29A-1-201, 29A-3-301, 29A-3-401) |
Circuit court/clerk in domicile county; for a nondomiciliary, any county containing property; first proper court controls, subject to transfer (§§ 29A-1-201, 29A-1-303, 29A-3-201) |
Interested person, including an heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, beneficiary, appointment-priority holder, or qualifying fiduciary, as the matter requires (§§ 29A-1-201(23), 29A-3-308, 29A-3-401) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse-devisee; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; after 45 days, any other qualified person, with formal objection exceptions (§ 29A-3-203) |
Must be 18 or older, not found unsuitable in formal proceedings, and, if a bank/trust company, authorized in South Dakota; no individual-residency bar stated, and the domiciliary representative generally has priority (§ 29A-3-203(f)-(g)) |
Verified informal application gives applicant interest; decedent, domicile, death, heirs/devisees and minor ages; venue, existing representatives, notice demands, timing, will status, nominee, address, priority, and equal/higher claimants; formal intestacy petition adopts these and requests heir/intestacy findings (§§ 29A-3-301, 29A-3-402) |
Priority holders may nominate a qualified person or renounce by filed writing; shared-priority holders who do not renounce must concur for informal nomination/application; guardian or conservator may exercise a protected person's rights (§ 29A-3-203(c)-(d)) |
Informal: statutory notice to demandants and unwaived equal/higher-priority persons, with no other notice; formal: notice and hearing, including priority claimants, generally 14-day mail/delivery or 3 weekly publications for unknowns (§§ 29A-1-401, 29A-3-310, 29A-3-401, 29A-3-414) |
Verified informal application; acceptance of office and any court-required bond before letters; bond only if court finds it in the estate's best interests; administration starts when letters issue (§§ 29A-3-103, 29A-3-308, 29A-3-601 to -603) |
| Tennessee verified 2026-08-09 | Separate letters of administration and letters testamentary; an administrator with will annexed has the executor's will-given powers (§§ 30-1-101, 30-1-115) |
County probate court; resident intestate's usual-residence county (either county if two fixed residences). Local acts may place probate jurisdiction in a named probate court; otherwise chancery court has it. Nonresident-estate fallbacks include local assets, debtors, and estate litigation (§§ 30-1-102, -103; 16-16-201) |
The petition statute states no separate filer class; ordinary intestate appointment claims are spouse, next of kin, then a creditor who proves the debt by oath (§§ 30-1-106, -117) |
Intestate: applying spouse; if none, applying next of kin; if neither applies, sworn-debt creditor. Court chooses among multiple next of kin. No separate statutory administrator-with-will-annexed priority appears in these opening sections (§§ 30-1-106, -115) |
Petition states proposed representative's age, convictions, and penitentiary sentence; a penitentiary sentence ends the right to serve. A nonresident individual may serve but must appoint the Secretary of State for process; intestate nonresident generally must bond unless all heirs join the authorizing petition (§§ 30-1-111, -116; 35-50-107; 40-20-115) |
Verified 11-item petition: petitioner; death/residence; heirs; intestacy or will/witness facts; offered document or copy; devisees/legatees and disability; estate value; inventory/accounting waiver; no-known-revocation statement; proposed representative's identity/age/relationship/criminal history; and ongoing-business interests (§ 30-1-117; 2022 Pub. Ch. 912) |
Priority depends on application: if the spouse does not apply, next of kin may; § 30-1-106 creates no majority-selection or nomination route. All adult, capable beneficiaries may jointly seek a no-bond appointment by filed sworn/perjury statement, subject to court approval (§§ 30-1-106, -201) |
No notice is required for the ordinary probate proceeding; solemn-form probate requires due notice to all interested persons. The probate court resolves competing applications among multiple next of kin (§§ 30-1-106, -117(b)) |
Before delivery of letters: administrator's faithful-duty and petition-accuracy/qualification oaths, plus bond unless a statutory exception applies. Required bond uses 2+ sufficient sureties or 1 corporate surety and ranges from estate value to double; authority requires letters (§§ 30-1-101, -111, -201) |
| Texas verified 2026-08-09 | Texas Estates Code ordinary court-supervised administration; letters of administration cover intestacy and administration with the will annexed, while unanimous distributee agreement may support independent administration (§§ 306.002, 401.002-.003) |
Court exercising original probate jurisdiction: county court, qualifying county court at law, or statutory probate court depending on county. Venue starts in the Texas residence county; nondomiciliary fallbacks and first-filed concurrent venue apply (§§ 32.001-.002, 33.001, 33.052) |
A named executor, authorized will designee, unanimously designated independent administrator, or any interested person may apply; an interested person includes an heir, devisee, spouse, creditor, or other estate claimant (§§ 22.018, 301.051) |
Named executor; authorized will designee; surviving spouse; principal devisee; any devisee; next of kin nearest in descent; creditor; good-character county resident; any other qualified person; public probate administrator. Court chooses the more advantageous administrator or coappoints within a tie (§ 304.001) |
Barred if incapacitated, including a minor; an unpardoned felon; a nonresident without a filed Texas resident-agent appointment; an unauthorized corporation; or unsuitable. Narrow court-approved felony exception applies only to a named executor (§§ 22.016, 304.003) |
No-will § 301.052 application: applicant/decedent identifiers, death/intestacy, venue, property/value, heirs, child and divorce facts, necessity, and qualification. Will-annexed route uses the combined probate application and files the controlled will (§§ 256.051-.053, 301.052) |
Spouse, or heirs if no spouse, may renounce in open court or by authenticated power of attorney filed with the clerk in favor of a qualified person. A will-authorized designation must be written and acknowledged; independent administration generally requires all distributees' designation and consent (§§ 254.006, 304.002, 401.002-.004) |
Clerk issues posted citation to all interested parties; posting lasts at least 10 days and the court cannot act before service. Before grant, an interested person may file written opposition and seek letters for self or another; the court tries the contest and selects the best-entitled person (§§ 51.053, 301.101, 303.001-.002) |
Administrator files an oath or declaration and ordinarily a court-approved bond within the 21-day qualification period. Bond generally equals personal-property value plus anticipated 12-month revenue, subject to adjustments; clerk promptly issues letters after qualification, and letters evidence appointment and qualification (§§ 305.002-.004, 305.052, 305.101, 305.151-.153, 306.003-.007) |
| Utah verified 2026-08-09 | Utah's unified personal-representative system uses informal registrar appointment or formal court appointment for intestate and testate estates; administration begins with issuance of letters (§§ 75-3-103, 75-3-105, 75-3-106) |
Utah District Court; domicile county, or for a nondomiciliary any county holding property at death. An interested person may obtain transfer of an improperly venued first informal case (§§ 75-3-201; 78A-5-101 to -102) |
An interested person may apply informally or petition formally; the term includes heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, estate claimants, appointment-priority holders, and their fiduciary representatives (§§ 75-1-201(28), 75-3-105) |
Probated-will nominee; spouse who is a devisee; other devisees; surviving spouse; other heirs; creditor after 45 days. Objection may produce creditor-selected, majority-value-selected, or other suitable appointee in formal court (§ 75-3-203(1)-(2)) |
Appointee must be 21+ and not found unsuitable in formal proceedings. No general nonresident bar appears; domiciliary foreign representative has priority, and a nondomiciliary decedent can trigger a 30-day informal-order delay unless a statutory exception applies (§§ 75-3-203(6)-(7), 75-3-307(1)) |
Verified informal application: applicant interest; death/age/domicile; spouse, children, heirs, devisees and minors; venue; existing representatives; notice demands; no-unrevoked-will basis; nominee, priority and equal/prior claimants; bond and estimates if required. Formal petition adopts those facts and requests intestacy/heir findings (§§ 75-3-301, 75-3-402(3)) |
A priority holder or an otherwise-entitled person age 18+ may nominate a qualified person; an adult may renounce by filed writing. Shared-priority applicants must concur informally, but one or more may act formally after notice to the rest (§ 75-3-203(3)-(4)) |
Informal: moving party notices demandants and unwaived equal/higher-priority persons; clerk notices unwaiving heirs/devisees; appointment follows 10 days, or 120 hours after death if all waive. Formal: 10-day statutory notice and hearing; a priority/qualification petition stays informal appointment (§§ 75-1-401 to -402, 75-3-307, -310, -414) |
Before letters, appointee files acceptance and any required bond. No bond by default except an express will term, preappointment interested-party request, later qualifying demand/court order, or special-administrator exception; amount is estimated estate plus next-year income less secured claims (§§ 75-3-103, 75-3-601, -603 to -605) |
| Vermont verified 2026-08-09 | Separate administrator for intestacy or when no executor is named; named executor receives letters after will allowance, acceptance, and bond (14 V.S.A. §§ 902-903; Form 700-00001) |
Probate Division of Superior Court in county/unit where decedent lived at death; a nonresident principal administration remains in Vermont only through court discretion (§ 904; Judiciary Estates and Wills page) |
Any interested person may petition the Probate Division to open the estate; priority to receive letters is a separate question (Judiciary Estates and Wills page) |
Surviving spouse or next of kin, jointly or separately, or their nominee; then competent, willing principal creditors after unsuitability or reasonable-period inaction; then another person in court discretion (§ 903) |
Priority holder or nominee must be suitable; creditor must be competent and willing; nonresident appointment is discretionary and requires filed resident-agent appointment/acceptance; minor named executor cannot receive letters while under age (§§ 903-904, 910) |
Form 700-00001 gives decedent residence/death, realty/personalty/total estimates, will status, proposed executor/administrator and contacts, nominee status, acceptance, spouse/heir consents, and perjury declaration; attach certified death certificate, interested-person list, and original will/codicils if any |
Spouse or next of kin may nominate another person; Form 700-00001 lets surviving spouse and all heirs consent to opening and appointment and waive objections/hearing; named executor may file refusal form (§ 903; Form 700-00001; Judiciary guidance) |
Court may hold hearing; complete spouse/heir consents waive hearing on the petition, while absent consents the testate allowance route schedules a hearing and Probate Rules notice; court chooses among suitable priority candidates (§ 107; Form 700-00001; Judiciary guidance) |
Acceptance plus court-set bond before letters; bond mandatory, sureties discretionary, and interested parties may request surety waiver but judge decides; refusal or 20-day failure to bond can displace a named executor (§§ 902, 906, 909) |
| Virginia verified 2026-08-09 | Va. Code Title 64.2 ch. 5 separates administration with the will annexed (§ 64.2-500) from intestate administration (§ 64.2-502); the circuit-court clerk may appoint and qualify with the same effect as the court (§ 64.2-444) |
Circuit court or clerk; known Virginia residence, then locality containing devised/owned real estate, then place of death or locality containing estate. Prior residence is rebuttably presumed for specified institutional patients (§§ 64.2-443, -444) |
Will-annexed: residual/substantial legatee or designee, then intestate-priority person after 30 days. Intestate: distributee/designee; after 45 days qualifying former nonprofit conservator/guardian; after 60 days creditor or any other person (§§ 64.2-500, -502; Form CC-1650) |
Will-annexed: residual/substantial legatee or designee; after 30 days, person entitled under intestate order. Intestate: first 30 days sole distributee/designee or distributee/designee with all competent-distributee waivers; after 30 days first distributee/designee; after 45 days qualifying nonprofit; after 60 days creditors/others. Court may depart for estate's best interests (§§ 64.2-500, -502) |
Must be suitable and competent and not under § 8.01-2 disability; specified fraud/property-related felony convictions bar intestate appointment except possible sole-distributee relief; objected-to barred spouse/parent cannot serve. Nonresident may serve with written service consent and usually surety unless resident cofiduciary or waiver (§§ 64.2-500, -502, -1426) |
Clerk-supplied Form CC-1650 records decedent/death/residence/will facts, requested action, requester basis, proposed appointee/contact information, estate-value indicator, and disability/felony/bankruptcy/attorney disclosures. Qualification also requires sworn Form CC-1611 heir names, addresses, relationships, and ages (§§ 64.2-509, -1409) |
During first 30 days, a nonsolo distributee or designee needs written waivers from every other competent distributee; sole and other distributees may designate another. Filed disclaimers may make the representative the only distributee/beneficiary for no-security treatment (§§ 64.2-500, -502, -505) |
Competing distributees who timely notify intent receive an opportunity to be heard. After-45/60-day nonprofit, creditor, or other applicant certifies diligent search and 30-day certified-mail notice to any sole distributee. Appointment order may be appealed within 6 months for de novo hearing; postqualification notice goes within 30 days (§§ 64.2-502, -502.1, -508) |
Required oath plus bond before appointment; bond normally covers personal estate and authorized real-estate value/rents. Security is omitted when all distributees/beneficiaries are representatives or will waives nominated executor security, subject to interested-person motion. Certificate of qualification has same effect as formal letters (§§ 64.2-500, -501, -503 to -506) |
| Washington verified 2026-08-09 | RCW ch. 11.28 governs ordinary letters of administration; if all will nominees decline or cannot serve, letters with the will annexed go under the same priority used for intestacy (§§ 11.28.010, .120, .131) |
Superior court. Ordinary petitioner may select any Washington county; a 90-day catch-all petition must use the decedent's residence county or, for a nonresident, an estate-asset county. Venue can be moved without invalidating prior acts (§§ 11.96A.040, .050) |
An applicant claiming entitlement under § 11.28.120 files the appointment petition; the spouse or domestic partner may request another appointee. The hierarchy later opens to qualifying fiduciaries, beneficiaries/transferees, agencies, creditors, and 60/90-day appointees (§§ 11.28.110, .120) |
Spouse/registered domestic partner or requested person; children; parents; siblings; grandchildren; nephews/nieces; qualifying fiduciary controlling substantially all assets; beneficiaries/transferees; revenue or social-services officials for covered estates; principal creditors. After >60 days a qualifying public-guardianship contractor/GAL may serve; after >90 days any suitable person may serve (§ 11.28.120) |
Bars include most entities, minors, unsound mind, recent cause revocation, recent dishonesty/theft/fiduciary-breach findings, felony or moral-turpitude conviction, and specified 90-day-appointee asset conflicts. A nonresident appoints a county resident or estate attorney for service and posts bond unless waived (§ 11.36.010) |
Written, signed, oath-verified intestacy petition: jurisdiction, no-will basis, heirs' names/ages/addresses and search, major probate assets and search, entitlement, and no disqualification. Spouse/partner and next-of-kin applicants may omit the asset description but not the search (§ 11.28.110) |
Spouse/partner may request another appointee and has a special community-property right; failure to apply within 40 days waives that community-property right. Earlier appointment on community property needs spouse/partner notice unless there is a filed written waiver; § 11.28.120 also recognizes waiver by entitled persons (§§ 11.28.030, .120, .131) |
Court may hear the petition and issue letters immediately, but a nonspouse/nonpartner applicant must give the survivor at least 10 days' hearing notice unless waived in writing. Within 20 days after appointment, notice goes to reasonably known heirs, will beneficiaries, and nonprobate beneficiaries/transferees (§§ 11.28.131, .237) |
Before letters, each representative files an oath and any required bond. Will waiver, certain sole-survivor estates, and bank/trust-company appointments avoid bond; otherwise court-directed bond applies unless waived, and most 90-day catch-all appointees must bond. Clerk-signed, sealed letters recite due qualification and authorize administration (§§ 11.28.140, .170, .185) |
| West Virginia verified 2026-08-09 | Separate executor, administrator with will annexed, and intestate-administrator routes. If no executor can act, will-annexed administration goes to the person who would have priority in intestacy (§§ 44-1-1 to -4) |
County commission, or clerk during recess. Ordinary county tracks the probate-of-will hierarchy: residence, devised realty, then death/property; out-of-state death uses a county containing devised or bequeathed property (§§ 41-5-4, 44-1-4) |
Intestate distributees may apply; after 30 days without a distributee application, creditors or any other fit person may receive administration. Will-annexed applicant is the person who would qualify under the intestate order (§§ 44-1-2, -4) |
Intestate/will-annexed: surviving spouse first; then other distributees as commission/clerk sees fit. After 30 days: creditor(s) or another fit person. After 2 months without a representative, sheriff acts on motion until another person qualifies (§§ 44-1-2, -4, -11) |
No detailed age/criminal list in the cited appointment sections; appointee must be fit. Nonresident individual may administer a resident decedent under § 44-1-4 but appoints clerk for service and generally needs WV-qualified corporate surety; out-of-state bank/corporation is barred (§ 44-5-3) |
No detailed statewide application-fact list in the ordinary appointment sections. At qualification, file an affidavit naming and, as far as possible, addressing heirs/distributees and will beneficiaries, with relationships; will-annexed route requires the admitted will and failed/absent executor basis (§§ 44-1-2, -13) |
No majority-heir nomination route stated. Named executor refusal, death, or required-bond failure opens will-annexed administration; an unrefusing distributee may later replace a creditor/other appointee after reasonable notice (§§ 44-1-2, -6) |
No general preappointment notice or automatic hearing stated for an uncontested clerk grant. Later administration notice creates a 60-days-from-first-publication or 30-days-from-service qualification/venue objection window; distributee displacement requires reasonable notice (§§ 44-1-6, -14a) |
Administrator takes statutory oath and gives bond; ordinary amount at least full personal estate plus authorized realty/rents. Sole distributee needs no surety but remains personally bound. Copy of appointment order is as effective as letters; clerk issues formal letters on request (§§ 44-1-6 to -8, -12) |
| Wisconsin verified 2026-08-09 | Formal administration uses ch. 856's court petition, hearing, and appointment. Informal administration under ch. 865 is a circuit-court proceeding without continuous court supervision, administered by the probate registrar; both testate and intestate estates qualify only on statutory conditions (§§ 856.11, 865.01-.03) |
Circuit court in the Wisconsin domicile county; if no Wisconsin domicile, any county containing decedent property, with exclusive jurisdiction in the court that first acts. Informal application goes to that court's probate registrar (§§ 856.01, 865.06) |
Will nominee or any interested person may petition formally; after 30 days, former guardian, creditor, blocked claimant/appellant, or person interested in estate property may petition. Any interested person may apply informally absent a formal demand or prior listed proceeding (§§ 856.07, 865.04) |
Formal: will nominee; then an interested person or that person's nominee within court discretion; then anyone the court selects. Informal intestacy/no qualifying nominee: bank or trust company, or qualified natural person, with all interested parties' consent except creditors (§§ 856.21, 865.08(1)) |
Bars: under 18, unsound mind, unauthorized fiduciary corporation, nonresident without filed resident-agent appointment, or unsuitable for good cause. Nonresidency alone may justify nonappointment or removal in the court's discretion (§ 856.23) |
Verified formal petition shows jurisdiction, petitioner interest, interested persons/addresses/disabilities/guardians, decedent identity/death/domicile, administrable property, will/date, named representative/trustee, and requested appointee eligibility. Informal application adds other proceedings, will/original or authenticated copy facts, validity/no-revocation inquiry, or intestacy inquiry (§§ 856.09, 865.06, 879.01) |
Formal priority permits an interested person's nominee, subject to court discretion. Informal intestacy or a failed nominee requires all interested persons to request/consent in writing to the same representative; guardian/GAL may consent for a minor or adjudicated-incompetent person. Written notice waiver is allowed (§§ 856.21(2), 865.02(1)(b), 879.09) |
Formal petition gets a court-set hearing and notice to interested persons; ordinary mail is 20 days, personal service 10 days, and first mailed notice includes publication. Informal initiation requires waivable notice but no universal hearing; a formal demand suspends informal administration on the identified matters (§§ 856.11, 865.03, 865.05, 879.03-.09) |
Formal letters wait for bond or a court no-bond order; bond and amount are discretionary, and a will waiver is not binding. Informal appointee files acceptance and any bond; letters issue after appointment/qualification, powers begin on appointment, and beneficial preappointment acts relate back (§§ 856.25, 865.08-.09) |
| Wyoming verified 2026-08-09 | Separate administrator for intestacy; when a will exists, executor appointment follows the separate will-probate preference order (W.S. §§ 2-4-201 to -214, 2-6-202, 2-6-208) |
District court; Wyoming-residence county, then statutory place-of-death/property fallbacks; first application controls qualifying nonresident estates spanning counties (§§ 2-2-101 to -103) |
Any applicant may file the statutory petition, subject to priority; any interested person may oppose or assert a competing right, and a creditor may apply within 2 years if no letters issued on another request (§§ 2-4-205 to -211) |
Intestate: spouse/requested person; children; parents; siblings; grandchildren; distributing next of kin; creditors; competent person. Testate: will designee; beneficiary/nominee; creditor/nominee; other qualified (§§ 2-4-201 to -202, 2-6-208) |
Must have reached majority and not be adjudged incompetent; nonresident needs Wyoming coadministrator; surviving partner cannot qualify solely through creditor/catch-all tiers (§§ 2-4-201(b)-(c), 2-4-203) |
Writing signed by applicant or counsel; jurisdictional facts; known heirs' names, ages, residences; property value, character, and location. Current Article 2 states no universal verification, notarization, death certificate, or attachment checklist (§ 2-4-205) |
Spouse may request a competent appointee; entitled person may file written request for otherwise-unentitled competent persons; beneficiaries and creditors may nominate in testate hierarchy; another creditor may request a competent person (§§ 2-4-201, 2-4-202, 2-4-210, 2-6-208) |
Interested person may file written incompetency opposition or own petition; competing petitions are heard together and letters go to party best entitled. Article 2 states no general pregrant notice method or lead time (§§ 2-4-206 to -209) |
Oath and bond ordinarily before letters; appointment order sets qualification time and lapses on failure. Will/statute or written distributee waiver can excuse bond, but court may later require it (§§ 2-3-101 to -104, 2-3-110 to -111) |
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