Utah: Petition to Probate a Will Requirements

Requirements one by one

Informal application or formal petition

Utah separates the ordinary opening process into two tracks. Under Sections
75-3-105 and 75-3-301, an interested person may apply to the registrar for
informal probate. The application is verified as accurate and complete to the
best of the applicant's knowledge and belief. Under Utah Code §§ 75-3-401
and 75-3-402, a
formal testacy proceeding is litigation begun by an interested person's petition
for a judicial order after notice and hearing.

Probate and appointment are related but distinct. Section 75-3-106 permits a
probate request and a request to appoint a personal representative to be
combined. A will does not nominate an effective personal representative until
probated, and administration begins only when letters issue under Sections
75-3-102 and 75-3-103.

Utah District Court is the general-jurisdiction trial court under Utah Code
§ 78A-5-101. Venue under
Section 75-3-201 is the county of the decedent's domicile at death. If the
decedent was not domiciled in Utah, venue lies in any county where the decedent
had property at death. An interested person may obtain transfer of an informal
case filed in the wrong venue.

Who may file and what the filing says

An interested person may use either track. The statutory definition includes
heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, persons with an
estate property right or claim, and persons with appointment priority. That is
broader than the class entitled to serve as personal representative.

For an informal filing, Section 75-3-301 requires the applicant's interest;
the decedent's name, death date, age, domicile county and state; the known or
reasonably ascertainable spouse, children, heirs, devisees, their addresses, and
minor ages; nonresident-venue facts; existing personal representatives; and
known notice demands. A will application also states the will's filing or
custody status, the applicant's belief in valid execution, the reasonable search
for a revoking instrument, the belief that this is the last will, and timeliness.

If informal appointment is also requested, the application describes the will
and probate, identifies the proposed appointee, address, and priority, states
whether bond is required, and supplies estate and next-year income estimates
when the statute calls for them.

A formal petition under Section 75-3-402 requests a testacy order concerning
the identified instrument and determination of heirs. It carries forward the
core Section 75-3-301 facts and, when appointment is requested, the nominee and
bond facts. It also states where the original is or why it is unavailable.

Original, unavailable, and electronic wills

The informal route requires the original to be in the court's possession or to
have been electronically filed while remaining with the applicant or counsel.
It also recognizes an authenticated copy of a will already probated in another
jurisdiction. The registrar's findings under Section 75-3-303 include
possession of an original that was presented for electronic storage and filing,
or possession by the registrar.

For formal probate, the petition states whether the original is held by the
court, accompanies the petition, or was presented for electronic storage or
filing and remains with the petitioner or counsel. If none of those routes and
no authenticated foreign-probated copy applies, the petition states the will's
contents and identifies it as lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable. That
disclosure does not itself establish the unavailable will.

Utah's Uniform Electronic Wills Act says an electronic will is a will for all
purposes of state law. Sections 75-2-1408 and 75-2-1409 allow electronic
self-proof and allow an individual to create a certified paper copy by a
penalty-of-perjury affirmation; the paper copy of a self-proved electronic will
includes its self-proving affidavits. See Utah Code §§ 75-2-1403 and
75-2-1408 to -1409.

The deadline and custodian duty are different

The ordinary informal or formal probate proceeding generally must commence
within three years after death under Section 75-3-107. The section has
limited exceptions for a prior dismissal based on doubt about death, a missing
person with a conservator, and a timely contest of an informally probated will.
If no will is probated by the ordinary deadline, the presumption of intestacy
becomes final, although the statute preserves limited continuing jurisdiction.

A separate custodian rule has no fixed number of days. Under Utah Code
§ 75-2-902, after death and on an interested person's request, the custodian
must deliver the will with reasonable promptness to someone able to secure
probate. Willful failure can produce damages, and willful failure after a court
delivery order can be punished as contempt.

The 120-hour language is not a general waiting period before filing. Under
Section 75-3-302, it is an early informal-probate route when everyone
entitled to notice has waived in writing. Otherwise the registrar waits until
10 days have elapsed from the required notice.

Informal proof and notice

For informal probate, Section 75-3-303 permits probate without further proof
when the will appears to carry the required signatures and an attestation clause
showing compliance with the cited execution provisions. In other cases, the
registrar may assume execution from a will that appears properly executed or
accept a sworn statement or affidavit from any person who knows the execution
circumstances, even if that person was not a witness.

Under Utah Code § 75-3-306, the moving party notices anyone who demanded
notice and any existing personal
representative. The clerk separately sends written notice to heirs and devisees
who did not waive. The notice says the requested probate will be granted after
10 days. A failure to object within that window does not erase the person's
right to seek formal relief under Section 75-3-401. A combined informal
appointment request adds notice to persons with an unwaived prior or equal
appointment right under Section 75-3-310.

Formal hearing, objections, and proof

In formal probate, the court fixes a hearing. Under Utah Code §§ 75-3-403 and
75-3-404 and Utah Code § 75-1-401, the petitioner gives notice to the surviving spouse, children and
other heirs; devisees and executors under relevant wills; an existing personal
representative; demandants; and others the statute identifies. The clerk posts
notice, and notice is mailed or personally delivered at least 10 days before
the hearing. Unknown persons and known persons whose addresses cannot be found
with reasonable diligence receive the statutory publication notice. Proof of
notice is filed on or before the hearing.

An opposing party states the objections in the pleadings. If the petition is
unopposed, Utah Code §§ 75-3-405 and 75-3-406 let the court act on the pleadings if satisfied
that the order conditions are met, or hold an open-court hearing and demand
proof. When execution proof is necessary, one attesting witness's affidavit or
testimony is sufficient; if unavailable, other evidence or affidavit may prove
execution.

In a contested case involving a non-self-proved attested will, Section
75-3-406 requires at least one competent and available in-state attesting
witness when execution evidence is necessary, while permitting other evidence
of due execution. A self-proved will conclusively establishes compliance with
signature requirements and creates rebuttable presumptions for other execution
requirements, unless fraud or forgery affects the acknowledgment or affidavit.

Priority, qualification, bond, and letters

The person given priority by the probated will ranks first for appointment under
Section 75-3-203. But a person under 21 is not qualified, and a court in a
formal proceeding may find a person unsuitable. Renunciations and nominations
are filed in writing when the priority rules require them.

Before letters, Utah Code §§ 75-3-601, 75-3-603, and 75-3-604 require the appointee to file a statement
accepting the office's duties and any required bond. Bond is not the default in
either formal or informal proceedings. Section 75-3-603 identifies the
exceptions, including an express bond requirement in the will, a preappointment
request by an interested party, a special administrator appointed without
notice, or a statutory court-required bond. If bond is required and neither the
will nor order sets the amount, Section 75-3-604 uses the sworn estate and
next-year income estimate, reduced by secured claims, subject to the court's
authority to adjust or excuse the requirement.

What trips people up

• Informal probate is not a formal petition without a hearing date. Utah
  defines it as a registrar application, while formal testacy is litigation
  after notice and hearing.
• The 120-hour rule does not bar filing before that time. It lets the
  registrar act early when all notice recipients waive; the ordinary alternative
  is the 10-day notice period.
• A 10-day informal silence is not a permanent contest cutoff. The clerk's
  notice expressly preserves later formal relief.
• The will-delivery duty and probate deadline use different standards. A
  requested delivery is due with reasonable promptness; ordinary probate has a
  three-year outer limit.
• A nominated person does not receive authority from the will alone. The
  will must be probated, the person appointed and qualified, and letters issued.

Common questions

Does every Utah probate need a hearing?

No. Informal probate proceeds through the registrar after the statutory notice
period or written waivers. Formal testacy requires the court to set a hearing,
although an unopposed case may be decided on the pleadings if the statutory
conditions are met.

Must the person who witnessed the will always testify?

No. Informal probate can proceed from a sufficient attestation clause or other
proof allowed by Section 75-3-303. In an unopposed formal matter, one witness's
affidavit or testimony—or other evidence when that is unavailable—may suffice.
The contested-case rule is more specific.

Does a will clause waiving bond control Utah probate?

Utah starts from no bond in formal and informal proceedings. The statute lists
an express will requirement of bond—not a waiver—as one exception, alongside a
proper interested-party request and a court-required bond.

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code Title 75, Chapter 1 — definitions, jurisdiction, and 10-day
  hearing-notice method. Official Utah Code PDF
  (accessed 2026-08-08).
• Utah Code Title 75, Chapter 2 — self-proof, electronic wills, certified
  paper copies, and custodian delivery. Official Utah Code PDF
  (accessed 2026-08-08).
• Utah Code Title 75, Chapter 3 — informal and formal probate, venue,
  contents, deadlines, notice, proof, appointment, bond, and letters. Official
  Utah Code PDF
  (accessed 2026-08-08).
• Utah Code Title 78A, Chapter 5 — District Court structure and general
  jurisdiction. Official Utah Code PDF
  (accessed 2026-08-08).