Alabama: Probate Notice to Creditors and Claim Deadlines
The short answer
Alabama requires the personal representative to publish within 30 days after letters and to give actual notice as soon as practicable to creditors known or reasonably ascertainable within six months after letters. Ordinary claims must be filed as verified claims in the probate judge's office by the later of six months after letters or five months after first publication; a creditor entitled to actual notice receives 30 days after notice. The researched ordinary scheme states no separate deadline running from death.
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This is the general rule in Alabama. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Alabama law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and claims regime | Probate nonclaim regime; untimely claims are forever barred and payment or allowance is prohibited (§ 43-2-350) |
|---|---|
| Who publishes and when | Personal representative publishes within 30 days after letters; actual notice follows as soon as practicable after identification (§ 43-2-60) |
| Publication frequency, place, and contents | Once weekly for 3 successive weeks in qualifying county/nearby newspaper; decedent, letters, court/county, and bar warning (§§ 43-2-60 to -61) |
| Known-creditor search standard | Actual-notice class includes creditors known or reasonably ascertainable by representative within 6 months after letters; no express search checklist (§ 43-2-61(1)) |
| Direct notice: recipients, timing, and contents | Known/reasonably ascertainable creditors; first-class mail to last known address or other reasonably calculated mechanism; as soon as practicable; appointment and claim warning (§§ 43-2-60 to -61) |
| Where, how, and in what form to present a claim | File verified claim/statement in probate judge's office where letters issued; claimant or knowledgeable person swears amount justly due after credits; affidavit defects amendable (§§ 43-2-350, -352) |
| Publication- or service-based claim deadline | Later of 6 months after letters or 5 months after first publication; creditor entitled to actual notice gets 30 days after notice (§ 43-2-350) |
| Death-based outer bar | No separate death-based outer bar stated in §§ 43-2-60 to -61 and 43-2-350 to -353; operative clocks run from letters, publication, or actual notice |
| Extensions, late claims, and no-asset rules | No general extension/no-asset branch stated; unrepresented minor or person of unsound mind gets 6 months after guardian appointment or disability removal; affidavit defects may be amended (§§ 43-2-351 to -352) |
| Lien, insurance, tax, and other exceptions | Unfiled lien claims may be paid to protect estate assets; timely revival of a pending surviving action counts as presentation; representative compensation, administration disbursements, heirs, and devisees have named exclusions (§§ 43-2-350, -353) |
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Requirements one by one
Give publication and actual notice on separate schedules
Ala. Code § 43-2-60 requires the personal representative to publish notice
within 30 days after letters are granted. Publication then runs once a week for
three successive weeks under § 43-2-61(2). The newspaper must be one of general
circulation published in the county where letters were granted or, if none is
published there, the qualifying newspaper nearest the courthouse or in an
adjoining county.
The notice states the decedent's name, the day letters were granted, the court
and county, and the warning that claims must be presented within the time the
law allows or will be barred.
Notify known and reasonably ascertainable creditors
Section 43-2-61(1) requires first-class mail to the creditor's last known
address or another mechanism reasonably calculated to provide actual notice.
The class consists of creditors known or reasonably ascertainable by the
representative within six months after letters. Section 43-2-60 requires that
notice as soon as practicable after the creditor's identification is known.
The researched sections do not prescribe a particular records review,
database search, or inquiry checklist. The statutory standard is the known-or-
reasonably-ascertainable class and its six-month identification period.
File a verified claim with the probate judge
Ala. Code § 43-2-350 requires filing a verified claim or verified statement in
the office of the probate judge for the county where letters were granted.
Under § 43-2-352, the claimant or another person with knowledge swears that the
claim is correct and that the amount is justly due, or will become due, after
proper credits. The probate office dockets the claim and presentation date.
An affidavit defect or insufficiency may be supplied by amendment at any time.
That amendment rule does not state a general extension of the original filing
deadline.
Apply the letters, publication, and actual-notice clocks
Section 43-2-350 sets the ordinary deadline at the later of six months after
letters or five months after first publication. A creditor entitled to actual
notice under § 43-2-61 must be allowed 30 days after notice to present the
claim. A claim not timely presented is forever barred, and its payment or
allowance is prohibited.
The researched ordinary notice-and-claims sequence states no separate outside
bar measured from death. Its stated clocks instead run from letters, first
publication, or actual notice.
Preserve the disability and pending-action routes
Ala. Code § 43-2-351 excepts a minor or person of unsound mind from subsection
43-2-350(b) when that claimant has no legal guardian when letters are granted.
The claimant then has six months after a guardian is appointed or, if none is
appointed, six months after the disability is removed.
Under § 43-2-353, revival of an action pending at death and legally surviving
against the representative counts as presentation when notice is served on the
executor or administrator within six months after letters.
Keep the named exclusions narrow
Section 43-2-350 permits the representative to pay an unfiled claim that is a
lien against decedent property when payment protects estate assets. The text
also excludes representative compensation and proper administration
disbursements from subsection (a), and excludes heirs or devisees claiming in
those capacities from subsection (b). The researched sections state no general
insurance-only or tax-claim exception.
What trips people up
The main claim deadline is not simply six months after letters. Section
43-2-350 uses the later of that date and five months after first publication.
Publication does not replace the separate actual-notice duty for creditors who
are known or reasonably ascertainable within the statutory period.
Mailing a claim to the representative is not the stated presentation method.
The ordinary route is a verified filing in the probate judge's office.
Common questions
Does the statute require certified mail for actual notice?
No. Section 43-2-61 states first-class mail to the last known address or another
mechanism reasonably calculated to provide actual notice.
Can a creditor fix a defective verification?
Yes. Section 43-2-352 permits an affidavit defect or insufficiency to be
supplied by amendment at any time, although that does not itself extend the
claim-filing deadline.
Does a lawsuit pending when the debtor died replace a probate claim?
It can count as presentation under § 43-2-353 if the action survives and is
revived by notice served on the executor or administrator within six months
after letters.
Statutes and sources
- Ala. Code §§ 43-2-60 and 43-2-61 — notice timing, contents, recipients,
method, and publication. Current official sections:
https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=43-2-60 and
https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=43-2-61
(accessed 2026-08-12). - Ala. Code §§ 43-2-350 to 43-2-353 — presentation, deadlines,
verification, disability route, liens, exclusions, and pending actions.
Current official sections begin at:
https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=43-2-350
(accessed 2026-08-12).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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