Probate Notice to Creditors and Claim Deadlines in Delaware

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The Register posts and ordinarily publishes within 40 days

The Register of Wills gives notice of the granting of letters. The notice names the grant date, death date, representative and address, and any counsel and address. Within 40 days after letters, it is posted on the designated county website and/or in the county courthouse for the decedent's county of residence, or the county granting letters for a nonresident.

The Register also publishes in one or more approved county newspapers at least three times within that period, no less often than once a week for three successive weeks. If the Register finds the gross personal estate does not exceed $30,000 and the combined gross estate does not exceed $35,000, posting alone may replace newspaper publication.

Chapter 21 states no general creditor-specific notice duty

The researched chapter does not require a search for known or reasonably ascertainable creditors or general direct notice to them. The Register instead sends a copy of the statutory notice to the State Treasurer within 40 days; the Treasurer distributes the information to requesting state agencies.

The absence of a general targeted-notice provision does not change the ordinary claim clock. Section 2102 expressly applies its eight-month deadline whether or not § 2101 notice was given.

Representative receipt or Register filing presents the claim

A creditor may deliver or mail the representative a writing stating the basis, claimant's name and address, and amount. The creditor may instead file the Court-of-Chancery-rule form with the Register of Wills. Presentation occurs on the first of representative receipt or Register filing.

A not-yet-due claim states its due date; a contingent or unliquidated claim describes the uncertainty; and a secured claim describes the security. A timely proceeding against the representative is another route. Matters already pending against the decedent at death need no separate presentation.

Most predeath claims have a fixed eight-month death bar

Section 2102 bars most claims arising before or at death unless presented within eight months after death, whether or not notice was posted or published. An ordinary limitation may expire sooner. State and local-government claims are included in the stated rule.

If no letters are granted during the ten years after death, § 2109 bars all creditor claims and other beneficial interests after that date except claims evidenced by mortgage or judgment, which remain governed by the law applicable to those instruments.

Initial presentation has no general extension

The researched chapter does not provide a general extension of the eight-month initial bar. If a timely claim is rejected, the creditor ordinarily has three months after written delivery or mailing of the rejection to sue. Only for a not-yet-due, contingent, or unliquidated claim may the representative consent or the Court of Chancery act to avoid injustice, and never beyond the applicable limitation period.

Section 2101's posting-only treatment is a small-estate notice branch, not an extension or no-asset claim rule. Section 2107 separately protects a lower- priority payment made after three months from letters before presentation of a higher-priority claim.

Mortgages, judgments, insurance, and pending actions have distinct rules

12 Del. C. § 2103 deems the representative to have notice only of recorded mortgages and judgments that were real-estate liens at death, subject to proper indexing. That presumed notice does not extend to the bond accompanying a mortgage.

A claim for a deficiency or otherwise on a mortgage-secured bond must be presented within eight months after death. Missing that claim deadline does not prevent later foreclosure of the mortgage, but it prevents a claim against the estate on the bond. Section 2102 also preserves proceedings to establish liability only to the limits of insurance protection.

What trips people up

Publication timing and claim timing use different triggers. Notice occurs within 40 days after letters, but the ordinary claim bar runs eight months after death and applies even if notice was not given.

The small-estate exception removes newspaper publication, not the county posting or the eight-month claim bar.

A recorded mortgage and its underlying bond are treated differently. Missing the bond claim deadline may eliminate estate recovery while leaving foreclosure of the mortgage available.

Common questions

Must every Delaware estate publish in a newspaper?

No. A qualifying estate within both statutory value limits may receive posting- only notice if the Register of Wills makes the required determination.

Does a creditor have eight months after publication?

No. Section 2102 measures the ordinary predeath-claim deadline from death, not publication.

Can a creditor file with the Register of Wills instead of mailing the representative?

Yes. Either route can present the claim, and the first of filing or representative receipt controls.

Does missing the estate claim deadline destroy a recorded mortgage?

No. Section 2102 preserves foreclosure, but missing the eight-month bond-claim deadline prevents a claim against the estate on the bond.

Statutes and sources

• 12 Del. C. § 2101 — Register posting, publication, contents, proof, small-estate branch, and State Treasurer notice. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c021/index.html (accessed 2026-08-12)
• 12 Del. C. §§ 2102 and 2103 — eight-month death bar, rejection period, presumed notice, mortgage-bond and insurance treatment. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c021/index.html (accessed 2026-08-12)
• 12 Del. C. § 2104 — representative or Register presentation, claim contents, proceedings, and pending actions. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c021/index.html (accessed 2026-08-12)
• 12 Del. C. §§ 2107 and 2109 — lower-priority payment protection and ten-year no-letters bar. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title12/c021/index.html (accessed 2026-08-12)