Insolvent Probate Estate Claim-Payment Priority in Utah
At a glance
| Statutory payment order | Six classes under § 75-3-805(1); § 75-3-807(1) separately governs payment after claim-presentation time. |
|---|---|
| Administration costs | Second: costs and expenses of administration (§ 75-3-805(1)(b)); reserve for them before allowed-claim payments (§ 75-3-807(1)). |
| Funeral and last illness | First: reasonable funeral expenses; fourth: reasonable necessary last-illness medical/hospital care and attendant pay (§ 75-3-805(1)(a),(d)). |
| Family and homestead allowances | Not a numbered § 75-3-805 class; provide for homestead, family and support allowances before allowed-claim payments (§ 75-3-807(1)). |
| Taxes and public claims | Third: federal-law preferred debts/taxes; fourth: medical assistance if § 26B-3-1013 applies; fifth: Utah-law preferred debts/taxes (§ 75-3-805(1)(c)–(e)). |
| Secured claims | Estate payment on a secured claim uses full allowed amount if security is surrendered; otherwise deduct the security's fair or determined value (§ 75-3-809). |
| Support and special debts | Fourth-class last-illness attendant compensation; separate prepayment provision for support allowance (§§ 75-3-805(1)(d), 75-3-807(1)). |
| General claims | Sixth: all other claims (§ 75-3-805(1)(f)). |
| Underfunded class | No preference among same-class claims, including not-yet-due claims; § 75-3-805(2) gives no numeric proration formula. |
Requirements one by one
Last-illness and public claims
Under § 75-3-805(1), federal-law preferred debts and taxes precede reasonable and necessary last-illness medical and hospital expenses, including payment for people attending the decedent. That fourth class also covers medical assistance when § 26B-3-1013 applies. Debts and taxes preferred under other Utah laws follow in the fifth class; remaining claims are sixth.
Allowances and unresolved claims before payment
Under § 75-3-807(1), the representative makes provision for homestead, family, and support allowances, as well as unresolved and still timely claims, before paying allowed claims by priority. An allowed but unpaid claimant can ask the court to order payment to the extent estate funds are available.
Secured claims
Section 75-3-809 uses the full allowed amount if the creditor gives up the security. Otherwise, it subtracts the fair value after exhaustion, or a value determined by the collateral agreement or by agreement, arbitration, compromise, or litigation. Under § 75-3-809, the creditor's payment basis changes with the collateral choice.
What trips people up
Under § 75-3-805(2), a presently payable claim does not outrank one not yet due in the same class. The section states no numeric proration formula for an underfunded class.
Common questions
Is there a funeral-expense dollar cap in the preferred class? Section 75-3-805(1)(a) requires funeral expenses to be reasonable but states no dollar ceiling.
Can the representative pay a just claim before formal presentation? Under § 75-3-807(2), an unbarred just claim may be paid, but the representative is personally liable to an injured allowed claimant in the specified early-payment or priority-deprivation circumstances.
Statutes and sources
- Utah Code §§ 75-3-805, 75-3-807, and 75-3-809. Verbatim current official text, URLs, and access dates appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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