Temporary or Special Probate Administrator Requirements in New Hampshire

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Delay and asset identification are separate appointment tracks

Under RSA § 553:20, a special administrator is available when the final grant of administration is delayed by a factual trial over will validity, a legal-question appeal from an administrator appointment, or another cause, and the interests of the estate require the appointment. The statute does not add an emergency or immediate-danger element.

Section 553:20-a creates a different temporary administrator. The probate court may act on a petition or its own motion, but this office is only to determine what assets are in the estate. Its inventory is due within 60 days. The statute does not identify who may petition, give a nominee priority, or extend the special administrator's preservation and business powers to this narrower office.

The special administrator's authority follows the commission and judge

Section 553:22 requires the special administrator to inventory the estate, care for and preserve the decedent's property and effects, and perform other acts the judge directs. Directions and restrictions may be inserted in the commission. That language does not itself create automatic authority over remains, sales, mortgages, leases, lawsuits, creditor claims, debts, expenses, or beneficiary distributions.

Business continuation has its own order under RSA § 553:30. The court may authorize it on a showing of advantage to the estate and may set liability and other protective conditions. A without-notice order is only a decree nisi: an order of notice must issue within five days, followed by notice and hearing before the decree becomes absolute.

Bond, inventory, accounts, and fees remain supervised

The special administrator must give a faithful-performance bond with sufficient sureties or alternative security acceptable to the appointing court. An interested party may challenge the bond as insufficient; the court may require a new bond and stay proceedings until compliance. An appointment appeal on a question of law does not otherwise suspend the special administrator's duties.

Read together, RSA §§ 553:1 and 554:1 subject the special administrator's required inventory to the 90-day rule for every administrator. The separate temporary administrator instead has the express 60-day deadline. Under RSA §§ 554:26 and 554:26-a, administrators file annual accounts unless excused, and a court-appointed fiduciary's first account is due within one year. Probate Division Rule 108 supplies the accounting standards; Rule 88 makes fiduciary and attorney fees and expenses court-approved and reasonable.

What trips people up

The 60-day deadline belongs to the asset-identification temporary administrator, not the special administrator. The special administrator's inventory follows the general 90-day administrator rule.

Chapter 553 does not say that a general appointment automatically terminates the special office or impose a special turnover deadline. The commission and court orders therefore matter, together with the general revocation and resignation provisions. Do not import the UPC automatic-handoff rule from another state.

Common questions

Must the court give notice before appointing either office?

Sections 553:20 through 553:24 state no fixed appointment-notice recipient, period, hearing, or emergency ex parte route. The later-notice procedure in § 553:30 applies to a without-notice business-continuation decree, not every appointment.

Who receives priority to serve?

The special-administrator sections name no applicant class or nominee priority. The general chapter bars a person not of full age or deemed unsuitable and limits appointment of a nonresident by reason of claimed priority unless the judge finds other circumstances make it proper.

Can the special administrator pay creditors or distribute the estate?

The special provisions do not grant automatic claims, debt-payment, expense, or distribution authority. The commission and specific judicial directions control additional acts; the business-order statute should not be read as an ordinary claims or distribution grant.

Statutes and sources

• RSA §§ 553:1, 553:4 to :5, 553:10 to :12, and 553:20 to :24 — office, triggers, general qualification, preservation duties, commission limits, bond, appeal, revocation, and resignation. Official current Chapter 553 (accessed August 29, 2026).
• RSA § 553:30 — court-authorized business continuation, later notice, and decree conditions. Official current Chapter 553 (accessed August 29, 2026).
• RSA §§ 554:1, 554:26, and 554:26-a — inventory and account deadlines. Official current Chapter 554 (accessed August 29, 2026).
• New Hampshire Circuit Court Probate Division Rules 88 and 108 — court-approved reasonable fees and expenses, and accounting standards. Official current Probate Division rules (accessed August 29, 2026).