Petition for Letters of Administration - Preparation Worksheet - Delaware

Delaware Estate Planning & Wills Updated October 24, 2026 Free Word and PDF

DELAWARE ESTATE OPENING AND LETTERS — CONTROLLING-FORM WORKSHEET

DO NOT FILE. This worksheet is not a petition for letters of administration and contains no operative request, oath, declaration, notice, or signature. Prepare every filing on the current official form selected for the estate.

1. Matter Control

Item Verified entry
Decedent legal name and prior names [________________________________]
Date and place of death [________________________________]
Last residence, domicile, and relevant history [________________________________]
Delaware property or other jurisdictional connection [________________________________]
Applicable county Register of Wills (New Castle, Kent, or Sussex) [________________________________]
Petitioner / proposed fiduciary [________________________________]
Delaware probate counsel [________________________________]
Existing docket, filing, or proceeding [________________________________]
Urgent asset, family, business, housing, benefit, tax, or litigation issue [________________________________]
Target filing date [__/__/____]

2. Current Official Source and Form Register

Source / document Current official URL or court record Version / effective date Applies? Matter effect Checked by / date
Delaware court forms index [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Estate-opening petition / application form [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Fiduciary acceptance, oath, bond, or qualification form [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Notice, waiver, consent, appearance, and service forms [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Proposed decree / letters form [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Current probate statutes and rules used [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Applicable county Register of Wills instructions and forms [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Tax, revenue, benefit, and recovery instructions [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
Case-specific order or judicial instruction [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]

3. Estate-Opening Route Classification

Question Facts / evidence Current authority Counsel conclusion
Original will, codicil, copy, electronic record, or no located instrument [____] [____] [____]
Diligent search and custodian inquiry [____] [____] [____]
Testate, intestate, partial-intestacy, foreign, ancillary, small-estate, or other route [____] [____] [____]
Domicile, property, venue, jurisdiction, and competing proceeding [____] [____] [____]
Prior fiduciary, nomination, renunciation, removal, or vacancy [____] [____] [____]
Estate value and route threshold analysis [____] [____] [____]
Need for temporary, special, emergency, or limited authority [____] [____] [____]

4. Petitioner, Fiduciary, and Authority Review

Issue Verified record
Petitioner legal identity, address, capacity, and relationship [________________________________]
Proposed fiduciary identity and qualification [________________________________]
Appointment priority and every higher / equal-priority person [________________________________]
Nomination, renunciation, waiver, consent, objection, or competing request [________________________________]
Minor, incapacity, guardianship, conservatorship, estate, trust, or entity issue [________________________________]
Out-of-state fiduciary, agent, bond, or other special issue [________________________________]
Criminal, financial, conflict, creditor, adverse-interest, or suitability issue [________________________________]
Authority evidence and counsel conclusion [________________________________]

This worksheet grants no appointment priority and does not determine suitability.

5. Family, Heir, Beneficiary, and Interested-Person Register

Person / entity Relationship / claimed interest Address and contact Capacity / representative Notice status Evidence
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]

Record spouses, descendants, parents, siblings, other relatives, nominated fiduciaries, devisees, trustees, guardians, conservators, creditors, taxing authorities, benefit agencies, and any other person counsel identifies. Do not infer heirship or notice status from a relationship label alone.

6. Asset, Debt, Contract, and Tax Intake

Category Description / owner Date-of-death value Title / beneficiary / lien Administration issue Evidence
Real property [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Financial and investment accounts [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Business, entity, partnership, or trust interest [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Personal property and vehicles [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Insurance, retirement, payable-on-death, transfer-on-death, or beneficiary asset [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Digital asset, account, data, or intellectual property [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Claim, litigation, refund, recovery, or contingent interest [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]
Debt, lien, support, tax, benefit, contract, lease, or guarantee [____] $[____] [____] [____] [____]

Counsel must decide what is probate property, what passes outside administration, what must be protected, and what must be disclosed. This worksheet supplies no ownership or tax conclusion.

7. Bond, Security, Insurance, and Immediate Protection

Issue Current requirement / decision Source / order Amount / evidence
Bond required, waived, reduced, or unresolved [____] [____] [____]
Surety, collateral, restricted account, or other security [____] [____] [____]
Property, liability, business, vehicle, or fiduciary insurance [____] [____] [____]
Locks, occupancy, utilities, mail, records, valuables, and digital access [____] [____] [____]
Perishable, hazardous, operating-business, animal, or vulnerable-person issue [____] [____] [____]
Temporary authority or emergency order [____] [____] [____]

8. Notice, Hearing, Waiver, and Service Control

Document / event Recipient Method Trigger / deadline Current source / order Proof
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]

Do not assume that a form filing, clerk notice, consent, waiver, mailed copy, publication, electronic transmission, or hearing request completes every notice or service duty.

9. Deadline and Filing Calendar

Step Trigger Current authority / form / order Due date Owner Completed / proof
Estate-opening filing [____] [____] [__/__/____] [____] [____]
Notice, waiver, consent, or hearing step [____] [____] [__/__/____] [____] [____]
Bond, oath, acceptance, qualification, or letters [____] [____] [__/__/____] [____] [____]
Inventory, appraisal, tax, creditor, benefit, or reporting step [____] [____] [__/__/____] [____] [____]
Case-specific order or urgent task [____] [____] [__/__/____] [____] [____]

Time-computation rule used: [________________________________]

10. Form, Signature, Filing, and Privacy Control

Document Current form / version Signer and capacity Signature / oath / acknowledgment Filing method Restricted-data handling
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]
[________________] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____]

Do not add a notary, witness, perjury declaration, service certificate, filing fee, attachment, or proposed order unless the current form, rule, court instruction, or counsel requires it.

11. Requested Appointment and Drafting Plan

Proposed request Current authority and facts Exact official form / field Supporting attachment Approved?
Estate-opening route [____] [____] [____] [YES/NO]
Fiduciary appointment [____] [____] [____] [YES/NO]
Letters / scope of authority [____] [____] [____] [YES/NO]
Bond / security treatment [____] [____] [____] [YES/NO]
Heirship, will, or other determination [____] [____] [____] [YES/NO]
Other relief [____] [____] [____] [YES/NO]

12. Post-Appointment Control

Task Current source / order Due / trigger Assigned to Proof
Letters, qualification, and authority distributed / recorded as needed [____] [____] [____] [____]
Assets secured, titled, valued, and insured [____] [____] [____] [____]
Creditor, tax, benefit, support, and litigation matters calendared [____] [____] [____] [____]
Inventory, account, report, distribution, and closing duties calendared [____] [____] [____] [____]

13. Final Filing Gate

  • ☐ Applicable county Register of Wills, estate route, forms, and any Court of Chancery proceeding identified.
  • ☐ Current official forms and versions confirmed immediately before filing.
  • ☐ Estate-opening route, jurisdiction, venue, and competing proceedings resolved.
  • ☐ Petitioner identity, authority, priority, qualification, and conflicts reviewed.
  • ☐ Family, heirs, beneficiaries, fiduciaries, creditors, agencies, and interested persons reconciled.
  • ☐ Assets, title, values, debts, contracts, claims, taxes, and nonprobate interests reviewed.
  • ☐ Notice, hearing, waiver, consent, bond, security, signatures, privacy, filing, and fees independently sourced.
  • ☐ Every requested order or letter is supported by current authority and evidence.
  • ☐ Delaware probate counsel approved every filed document.

Reviewing attorney: [________________________________]

Review date: [__/__/____]

This worksheet is informational only and does not constitute legal advice.

Insert Image

Insert Table

Watch Ezel in action (sample case)Choose a plan

All changes saved
Save
Export
Export as DOCX
Export as PDF
Generating PDF...
petition_for_letters_of_administration_de.pdf
Ready to export as PDF or Word
AI is editing...
Chat
Review

Draft it in the editor

The AI drafts each section from your answers and you review every word. Drafting from scratch takes hours; finish yours for $99 one time.

  • Built on this template
    Uses the Delaware version and the statutes it cites.
  • Formatted like the template
    Captions, numbering and layout stay intact.
  • AI editing
    Rewrite any section from your own notes.
  • Export as PDF and Word
    Yours to review, sign, or file.
Secure checkout via Stripe
Need to customize this document?

Related legal templates

The same document for another state, and more Estate Planning & Wills forms.

Available in other states

All states Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut View all 51 states

More Estate Planning & Wills templates

Adult Guardianship / Conservatorship Petition Packet DE Annual Trust Accounting (Delaware — 12 Del. C. §§ 3520-3528, 3585) DE Certification of Trust - Delaware DE Codicil to Last Will & Testament DE Complex Will with Trust DE Deed Transferring Real Property into Living Trust DE Browse all

About this template

Last updated
October 24, 2026
Jurisdiction
Delaware
Category
Estate Planning & Wills

Estate planning documents decide what happens to your property, your children, and your medical care when you cannot make those decisions yourself. Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives each serve different purposes and each have to meet state law requirements for signing, witnessing, and notarization. A document that looks fine on the page but was not executed correctly can be rejected in probate, which is exactly when it is too late to fix.

Not legal advice

This template is provided for informational purposes. We recommend having an attorney review any legal document before signing, especially for high-value or complex matters.

Draft your Petition for Letters of Administration - Preparation Worksheet in the editor

Answer a few questions, let the AI editor draft each section from your answers, review it, and download Word and PDF. $99 one time, or $249 per month for every document and every Ezel app.