New Castle County Probate Statistics

Use this county view to check filing-fee patterns, e-filing access, and timing signals before you rely on a probate cost estimate or start preparing a petition.

Published: January 15, 2026Updated: September 10, 2026Data quality: Medium

What This County Snapshot Covers

This page is meant to answer the fast operational questions first: what the county charges to open common probate proceedings, whether e-filing is available, how long creditor claims may run, and where to verify the court record.

Fee Rows Captured

E-Filing Available

8 mo

Creditor Claim Period

Medium

Data Quality

Official Sources to Verify

County Fee Schedule

Check the live filing-fee source before relying on a county average or cached amount.

Court Forms or Filing Portal

Review the county or court forms page tied to this probate workflow.

Case Search

Use the county case-search tool when you need live docket or estate-case status information. Search results may not include every probate record.

DELAWARE HAS NO STATEWIDE REGISTER OF WILLS CASE-SEARCH PORTAL. Each county runs its own index and this is New Castle County's. It searches this county's records only, and an estate opened in Kent or Sussex will not appear in it. The judiciary's CourtConnect portal is not an alternative: it returned 502 Bad Gateway on 2026-09-10 and it indexes the trial courts rather than the Registers of Wills, so it is deliberately not recorded here.

Open case search

Register of Wills Website

Go straight to the Register of Wills website for clerk notices and local instructions.

Filing Fee Schedule

Short Certificate	$5
Small Estate Affidavit	$10
Filing Certified Death Certificate	$1
Recording And Indexing Of Accounts	$20
Affidavit Of No Delaware Estate Tax	$10
Will Safekeeping Deposit	$10

Filing Options

In person at the Register of Wills office at 800 N. French St., Wilmington, during in person hours

By evening appointment at the Middletown or Hockessin public library, by advance appointment only

By mail to the Register of Wills

Filing Deadlines

Creditor Claim Period8 months

Register of Wills Information

New Castle County Register of Wills

800 N. French St., Second Floor, Wilmington, DE 19801

Phone: 302-395-7800

Hours: In person Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed for lunch daily from noon to 1 p.m. Staff are reachable by phone Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the New Castle County probate fees on this page the full cost of the case?

Not necessarily. Filing fees are only one part of probate cost. Publication charges, certified copies, appraisal expenses, attorney fees, and other estate-administration costs may still apply.

What does e-filing status mean for New Castle County probate cases?

E-filing status tells you whether the county accepts online filing and, when available in the dataset, whether attorneys are required to use it. "Not verified" means the county dataset does not record filing methods either way. In every case, check the current clerk instructions before filing.

Why might a fee or deadline be missing?

Some counties publish fees in fragmented schedules, update procedures without a clean machine-readable source, or handle certain deadlines in local instructions rather than a simple statewide field. Use the county reference page and Register of Wills website to verify anything missing.

Information current as of September 10, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Delaware can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.