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Delaware Probate Types: Small Estate Affidavit vs Grant of Letters

Delaware has fewer routes than most states and one hard gate in front of the short one. There is no summary administration and no informal track: either the estate qualifies for the affidavit, or someone takes out letters.

Compare eligibility, timing, court involvement, and local verification points

How to Compare Delaware Probate Types

Delaware has no probate court and no probate division. Every estate is opened with the Register of Wills of the county where the decedent was domiciled, and under 12 Del. C. § 2501 that officer, in performing the functions of the office, acts only as a Clerk of the Court of Chancery. The Court of Chancery is the court behind the office, and an ordinary uncontested estate never sees a judge.

Which route applies turns on what the decedent owned rather than on how much it was worth. Personal estate of $50,000 or less, where the decedent held no Delaware real estate solely or as a tenant in common, can be collected on a sworn affidavit with no petition and no letters. Everything else needs letters. The real-estate question is not a tiebreaker at the margin: it closes the short route at any value.

A fourth route exists for an estate that is not really a Delaware estate at all. Where the decedent was domiciled elsewhere, 12 Del. C. § 1562 lets the personal representative appointed in the home state collect Delaware personal property and receive payment of a Delaware debt with no local administration, subject to the resident-creditor notice in § 1564. It is a way out of administration rather than a form of it, so it has no Delaware file and produces no Delaware letters.

Small Estate Affidavit vs Grant of Letters at a Glance

Court involvement

Small Estate Affidavit

Small Estate Affidavit: None. The Register of Wills issues the affidavit and no petition is filed

Grant of Letters: A petition to the Register of Wills, with the Court of Chancery behind it for contests, accounts and exceptions

Real estate

Grant of Letters

Small Estate Affidavit: Cannot be used at all where the decedent owned Delaware real estate solely or as a tenant in common

Grant of Letters: The only route that reaches Delaware real estate in the decedent's own name

Waiting period

Small Estate Affidavit

Small Estate Affidavit: 30 days from the death, and nothing longer

Grant of Letters: No wait to open, but the 8-month creditor bar in § 2102(a) runs from the death and floors the closing

Cost

Small Estate Affidavit

Small Estate Affidavit: One county affidavit fee, between $5 and $10 depending on the office

Grant of Letters: A graduated letters fee, an inventory fee, a closing charge on the net personal estate, and publication

Ongoing filings

Small Estate Affidavit

Small Estate Affidavit: None. There is no inventory and no account

Grant of Letters: Inventory within 3 months of letters, then an account every year from the date of letters until the final account passes

Finality

Grant of Letters

Small Estate Affidavit: The distributees stay answerable to anyone with a prior right and to any personal representative later appointed

Grant of Letters: The account is noticed to the beneficiaries and open to exception for 3 months, then approved

Who can start it

Grant of Letters

Small Estate Affidavit: A defined class only: spouse, grandparent, descendant of a grandparent, certain fiduciaries, a licensed Delaware funeral director, or the will's named executor

Grant of Letters: The named executor, or the first qualifying class in § 1505(b)(1), and any interested person may petition

Main Delaware Probate Options

Small Estate Affidavit

12 Del. C. § 2306

A personal-property estate under the ceiling where the decedent owned no Delaware real estate in their own name

Threshold: Personal estate of $50,000 or less, excluding jointly owned property and the property described in § 1901(b) and (c). Raised from $30,000 on June 10, 2026. Closed entirely if the decedent owned any Delaware real estate solely or as a tenant in common.

Filing Fee: County-set: $10 New Castle, $5.00 to $10.00 Kent, $5.00 plus $2.00 per page Sussex

Timeline: 1 to 2 months, after a 30-day wait from the death

Real Estate: No, and any Delaware real estate closes the route

Attorney: No

Letters Testamentary or of Administration

12 Del. C. §§ 1501, 1502 and 1504

Any estate with Delaware real estate in the decedent's own name, or personal estate above the affidavit ceiling

Threshold: No dollar threshold. Required whenever anyone will act as executor or administrator of a Delaware domiciliary's estate, and required whenever the decedent owned Delaware real estate solely or as a tenant in common.

Filing Fee: County-set and graduated. Granting letters starts at $25 in all three counties on different brackets, plus a closing charge measured on the net personal estate

Timeline: 12 to 18 months, floored by the 8-month creditor bar that runs from the date of death

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statewide requirement; Court of Chancery Rule 190 assumes an unrepresented representative appears in person

Letters of Ancillary Administration

12 Del. C. § 1504(b)

An out-of-state estate that owns Delaware real estate, typically a beach property

Threshold: No dollar threshold. Used where the decedent was domiciled outside Delaware and left goods, chattels, rights, credits, lands or tenements here.

Filing Fee: The same county schedule as a domiciliary grant

Timeline: 6 to 12 months

Real Estate: Yes, and Delaware real estate is usually what forces this route

Attorney: No statewide requirement

Delivery to a Foreign Personal Representative

12 Del. C. §§ 1562 to 1565

An out-of-state estate whose only Delaware asset is a bank account, a debt or other personal property

Threshold: No dollar threshold and no Delaware file. Available where the decedent was domiciled elsewhere and a personal representative has been appointed there.

Filing Fee: None in Delaware

Timeline: As long as the holder takes to pay, subject to the § 1564 resident-creditor notice

Real Estate: No. Delaware real estate normally needs ancillary letters instead

Attorney: No

* THERE IS NO STATEWIDE DELAWARE PROBATE FILING FEE. 12 Del. C. § 2510 gives the governing body of each county the power to determine the fees charged by that county's Register of Wills, and § 2511 requires each Register to keep the current list posted for public inspection. The three schedules differ materially and must never be averaged or carried across. Do not read a probate fee off the judiciary's own fee index either: that schedule is issued under Court of Chancery Rule 3(e) and assigns its charges to the Register IN Chancery, the clerk of the Court of Chancery, which is a different office from the Register OF Wills.

Unfamiliar terms in the comparison? The Delaware probate glossary defines them in plain language.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does Delaware have summary administration?
No. Delaware has no summary administration, no informal probate and no registrar deciding an application on the papers. There are two ordinary routes for a Delaware domiciliary: the 12 Del. C. § 2306 affidavit, which involves no petition at all, and a grant of letters. Anything describing a Delaware summary or informal track is describing another state.
Which Delaware probate route is fastest?
The § 2306 affidavit, at about 1 to 2 months, because nothing is filed with a court and the only wait is the 30 days the statute requires after the death. A grant of letters commonly runs 12 to 18 months, and the reason is structural rather than administrative: 12 Del. C. § 2102(a) bars pre-death claims eight months after the DATE OF DEATH whether or not notice was given, and 12 Del. C. § 2301 requires the first account a year from the date of letters.
What decides whether I need letters in Delaware?
Two questions, in this order. Did the decedent own Delaware real estate solely or as a tenant in common? If yes, you need letters at any value, because 12 Del. C. § 2306(a)(6) closes the affidavit route outright. If no, is the personal estate $50,000 or less after taking out jointly owned property and the § 1901(b) and (c) property? If yes, the affidavit is available.
Is there a Delaware probate court?
No. Probate runs through the Register of Wills in each of the three counties, and 12 Del. C. § 2501 provides that the Register, in performing the functions of the office, acts only as a Clerk of the Court of Chancery. Where no notice is required by statute or rule the Register may hear and determine the matter and enter orders the Court of Chancery could enter, subject to being set aside or modified by the Court within 30 days. Do not confuse the Register OF Wills with the Register IN Chancery, which is the clerk of the Court of Chancery and a different office.
Can an out-of-state estate avoid Delaware probate entirely?
Often, for personal property. 12 Del. C. § 1562 lets a domiciliary foreign personal representative collect Delaware personal property and receive payment of a Delaware debt without any local administration, subject to the resident-creditor notice in § 1564 and proof of authority under § 1565. Delaware real estate is a different question and normally needs ancillary letters under § 1504(b).
What does it cost to open a Delaware estate?
It depends on the county, because there is no statewide fee. 12 Del. C. § 2510 gives each county's governing body the power to set the fees its Register of Wills charges. Granting letters starts at $25 in all three, but on different brackets, and the closing charge differs more: New Castle and Kent charge on the net personal estate at one rate and Sussex adjusts and certifies accounts at a lower one. Take the figure from the schedule of the office that will receive the filing.
Does a will change which route applies?
Less than people expect. The § 2306 affidavit is open to testate estates: the executor the will names may swear it if that person satisfies 12 Del. C. § 1508, and the affidavit distributes in accordance with the will. What a will changes is the NAME of the appointment document when letters are needed. § 1502(b) grants administration WITH THE WILL ANNEXED where all the named executors are deceased, fail to give any required bond, renounce or are incapacitated, so a valid will can exist and the document still be letters of administration.
How long do I have to start?
There is no deadline to open a Delaware estate, but there is a deadline that decides who opens it. 12 Del. C. § 1505(d) provides that if no petition for administration is filed within 60 days from the date of death, the Register of Wills grants letters to whomever the Register determines in the Register's own discretion. The family's statutory priority in § 1505(b)(1) protects them for those 60 days and not afterwards. Separately, whoever holds the will has 10 days from learning of the death to produce it under § 1301(a).

Important: Three counties, three Registers of Wills, three fee schedules. Use the office for the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. For someone domiciled outside Delaware, 12 Del. C. § 1504(b) lets the Register for ANY county grant ancillary letters, and the administration first lawfully granted extends to all the Delaware estate and excludes every other county's Register, so filing in the wrong one is not fatal but filing twice is wasted.

Legal Authority: 12 Del. C. §§ 1501, 1502, 1504, 1562 and 2306. Last Verified: September 2026.

SourcesOfficial references used for this page

This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for attorney review. Laws and fees may change. Verify current requirements with your local court clerk before filing.

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