Jefferson County District Court Guide

Not a court proceeding. Where the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value, personal property transferable to the estate is transferred to a successor on an affidavit given to the holder of the property, without letters. READ THE MEASURE CAREFULLY, because both halves are true at once: real estate subject to probate COUNTS toward the $75,000, and the affidavit CANNOT transfer real estate. There is no waiting period. The affidavit is given to the bank or other holder, never filed with the court, so it carries no docket fee.

• The decedent must have died a Kansas resident, testate or intestate
• The total assets of the estate subject to probate must not exceed $75,000 in value
• The claimant must be a successor: entitled by will or by intestate succession, or nominated as personal representative under the decedent's will
• The affidavit is sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the Kansas Judicial Council, published as "Small Estates Affidavit (02-2024)"

Qualifies:

$75,000

Typical duration:

Immediate. There is no waiting period and no court filing.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $75,000 figure was set by L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 7 effective July 1, 2023 and was $40,000 before that act; L. 2024, ch. 35 restructured the section without moving the number. Kansas has a SECOND route at the same $75,000 figure, the K.S.A. 59-2287 refusal to grant letters, and the two are NOT tiers of one route: they measure different things and carry different conditions. They share a number only because one act raised both from different starting figures. A third, narrower route at K.S.A. 59-1507a reaches up to $10,000 of certain monthly benefits, and only 180 days or more after the death.

Kansas has no dollar-limited summary administration. Its analogue is the simplified estates act: where the petition asks for it, the court decides at the hearing whether to administer the estate as a simplified estate, in which the court does not supervise the administration and no notice of the representative's actions is given except notice of final settlement. In deciding, the court may consider the size of the estate, the degree of kinship of the heirs and devisees, the solvency and nature of the estate, the wishes of the heirs and devisees, the probable cost of administration and any other pertinent matter. DO NOT read a dollar threshold into this route: it has none.

• Ask for administration under the Kansas simplified estates act in the petition
• The court determines at the hearing whether the estate is simplified or supervised (K.S.A. 59-3202)
• The notice must advise all persons that the court need not supervise administration, that no notice of the representative's actions will be given except notice of final settlement, and that written objections may cause the court to order supervised administration (K.S.A. 59-2222(b))
• Letters must be designated on their face as issued under the Kansas simplified estates act (K.S.A. 59-3203(c))

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The court decides. K.S.A. 59-3202 directs the court, at the hearing on the petition, to determine whether the estate is administered as a simplified estate or as a supervised estate.

Filing fee:

$109.50

source

Typical duration:

6 to 12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

A simplified estate is opened for the same K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) docket fee of $109.50 as a supervised administration. Simplified administration removes court supervision, not the four-month creditor bar or the nine-month settlement period, so the statutory floor is the same. The saving is in hearings and notices, not in elapsed months.

The district court admits the will, if any, to probate on a petition, appoints an executor or administrator and issues letters. The personal representative publishes notice to creditors, gives actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors, files an inventory and valuation, pays allowed demands in the K.S.A. 59-1301 order of classification, and closes on a petition and notice of final settlement. A petition to probate a will must be filed within six months of the death or the will does not pass property (K.S.A. 59-617).

• File the petition with the clerk of the district court of the county where the decedent lived (K.S.A. 59-2203), within six months of the death if a will is to pass property (K.S.A. 59-617)
• Publish notice to creditors within 30 days after the petition is filed, once a week for three consecutive weeks (K.S.A. 59-709(a))
• Give actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors before the nonclaim period expires (K.S.A. 59-709(b))
• File the inventory and valuation within 30 days of the letters of appointment (K.S.A. 59-1201)
• Mail the elective-share notice to the surviving spouse within 10 days of qualification (K.S.A. 59-2233)
• Settle the estate within nine months of appointment unless the court extends the period (K.S.A. 59-1501)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is the ordinary route where the court does not order administration under the Kansas simplified estates act.

Filing fee:

$109.50

source

Typical duration:

6 to 12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $109.50 figure is the statewide statutory docket fee of K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) and is not set by this county. On and after July 1, 2026 the supreme court may add up to $22 per docket fee for non-judicial personnel, so the counter total may be higher. The 6 to 12 month range is DERIVED from the statutory floor (a four-month creditor bar from first publication and a nine-month settlement period), not from measured Kansas case data.

The district court admits the will, if any, to probate on a petition, appoints an executor or administrator and issues letters. The personal representative publishes notice to creditors, files an inventory and valuation, gives actual notice to known creditors, pays allowed demands in the K.S.A. 59-1301 order of classification, and closes on a petition and notice of final settlement.

• File a petition for probate of the will or for administration in the district court of the county of the decedent's residence (K.S.A. 59-2203), within six months of the death if a will is to pass property (K.S.A. 59-617)
• Give notice of the hearing under K.S.A. 59-2222 and 59-2209
• Mail the elective-share notice to the surviving spouse within 10 days of qualification (K.S.A. 59-2233)
• Publish notice to creditors within 30 days of filing the petition, once a week for three consecutive weeks (K.S.A. 59-709(a))
• File the inventory and valuation within 30 days of the letters of appointment (K.S.A. 59-1201)
• Give actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors before the nonclaim period expires (K.S.A. 59-709(b))
• Settle the estate within nine months of appointment unless the court extends the period (K.S.A. 59-1501)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The ordinary route where the court does not order simplified administration.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

K.S.A. 59-3201 through 59-3206 are the Kansas simplified estates act. Under simplified administration the court does not supervise the administration and no notice of the executor or administrator's actions is given, except notice of final settlement. In making the determination the court may consider the size of the estate, the degree of kinship of the heirs, devisees and persons seeking appointment, the solvency of the estate, the nature of the estate, the wishes of the heirs and devisees, the probable cost of administration and settlement, and any other pertinent matters.

• Seek administration under the Kansas simplified estates act in the petition
• The court determines at the hearing whether the estate is simplified or supervised (K.S.A. 59-3202)
• The notice must advise all persons that the court need not supervise administration and that no notice of the executor or administrator's actions will be given except notice of final settlement, and that written objections may cause the court to order supervised administration (K.S.A. 59-2222(b))
• Letters must be designated on their face as issued under the Kansas simplified estates act (K.S.A. 59-3203(c))

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The court decides. K.S.A. 59-3202 directs the court, at the hearing on the petition for appointment or for probate of a will where administration is sought under the act, to determine whether the estate is administered as a simplified estate or as a supervised estate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

A discretionary court order, not an affidavit. The district court may refuse to grant letters where it is satisfied that no estate will be left after the exempt property and the statutory allowances, or, where a creditor, heir, devisee, legatee or other interested person petitions, that the real and personal estate does not exceed the statutory figure. When it appears that further proceedings are unnecessary the court enters an order terminating the administration. Unlike the K.S.A. 59-1507b affidavit, this route reaches real property.

• File a petition for refusal of letters in the district court
• Where a surviving spouse or minor children petition, give notice under K.S.A. 59-2222 (K.S.A. 59-2287(c))
• Where an heir, devisee, legatee, creditor or other interested person petitions on the value ground, give bond in a sum of not less than the value of the estate, approved by the court and conditioned on paying the decedent's debts in order of preference and distributing the balance

Qualifies:

$75,000 under K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(2), measured on the real AND personal estate, where the estate is not subject to the K.S.A. 59-403 allowances or those allowances are waived and the petitioner gives bond. Separately, K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(1) sets no dollar figure at all: the test there is whether the value of the property is no greater than the exempt property plus the K.S.A. 59-403 allowance.

Filing fee:

$48.50

source

Typical duration:

1 to 3 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $48.50 docket fee is the K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) line for "Refusal to grant letters of administration" and is statewide.

The ordinary Kansas route for clearing title to real estate where nobody opened a probate. Any person interested in the estate or claiming an interest in the property petitions the district court of the county where the decedent lived, or of any county where property is situated. On proof, the court assigns the property to the persons entitled at the time of death under the law of intestate succession in effect on the date of death, or under a valid settlement agreement.

• Wait until the decedent has been dead more than six months (K.S.A. 59-2250)
• Confirm no will was filed under K.S.A. 59-618a within six months and no probate or administration petition has been filed
• Give notice under K.S.A. 59-2209 where title to real estate is to be assigned, otherwise under K.S.A. 59-2208

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is time and the absence of any other proceeding: more than six months since the death, no will filed under K.S.A. 59-618a within six months of the death, no petition filed for probate of a will in Kansas, and no petition for administration filed.

Filing fee:

$49.50

source

Typical duration:

1 to 3 months after the six-month wait

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $49.50 docket fee is the K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) line for "Determination of descent of property" and is statewide.

Not a court proceeding. Where the total assets of the estate subject to probate do not exceed $75,000, personal property transferable to the estate is transferred to a successor on an affidavit given to the holder of the property, without letters. The affidavit reaches personal property only and cannot transfer real estate, although real estate subject to probate counts toward the $75,000 measure.

• The decedent must have died a Kansas resident, testate or intestate
• The total assets of the estate subject to probate must not exceed $75,000 in value
• The claimant must be a successor: entitled by will or intestate succession, or nominated as personal representative under the decedent's will
• The affidavit is sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council, published as "Small Estates Affidavit (02-2024)"

Qualifies:

$75,000, measured on the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate (K.S.A. 59-1507b(a)). The figure was $40,000 before July 1, 2023.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one