Common Kansas Probate Mistakes to Avoid

Two clocks decide almost everything in a Kansas estate

Six months from the death to file a petition to probate the will (K.S.A. 59-617), and four months from the FIRST PUBLICATION of the notice to creditors for demands to be presented (K.S.A. 59-2239). Write both dates down on day one.

Pull the deed before you decide anything about the house

K.S.A. 58-501 makes co-ownership a tenancy in common unless the language makes a joint tenancy clear, and it says so about a grant to a husband and wife by name. Kansas does not presume survivorship the way most people expect.

The $75,000 measures the whole probate estate, house included

K.S.A. 59-1507b measures the total assets of the estate subject to probate, so real estate counts toward the figure even though the affidavit cannot transfer it. Kansas fits none of the usual real-property patterns, so do not reason from another state.

A missing spousal notice does not close the election, it opens it

K.S.A. 59-6a211 runs the elective-share deadline from the LATER of the death or the K.S.A. 59-2233 notice. Skipping the 10-day notice keeps the window open rather than saving trouble.

Kansas publishes no percentage executor fee

K.S.A. 59-1717 allows just and reasonable compensation set by the court. Any percentage table you find describes another state. Keep a contemporaneous record of what you did, because that record is the case for the fee.

The homestead is acres, never dollars

160 acres of farming land outside an incorporated city, or one acre inside one. Neither the constitution nor K.S.A. 60-2301 nor K.S.A. 59-401 states a value limit, so never apply another state’s dollar cap.

Ask about Medicaid before anyone relies on a nonprobate transfer

Kansas reaches transfer-on-death deeds, payable-on-death accounts, joint tenancies and life estates in its medical assistance estate definition (K.S.A. 39-709(g)), and a lien on real property can be filed up to a year after the death. K.S.A. 59-2222(e) also entitles the state to notice where a PREDECEASED SPOUSE received assistance.

The clerk may quote more than $109.50, lawfully

K.S.A. 59-104(a)(2) lets the supreme court add up to $22 per docket fee from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. It is permissive, so telephone the clerk rather than assuming either figure.