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Kansas Probate Types: Supervised, Simplified, Refusal of Letters and the Affidavit

Kansas separates its routes by how much court supervision an estate needs rather than by a fee ladder. All of them start in the same place, the district court of the county where the decedent lived, and all but one of them cost the same flat docket fee.

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

How to Compare Kansas Probate Types

Two structural facts sit behind every Kansas estate. The forum never varies: K.S.A. 20-301 establishes a district court in each of the 105 counties with general original jurisdiction of all matters both civil and criminal, and chapter 59 governs the proceedings. There is no separate Kansas probate court and no county-level probate forum, so a page that sends a Kansas reader to a probate court is describing a building that does not exist. The counties are grouped into 31 judicial districts by K.S.A. 4-202 through 4-232, but the filing still goes to the clerk of the district court for the county, and venue for a Kansas resident is the county of residence at death under K.S.A. 59-2203.

The second fact is that the shorter routes save procedure rather than money. K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) prices probate of an estate or of a will at a flat $109.50 with no reference to the value of the estate, and subsection (a)(2) says the docket fee is the only fee collected for the docket fee and may only be established by an act of the legislature, so the figure is identical in every county and a simplified estate opens at the same price as a supervised one. What the shorter routes remove is court supervision, hearings and notices. The one route that genuinely costs nothing is the small estates affidavit, and it costs nothing because it never reaches a court at all.

Simplified Path vs Formal Path at a Glance

Who decides the route

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Simplified Path: The court, at the hearing on the petition, under K.S.A. 59-3202, after weighing the size and solvency of the estate, the kinship of the heirs and devisees and their wishes

Formal Path: Nobody has to decide. Supervised administration is the default where the simplified estates act is not sought or not ordered

Cost to open

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Simplified Path: $109.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1), between $109.50 and $131.50 on and after July 1, 2026

Formal Path: The same $109.50 under the same paragraph. The fee prices the filing, not the procedure

Court supervision

Simplified Path

Simplified Path: None. The court does not supervise the administration and no notice of the representative's actions is given except notice of final settlement

Formal Path: The court supervises, and the representative gives notice of the actions the code requires notice for

What the letters say

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Simplified Path: Designated on their face as issued under the Kansas simplified estates act, as K.S.A. 59-3203(c) requires

Formal Path: Ordinary letters testamentary or letters of administration

Creditor window

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Simplified Path: Four months from first publication, or 30 days after actual notice to a known or reasonably ascertainable creditor, whichever is later

Formal Path: The same four months and the same 30 days. K.S.A. 59-2239 does not vary with the route

Time to settle

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Simplified Path: Nine months from appointment under K.S.A. 59-1501, extendable by the court for cause

Formal Path: The same nine months. Removing supervision saves hearings, not months

How objections are handled

Formal Path

Simplified Path: The notice must warn that written objections may cause the court to order supervised administration (K.S.A. 59-2222(b))

Formal Path: Objections are heard in the ordinary course, since the court is already supervising

Best fit

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Simplified Path: A solvent estate with agreed heirs and a representative the family trusts

Formal Path: A contested estate, an insolvent one, or a representative who wants the court signing off as they go

Main Kansas Probate Options

Supervised Administration

K.S.A. 59-2219 et seq., with the settlement period at K.S.A. 59-1501

An estate that needs letters and either wants court oversight or has not asked for the simplified estates act

Threshold: No dollar threshold. The ordinary route where the court does not order simplified administration, testate or intestate.

Filing Fee: $109.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1), between $109.50 and $131.50 on and after July 1, 2026, the same in all 105 counties

Timeline: About 6 to 12 months

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement; counsel is usual once there is real property to sell, a business to wind up or a disputed demand

Simplified Estate

K.S.A. 59-3201 through 59-3206, the Kansas simplified estates act

A solvent estate with agreed heirs that wants the administration run without court supervision

Threshold: 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.

Filing Fee: $109.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1), between $109.50 and $131.50 on and after July 1, 2026. Simplified is not discounted

Timeline: About 6 to 12 months

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement; the saving is in hearings rather than in the statutory clocks, which still have to be met

Refusal to Grant Letters of Administration

K.S.A. 59-2287

A small estate that will be consumed by the exempt property and the family allowance, or one under $75,000 where the allowances do not apply or are waived

Threshold: Two grounds, and only one carries a figure. Under K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(1) there is no dollar amount at all: the test is whether the value of the decedent's real or personal property is not greater than the exempt property allowed by law plus the K.S.A. 59-403 allowance to the surviving spouse or minor children. Under K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(2) the real and personal estate must not exceed $75,000, the K.S.A. 59-403 allowances must not apply or must be waived, and the petitioning heir, devisee, legatee, creditor or other interested person must give bond in a sum of not less than the value of the estate.

Filing Fee: $48.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1), plus any bond premium

Timeline: About 1 to 3 months

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement; the bond condition and the allowance question are where counsel earns its cost

Proceedings to Determine Descent

K.S.A. 59-2250, with the decree at K.S.A. 59-2251

A family that needs to clear title to Kansas real estate years after a death nobody probated

Threshold: 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 or administration had without a determination of descent.

Filing Fee: $49.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1)

Timeline: About 1 to 3 months after the six-month wait

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement; a title company will usually want the decree drafted with care because it is the document that clears the chain

Small Estates Affidavit

K.S.A. 59-1507b, with the narrower benefit affidavit at K.S.A. 59-1507a

An estate held in accounts, wages, vehicles and belongings where nobody needs letters and no land has to change hands

Threshold: $75,000, measured on the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate, in value. The figure was $40,000 before July 1, 2023. Real estate subject to probate counts toward the measure even though the affidavit cannot convey it, and a will does not close the route because the section opens whether testate or intestate.

Filing Fee: $0. Nothing is filed with a court, so the docket-fee table has no line for it

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

Real Estate: No

Attorney: No

* Kansas charges one flat statewide docket fee for each kind of probate filing and takes no probate tax. K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) prices probate of an estate or of a will at $109.50, a petition to determine descent at $49.50, a petition asking the court to refuse letters at $48.50, filing a will and affidavit under K.S.A. 59-618a at $48.50, termination of joint tenancy and termination of life estate at $48.50 each, guardianship, conservatorship, trusteeship and a combined guardianship and conservatorship at $69.50 each, certified probate proceedings under K.S.A. 59-213 at $23.50, and decrees in probate from another state at $173.00. None of them is keyed to the value of the estate. One charge on top is genuinely uncertain and is shown as a range rather than folded into a total: K.S.A. 59-104(a)(2) as amended by 2026 Session Laws ch. 35 lets the supreme court impose an additional charge of up to $22 per docket fee from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030 to fund the costs of non-judicial personnel, and it is permissive rather than automatic, so a clerk may quote between $109.50 and $131.50 to open an estate. K.S.A. 59-104(b) applies the civil poverty-affidavit provisions to probate docket fees, and K.S.A. 59-2215 lets the court remit court costs where the total assets of the estate do not exceed $10,000.

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

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main Kansas probate types?
Two full court routes, two abbreviated court routes and one affidavit that never reaches a court. Supervised administration under K.S.A. 59-2219 et seq. is the default: the district court admits the will, issues letters, and the personal representative publishes notice to creditors, files an inventory, pays demands in the K.S.A. 59-1301 order and closes on a petition and notice of final settlement. The Kansas simplified estates act at K.S.A. 59-3201 through 59-3206 runs the same administration without court supervision, and the court decides at the appointment hearing which one an estate gets. K.S.A. 59-2287 lets the court refuse letters altogether in a small estate, and K.S.A. 59-2250 lets a family clear title to real estate by a determination of descent once six months have passed. Beside all four sits the K.S.A. 59-1507b small estates affidavit for a probate estate of $75,000 or less.
Which court hears probate in Kansas?
The district court, in all 105 counties, and there is no alternative. K.S.A. 20-301 establishes a district court in each county with general original jurisdiction of all matters both civil and criminal unless otherwise provided by law, and chapter 59 is the Kansas probate code that governs the proceedings. Kansas has no separate probate court and no county-level probate forum. Filings go to the clerk of the district court, and the counties are grouped into 31 judicial districts by K.S.A. 4-202 through 4-232, which assigns judges rather than changing where a petition is filed. Venue is set by K.S.A. 59-2203, and for a Kansas resident that is the district court of the county of residence.
What is the difference between simplified and supervised administration in Kansas?
How much the court watches, and who decides. Under K.S.A. 59-3202 the court determines at the hearing on the petition for appointment or for probate of a will, where administration is sought under the Kansas simplified estates act, whether the estate is administered as a simplified estate or a supervised one. It may weigh 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. In a simplified estate the court does not supervise the administration and no notice of the representative's actions is given except notice of final settlement, the notice has to say so under K.S.A. 59-2222(b), and the letters are designated on their face as issued under the act under K.S.A. 59-3203(c). What does not change is the money or the clocks: the docket fee is the same $109.50, the creditor bar is still four months from first publication, and the representative still has nine months from appointment to settle.
How long does the Kansas creditor claim period run?
Four months from the date of first publication of the notice to creditors, with a shorter alternative for known creditors and a stronger bar behind both. K.S.A. 59-2239(1), read with K.S.A. 59-2236 and 59-709, bars all demands against the estate, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, including demands of the state and the individual demands of executors and administrators, unless presented within the later of four months from first publication or, where the identity of the creditor is known or reasonably ascertainable, 30 days after actual notice was given. Publication itself is due within 30 days after the petition is filed and runs once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of the county authorized to publish legal notices. The stronger bar is separate and runs from the death rather than from publication: no creditor has any claim against or lien upon the property of a decedent, other than liens existing at the date of death, unless a petition for probate or administration is filed within six months after the death.
How long does a Kansas executor have to settle the estate?
Nine months from appointment, and the court can extend it. K.S.A. 59-1501 gives every executor and administrator nine months from the date of appointment to settle the estate and lets the court extend the period for cause in blocks of up to nine months. If the representative fails or refuses for 30 days after the nine months to settle, the court may issue a citation, and all costs of the citation and hearing are assessed against the representative personally rather than against the estate. The estate closes on a petition and notice of final settlement under K.S.A. 59-2247, with hearings on accounts under K.S.A. 59-2253. Under a simplified administration no notice of the representative's actions is given except that notice of final settlement.
Does Kansas require an inventory?
Yes, within 30 days. K.S.A. 59-1201 requires the personal representative, within 30 days after the date of the letters of appointment unless the court grants a longer time, to make a verified inventory stating opposite each item its full and fair value as of the date of death, covering all Kansas real estate and tangible personal property and all intangible property wherever located that comes to the representative's possession or knowledge. It is classified as real estate with a plat or survey description, then furniture, household goods and wearing apparel, then corporation stocks by certificate number, then bonds, mortgages, notes and other written evidence of debt, then all other personal property. Where the decedent was a partner, the whole partnership estate and the decedent's proportional share are separately inventoried and valued. K.S.A. 59-1202 provides for independent appraisement and the appointment and compensation of appraisers, and K.S.A. 59-1203 for a supplementary inventory.
What is the deadline to probate a will in Kansas?
Six months from the death, and Kansas puts the deadline on probating the will rather than on handing it over. K.S.A. 59-617 says no will of a testator who died a Kansas resident is effectual to pass property unless a petition for its probate is filed within six months after the death. K.S.A. 59-618 makes a person who has possession of the will, or knowledge of it and access to it for the purpose of probate, and who knowingly withholds it from the district court for more than six months, liable for reasonable attorney fees, costs and all damages sustained by beneficiaries who were without knowledge of it and access to it. That is civil liability; the section creates no criminal offense. K.S.A. 59-618a offers the safety valve: any person possessing the will may file the will or a copy with the statutory affidavit in the district court of the decedent's last residence for a $48.50 docket fee, and a will so filed within six months may be admitted to probate after that period.
How much does it cost to open probate in Kansas?
$109.50, whatever the estate is worth and whichever of the 105 counties it is in. K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) prices probate of an estate or of a will as a flat docket fee, and subsection (a)(2) states that the docket fee is the only fee collected for the docket fee, that it may only be established by an act of the legislature, and that no other authority exists to collect one. Nothing in the table is keyed to the size of the estate. One charge sits on top and is permissive rather than automatic: 2026 Session Laws ch. 35 moved the K.S.A. 59-104(a)(2) supreme court surcharge window to July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030, letting the court add up to $22 per docket fee to fund the costs of non-judicial personnel, so a clerk may quote between $109.50 and $131.50. Other probate filings have their own flat amounts: $49.50 for a determination of descent, $48.50 for refusal to grant letters and $48.50 for filing a will and affidavit under K.S.A. 59-618a. Publication of the notice to creditors is a separate cost paid to a newspaper.
Does Kansas charge an estate, inheritance or probate tax?
None of the three. Kansas imposes no estate tax on a person who died on or after January 1, 2010: it ran two successive estate taxes and repealed both, the 1998 act at K.S.A. 79-15,100 through 79-15,145 effective January 1, 2007 and its successor at K.S.A. 79-15,201 through 79-15,253 effective January 1, 2010. Two live sections close the door on late filings for deaths inside those windows, K.S.A. 79-15,146 with a cutoff of January 1, 2017 and K.S.A. 79-15,254 with a cutoff of January 1, 2020. Kansas imposes no inheritance tax on beneficiaries, so there is no return and no rate that varies with how closely a beneficiary was related to the decedent. And there is no probate tax and no value-based probate filing fee: what the court charges is the flat docket fee in K.S.A. 59-104. An estate can still owe a final individual income tax return for the year of death and a fiduciary return where one is required.
Can a Kansas court avoid appointing an executor at all?
Yes, and that is the point of K.S.A. 59-2287. The district court may, in its discretion, refuse to grant letters of administration in two situations. Under subsection (a)(1) it may do so where the value of the decedent's real or personal property is not greater than the exempt property allowed by law plus the K.S.A. 59-403 allowance to the surviving spouse or minor children, and there is no dollar figure in that ground at all. Under subsection (a)(2) it may do so where the real and personal estate does not exceed $75,000, the K.S.A. 59-403 allowances do not apply or are waived, and an heir, devisee, legatee, creditor or other interested person petitions and gives bond in a sum of not less than the value of the estate. When it appears further proceedings are unnecessary the court enters an order terminating the administration. That $75,000 is not a larger tier of the small estates affidavit: it measures the real and personal estate rather than the assets subject to probate, it is a court order rather than a private affidavit, and it can require a bond.
How is an executor paid in Kansas?
By what the court allows, not by a percentage of the estate. K.S.A. 59-1717 says every fiduciary is allowed the necessary expenses incurred in executing the trust and has such compensation for services and those of the fiduciary's attorneys as is just and reasonable, and it lets the fiduciary apply to the court for an allowance on compensation and on attorney fees at any time during the administration. Kansas publishes no statutory percentage schedule for either role, so any Kansas percentage you are shown is a local custom or a fee agreement rather than the law. Where the will provides for the executor's compensation, K.S.A. 59-1504 takes that as full compensation unless the executor files a written instrument renouncing all claim to it. K.S.A. 59-104(d) taxes executor or administrator fees and attorney fees as additional court costs against the estate, and K.S.A. 59-2214 requires the court to tax probate costs against the estate unless that would be unjust and inequitable.

Important: Choosing the county in Kansas decides the courthouse and nothing else. K.S.A. 20-301 puts a district court in each of the 105 counties, chapter 59 governs the proceedings, and the clerk of the district court takes the filing, so there is no separate probate court, no probate division to find and no county probate surcharge to compare. The counties are grouped into 31 judicial districts by K.S.A. 4-202 through 4-232, but that grouping assigns judges rather than changing where a petition is filed. The fee is statewide: K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) sets one table, and subsection (a)(2) states the docket fee is the only fee collected for the docket fee and may only be established by an act of the legislature. Venue comes from K.S.A. 59-2203, which for a Kansas resident is the district court of the county of residence at death. Two costs are genuinely local and sit in no total on this page. Publishing the notice to creditors runs once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of the county authorized to publish legal notices under K.S.A. 59-709(a), at a rate the newspaper sets, capped by K.S.A. 28-137 at the lowest regular classified rate it charges commercial customers. And recording a deed or a decree of descent goes to the county register of deeds, a separate office from the court, at the uniform statewide amounts in K.S.A. 28-115.

Legal Authority: K.S.A. 20-301 (district court in each county), K.S.A. 59-2203 (venue), K.S.A. 59-617, 59-618 and 59-618a (the six-month limit on probating a will and how to preserve it), K.S.A. 59-2219 et seq. with K.S.A. 59-1501 (supervised administration and the nine-month settlement period), K.S.A. 59-3201 through 59-3206 (the Kansas simplified estates act), K.S.A. 59-2287 (refusal to grant letters), K.S.A. 59-2250 and 59-2251 (proceedings to determine descent and the decree), K.S.A. 59-1507b (small estates affidavit), K.S.A. 59-1507a (benefit payment affidavit), K.S.A. 59-709, 59-2236 and 59-2239 (notice to creditors and the claim bar), K.S.A. 59-1201 (inventory and valuation), K.S.A. 59-1301 (classification of demands), K.S.A. 59-2233 (notice to the surviving spouse), K.S.A. 59-1717 (fiduciary and attorney compensation) and K.S.A. 59-104 (the statewide docket-fee table). 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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