Kansas Probate Without a Lawyer

Kansas never makes a lawyer a condition of opening a probate, and the probate code settles it in one sentence. K.S.A. 59-2201 says every application in a probate proceeding, unless made during a hearing or trial, "shall be by petition signed and verified by or on behalf of the petitioner." No attorney appears anywhere in that section. Filing costs $109.50 at the counter. K.S.A. 20-301 puts a district court in every county, and the fee is the same in all 105 of them, with a supreme court charge of up to $22 on top.

Here is the part worth reading before you decide. Kansas hands a self-filer a real advantage and a real gap at the same time. The advantage is that the statute puts the mailing, the newspaper choice and the creditor notice in the petitioner's own hands rather than the clerk's. The gap is that the free official form set for a probate case is two documents, and the petition is not one of them. This page is general information about Kansas law rather than advice about one estate. It describes what the statutes and the official form sources provide, and it says nothing about whether any particular estate can be settled without counsel, which is a question for a licensed Kansas attorney. Start with the process you would be filing if you have not picked a route yet.

Nothing in chapter 59 conditions any of those filings on counsel. What decides the answer is the shape of the estate and how much of the work you are willing to do yourself.

The One Sentence That Lets You Sign Your Own Petition

Three sections define the space a Kansas self-filer works in, and the first is short enough to quote whole.

K.S.A. 59-2201 reads: "Every application in a probate proceeding, unless made during a hearing or trial, shall be by petition signed and verified by or on behalf of the petitioner. No defect in form shall impair substantial rights; and no defect in the statement of jurisdictional facts actually existing shall invalidate any proceedings." That second sentence is the friendliest line in the Kansas probate code for someone drafting a document for the first time.

K.S.A. 59-2213 then tells you what your signature is worth. No judgment or decree may be rendered in a probate proceeding without proof, and the verification of the petition under 59-2201 "shall constitute sufficient proof of the statements made in the petition in the absence of written defenses or any appearance by an adverse party." Your sworn petition carries the uncontested case. It also carries the exposure that goes with swearing to something, so slow down on the facts you cannot check.

K.S.A. 59-2202 lists what every probate petition has to state: your name, residence and address; your interest and your right to apply to the court; the jurisdictional facts; the facts showing you are entitled to the relief you want, in ordinary and concise language; and a prayer for relief. K.S.A. 59-2219 adds five items for a petition for administration, including the ages, residences and addresses of the heirs and whether you are asking for administration under the Kansas simplified estates act. K.S.A. 59-2220 adds the devisees and legatees, the named executor, and the name and address of the scrivener of the will, and requires the will itself to accompany the petition if it can be produced.

One more section repeats the pattern outside a full probate. K.S.A. 59-2286(a), the route for judicially determining the death of a life tenant or joint tenant and the devolution of title, says the petition "shall be sworn to by the petitioner, the petitioner's agent or attorney." The petitioner is named first there too.

Notice what 59-2219 asks for and what it does not. It wants ages, not dates of birth. That matters in the next section.

Kansas Publishes Two Free Probate Forms, and the Petition Is Not One

The Kansas Legislature names a Judicial Council form in three places a self-filer meets early, and skips the petition entirely.

K.S.A. 59-2210 says notice of any hearing "shall be deemed sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council." K.S.A. 59-1507b(b) says the same of the small estates affidavit. K.S.A. 60-2001(b)(2) says the same of the poverty affidavit. Sections 59-2201, 59-2202, 59-2219 and 59-2220 say nothing of the kind about a petition.

The Judicial Council's published form set matches that pattern exactly. Its Probate page, read on September 8, 2026, lists two forms: the hearing notice under K.S.A. 59-2210 and a Petition for Allowance of Demand. The Small Estates Affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b and the Poverty Affidavit each sit in their own category and are also free. There is no free official petition for administration, and no free official petition for probate of a will.

Sample petitions do exist, in the Judicial Council's Probate Forms 3d. Read what the Council says about the book before you buy it: it "contains sample forms relating to both judicial and nonjudicial procedures in decedents' estates, care and treatment forms, and guardianship and conservatorship forms," and "is intended to be used by probate attorneys and does not contain detailed instructions regarding procedural requirements by the court." The price is $150.00 plus tax in print, $95.00 plus tax on a single-user CD-ROM, or $85.00 for a one-year online subscription to a PDF whose forms are not fillable. Registered Kansas attorneys get free online access.

Two more lines on those pages are worth a self-filer's attention. Judicial Council staff may not give legal advice, recommend any course of legal action, help you fill out forms, interpret statutes or rules, or say whether a particular rule applies to your situation. And the free forms carry a warning about resellers: they are copyrighted, provided at no charge, and the Council's own page says that if you paid a company for them you should contact the Attorney General's consumer complaint hotline and the Judicial Council. Read that before you buy a Kansas probate packet from a website. The Kansas probate forms finder tracks what each source actually publishes.

The Certification Form Kansas Makes a Self-Filer Attach

This is the requirement most national checklists miss, and it applies to your first filing.

The Judicial Council publishes Self-Represented Litigant Form OJA 218 (Rev. 07/25) and ties it to the Kansas Supreme Court's temporary rule for filing in a district court by a self-represented litigant. By signing it you certify that you signed the attached filing and gave your name, address, telephone number, email address if you have one, and fax number if you have one.

You then complete one of two sections, and only one. The first says the document carries no prohibited personally identifiable information, for one of three reasons: it includes nothing on the Supreme Court Rule 24(b) list, or it is a Judicial Council form and you supplied only what the form asked for, or the information in it meets a Rule 24(c) exception. The second says the document may contain protected information and asks the court to file it under seal, naming the order that already seals it or the order you are asking for.

The Rule 24(b) list and the Rule 24(c) exceptions are both printed on the back of the form. Two entries decide how a probate inventory has to be written:

• A person's date of birth except for the year.
• All but the last four digits of thirteen lettered numbers, among them a Social Security number, a financial account number including bank, credit card and debit card accounts, a taxpayer identification number, a driver's license or nondriver identification number, a passport number, a brokerage account number, an insurance policy account number and a loan account number.

A third entry runs straight into the petition. Rule 24(b)(10) protects the physical address of an individual's residence, while K.S.A. 59-2202 requires your own residence and address and K.S.A. 59-2219 requires the residences and addresses of the heirs. Rule 24(c)(6) is the release valve, excepting any information a statute or rule requires, and the form offers a second route by letting you certify that the filing is a Judicial Council form carrying only what the form asked for. The form's own note tells you to read Rule 24 with its comments rather than rely on the summary, which is the right instruction here.

Now the drafting rule falls out. K.S.A. 59-2219 asks for the ages of the heirs rather than their birth dates, which lines up with the rule on its own. The exposure comes from what you attach. A bank statement, a title, a beneficiary letter or a full account number copied into an inventory is how protected information reaches a public court file. Redact to the last four digits before you file, and check the attachments as carefully as the petition.

You Do the Mailing, and You Pick the Newspaper

Kansas gives the notice work to the petitioner rather than to the clerk, which cuts the counter charges and puts the deadlines on you.

K.S.A. 59-2209(a) runs the sequence. Publication goes once per week for three consecutive weeks in a county newspaper authorized to publish legal notices. The first publication has to be made within 30 days after the order fixing the time and place of the hearing. Within seven days after that first published notice, the petitioner mails or causes to be mailed a copy to each heir, devisee and legatee other than the petitioner whose name and address is known. A copy of the petition, its attachments and, where they apply, the will, accounting and settlement agreement travel with the notice unless a court order excuses it. The hearing then sits no earlier than 10 days and no later than 30 days after the last publication.

Read that last clause twice. It is a window rather than a floor, so a hearing set too far out is as much of a problem as one set too soon.

K.S.A. 59-2211 confirms who chooses the paper: "In all cases of notice by publication, the newspaper shall be selected by the petitioner or other person required to give such notice." Prices differ between legal newspapers and no statute fixes them, so call two before you file. The same section requires proof by affidavit of service, plus a copy of the petition and attachments unless excused, to be filed before the hearing, and forgives any defect in the notice or its service "not affecting the substantial rights of the parties" once the court has approved the notice and the proof of service.

Creditor notice runs on its own clock and it is also yours. K.S.A. 59-709(a) says every petitioner who files for administration or for probate of a will shall give notice to creditors pursuant to an order of the court within 30 days after that filing, published once a week for three consecutive weeks. Subsection (b) puts actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors on the personal representative before the nonclaim period runs out.

K.S.A. 59-2236(a) normally combines the creditor notice with the hearing notice, and it carries a trap for the estate where everyone agrees. If the hearing notice is waived under K.S.A. 59-2223, the creditor notice "shall be published separately." Collecting waivers removes the hearing notice and leaves the publication bill in place. Take your county's rules from your county's district court and clerk rather than from a neighboring county's practice.

What It Costs at the Counter

The docket fee is statutory and statewide, which makes it the one number you can plan around.

K.S.A. 59-104(a)(2) is the only moving part, and the published statute is behind on it. The revisor's text still prints a window of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2025. 2026 Kansas Session Laws chapter 35 (House Bill 2393, approved April 3, 2026) rewrote that window to run July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030, leaving the $22 cap and the "Probate of an estate or of a will 109.50" line untouched. So the charge is live, and $131.50 is the ceiling on a Kansas probate filing today. Read who holds that power. The subsection gives it to the supreme court, not to the district court where you file, and the same sentence says the docket fee "shall only be established by an act of the legislature and no other authority is established by law or otherwise to collect a fee." Whether the court has imposed the charge, and at what amount up to the $22 cap, sits in a supreme court order on the Kansas judicial branch website, which asks automated collectors to stay away, so we do not carry the figure here. Ask the clerk for today's counter total.

Three more costs never show up as a fixed number anywhere.

• Certified copies of your letters. K.S.A. 28-170(a) prices "a certificate, or for copying or certifying any paper or writ" at "such fee as shall be prescribed by the district court." Kansas publishes no statewide figure, so ask your clerk what a certified copy costs and order several. Banks and title companies each keep one.
• Newspaper publication. No statute sets the price, and K.S.A. 59-2211 lets you choose the paper.
• Bond premium. K.S.A. 59-1101 sets the bond at an amount the court directs, never less than 125 percent of the personal property plus the probable annual income from real estate coming into your possession. See the Kansas bond requirements guide for how to get it excused.

If the money is not there, Kansas answers in two places and they do different jobs.

K.S.A. 59-104(b) applies K.S.A. 60-2001(b) and 60-2005 to probate docket fees. K.S.A. 60-2001(b)(1) says that where a plaintiff by reason of poverty is unable to pay a docket fee, and an affidavit so stating is filed, no fee will be required. Subsection (b)(2) requires a factual basis including the source and amount of your weekly income, sworn under oath before an officer authorized to administer it, under penalty of perjury, and makes the Judicial Council's free form sufficient. Subsection (b)(3) has the court review the filing and either direct payment or dismiss without prejudice if it finds the allegation of poverty untrue, and service of process does not issue unless the court grants leave after that review.

K.S.A. 59-2215 is the second door. Where the total assets of the estate do not exceed $10,000 in value, the court may remit the court costs or any part of them. The 2023 session raised that ceiling from $5,000.

K.S.A. 59-2214 is a different animal and gets confused with both. It taxes the costs of a probate proceeding against the estate unless that would be unjust and inequitable, and its poverty affidavit belongs to a claimant on a contested demand who is asked to give security for costs. It is not the way to open a case without paying.

Where the Work Gets Lighter When Everyone Signs

Kansas rewards agreement more than most states, and a self-filer who collects signatures early does far less work.

A hearing on immediate notice. K.S.A. 59-2223 lets the court hold a hearing as if notice had been given where all parties interested as heirs, devisees and legatees enter their appearance in writing, duly acknowledged, waive the notice otherwise required and consent to an immediate hearing.

Notice waived in writing. K.S.A. 59-2208 lets any competent person waive a required notice in writing, and lets a trustee, conservator, guardian or guardian ad litem waive for those they represent. Where the law does not direct how notice is given, the same section lets the court set the manner and the length of time.

Bond excused. K.S.A. 59-1104 excuses the 59-1101 bond where the will expressly waives it, or where all the known heirs, if no will has been probated, or all the devisees and legatees under a will that does not waive bond, file a written waiver with the court. The court may still require a bond at any time on its own motion or on the application of an interested party.

Simplified administration. K.S.A. 59-3202 has the court decide at the hearing whether the estate runs as a simplified estate or a supervised one, weighing size, the degree of kinship of the heirs and the person seeking appointment, solvency, the nature of the estate, the wishes of the heirs and devisees, and the probable cost of administration. K.S.A. 59-3205 then removes court supervision between the issuance of letters and the order closing the estate, and lets the court close once the claims period has expired, the time to appeal an order admitting or refusing a will has expired, and six months from the date of death have expired.

Agreement can be withdrawn. K.S.A. 59-3206 lets any person having an interest object to simplified administration and state reasons, sends the issue to a hearing after notice, and lets the court order supervised administration and require a bond in the meantime. The account you will have to file is the same either way.

The Clocks That Cost a Self-Filer Money

Four dated rules do more damage to a self-filed Kansas estate than any drafting mistake.

K.S.A. 59-2239(1) bars every demand not presented within the later of four months from the first published notice under K.S.A. 59-2236, or 30 days after actual notice where the creditor's identity is known or reasonably ascertainable. The same subsection carries a harder outer limit: no creditor has a claim against or a lien upon the decedent's property, beyond liens existing at the death, unless a petition for probate under 59-2220 or for administration under 59-2219 is filed within six months after the death. The Kansas creditor claims guide walks that sequence.

K.S.A. 59-1501 gives every executor and administrator nine months from appointment to settle the estate, extendable by the court for cause shown in blocks of not more than nine months at a time. Then comes the sentence that hits a self-filer's own wallet. Fail or refuse to settle for 30 days after the nine months run out and the court may cite you to appear, and all costs connected with that citation and its hearing are assessed against you personally rather than against the estate.

K.S.A. 59-2247 sends final settlement notice back through the full 59-2209 publication route whenever the decree assigns title to real estate. In every other case notice is given or waived under 59-2208. Budget the second publication if a house is in the estate.

K.S.A. 59-2213 gives the court control of its orders, judgments and decrees for 30 days after they are rendered. After that they move only under K.S.A. 60-260(b). Read a decree the week it is entered rather than the month after. The Kansas probate timeline stacks these clocks against each other.

Payment for your own work is not fixed either. K.S.A. 59-1717 allows every fiduciary the necessary expenses of executing the trust and such compensation for services, and for the services of the fiduciary's attorneys, "as shall be just and reasonable," and lets you apply for an allowance during administration rather than waiting for the final hearing. Kansas sets no percentage schedule for either.

When to Stop and Hire a Kansas Attorney

Four situations turn paperwork into litigation, and each one is worth two hours of an attorney's time before it turns into a year of yours.

A written objection. K.S.A. 59-3206 puts the question of continuing as a simplified estate in front of the judge, with notice and a hearing.

An estate that cannot pay everyone. K.S.A. 59-1301 classifies demands into ranks, and a personal representative who pays out of order answers for it. The Kansas debt payment priority guide sets out the ranking.

A will contest. The Kansas will requirements guide covers the execution rules a contest has to attack, and Kansas will contests covers the procedure.

Real estate assigned by the decree. The extra publication under 59-2247 is the small part. Marketable title is the reason to get the legal description and the parties right the first time.

Where Kansas Sends a Self-Filer for Help

Set expectations before you count on any of these.

Kansas Legal Services is a statewide nonprofit law firm for low and moderate income Kansans. Apply by phone at 316-267-3975, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The online application runs on a narrower schedule that catches people out: it opens at 8:00 a.m. Monday, closes at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and is not available Friday through Sunday.

The Kansas Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service charges nothing to refer you, and the attorneys it refers set their own fees. Its own page is honest about the limits. Not all Kansas attorneys participate, the KBA does not provide pro bono or reduced fee referrals, and if no attorney has contacted you within 7 to 10 days of your request, the service did not find one.

Kansas Free Legal Answers, the American Bar Association's volunteer clinic, lists its question topics as family, divorce, custody, housing, eviction, homelessness, consumer rights, financial, work, employment, unemployment, health and disability, civil rights, income maintenance, juvenile and education law. Probate is not on that list. The site also states plainly that its volunteer lawyers cannot call you and cannot represent you in court. Ask anyway if money is tight, and plan as though the answer is no.

What Self-Filers Run Into

1. The route gets chosen before the paperwork does. A $75,000 personal-property affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b costs nothing and reaches no court. A determination of descent needs six months since the death. A full probate costs $109.50. Which route an estate qualifies for turns on facts that have to be established first rather than on which form is easiest to find.
2. You mail the notices, so you own the dates. Publication within 30 days of the order, mailing within seven days of the first publication, hearing between 10 and 30 days after the last publication.
3. Waiving notice does not cancel publication. K.S.A. 59-2236(a) requires the creditor notice to be published separately when the hearing notice is waived under 59-2223.
4. The petition has no free official form. Two Judicial Council probate forms are free; sample petitions sit in a $85.00 to $150.00 book written for attorneys.
5. Redact before you file. Supreme Court Rule 24(b), printed on the back of Form OJA 218, protects dates of birth apart from the year and all but the last four digits of account and identification numbers.
6. Nobody publishes the clerk's copy fee. K.S.A. 28-170(a) leaves it to each district court, so the price of certified letters is a phone call rather than a lookup.
7. Bond is not waived by default. K.S.A. 59-1101 starts at 125 percent of the personal property, and K.S.A. 59-1104 needs the will or written waivers to excuse it.
8. The nine-month settlement clock has teeth aimed at you. K.S.A. 59-1501 assesses the costs of a citation for late settlement against the executor personally.

Common Questions

Do you need a lawyer for probate in Kansas?

No Kansas statute conditions a probate filing on hiring counsel, and the probate code answers the question in one sentence. K.S.A. 59-2201 says every application in a probate proceeding, unless made during a hearing or trial, shall be by petition signed and verified by or on behalf of the petitioner. The section never names an attorney. K.S.A. 59-2213 then gives that signature real weight: the verification of the petition constitutes sufficient proof of the statements in it where nobody files written defenses and no adverse party appears. Whether you should file alone turns on the shape of the estate rather than on a filing rule.

Does Kansas publish free probate forms for people filing on their own?

Two of them. The Kansas Judicial Council's Probate legal-forms page lists exactly one hearing notice under K.S.A. 59-2210 and one Petition for Allowance of Demand, read on September 8, 2026. The Small Estates Affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b and the Poverty Affidavit sit in their own categories and are also free. There is no free official petition for administration or for probate of a will. Sample petitions live in the Judicial Council's Probate Forms 3d, which the Council describes as intended for probate attorneys and which costs $150.00 plus tax in print, $95.00 plus tax on single-user CD-ROM, or $85.00 for a one-year online subscription. Registered Kansas attorneys read it online free.

How much does it cost to file Kansas probate without a lawyer?

The statutory docket fee is $109.50 to probate an estate or a will, set by K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) and identical in all 105 district courts. K.S.A. 59-104(a)(2) lets the supreme court add a charge of up to $22 per docket fee to fund the costs of non-judicial personnel, so $131.50 is the ceiling on the counter total. The 2026 session moved that authority forward: 2026 Kansas Session Laws chapter 35 rewrote the window to run July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. That charge is the supreme court's to impose rather than any single county's, and the order setting it sits on the Kansas judicial branch site, which asks automated collectors to stay out, so ask the clerk for today's counter total instead of assuming.

Who mails the notices in a Kansas probate?

You do, and you also pick the newspaper. K.S.A. 59-2209(a) has the petitioner mail or cause to be mailed a copy of the notice to each heir, devisee and legatee other than the petitioner within seven days after the first published notice, with a copy of the petition and its attachments included unless the court excuses that. K.S.A. 59-2211 says the newspaper shall be selected by the petitioner or other person required to give notice, and that proof by affidavit of service has to be filed before the hearing. K.S.A. 59-709(a) puts creditor notice on the petitioner too, within 30 days after filing.

Can a Kansas court waive the probate filing fee?

Yes, on a sworn affidavit. K.S.A. 59-104(b) applies K.S.A. 60-2001(b) to probate docket fees, and 60-2001(b)(1) says that where a plaintiff by reason of poverty is unable to pay a docket fee and an affidavit so stating is filed, no fee will be required. The affidavit has to state a factual basis including the source and amount of your weekly income, sworn under penalty of perjury, and the Judicial Council publishes the form free. Under 60-2001(b)(3) the court reviews it and directs payment or dismisses without prejudice if the poverty allegation is untrue. A second relief sits in K.S.A. 59-2215: where total estate assets do not exceed $10,000 in value, the court may remit court costs or any part of them.

What makes a Kansas probate too much to handle alone?

A written objection is the clearest signal. Under K.S.A. 59-3206 any person having an interest may object to administration as a simplified estate, the court hears the issue after notice, and it may order supervised administration and require a bond in the meantime. An insolvent estate is the second, because the classification of demands in K.S.A. 59-1301 decides who goes short and a personal representative who pays out of order answers for it. Real estate assigned by the final decree is the third, since K.S.A. 59-2247 then routes final settlement notice through the full K.S.A. 59-2209 publication sequence. A will contest is the fourth.

Related Guides

• Kansas Probate Guide
• Kansas Probate Courts by County
• Kansas Probate Forms
• Kansas Small Estate Affidavit
• Kansas Probate Timeline
• Kansas Probate Accounting
• Kansas Creditor Claims
• Kansas Executor Duties
• Kansas Bond Requirements
• Kansas Debt Payment Priority
• Kansas Intestate Succession

Before You File

Every statute on this page was read at the Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes on September 8, 2026, whose published text carries chapters 20, 28, 59 and 60 through the 2025 session, and every section cited here was checked against the Secretary of State's 2026 Amended and Repealed index. Three of them were touched by the 2026 session and one act did all three: chapter 35 amended K.S.A. 59-104 at section 16, K.S.A. 60-2001 at section 18 and K.S.A. 28-170 at section 7, and in each one the change is the non-judicial-personnel surcharge window described above. The docket-fee table, the clerk's copying charge and the poverty-affidavit rules came through that act unchanged. Local filing practice differs from one district court clerk to the next, and the supreme court charge under 59-104(a)(2) is discretionary, so confirm the counter total with the clerk in your county before you write a check. Take an objection, a will contest, an insolvent estate or a real estate assignment to a licensed Kansas attorney. The Kansas probate hub collects the rest of the settlement work.

Sources:

• Title: K.S.A. 59-104, Docket fee; authorized only by legislative enactment; poverty affidavit; additional court costs. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2019, ch. 58, § 18; amended by 2026 ch. 35, § 16; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_001_0004.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-709, Filing of certain petitions; notice to creditors. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2024, ch. 35, § 1; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_007_0009.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-1101, Bond requirements and conditions. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1939, ch. 180, § 81; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_011_0001.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-1104, Bond may be excused; court may require at any time. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1975, ch. 299, § 6; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_011_0004.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-1301, Classification of demands. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2015, ch. 42, § 14; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_013_0001.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-1501, Duration of administration; reopening, when; costs. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1972, ch. 215, § 10; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_015_0001.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-1507b, Transfer of certain personal property to successor; discharge and release; affidavit. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2024, ch. 35, § 2; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_015_0007b.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-1717, Compensation and expenses. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1939, ch. 180, § 147; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_017_0017.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2201, Pleading. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1939, ch. 180, § 177; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0001.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2202, Contents of petition. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1939, ch. 180, § 178; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0002.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2208, Notice fixed by court; waiver. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2005, ch. 45, § 2; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0008.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2209, Notice by publication and mailing. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, § 8; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0009.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2210, Form of notice. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2005, ch. 101, § 6; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0010.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2211, Proof of service; effect. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1985, ch. 191, § 34; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0011.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2213, Judgments; verification of the petition; vacation or modification. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1995, ch. 179, § 1; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0013.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2214, Taxation of costs and security therefor; poverty affidavit. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1976, ch. 242, § 32; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0014.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2215, Remission of court costs in estates under $10,000 in value. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, § 9; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0015.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2219, Petition for administration. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1975, ch. 299, § 14; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0019.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2220, Petition for probate of will. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1981, ch. 228, § 1; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0020.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2223, Hearing; entry of appearance, waiver of notice and consent to immediate hearing. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2005, ch. 45, § 3; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0023.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2236, Notice to creditors. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1989, ch. 173, § 4; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0036.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2239, Claims against estate; time for filing; when barred. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2004, ch. 73, § 2; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0039.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2247, Petition and notice of final settlement. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2015, ch. 42, § 16; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0047.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2250, Proceedings to determine descent. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1987, ch. 211, § 2; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0050.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2286, Institution of proceedings; notice, hearing, order and decree; time for appeal. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2010, ch. 44, § 24; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0086.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-2287, Refusal to grant letters of administration; order; notice; termination of administration. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, § 11; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0087.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-3202, Administration as simplified estate or supervised estate; determination by court. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1975, ch. 299, § 30; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_032_0002.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-3205, Court supervision not required; exceptions; order to close estate. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1985, ch. 191, § 56; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_032_0005.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-3206, Objections to continuing administration as simplified estate; procedure; change to supervised administration. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1975, ch. 299, § 34; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_032_0006.html
• Title: K.S.A. 59-618a, Filing of certain wills or copies in court; affidavit; admission to probate. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, § 2; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_006_0018a.html
• Title: K.S.A. 60-2001, Docket fee; authorized only by legislative enactment; poverty affidavit, court review; disposition of fees; additional costs; certain sheriff's charges prohibited. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2019, ch. 58, § 20; amended by 2026 ch. 35, § 18; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch60/060_020_0001.html
• Title: K.S.A. 28-170, Court fees, civil actions; authorized only by legislative enactment; prosecuting attorneys' training fund. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2019, ch. 58, § 9; amended by 2026 ch. 35, § 7; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch28/028_001_0070.html
• Title: 2026 Session Laws of Kansas, Chapter 35, House Bill No. 2393. Publisher: Kansas Secretary of State. Publication Date: Approved April 3, 2026; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://sos.ks.gov/publications/sessionlaws/2026/Chapter-35-HB-2393.html
• Title: 2026 Amended and Repealed Statutes. Publisher: Kansas Secretary of State. Publication Date: 2026 session; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://sos.ks.gov/publications/sessionlaws/2026/2026-Amended-Repealed.html
• Title: Probate legal forms. Publisher: Kansas Judicial Council. Publication Date: Not listed; page accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kjc.ks.gov/legal-forms/probate
• Title: Poverty Affidavit / Waiver of Filing Fee. Publisher: Kansas Judicial Council. Publication Date: Not listed; page accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kjc.ks.gov/legal-forms/poverty-affidavit
• Title: Self-Represented Litigant (SRL) Certification Form, Form OJA 218 (Rev. 07/25). Publisher: Kansas Judicial Council and Kansas Office of Judicial Administration. Publication Date: Revised 07/2025; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kjc.ks.gov/legal-forms/self-represented-litigant-srl-certification-form
• Title: Kansas Judicial Council Probate Forms 3d. Publisher: Kansas Judicial Council. Publication Date: Not listed; page accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kjc.ks.gov/publications/probate-forms-3d
• Title: Small Estates Affidavit - K.S.A. 59-1507b. Publisher: Kansas Judicial Council. Publication Date: Form revision 02-2024; page accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kjc.ks.gov/legal-forms/small-estates-affidavit-k-s-a-59-1507b
• Title: K.S.A. 20-301, District court in each county; jurisdiction. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1976, ch. 146, § 9; text current through the 2025 session, accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch20/020_003_0001.html
• Title: Kansas Legal Services (home page, legal assistance application hours). Publisher: Kansas Legal Services, Inc. Publication Date: Not listed; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kansaslegalservices.org/
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• Title: Lawyer Referral Service. Publisher: Kansas Bar Association. Publication Date: Not listed; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://ksbar.org/?pg=clientreferrals
• Title: Kansas Free Legal Answers. Publisher: American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. Publication Date: Not listed; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://kansas.freelegalanswers.org/

This guide is general information about handling a Kansas probate without a lawyer. Whether you should file for yourself turns on your own facts, and Kansas court costs and local filing practice change, so confirm the current rules with the clerk of your district court or a licensed Kansas attorney before you rely on any figure here. It is not legal advice.