Burt County Court Guide

NOT A COURT PROCEEDING AND NOT FILED WITH THE BURT COUNTY COURT. Thirty days after the death, a successor presents a sworn affidavit to whoever holds the property, and that person must pay or deliver it. The measure is the value of ALL of the personal property in the decedent's estate, WHEREVER LOCATED, less liens and encumbrances, and it must not exceed $100,000. REAL PROPERTY IS NOT COUNTED IN THIS MEASURE AT ALL, and it is not a bar either: Nebraska gives real estate its own parallel affidavit with its own separate $100,000 cap, so a family can use both. A will does not close this route; the claimant just has to be a successor and state the basis of the claim.

• Wait thirty days after the death (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125(a))
• Attach a certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate, or an abstract of death as defined in § 71-601.01 where the certificate is delayed
• The value of all the decedent's personal property wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed $100,000
• No personal representative may have been appointed, and no application or petition for one may be pending
• The claimant must be a successor of the decedent and must state the relationship or basis of the claim
• For a titled vehicle, motorboat, all-terrain vehicle, utility-type vehicle or minibike, also furnish the Department of Motor Vehicles an affidavit that the section applies and was complied with

Qualifies:

$100,000

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

There is no court fee because nothing is filed with a court. § 30-24,126 discharges the person who releases the property just as if that person had dealt with a personal representative, and a transfer agent must change the registered ownership of a security on presentation of the affidavit. The affidavit is sworn under penalty of perjury under § 28-915 and the court form requires it to be signed in front of a notary, a judge or a clerk of the court.

THE SECOND $100,000 IS A DIFFERENT $100,000, AND IT IS NOT MEASURED IN MARKET VALUE. Where the decedent's interest in ALL Nebraska real property does not exceed $100,000, the claiming successors may take title by affidavit recorded with the REGISTER OF DEEDS rather than by opening an estate. The value is taken from the ASSESSMENT ROLLS for the year in which the decedent died, less real estate taxes and interest due at the time of death, so the county assessor's figure controls and a hot market does not close the route. The affidavit must be signed by every claiming successor and recorded in each Nebraska county where the decedent's real property lies.

• Wait thirty days after the death (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,129(a))
• Attach a certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate. Unlike the personal-property affidavit, this route does NOT accept an abstract of death in its place
• The decedent's interest in all Nebraska real property must not exceed $100,000 valued from the assessment rolls for the year of death, less real estate taxes and interest due at death
• No personal representative may have been appointed in Nebraska, and no application or petition for one may be pending
• Every claiming successor must sign, and a successor claiming by devise must attach a copy of the will
• Record the affidavit with the register of deeds in every Nebraska county where the decedent's real property lies

Qualifies:

$100,000

Filing fee:

$10

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

§ 30-24,130 gives the successor the same protection as a distributee who received a deed of distribution from a personal representative, and gives a purchaser or lender dealing with that successor the same protection. It does not stop a proceeding to enforce a mortgage, pledge or other lien.

Nebraska's third simplified route has no threshold at all. If it appears from the inventory and appraisal that the value of the ENTIRE estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, the personal representative may disburse and distribute the estate immediately, without notice to creditors, and close it with the sworn statement § 30-24,128 describes. It shortens an administration; it does not avoid one, because it needs an appointed personal representative and an inventory first.

• Have a personal representative appointed and file the inventory and appraisal
• Show the whole estate less liens and encumbrances does not exceed the allowances plus administration costs, funeral expenses and last-illness medical expenses (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,127)
• Close with the sworn closing statement of § 30-24,128 rather than a formal accounting

Qualifies:

NO DOLLAR FIGURE EXISTS. The test is a comparison, not a number.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

This is also the one Nebraska route that excuses bond: § 30-2446(1)(f) waives it where the petition or application alleges the probable value of the entire estate will permit summary procedures.

The litigated door. A formal testacy proceeding is commenced by petition and heard by the county judge on notice, and it is the route when a will is contested, when heirs or priority are disputed, when a will cannot be probated informally under § 30-2417, or when someone wants the court's binding determination of who the heirs are. Supervised administration under § 30-2440 goes further and keeps the personal representative under continuing court control until a final order of distribution.

• File the petition with the clerk of the county court for the county of the decedent's domicile at death (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2410)
• Give notice of the hearing to every interested person the Nebraska Probate Code requires
• Be ready for the fee to be assessed on the GROSS VALUE of the estate under § 33-125(1)(b), which means the real and personal property in Nebraska at death less liens and joint tenancy property
• Publish and mail the § 30-2483 creditor notice as in any other administration

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The FEE, not the eligibility, is graduated by the value of the estate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Informal fees are capped by § 33-125(1)(a) at what a formal probate of the same estate would cost, so a long informal administration with many applications can never cost more in filing fees than the formal route.

Nebraska is a Uniform Probate Code state, and its usual estate is opened WITHOUT A HEARING. A written application goes to the REGISTRAR of the Burt County Court rather than a petition to a judge. The registrar checks the application, makes the findings § 30-2416 requires, admits the will informally if there is one and appoints the personal representative, who then publishes the creditor notice, gives the required notices, files an inventory and closes by sworn statement. § 30-2417 lists the situations where informal probate is not available, including a will that is damaged or whose validity is in doubt and an application by a person whose priority is disputed.

• File the application with the clerk of the county court in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2410)
• Wait the five days § 30-2414 requires after the death before the registrar acts on an application for informal probate or informal appointment
• Deliver the original will to the court, where there is one (§ 30-2356)
• Give the § 30-2483 notice to creditors, published once a week for three successive weeks with the first publication within thirty days after the appointment
• Give notice to the Department of Health and Human Services where the decedent was fifty-five or older or lived in a medical institution (§ 30-2483(b))
• File a bond unless one of the § 30-2446 exceptions applies

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is the ordinary Nebraska route where nobody is contesting.

Filing fee:

$44

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $44.00 is the amount collected at filing: $22.00 under § 33-125(1)(a)(i), $2.00 of judges retirement fee under § 24-703(3)(a), and $20.00 of statutory court costs. Add $1.00 in a testate case for the certificate of probate of will under § 33-126.05. Each later petition or application inside an informal proceeding costs $22.00 statutory, $24.00 collected.