New Hampshire Probate Guide
County-specific probate filing-office contacts, filing fees, required forms, and step-by-step guidance for families settling an estate in New Hampshire.
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Types of Probate in New Hampshire
New Hampshire has no dollar-threshold small estate and no small-estate affidavit. Every estate starts with a Petition for Estate Administration in the Circuit Court, Probate Division. What changes is how much inventory, bonding, and accounting survive, depending on who inherits and whether they agree. Waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 eliminates most paperwork when beneficiaries and heirs qualify and consent. Summary administration under RSA 553:33 shortens the closing process when debts are paid and everyone assents after 6 months.
See the full comparison of New Hampshire probate typesWhich procedures exist, who qualifies, and how the timelines compare.Find your county
New Hampshire Probate Filing Offices by County
Choose your county to get its probate court contacts, filing fees, and required forms. 10 counties have detailed data.
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New Hampshire Probate Guides
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Browse New Hampshire guide topics
Jump to court, executor, tax, planning, property, and probate-avoidance guides that match your next task.
Browse New Hampshire guide topics
Jump to court, executor, tax, planning, property, and probate-avoidance guides that match your next task.
Probate Basics
4Executor Duties
4Taxes & Deadlines
8Planning Documents
7New Hampshire Probate Self-Help and Online Resources
New Hampshire probate resource map by source type
State court, form, statute, agency, and self-help sources for general probate and estate-settlement questions.
County court, clerk, register, or filing-office pages for local probate divisions, filing paths, local forms, fee references, and courthouse-specific resources.
Public law library research paths for probate, wills, trusts, classes, guides, and community legal-information resources.
Referral paths for finding certified lawyer-referral services when a family wants help locating counsel.
All New Hampshire self-help resources (18 links)Official court, form, law-library, referral, and legal-education links, plus how to use each source
New Hampshire probate source navigation starts with state court, form, agency, legal-help, or referral links that are already tracked in Settled state data. These links are state-level starting points, not county-specific filing instructions.
Which New Hampshire probate source should you use?
- Start with the state court, form, or self-help source for general New Hampshire probate context.
- Use county filing-office, clerk, register, or court pages for local filing locations, local forms, fee schedules, and records portals.
- Use legal-help, law-library, or referral links as research or referral paths, not as a substitute for counsel.
- Verify current filing steps with the county office, court, clerk, register, legal-aid source, or counsel before filing.
Statewide process, forms, and code sources
State court, form, statute, agency, and self-help sources for general probate and estate-settlement questions.
- New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Self-Help: Estates
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Administering an Estate, the New Hampshire Judicial Branch booklet for a fiduciary
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Legal Assistance, New Hampshire Judicial Branch Self-Help
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Representing Yourself, New Hampshire Judicial Branch Self-Help
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Record Checks, New Hampshire Judicial Branch Self-Help (what the Case Access Portal covers, plus form NHJB-2941-P for a probate estate administration records search)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Inheritance & Estate Tax, New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (New Hampshire levies neither; RSA 86 was repealed effective 1 January 2003 and RSA 87 self-voided under RSA 87:9 for deaths on or after 1 January 2005)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Request for Certificates, New Hampshire Division of Vital Records Administration (how to order a certified death certificate)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- RSA chapter 553, Administrators and Their Appointment (New Hampshire says administrator, not personal representative, per RSA 553:1)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- RSA chapter 556, Suits by and Against Administrators, the chapter that carries the creditor-claim deadlines (the chapter name does not mention claims)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
County filing-office sources
County court, clerk, register, or filing-office pages for local probate divisions, filing paths, local forms, fee references, and courthouse-specific resources.
- Probate Division, New Hampshire Circuit Court
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- All Forms in Alphabetical Order, Probate Division (the statewide NHJB-####-P and -Pe series)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Frequently Asked Questions, Circuit Court Probate Division
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Circuit Court Probate Division Rule 169, the statewide probate filing-fee schedule ($150 / $205 / $305 tiered on gross estate value)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Circuit Court Filing Fees, the published schedule (printed date 07/01/2025)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- Self-Represented Parties and Other Non-Attorney Filers, Circuit Court (TurboCourt e-filing, the Case Access Portal and the Navigator programme)
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
Public law library sources
Public law library research paths for probate, wills, trusts, classes, guides, and community legal-information resources.
- New Hampshire Law Library
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
Referral-navigation sources
Referral paths for finding certified lawyer-referral services when a family wants help locating counsel.
- NH Legal Aid Programs, Access to Justice Commission
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
- New Hampshire Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service
State-level source record in Settled data, accessed 2026-08-03.
Settled pairs these New Hampshire source links with county pages, forms, first-step guides, transfer guides, and source notes so families can move from statewide context to the local office that handles the estate.
New Hampshire Estate Law Overview
New Hampshire Estate Tax Info
New Hampshire tax information for estates
Who Inherits Without a Will?
Intestate succession decides who inherits when someone dies without a valid will. In New Hampshire the rules are in RSA 561:1, and the Circuit Court, Probate Division decrees the distribution.
New Hampshire Homestead Protection
New Hampshire has ONE homestead concept, not three. RSA 480 creates a homestead RIGHT: a dollar-capped interest in the home that is exempt from attachment, levy and sale on execution, and that the surviving spouse continues to hold for life after the owner dies. It is not a probate allowance paid in cash the way a Uniform Probate Code homestead allowance is, and New Hampshire runs no statewide property-tax program called a homestead exemption.
Exempt Property
New Hampshire does not have the Uniform Probate Code trio of homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance. It has three narrower things: a discretionary allowance out of the personal estate for a surviving widow, a 40-day right to stay in the house rent free, and two old sections listing specific personal articles that are simply not estate assets. There is no dollar-valued exempt-property allowance at all.