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New Hampshire Executor Bond Requirements
Support GuideNew Hampshire19 min read

New Hampshire Executor Bond Requirements

New Hampshire starts from bond required under RSA 553:13. An estate with a gross value of $25,000 or less needs only a personal bond without sureties.

By Settled Editorial

New Hampshire starts from bond required. RSA 553:13 bars any person from administering an estate until that person gives bond to the judge, with sufficient sureties, in a reasonable sum the judge approves, or files other security the judge accepts. Three things soften it: a gross estate of $25,000 or less, the judge's own discretion, and waiver of administration.

That default is what separates New Hampshire from the states around it. Maine, Massachusetts and the rest of the Uniform Probate Code family begin from no bond and add one when somebody asks for it. New Hampshire never adopted the UPC, so the older sequence survives: you post first, then you serve. The statutory word for the job is administrator, and RSA 553:1 makes it the umbrella term covering a will-named executor and a court-appointed administrator alike. A national article built around "personal representative" was written for a different state, and so was its bond advice.

Does New Hampshire Require an Executor to Post a Bond?

Yes, unless something in this page's list removes it. RSA 553:13, I opens with the prohibition rather than the permission: except as provided in RSA 553:32, no person shall administer the estate of a person deceased until that person has given bond to the judge, with sufficient sureties, in such reasonable sum as the judge shall approve. The statute offers one substitution in the same breath, which people miss. In place of a bond you may file other forms of security acceptable to the judge, so a locked account or collateral can stand in where a surety company will not write.

RSA 565:1 fixes how the paper reads. Every bond given to a judge runs "to the judge of probate for the county of ____," without naming whoever holds the office that day. RSA 565:8 finishes the thought by keeping any later vacancy or change of judge from abating a suit on the bond. You are promising the office, not the person sitting in it, and the promise survives that person leaving.

You give the bond to the Circuit Court Probate Division for the county where the decedent lived. New Hampshire folded its standalone county probate courts into the unified Circuit Court, so you file with the circuit clerk rather than with a Register of Probate. The New Hampshire probate court directory maps all ten counties to the division that hears their estates.

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The Six Promises Written Into the Bond

Read RSA 553:13, I(a) through (f) as the job description, because that is what it is. The bond is conditioned on all of this:

  1. Return to the judge a true and perfect inventory of the estate, upon oath, within 90 days from the date of appointment
  2. Administer the estate according to law
  3. Render to the judge an account of administration, upon oath, within one year, and annually thereafter unless excused by the judge or by law, until a final account is filed and allowed
  4. Pay all taxes for which you may be or become liable under RSA 87
  5. Pay and deliver the rest and residue on allowance of the final account or a motion for summary administration
  6. Deliver the certificate of appointment back into the court if a subsequent appointment is granted

Every deadline in that list is a bond term, which is the part worth sitting with. Missing the 90-day inventory is not only a default with the clerk. It is a failure of the condition your surety underwrote. The New Hampshire probate accounting guide covers the annual accounting the bond secures and what belongs in each schedule.

Three Ways a New Hampshire Bond Shrinks or Disappears

The relief is real, and most family estates land in one of these buckets.

  • A gross estate of $25,000 or less. RSA 553:13, II says that where the estate has a gross value of $25,000 or less, only a personal bond without sureties will be required. You still sign a bond. You just do not buy a surety to stand behind it.
  • The judge's discretion. RSA 553:13, III lets the judge waive the requirements for the giving of bond and sureties or other forms of security. This is the ordinary result in a straightforward family estate with one heir who is also serving.
  • Waiver of administration. RSA 553:32, I(a) removes three things at once: no inventory, no bond, and no accounting. You qualify by relationship and consent, not by estate size, and the six qualifying situations include a testate sole beneficiary who is appointed, all beneficiaries serving or assenting, a trust as sole beneficiary, an intestate sole heir who is appointed, all heirs serving or assenting, and whenever the court decides it is appropriate. The New Hampshire small estate rules compare that route against summary administration.

One more removal sits in the same paragraph and applies to almost nobody: where the Department of Health and Human Services administers an estate under RSA 126-A:34, I(e), no bond is required at all.

SituationStatuteBond result
Ordinary administration, nothing waivedRSA 553:13, IBond with sufficient sureties, or other security
Gross estate of $25,000 or lessRSA 553:13, IIPersonal bond without sureties
Judge exercises discretionRSA 553:13, IIIBond and sureties may be waived
Waiver of administrationRSA 553:32, I(a)No bond required
DHHS administering the estateRSA 553:13, IINo bond required
Special administrator appointedRSA 553:23Bond required, with sufficient sureties

$25,000 Is a Bond Rule, Not a Small Estate Limit

This is the New Hampshire number most likely to be misread, so here is the correction in one line. New Hampshire has no dollar-threshold small estate and no small-estate affidavit. Four figures in this area look like thresholds and none of them is one:

  • $10,000 waives publication of the notice of appointment (RSA 553:16). It waives a newspaper notice, nothing more.
  • $25,000 sets the bond at a personal bond without sureties (RSA 553:13, II).
  • $10,000 and $25,000 are also the Probate Division Rule 169 entry-fee breakpoints, at $150.00, $205.00 and $305.00 for the petition for estate administration.
  • $25,000 is where the Rule 169 accounting fee turns on, at $105.00 for estates with a gross value greater than that.

Same number, two unrelated jobs. Reading the bond rule as a procedural shortcut is how families end up believing they can skip the court entirely, and there is no route in RSA 553 that lets them.

The Court Form Is NHJB-2137-P

The New Hampshire Judicial Branch publishes about 230 Probate Division forms, and exactly one of them is a bond: NHJB-2137-P, Fiduciary Bond, with an e-file twin numbered NHJB-2137-Pe. The court's own description tells you which case it belongs to. The form is required when the probate court has ordered the executor, administrator, guardian, conservator or trustee to file a bond without sureties, and in it the fiduciary promises the court to replace any funds up to the amount of the bond in case of the fiduciary's neglect or wrongdoing. The court adds the sentence that settles who the bond is for: it protects the estate's beneficiaries.

So NHJB-2137-P is the RSA 553:13, II and III paperwork. A bond backed by a corporate surety does not use it. That bond comes on the surety company's own form, and RSA 565:2 says who may write it: any corporation established by New Hampshire law, or authorized to transact business here and authorized by its charter, may be accepted by the judge as sufficient surety if the judge is satisfied with the ability of the corporation. The judge approves the company, not just the number.

How the Judge Sets the Amount, and How It Changes Later

New Hampshire does not give you an arithmetic rule. RSA 553:13, I asks for "such reasonable sum as the judge shall approve," and the judge sizes it against what the estate holds and what the conditions expose. Expect the figure to track the personal property you will actually handle.

The number is not frozen once set. Two statutes move it:

  • RSA 553:13, IV. At any time, or on the motion of an administrator or a beneficially interested person, the judge may require a further bond with sufficient sureties, or reduce an existing bond, if the judge determines it appropriate under the circumstances. Selling the house early raises your exposure. Distributing most of the estate lowers it. Either way, a motion right-sizes the bond.
  • RSA 565:3. Where the sureties or the penalty are insufficient, the judge shall require a new bond from the principal, with sufficient sureties and penalty, and on refusal or neglect, after due notice and a reasonable time allowed, shall revoke the trust of the principal. Ignoring an order for a larger bond costs you the appointment.

What Paying for a Bond Looks Like

No New Hampshire statute and no Probate Division rule sets a premium rate, so the surety company prices the bond itself, weighing the amount, the asset mix and your credit. Ask the circuit clerk for the bond figure the judge approved before you shop, since the premium is quoted against it.

Two rules govern what happens to that receipt. RSA 554:19 puts costs and expenses of administration of the estate in the first class of charges, ahead of funeral expenses and every creditor. RSA 554:25 then requires the account, or the schedules filed with it, to carry an itemized account of every sum received and paid out, with the date and a statement of the consideration for which it was paid. Record the premium the day you pay it.

One New Hampshire cost that does not appear: the certificate that discharges your surety at the end. Rule 169 folds it into the entry fee.

What the Bond Answers For If You Get It Wrong

A fiduciary bond is not insurance for the person serving. It secures your performance for the people interested in the estate, and New Hampshire is blunt about the trigger.

RSA 554:17 is the clearest example. Every administrator shall apply for and procure a license to sell as much of the real estate as is needed to pay debts and legacies where the personal estate falls short, and neglect or refusal to obtain that license, to make the sale, to account for the proceeds, or fraudulent conduct in it, shall be deemed maladministration and a breach of the bond. Sitting on a house while creditors go unpaid is a bond breach by statute, not a judgment call.

Your surety also learns about trouble early. Under RSA 554:26-a, II, when the judge issues a citation for a late inventory or account, the clerk mails a copy of that citation to any surety for the fiduciary, alongside anyone who has appeared and any residuary beneficiary. Being 90 days late on an account puts a letter in your surety's mailbox.

Suing on the bond runs through the judge. RSA 565:6 lets any person interested in a bond apply for an order for suit on it, setting out the claim intended to be recovered, and the judge may make the order once the applicant gives a bond of their own for costs. Rule 169 prices that step at $105.00 for a Motion Sue on Bond. If the penalty is found forfeited, RSA 565:9 enters judgment for the whole penalty, and that judgment stands as security for all parties interested rather than for the first claimant through the door.

Special and Temporary Administrators Always Give Bond

Two short-term appointments carry their own rule, and no discretion softens either one on the face of the statute.

A special administrator is appointed under RSA 553:20 when a will contest, an appeal from an appointment, or another cause delays the final grant. RSA 553:23 requires that person to give bond for the faithful performance of the duty, with sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of the appointing court, or other security the court accepts. RSA 553:24 adds a lever for anyone watching: an appeal does not suspend the special administrator's duties, but where an interested party alleges the bond is insufficient, the court may order a new bond on summary proceedings and stay the work until it arrives.

A temporary administrator under RSA 553:20-a exists to find out what the estate holds and must file an inventory within 60 days of appointment.

Nonresident and Out-of-State Fiduciaries

Living out of state does not disqualify you, though it changes the odds. RSA 553:5 says no person who is not an inhabitant of New Hampshire shall be appointed by reason of a right to the trust, unless other circumstances make it proper in the judge's opinion. A nonresident who is appointed then has a standing duty under RSA 553:25 to appoint a New Hampshire resident as agent to receive claims and service of process, filed in writing with the clerk, and failing to keep an agent in place is grounds for removal under RSA 553:28.

A fiduciary appointed in another state who needs to mortgage New Hampshire land faces a sharper version. RSA 554:35 grants that license only where the foreign executor or administrator gives bond with sufficient sureties resident in this state, and takes the same rights and liabilities as a New Hampshire appointee.

How the Bond Ends

Three exits, and which one applies depends on how you close.

  • Summary administration. RSA 553:33, IV says that on granting the motion, the court shall close the estate and release the bond. You may move for it no earlier than six months after appointment.
  • Waiver of administration. There is nothing to release, because RSA 553:32 meant no bond was ever required. You close by filing the affidavit of administration between six and twelve months after appointment.
  • Discharge along the way. RSA 565:4 lets the principal apply to file a new bond and ask the judge, after due notice, to discharge the sureties on the original from all further responsibility. RSA 565:5 runs the same play from the surety's side, letting a surety ask to be required out and replaced.

Ask the clerk for the certificate to discharge surety when the estate closes, and send it to your surety company. Rule 169 already covers it in the entry fee, and a surety that never receives it may keep billing renewal premium on a bond that no longer secures anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does New Hampshire require an executor to post a bond?

Usually yes. RSA 553:13, I bars any person from administering an estate until that person gives bond to the judge with sufficient sureties, in a reasonable sum the judge approves, or files other security the judge accepts. New Hampshire never adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so it starts from bond required rather than from bond excused. Three things soften the rule: a gross estate of $25,000 or less draws only a personal bond without sureties, the judge may waive bond and sureties outright under paragraph III, and waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 removes the bond along with the inventory and the accounting.

Is the $25,000 in RSA 553:13 a New Hampshire small estate limit?

No. It is a bond rule and nothing else. RSA 553:13, II says that when the estate has a gross value of $25,000 or less, only a personal bond without sureties will be required. The estate still goes through a court-appointed administration. New Hampshire has no dollar-threshold small estate and no small-estate affidavit, and the same $25,000 also marks where the Rule 169 accounting fee changes and where the entry fee steps up, which is why the figure gets misread as a threshold.

What is the New Hampshire fiduciary bond form?

NHJB-2137-P, Fiduciary Bond, with an e-file twin numbered NHJB-2137-Pe. The New Hampshire Judicial Branch describes it as the form required when the probate court has ordered the executor, administrator, guardian, conservator or trustee to file a bond without sureties. It is the only bond form in the 230-form Probate Division set, so a bond backed by a corporate surety arrives on the surety company's own paper instead.

How much does a New Hampshire probate bond cost?

No statute or court rule sets a rate, so the surety company prices it against the bond amount, the assets and your credit. RSA 565:2 lets the judge accept a corporation established under New Hampshire law or authorized to transact business here as sufficient surety, if the judge is satisfied with its ability. Whatever you pay, itemize it in the account under RSA 554:25, since RSA 554:19 puts costs and expenses of administration in the first class of charges against the estate.

Can a New Hampshire judge change the bond after the appointment?

Yes, in both directions. RSA 553:13, IV lets the judge at any time, or on the motion of an administrator or a beneficially interested person, require a further bond with sufficient sureties or reduce an existing bond. RSA 565:3 goes further: where the sureties or the penalty are insufficient, the judge orders a new bond and, on refusal or neglect after notice and a reasonable time, revokes the trust of the administrator.

When does a New Hampshire executor bond end?

At closing, or earlier by order. RSA 553:33, IV says that on granting a motion for summary administration the court closes the estate and releases the bond. Probate Division Rule 169 folds the certificate to discharge surety into the entry fee, so the discharge paper costs nothing extra. Mid-administration, RSA 565:4 lets the principal file a new bond and ask that the original sureties be discharged, and RSA 565:5 lets a surety ask to be let out.

Related Guides

Bond amounts, waivers and surety approvals sit in the judge's discretion, so the answer in your estate can differ from the answer in your neighbor's. Confirm the figure and the form with the circuit clerk of your Probate Division or a licensed New Hampshire attorney, and work the rest of the series from the New Hampshire probate hub.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of August 3, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in New Hampshire can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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