How to Avoid Probate in New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, an asset skips probate when title or a beneficiary form already names the person who takes it. That covers a recorded transfer on death deed under RSA 563-D, property retitled into a funded revocable trust, joint ownership with an express right of survivorship, securities registered in beneficiary form, and named beneficiaries on retirement plans and life insurance.

Two New Hampshire answers catch families out. The state gained a real transfer on death deed for land on July 1, 2024, and that deed dies if nobody records it within 60 days of signing. And New Hampshire has no small estate affidavit at all, so "the estate is too small for probate" is not a sentence this state supports. Both facts are set out below with the sections that say so. Read this as a planning map, and check anything touching your own house or your own family with a licensed New Hampshire attorney. The New Hampshire probate guide covers what happens to anything that still goes through the Circuit Court, Probate Division.

New Hampshire Has A Transfer On Death Deed, And A 60-Day Clock

Start here, because this is the newest tool in the state and the easiest one to void.

RSA 563-D is the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act. Twenty-one of its twenty-two sections carry the source line "2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024", and RSA 563-D:22 was added later by "2025, 114:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025". Under RSA 563-D:5, an individual may transfer property to one or more beneficiaries effective at the transferor's death by a transfer on death deed.

RSA 563-D:9 then lists four requirements and opens with the word that matters. A transfer on death deed is void unless it:

1. Meets the deed formalities in RSA 477:3, meaning it is signed by the owner, acknowledged before a justice, notary public or commissioner, and shows the grantee's mailing address.
2. Bears the title "Transfer on Death Deed".
3. States that the transfer to the designated beneficiary occurs at the transferor's death.
4. Is recorded before the transferor's death, within 60 days following the date of execution, and in full in the registry of deeds for each county where the real estate lies.

That fourth requirement is the New Hampshire difference. Most transfer on death states ask only that the deed reach the registry before the owner dies. New Hampshire adds a signing-to-recording window of 60 days, and the state's own form says so on its face. The notice at the top of the optional form in RSA 563-D:19 reads: "This deed must be recorded by the earlier of 60 days from date of execution or the date of the owner's (transferor's) death, or it will not be effective." Sign the deed, then get it to the registry the same week.

Nothing changes while you are alive. RSA 563-D:12 says the deed does not touch your right to sell or mortgage the property, gives the beneficiary no legal or equitable interest, does not expose the property to the beneficiary's creditors, and does not affect anyone's eligibility for public assistance.

Revocation runs one way. Under RSA 563-D:11, you revoke a recorded transfer on death deed only by recording another instrument, either a later transfer on death deed, an instrument of revocation, or a deed that expressly revokes it. The revoking instrument has to be acknowledged after the deed it cancels and recorded by the earlier of 60 days from its own execution or your death. Once the first deed is recorded, tearing up your copy does nothing.

Three more rules decide who actually receives the house:

• A beneficiary who dies first takes nothing. RSA 563-D:13, I(b) makes the beneficiary's interest contingent on surviving you, and says flatly that the anti-lapse statute at RSA 551:12 does not apply to a transfer on death deed. Name a backup beneficiary. The statutory form has a slot for one.
• Two beneficiaries take as tenants in common. RSA 563-D:13, I(c) gives concurrent beneficiaries equal undivided shares with no survivorship between them unless the deed itself creates a joint tenancy.
• The house is outside the spousal election. RSA 563-D:13, V keeps transfer on death deed property out of the probate estate for the elective share under RSA 560:10, and VI keeps it out of a pretermitted heir's share under RSA 551:10.

After the death there is one more filing, added in 2025. RSA 563-D:22 tells the beneficiaries to record a notarized notice of death affidavit within 60 days of the death, at the registry of deeds for the county where the property sits. It names each beneficiary and address, the street address, the deed date, the book and page of the recorded deed, the deceased owner, the date and place of death, and where future tax bills should go. The register of deeds sends a copy to the municipal tax assessor. Read the last sentence of that section carefully: filing the affidavit is not a condition of the transfer of title, so a late affidavit does not undo the transfer.

The New Hampshire transfer on death deed guide walks through drafting, recording and revoking one, including the RSA 78-B:2, XXV transfer tax exemption the statutory form quotes.

A New Hampshire Deed To Two People Is A Tenancy In Common

Here is the trap that sends New Hampshire houses to the Probate Division by accident.

RSA 477:18 construes every conveyance or devise of real estate made to two or more people as an estate in common and not in joint tenancy, unless the instrument says the estate is held by the grantees as joint tenants, or runs to them and the survivor of them, or uses other words clearly expressing an intention to create a joint tenancy. The same section supplies its own safe harbour: adding the words "as joint tenants with rights of survivorship" or "as tenants by the entirety" after the names in the granting clause counts as a clear expression of that intention.

So survivorship on a New Hampshire deed is a drafting choice, not a default. Pull the recorded deed from the registry of deeds for your county and read the granting clause. That five-minute check beats any assumption about how a married couple holds a house.

Inheriting together never creates survivorship either. RSA 477:19 is one line long: joint heirs shall be deemed tenants in common. Two siblings who take a house through New Hampshire intestate succession each own a share that passes through their own estate later.

Survivorship also carries a price while you are alive. Adding a co-owner to a deed hands that person present rights in the property and exposes it to their creditors and their divorce. A recorded transfer on death deed usually does the same job with less exposure, because the beneficiary receives nothing until you die.

Revocable Living Trusts Under The New Hampshire Trust Code

A revocable living trust holds property during your life and passes it to named beneficiaries at death with no court file. You stay in control as trustee, and a successor trustee steps in when you die or lose capacity.

New Hampshire adopted the Uniform Trust Code. RSA 564-B:1-101 names the chapter the New Hampshire Trust Code, with the source line "2004, 130:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2004. 2015, 272:67, eff. Oct. 1, 2015." The trust instrument's own terms do most of the work, and the chapter fills the gaps.

Funding is where these plans fail. A trust keeps out of probate only the property you actually retitle into it, so the deed has to be signed and recorded in the county registry, and the accounts have to be moved. An unfunded trust sitting in a drawer changes nothing.

Where a New Hampshire trust earns its cost: privacy, since a will filed with the court becomes a public record and a trust does not; real estate in more than one state, which otherwise means a second probate somewhere else; planning for incapacity; and control over when and how heirs receive money. Where the argument is weaker: pure cost savings, because the tools above already move most accounts and even the house without a court file. Work through the New Hampshire revocable living trust guide before you decide, and read it against the transfer on death deed if a single house is the whole question.

Beneficiary Forms On Accounts

Beneficiary designations are the cheapest avoidance in the state. They cost nothing and take one form.

Securities and brokerage accounts. RSA 563-C is New Hampshire's Uniform Transfer on Death act for securities, and it reaches securities and nothing else. Do not confuse it with RSA 563-D, which is the deed act. RSA 563-C:3 allows beneficiary-form registration only where the registration shows sole ownership by one individual, or multiple ownership by two or more people with right of survivorship rather than as tenants in common. RSA 563-C:8 then passes ownership on the death of the sole owner, or the last to die of multiple owners, to the beneficiaries who survive them all. Two surviving beneficiaries hold as tenants in common until the security is divided, and if no beneficiary survives, the security belongs to the estate. That last sentence is the argument for naming a backup today.

Bank accounts. Ask your bank which form it is opening, put the answer in writing, and keep it. Payable-on-death and joint-with-survivor forms behave differently, and the account agreement is what a bank follows when someone dies.

Retirement accounts and life insurance. These pass by the form on file with the plan or the insurer, not by your will. A 401(k), an IRA, a pension or a policy with a living named beneficiary pays that person directly. The form controls even when the will reads differently, so review every designation after a marriage, a divorce, a birth or a death, and name a contingent beneficiary. A blank or stale form is the most common reason these accounts land in probate by accident.

Vehicles Pass To A Surviving Spouse Without Any Form

New Hampshire answers the car question the opposite way from the land question, and copying a plan from another state gets it wrong.

There is no transfer on death or beneficiary designation anywhere in RSA 261. What the state has instead is a default that does the same job for married couples. RSA 261:17 says that on the death of a married resident owner of a motor vehicle registered in New Hampshire, the vehicle, if used for family purposes, is deemed to have been jointly held property with right of survivorship unless the certificate of title says otherwise, and the decedent's interest passes to the surviving spouse. Where a title already exists, the spouse transfers the vehicle under RSA 261:14 without obtaining a new certificate, using the spouse's signature and a copy of the death record. Where no title was ever issued, a first certificate is issued to the spouse on application with a death record and the fee.

Joint owners who are not married elect survivorship on the title itself. Under RSA 261:17, III, an "or" between the two names is already a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, while an "and" means the owners have to designate that preference on the title application.

The New Hampshire vehicle transfer page covers what the Division of Motor Vehicles and your town or city clerk each want in the other situations.

New Hampshire Has No Small Estate Affidavit

This is the assumption most worth killing before it costs a family a month.

RSA 553 ends at RSA 553:33. There is no affidavit route that lets a successor collect assets without a court file, and there is no voluntary administration in New Hampshire, which is a Massachusetts and Maine term. New Hampshire's two shortcuts are both real, court-appointed administrations, and both are qualified by who inherits and who consents rather than by what the estate is worth.

Waiver of administration. RSA 553:32 removes the inventory, the bond and the accounting in six situations, including a testate estate where one person is the sole beneficiary under the will and serves as administrator, and an intestate estate where one person, who may be the surviving spouse, is the sole heir and serves as administrator. Where beneficiaries or heirs are plural, they can all serve as co-administrators, or all assent to one appropriate person serving. The court can also allow it in its discretion. The estate closes when the administrator files an affidavit of administration stating there are no outstanding debts or obligations and listing all real estate with location, book and page. That filing happens not less than six months and no more than one year after appointment, so waiver is not a fast exit.

Summary administration. RSA 553:33 covers every other estate, testate and intestate. It drops the final account and receipts once the court is satisfied that supervision is no longer needed. The administrator files the motion no earlier than six months after appointment and swears the estate has been open at least six months, no debts, obligations or unresolved claims remain, no New Hampshire estate tax is due, no federal estate tax is due or the return has been filed and paid, and court supervision is no longer needed. Receipts or assents from the specific legatees and assents from everyone else beneficially interested get attached.

Four dollar figures in New Hampshire look like small estate thresholds and none of them is one:

None of them changes the procedure. The New Hampshire small estate rules page walks through which of the two tracks an estate can qualify for.

What A New Hampshire Plan Costs, And What It Does Not Buy

Out-of-state pages sell a living trust as the escape from an expensive probate. Price the New Hampshire numbers first, because they are lower than the pitch assumes.

New Hampshire charges no percentage commission and no percentage filing fee. The Circuit Court, Probate Division sets one statewide schedule in Rule 169, and the entry fee for a petition for estate administration runs $150 for a gross estate of $10,000 or less, $205 from over $10,000 to $25,000, and $305 above $25,000. Two line items other states charge separately are already inside that number. Rule 169 (II) says the $55 notice-by-publication fee is included in the entry fee, and Rule 169 (VII) says the $30 electronic case filing surcharge is included too. A cost estimate that adds either one on top double-counts. Publication drops out entirely at $10,000 gross or less under RSA 553:16.

New Hampshire levies no estate tax and no inheritance tax, by two different mechanisms. RSA 86, the legacy and succession tax, was repealed as an entire chapter effective January 1, 2003. The estate tax chapter, RSA 87, is still printed in full but stopped operating on its own terms: RSA 87:9 makes the chapter void and of no effect for estates of people who die after the federal credit for state death taxes is repealed. Writing that RSA 87 was repealed is wrong, and the question still shows up on the paperwork, since RSA 553:33 makes the administrator swear that no New Hampshire estate tax is due. The federal estate tax is a separate question that the New Hampshire estate tax guide handles.

Debts do not disappear when the court file does. RSA 556:3 gives a creditor six months to exhibit a demand to the administrator, RSA 556:1 bars any action begun inside those first six months, and RSA 556:5 bars a suit begun more than one year out. Read what all three have in common: every clock starts at the original grant of administration, not at the death and not at a published notice. A family that never opens an estate never starts the clock that would have closed the exposure. RSA 563-D:16 points the same way for the deed: where the probate estate cannot cover an allowed claim, the estate may enforce that liability against transfer on death deed property, apportioned across multiple properties by net value, unless no administration was granted within two years of the death.

One more New Hampshire number moved recently. RSA 480:1 now sets the homestead right at $400,000 for one person, with combined claims capped at $550,000, under the amendment "2025, 282:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2026". Every source published before 2026 says $120,000 and is out of date. RSA 480:3-a is the part that matters after a death: the surviving husband or wife of the owner holds the homestead right for the survivor's lifetime.

Documents That Protect You While You Are Alive

Keeping assets out of probate settles what happens after a death. Three documents cover the years before it.

A durable New Hampshire power of attorney lets an agent handle your money and property if you cannot, which heads off a court-appointed guardianship over your estate. That authority also reaches the deed: under RSA 563-D:18, an agent whose document expressly grants authority to create or change a beneficiary designation may execute or revoke a transfer on death deed, while a guardian or conservator may not without a court order.

A New Hampshire advance directive pairs a living will with a durable power of attorney for health care, so someone you name can make medical decisions once a physician finds you unable to make them yourself.

Online accounts are the asset class most plans skip. RSA 554-A:1 names New Hampshire's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, effective June 25, 2019, and it decides what a fiduciary may reach. The access has to be planned before a death or it is not available. The New Hampshire digital assets guide covers the express authority your documents need.

Putting It Together

A workable New Hampshire checklist is short and mostly free:

1. Pull the recorded deed and read the granting clause against RSA 477:18. Do not assume survivorship words are there.
2. Decide between a recorded transfer on death deed and a funded revocable trust for the house, and if you sign a deed, record it within 60 days.
3. Tell your beneficiaries about RSA 563-D:22, so the notice of death affidavit gets recorded within 60 days of your death.
4. Name a backup beneficiary on the deed, because RSA 551:12 anti-lapse does not save a beneficiary who dies first.
5. Register brokerage accounts in beneficiary form under RSA 563-C, and name a backup there too.
6. Confirm in writing which form your bank has on each account.
7. Review the beneficiary designation on every retirement account and insurance policy after any family change.
8. Skip the small estate affidavit search. Ask instead whether one heir will serve alone or everyone will consent, which is what RSA 553:32 and RSA 553:33 turn on.
9. Sign a durable power of attorney, an advance directive, and digital-asset authority while you have capacity.

No arrangement moves every asset for every family, and unpaid debts survive the plan. Where a house, a blended family, a larger estate, Medicaid, or a likely dispute is in the picture, sit down with a licensed New Hampshire attorney before you sign or record anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does New Hampshire have a transfer on death deed?

Yes, since July 1, 2024. RSA 563-D is the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, and RSA 563-D:5 lets an owner transfer real property to one or more beneficiaries effective at the owner's death. RSA 563-D:9 then makes the deed void unless it meets the RSA 477:3 deed formalities, carries the title Transfer on Death Deed, says the transfer happens at the owner's death, and is recorded before the owner dies and within 60 days of signing.

What is the 60-day rule on a New Hampshire transfer on death deed?

RSA 563-D:9, IV requires recording within 60 days of the date the deed is executed, on top of recording before the owner's death. The statutory form at RSA 563-D:19 carries the warning on its face: the deed must be recorded by the earlier of 60 days from the date of execution or the date of the owner's death, or it will not be effective. Most transfer on death states ask only for recording before death, so a form copied from another state misses this.

Is there a small estate affidavit in New Hampshire?

No. RSA 553 ends at RSA 553:33 and creates no affidavit route and no voluntary administration. The two shortcuts are waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 and summary administration under RSA 553:33, and both are still court-appointed administrations qualified by who inherits and who consents, not by how much the estate is worth.

Does a New Hampshire deed to two people carry a right of survivorship?

Only if the deed says so. RSA 477:18 construes a conveyance to two or more people as a tenancy in common unless the instrument states the estate is held as joint tenants, runs to them and the survivor of them, or uses other words clearly expressing that intent. Adding "as joint tenants with rights of survivorship" or "as tenants by the entirety" after the names in the granting clause counts as a clear expression.

Does avoiding probate cut off New Hampshire creditors?

No, and it can do the opposite. RSA 556:3 gives a creditor six months to exhibit a demand and RSA 556:5 gives one year to sue, and both clocks start at the original grant of administration rather than at the death. A family that never opens an estate never starts either clock. RSA 563-D:16 also lets an estate reach transfer on death deed property when the probate estate cannot cover an allowed claim.

This page is general information about New Hampshire estates. Check anything affecting your own situation with the Circuit Court, Probate Division for your county, the registry of deeds where your land sits, or a licensed New Hampshire attorney.

Sources:

• Title: RSA 563-D:1, Short Title (Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act). Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-1.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:5, Transfer on Death Deed Authorized. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-5.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:9, Requirements. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-9.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:11, Revocation by Instrument Authorized; Revocation by Act not Permitted. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-11.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:12, Effect of Transfer on Death Deed During Transferor's Life. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-12.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:13, Effect of Transfer on Death Deed at Transferor's Death. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-13.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:16, Liability For Creditor Claims And Statutory Allowances. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-16.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:19, Optional Form of Transfer on Death Deed. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 1:1, eff. July 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-19.htm
• Title: RSA 563-D:22, Notice of Death Affidavit. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2025, 114:1, eff. Aug. 22, 2025. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-22.htm
• Title: RSA 477:3, Execution. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1981, 303:1, eff. Aug. 15, 1981. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLVIII/477/477-3.htm
• Title: RSA 477:18, Tenants in Common. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1959, 264:2, eff. Nov. 13, 1959. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLVIII/477/477-18.htm
• Title: RSA 477:19, Joint Heirs. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLVIII/477/477-19.htm
• Title: RSA 564-B:1-101, Short Title (New Hampshire Trust Code). Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2004, 130:1, eff. Oct. 1, 2004. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/564-B/564-B-1-101.htm
• Title: RSA 563-C:3, Registration in Beneficiary Form; Sole or Joint Tenancy Ownership. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1997, 231:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-C/563-C-3.htm
• Title: RSA 563-C:8, Ownership on Death of Owner. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1997, 231:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-C/563-C-8.htm
• Title: RSA 261:17, Joint Tenancy With Rights of Survivorship. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2024, 105:1, eff. Sept. 1, 2024. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXI/261/261-17.htm
• Title: RSA 553:32, Waiver of Administration. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-32.htm
• Title: RSA 553:33, Summary Administration. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-33.htm
• Title: RSA 553:16, Publication of Notice of Appointment. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2011, 88:20, eff. July 1, 2011. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-16.htm
• Title: RSA 553:13, Bond. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2013, 144:44, eff. July 1, 2013. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-13.htm
• Title: RSA 556:1, No Action Within Six Months, Etc. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1959, 114:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1960. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/556/556-1.htm
• Title: RSA 556:3, Exhibition of Demand; Time. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1959, 114:2, eff. Jan. 1, 1960. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/556/556-3.htm
• Title: RSA 556:5, Suit Within One Year. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1959, 114:3, eff. Jan. 1, 1960. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/556/556-5.htm
• Title: RSA 480:1, Amount (homestead right). Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2025, 282:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2026. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-1.htm
• Title: RSA 480:3-a, Duration. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1961, 96:1, eff. June 19, 1961. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-3-a.htm
• Title: RSA 86, Taxation of Legacies and Successions, entire chapter repealed. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Repealed 2002, 232:14, II, eff. Jan. 1, 2003. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/V/86/86-mrg.htm
• Title: RSA 87:9, Chapter Void, When. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 1995, 246:3, eff. Aug. 18, 1995. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/V/87/87-9.htm
• Title: RSA 554-A:1, Short Title (Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act). Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: 2019, 140:1, eff. June 25, 2019. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/554-A/554-A-1.htm
• Title: Rule 169. FEES. Publisher: New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Circuit Court Probate Division Rules. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.courts.nh.gov/rules-circuit-court-state-new-hampshire-probate-division/rule-169-fees

It is not legal advice.