New Hampshire Probate Guide

New Hampshire probate is the Circuit Court, Probate Division process that proves a will, appoints an administrator, pays valid debts, and passes what is left to the heirs or beneficiaries. Each of the ten counties is a judicial district for the probate division under RSA 490-F:4, so the case opens in the county where the person lived at death.

Two New Hampshire habits catch people out on day one. The state calls the person in charge an administrator, not a personal representative. And it has no dollar-threshold small estate and no small-estate affidavit at all, so the shortcuts here turn on who the heirs are and whether they agree, never on how much the estate is worth.

Read this as a planning map rather than a filing packet. Fees and forms are statewide, so the packet is the same in Coos as in Rockingham, but the clerk who takes it sits in your own county. Start with the New Hampshire probate court directory to find the right courthouse, and use the New Hampshire first steps guide for the tasks that come before any filing.

Where New Hampshire Probate Starts

Venue comes first. New Hampshire abolished its standalone county probate courts in the 2011 unification act and folded them into a single statewide Circuit Court with three divisions. RSA 490-F:4 keeps the county as the unit anyway. It says "each county shall be a judicial district for the probate division" and that "The probate court records shall be maintained at the circuit court site at each county seat," then binds each of the ten circuits to one county. Ten counties, ten probate divisions, one apiece.

The court's name is where people slip. No New Hampshire probate division carries its county's name. The official pattern is the circuit number, then the division, then the city, as in 9th Circuit - Probate Division - Nashua. Hillsborough County files in Nashua, and Manchester, the largest city in the state, has no probate division at all. Grafton County's sits in North Haverhill. Rockingham County's sits in Brentwood but mails to a post office box in Kingston. Look yours up rather than guessing from the county name.

The filing office is the circuit clerk. New Hampshire still elects a Register of Probate, but that office survives in name only: fourteen sections of RSA 548 read "Repealed by 2011, 88:29," and RSA 548:17 sets the register's salary at $100 per year. Probate fees are paid "to the clerk of the applicable circuit court established in RSA 490-F" under RSA 490:27, I. Land records run the opposite way. For deeds, the Register of Deeds and the county Registry of Deeds are fully operative, one per county, under RSA 478.

Subject-matter jurisdiction still lives in RSA 547. RSA 547:3, I(b) gives the probate court exclusive jurisdiction over "[t]he granting of administration and all matters and things of probate jurisdiction relating to the composition, administration, sale, settlement, and final distribution of estates of deceased persons." RSA 490-F supplies the courthouse; RSA 547 supplies the power.

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New Hampshire Says Administrator, Not Personal Representative

RSA 553:1 settles the vocabulary in one line: "The word administrator may include every person to whom the administration of an estate or the execution of a will may be granted." Administrator is the umbrella term. Executor is reserved for the person a will names.

New Hampshire never adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so "personal representative" is not a New Hampshire word, and the court's own paperwork agrees. Form NHJB-2117-P is titled Executor's / Administrator's Accounting, and Probate Division Rule 1 repeats the RSA 553:1 definition from the bench's side. Use the state's own term when you write to the court, and the New Hampshire executor duties guide for what the job involves once letters issue.

Filing the Will Comes First

Whoever holds the will has 30 days from learning of the death to deliver it to the probate court or to the executor named in it (RSA 552:2). The named executor then has 30 days from the death, or from learning of the appointment, whichever falls later, to file the will with the court (RSA 552:3). If the estate holds assets, that person must either prove the will or file a written refusal to accept the trust. If it holds none, they file the will with a death certificate and no administration opens.

Missing those 30 days costs money rather than liberty. RSA 552:4 sets a civil forfeiture of twenty dollars for each month of neglect, recoverable by anyone interested in the will, unless the court accepts the excuse. It is a forfeiture, not a crime.

Common Form and Solemn Form

New Hampshire proves wills two ways, and the difference decides how long you wait before distributing.

Common form is the ordinary path. Where the probate is uncontested, the judge may allow the will on the testimony of a single subscribing witness, or on the written assent of the surviving spouse, legatees, devisees and heirs at law with no witness appearing at all (RSA 552:6).

Solemn form is the re-run. Any interested party may ask to have a will proved without notice re-examined, and may put execution, testamentary capacity, fraud, duress or undue influence to the court, within 6 months of that probate (RSA 552:7). After 6 months the common-form allowance stands. That window is the reason a careful administrator holds distributions through month six. The New Hampshire will contests guide covers the grounds.

Who the Court Appoints

RSA 553:2 sets the order of right to administer: the executor named in the will, then the widow, husband or any of the next of kin or a suitable person they nominate, then a devisee or creditor, then whatever other person the judge thinks proper.

RSA 553:3 adds a wait rather than a deadline. Nobody further down that list can be appointed until the people ahead of them renounce in writing, or let 30 days pass after the death without applying. An adult child who wants to serve cannot step over a surviving spouse inside that first month.

Bond is the default. RSA 553:13, I requires a bond with sufficient sureties before anyone administers an estate, conditioned on the 90-day inventory, an account within one year and annually after, payment of taxes, and delivery of the residue. Two things soften it: where the gross estate is $25,000 or less, only a personal bond without sureties is required (553:13, II), and the judge may waive bond and sureties in his or her discretion (553:13, III). Waiver of administration removes the bond requirement outright. More detail sits in the New Hampshire bond requirements guide.

When there is no will at all, RSA 561:1 sets a five-tier spousal share that is easy to flatten: everything if no issue and no parent survive; the first $250,000 plus half the balance where every child is also the spouse's and the spouse has no others; the first $250,000 plus three quarters of the balance where a parent survives and no children do; the first $150,000 plus half where the spouse has children of their own; the first $100,000 plus half where the decedent does. That three quarters is the only non-half fraction in the section. New Hampshire also stops at the fourth degree of kinship and escheats after that (561:1, II(f) and (g)). Work through the tiers in the New Hampshire intestate succession guide.

New Hampshire Has No Small Estate Affidavit

This is the answer most people arrive looking for, and it is a no. New Hampshire has no dollar-threshold small estate, no small-estate affidavit, and no voluntary administration. Four dollar figures in this area read like thresholds and none of them is one.

Figure	What it actually does	Source
Gross value $10,000 or less	The clerk skips publication of the notice of appointment	RSA 553:16
Gross value $25,000 or less	Only a personal bond without sureties is required	RSA 553:13, II
$10,000 and $25,000 breakpoints	Filing-fee tiers on the petition for estate administration	Probate Division Rule 169 (I)
Gross value above $25,000	The accounting filing fee of $105.00 applies	Probate Division Rule 169 (I)(t)

What New Hampshire offers instead are two real, court-appointed administrations that strip out paperwork. Both turn on relationship and consent.

Waiver of Administration, RSA 553:32

Waiver removes the inventory, the bond and the accounting. You qualify by landing in one of six buckets rather than by hitting a number (RSA 553:32, I(a)):

a testate estate where one individual is the sole beneficiary under the will and is appointed administrator
a testate estate where all the will's beneficiaries are appointed co-administrators, or an appropriate person is appointed with the assent of all of them
a testate estate where a trust is the sole beneficiary and an appropriate person, which may be a trustee, is appointed with all trustees' assent
an intestate estate where one individual, which may be the surviving spouse, is the sole heir and is appointed
an intestate estate where all heirs are appointed co-administrators, or an appropriate person is appointed with the assent of all of them
whenever the court decides in its discretion that waiver fits the circumstances

Closing is an affidavit of administration, filed not less than 6 months and no more than one year after appointment, swearing there are no outstanding debts or obligations and listing every piece of real estate the decedent owned with its location, book and page (553:32, I(b)). So waiver is lighter than full administration, not quicker. It cannot close before month six either. RSA 553:32, III adds a planning move worth knowing: a disclaimer, an ademption of legacies, or a declination to serve as executor may be used deliberately to make an estate fit the waiver rules.

Summary Administration, RSA 553:33

Summary administration covers every estate that waiver does not, testate and intestate alike (RSA 553:33, I). It drops the final account and the receipts. The administrator files a motion no earlier than 6 months after appointment, swearing under oath that the estate has been open at least 6 months, that there are no outstanding debts, obligations or unresolved claims, that no New Hampshire estate tax is due or that an RSA 87:26 certificate has been filed, that no federal estate tax is due or the return has been filed and paid, and that court supervision is no longer necessary. Receipts or assents from all specific legatees, plus assents from everyone else beneficially interested, get attached (553:33, III(b)).

The comparison in full, including what to do when one heir will not sign, sits in the New Hampshire small estate guide.

New Hampshire Probate Deadlines

Task	Deadline	Clock starts at	Source
Deliver the will to the court or the named executor	30 days	Learning of the death	RSA 552:2
Named executor files the will with the court	30 days	Death, or learning of the appointment	RSA 552:3
Clerk publishes the notice of appointment	15 days	Appointment	RSA 553:16
Notify legatees, the surviving spouse and heirs	60 days	Appointment	RSA 552:15
Certify to the judge that notice went out	90 days	Appointment	RSA 552:15
File the inventory	90 days	Appointment	RSA 554:1
Surviving spouse waives the will and homestead right	6 months	Appointment	RSA 560:14
Ask to prove the will in solemn form	6 months	The original probate	RSA 552:7
Creditor exhibits a demand	6 months	The original grant of administration	RSA 556:3
Waiver affidavit of administration	6 to 12 months	Appointment	RSA 553:32, I(b)
First account, then annually	1 year	Appointment	RSA 553:13, I(c); RSA 554:26-a
Creditor begins suit	1 year	The original grant of administration	RSA 556:5

The inventory has teeth. RSA 554:1, I puts an administrator in default 30 days after the filing date passes, the clerk mails notice of the default within 10 days, and a citation follows under RSA 554:26-a. Filing a false inventory is an unsworn falsification under RSA 641:3. The New Hampshire probate deadlines guide lays the same dates out as a schedule you can work from.

The Creditor Clock Runs From the Grant, Not the Death

Almost every neighbouring state starts its creditor window at the date of death or at first published notice. New Hampshire starts it at the original grant of administration, and porting another state's phrasing moves every date on the calendar.

Three layers, all measured from that grant:

A creditor must exhibit the demand to the administrator within 6 months of the original grant, or no action lies (RSA 556:3). A registered-mail notice stating the nature and amount of the claim, with a demand for payment, counts as exhibition and demand under RSA 556:2.
No suit may even begin during those first 6 months (RSA 556:1). Months zero to six are a window where a creditor must present but cannot sue.
Suit must begin within one year of the original grant (RSA 556:5). Any time the administration was suspended drops out of both counts.

RSA 556:29 is a separate clock and does not belong with the other three. If nobody takes out administration within 2 years of the date of death, no creditor may afterwards reach the real estate the decedent died owning. That one runs from the death. RSA 556:28 lets the court extend for a claimant who is not chargeable with culpable neglect where justice and equity require it.

Payment order comes from RSA 554:19, I: costs and expenses of administration; reasonable and necessary funeral, burial and cremation expenses; debts and taxes with preference under federal law; claims for financial or medical assistance provided by the Department of Health and Human Services; just debts; then legacies and distribution. New Hampshire ranks the Medicaid recovery class ahead of general creditors, which changes the arithmetic in a tight estate. Step through it in the New Hampshire creditor claims guide, and see debt payment priority when the estate cannot pay everyone.

What New Hampshire Probate Costs

Fees are statewide. One judicial branch, one Circuit Court, one published schedule set by Supreme Court rule under RSA 490:26-a, I. There is no per-county filing fee to chase down. These are the Probate Division figures from Rule 169 (I).

Filing	Fee
Petition for estate administration, gross value $10,000 or less	$150.00
Petition for estate administration, over $10,000 to $25,000	$205.00
Petition for estate administration, more than $25,000	$305.00
Motion for summary administration	$105.00
Executor or administrator accounting, gross value greater than $25,000	$105.00
Motion to prove will in common and/or solemn form, administration required	$175.00
Motion to re-examine will	$175.00
Motion to remove fiduciary	$105.00
Motion to reopen or bring forward	$180.00
Petition to file and record an authenticated copy of a foreign will	$260.00

Two lines that other states bill separately are already inside those numbers. Rule 169 (II) sets a $55.00 fee for notice by publication on any petition for estate administration over $10,000, then says in terms that "This fee is included in the Entry Fee." Rule 169 (VII) says the $30.00 electronic case filing surcharge is included as well. Adding either on top double counts. Pair that with RSA 553:16, which waives publication altogether at a gross value of $10,000 or less, and newspaper notice costs a New Hampshire estate nothing out of pocket. Most states carry a $100 to $300 line for it.

What the entry fee does not cover, per Rule 169 (III): in-hand service by a law enforcement officer, which is paid to the county sheriff's department, and additional copies or certificates beyond normal processing. Copies run $0.50 per page and a certificate is $10.00 under Rule 169 (V).

There is no percentage commission for the administrator. Probate Division Rule 88 subjects the fees and expenses of fiduciaries and attorneys alike to court approval, and requires them to be reasonable for the work, responsibility and risk, weighed against the time and labor required, the size of the estate, the requisite skill, the customary fee, any fee agreement, the results obtained, time limitations, and the length of the professional relationship. Budget from hours, not from a percentage table.

What Skips New Hampshire Probate

Assets with a surviving owner or a named taker never reach the Probate Division. New Hampshire's list is unusually strong on real property and unusually short on shortcuts.

A recorded transfer-on-death deed. RSA 563-D, the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, took effect on July 1, 2024 and gives New Hampshire a genuine beneficiary deed for land. The catch is the state's signature detail, and it voids deeds. Under RSA 563-D:9 a transfer on death deed is void unless it meets the RSA 477:3 execution rules, bears the title "Transfer on Death Deed," states that the transfer to the beneficiary occurs at the transferor's death, and is recorded before the transferor dies and within 60 days of the date of execution, in the registry of deeds for every county where the land lies. Most transfer-on-death states ask only for recording before death. Sign one in New Hampshire, sit on it for a season, and you have nothing. Since August 2025 the beneficiary also records a notarized Notice of Death Affidavit within 60 days of the death (RSA 563-D:22), though that filing "is not a condition of the transfer of title." Do not cite RSA 563-C for any of this; that act covers securities registered in beneficiary form and nothing else. Full detail in the New Hampshire transfer-on-death deed guide.

A married couple's family car. New Hampshire has no vehicle transfer-on-death and no beneficiary designation anywhere in RSA 261. It offers something stronger for the common case. Under RSA 261:17, on the death of a married resident owner, a vehicle used for family purposes "shall be deemed to have been jointly held property with right of survivorship unless otherwise designated on the certificate of title," and the decedent's interest passes to the surviving spouse. The spouse transfers the vehicle with a signature and a copy of the death record, without a new certificate of title. Answer the land question and the car question separately; the honest pairing is yes for land, no for cars.

Joint tenancy, but only where the deed says so. RSA 477:18 presumes a tenancy in common on any conveyance or devise to two or more people unless the instrument expresses joint tenancy or survivorship. Adding "as joint tenants with rights of survivorship" or "as tenants by the entirety" after the grantees' names in the granting clause is the statute's own safe harbor. RSA 477:19 deems joint heirs tenants in common, so inheriting together never creates survivorship on its own.

Living trusts, beneficiary designations and payable-on-death accounts. The New Hampshire guide to avoiding probate covers the full set.

One cost that does not appear here: New Hampshire levies neither an estate tax nor an inheritance tax. RSA 86, the legacy and succession tax, was repealed outright for deaths on or after January 1, 2003. RSA 87, the estate tax, was never repealed and is still printed in full, but it is a pick-up tax pegged to the federal credit for state death taxes, and RSA 87:9 voided the chapter by its own terms once that federal credit lapsed. It has produced no tax for deaths on or after January 1, 2005. The question survives on the paperwork anyway, which is why RSA 553:33, III(a)(3) still asks the administrator to swear to it.

When to Call a New Hampshire Attorney

Serving without counsel is normal here, and the New Hampshire probate without a lawyer guide shows where the self-filed path holds up. Bring in a lawyer when:

an heir or legatee signals a will contest, or the 6-month solemn-form window is running and someone is unhappy
the estate may not cover its debts, so RSA 554:19 priority starts to matter
real estate has to be sold during administration, or a transfer-on-death deed may have missed its 60-day recording window
the decedent lived in another state and owned New Hampshire real property, which makes this an ancillary probate
a surviving spouse is weighing the RSA 560:10 election, which must be filed within 6 months of appointment and recorded in the registry of deeds where the real estate sits

A Filing Sequence That Works

Order several certified copies of the death certificate. Any New Hampshire city or town clerk can issue them, not only the town where the death happened.
Find the will and get it to the court or the named executor within 30 days.
Identify your county's probate division from the court directory, and pull the statewide NHJB form set from the New Hampshire probate forms page.
File the Petition for Estate Administration with the will, the death certificate and the heir or legatee schedules. Pay the Rule 169 tier that matches the gross estate.
Once letters issue, calendar the four dates that matter: notice to legatees and heirs at 60 days, certification at 90 days, the inventory at 90 days, and the creditor exhibition window closing at 6 months from the grant.
Decide the closing route early. If one person, or a fully consenting group, takes the whole estate, ask for waiver of administration at appointment. Otherwise plan on summary administration after month six.
Pay in RSA 554:19 order, distribute, and close with the affidavit of administration or the motion for summary administration.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is probate in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire probate is the Circuit Court, Probate Division process that proves a will, appoints an administrator, pays valid debts, and passes what is left to the heirs or beneficiaries. RSA 490-F:4 makes each of the ten counties a judicial district for the probate division, so the case opens in the county where the person lived at death.

Does New Hampshire have a small estate affidavit?

No. New Hampshire has no dollar-threshold small estate, no small-estate affidavit, and no voluntary administration. The two lighter routes, waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 and summary administration under RSA 553:33, are qualified by relationship and consent rather than by estate value. Both are still court-appointed administrations.

How long does probate take in New Hampshire?

No New Hampshire estate can close before month six, because both closing routes carry a 6-month floor under RSA 553:32, I(b) and RSA 553:33, II. A straightforward estate usually runs 9 to 15 months, since a creditor can still start suit until one year after the original grant of administration under RSA 556:5. Contested or insolvent estates run longer.

How long do creditors have to claim against a New Hampshire estate?

Six months to present, one year to sue, both measured from the original grant of administration rather than from the death or from published notice. RSA 556:3 requires the demand to be exhibited within 6 months, RSA 556:1 blocks any suit during those same 6 months, and RSA 556:5 requires suit to begin within one year. A separate rule, RSA 556:29, bars creditors from reaching the decedent's real estate if nobody opens an administration within 2 years of the death.

Do I need a lawyer for New Hampshire probate?

No. New Hampshire lets an administrator serve without an attorney, and many people handle an uncontested estate themselves. Hire counsel when heirs disagree, the estate cannot pay its debts, real estate has to be sold, or someone signals a will contest.

Sources:

Title: RSA 490-F:4, Circuit Court Locations. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LI/490-F/490-F-4.htm
Title: RSA 547:3, Jurisdiction. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/547/547-3.htm
Title: RSA 552:3, Duty of Executor. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/552/552-3.htm
Title: RSA 552:7, Proof, Solemn Form; Issues to Court. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/552/552-7.htm
Title: RSA 553:1, Administrator Defined. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-1.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 554:19, Priority of Charges. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/554/554-19.htm
Title: RSA 556:3, Exhibition of Demand; Time. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. 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: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/556/556-5.htm
Title: RSA 563-D:9, Requirements. Publisher: New Hampshire General Court. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/563-D/563-D-9.htm
Title: Rule 169. FEES., Rules of the Circuit Court of the State of New Hampshire, Probate Division. Publisher: New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.courts.nh.gov/rules-circuit-court-state-new-hampshire-probate-division/rule-169-fees
Title: Circuit Court Filing Fees. Publisher: New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Publication Date: 07/01/2025. URL: https://www.courts.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt471/files/documents/2021-06/filing_fees.pdf

It is not legal advice.