New Hampshire Small Estate Affidavit: What Exists Instead

New Hampshire publishes no small estate affidavit and sets no dollar limit for a simplified estate. What it offers instead is waiver of administration under RSA 553:32, which removes the inventory, the bond and the accounting when the people who inherit are the people who serve.

Based on RSA 553:32

By Settled Estate EditorialPublished: January 15, 2026Updated: May 31, 2026

Does New Hampshire Have a Small Estate Affidavit?

No. New Hampshire has no small estate affidavit, no collection-by-affidavit section, and no voluntary administration. It also sets no dollar threshold that opens a simplified route. RSA 553:32 waiver of administration and RSA 553:33 summary administration are both qualified by RELATIONSHIP AND CONSENT rather than by the value of the estate, and either one is available at any estate size. Every New Hampshire estate opens the same way, on a Petition for Estate Administration filed in the Circuit Court, Probate Division for the county where the deceased person last lived. The dollar figures that turn up in a search are something else entirely: $150, $205 and $305 are the Rule 169 filing-fee tiers, the $25,000 in RSA 553:13 decides whether a personal bond without sureties is enough, and the $10,000 in RSA 553:16 waives publication of the notice of appointment. None of them creates a procedure.

Do you qualify?

Qualifying threshold: None. New Hampshire sets no dollar limit for a simplified estate, because it has no small estate affidavit. Waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 and summary administration under RSA 553:33 both qualify on relationship and consent, and either one is open at any estate value.The amounts a search will surface are fee tiers and notice rules, not qualifying thresholds. Circuit Court Probate Division Rule 169(I) charges $150 to open an estate with a gross value of $10,000 or less, $205 from $10,001 to $25,000, and $305 above $25,000, and that top tier is flat and open-ended. RSA 553:16 excuses publication of the notice of appointment at a gross value of $10,000 or less. RSA 553:13 lets a personal bond without sureties satisfy the bond requirement at $25,000 or less. None of the three changes which procedure the estate uses.
Waiting period: None before opening. A New Hampshire estate can be opened as soon as the certified death record is in hand, and RSA 553:3 gives the surviving spouse, and then the next of kin, a 30-day preference window to apply before anyone else may be appointed. The waiting periods come at the end instead. A waiver-of-administration estate closes on an affidavit of administration filed not less than 6 months and not more than one year after appointment. A Motion for Summary Administration cannot be filed until the estate has been open at least 6 months. Both track the creditor window, which runs 6 months from the original grant of administration under RSA 556:3, not from the death and not from a published notice.
Court filing fee: $150, $205 or $305 to open the estate on a Petition for Estate Administration, selected by the gross value of the estate under Circuit Court Probate Division Rule 169(I). The tier is identical in all 10 counties. Waiver of administration adds nothing to that fee and removes the bond premium with it. Summary administration adds a $105 Motion for Summary Administration fee on top of the entry fee already paid. The $55 cost of publishing the notice of appointment is already inside the entry fee above $10,000, and no publication is required at $10,000 or less.
Attorney: Not typically neededNo statutory requirement, and neither simplified route asks for counsel. An attorney earns the cost where the estate is insolvent, where a will is being questioned, where real estate has to be sold to pay claims, or where one of the people whose assent the route depends on will not give it
Real estate: AllowedNew Hampshire real estate does not close either simplified route, which is the opposite of how a personal-property-only small estate affidavit works elsewhere. Waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 handles a house: the affidavit of administration that closes the estate has to list all the real estate the deceased person owned, with its location and the book and page of the deed. Summary administration under RSA 553:33 reaches real property as well. What real estate changes is timing and diligence, because RSA 556:29 bars a creditor from reaching the real estate of the deceased person more than 2 years after the death and a title insurer will want that period in view. New Hampshire also has a way to keep a house out of probate altogether: the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, RSA 563-D, effective July 1, 2024, lets an owner record a transfer on death deed during life. RSA 563-D:9 makes that deed VOID unless it meets the RSA 477:3 deed formalities, 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 death AND within 60 days of the date it was signed. That 60-day window is the New Hampshire difference and it is unforgiving: a deed recorded on day 61 is void even though the owner is still living.

Start the Free Probate Assessment

Main Requirements

No Dollar Ceiling Applies to Either Route

Neither RSA 553:32 nor RSA 553:33 contains a dollar figure. An estate of $8,000 and an estate of $8,000,000 qualify on the same terms, provided the relationship, consent and timing conditions are met. Anyone quoting a New Hampshire small estate limit is quoting a filing-fee tier or another state.

Waiver of Administration Needs One of Six Relationships, Plus Assents

RSA 553:32, I(a) lists them: a sole beneficiary under a will appointed as administrator; all will beneficiaries appointed as co-administrators or assenting to an appropriate person; a trust as sole beneficiary with all trustees assenting; a sole intestate heir, which may be the surviving spouse, appointed as administrator; all intestate heirs appointed as co-administrators or assenting to an appropriate person; or the court so determining in its discretion.

Summary Administration Needs Six Months, No Debts, and Assents

RSA 553:33 applies to all estates, testate and intestate, OTHER than those governed by RSA 553:32. The estate must have been open at least 6 months, have no outstanding debts, obligations or unresolved claims, owe no New Hampshire estate tax or have paid it with an RSA 87:26 certificate on file, owe no federal estate tax or have filed and paid it, and carry receipts or assents from every specific legatee and assents from everyone else beneficially interested.

The Estate Still Opens Formally, and Still Pays the Entry Fee

Both routes run inside an administration. The Petition for Estate Administration is filed, the administrator is appointed, and the Rule 169 entry fee of $150, $205 or $305 is paid. What the routes remove is the inventory, the bond and the accounting, not the appointment.

Real Property Is Allowed on Both Routes

A house does not disqualify a New Hampshire estate from either simplified route. The affidavit of administration that closes a waiver estate expressly lists the real estate the deceased person owned with location, book and page.

Any Interested Person Can Pull the Estate Back Into Full Administration

RSA 553:32 lets any interested person petition for full administration at any time before the affidavit of administration is filed. The waiver is a convenience for a family that agrees, and it lasts only while they agree.

Available Small-Estate Options

Waiver of Administration, RSA 553:32 (assents on form NHJB-3233-Pe)

Limit: No dollar limit. One of six relationship-and-consent situations: a sole will beneficiary who serves, all will beneficiaries serving or assenting, a trust as sole beneficiary with all trustees assenting, a sole intestate heir who serves, all intestate heirs serving or assenting, or the court so determining
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: Closes on an affidavit of administration filed not less than 6 months and not more than one year after appointment, so usually 7 to 12 months
Typical Fee: No additional court fee. The estate pays only the $150, $205 or $305 Rule 169 entry fee, and the bond premium disappears with the bond

Summary Administration, RSA 553:33 (forms NHJB-2149-P and NHJB-2122-P)

Limit: No dollar limit, and available only to estates NOT governed by RSA 553:32. The estate must have been open at least 6 months with no outstanding debts, obligations or unresolved claims, no New Hampshire or federal estate tax due, and assents or receipts from everyone beneficially interested
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: The motion cannot be filed before month 6; the estate typically closes at 7 to 12 months
Typical Fee: $105 for the Motion for Summary Administration, on top of the Rule 169 entry fee already paid

Full Administration, RSA 553 (Petition for Estate Administration NHJB-2145-Pe)

Limit: No dollar limit and no conditions. The default route for any estate that does not qualify for a waiver and does not want to wait for summary administration
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: Commonly 12 to 24 months: inventory within 90 days, notice to legatees and heirs within 60 days, an account within one year and annually after that
Typical Fee: $150, $205 or $305 by gross estate value, plus $105 for an account where the gross estate is above $25,000 and nothing for an account at or below it

Transfer on Death Deed, RSA 563-D (statutory form at RSA 563-D:19)

Limit: Planning done during life rather than a route after a death. An owner records a deed naming beneficiaries who take the described real property at the death of the owner, outside probate
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: Effective at the death, but the beneficiary has to record a notice of death affidavit within 60 days of the death under RSA 563-D:22
Typical Fee: Registry of deeds recording only: $10 for the first page, $4 for each additional page, and a $25 land and community heritage surcharge on each deed under RSA 478:17-g

The affidavit of administration is sworn, and the simplified route is not a shield

Waiver of administration removes the paperwork, not the duty. The administrator still has to pay the funeral expenses, the expenses of administration and the valid debts before distributing anything, and the affidavit that closes the estate states under oath that there are no outstanding debts or obligations. Signing that while a creditor claim is live is the exposure. Two New Hampshire specifics make this worth slowing down for. Creditors run from the ORIGINAL grant of administration under RSA 556:3, so an estate closed at month 7 has only just cleared the window. And a transfer on death deed under RSA 563-D is not beyond reach: RSA 563-D:16 lets the estate enforce an allowed claim against property that passed by such a deed where the probate estate is not enough, unless no administration was granted within 2 years of the death. Talk to a New Hampshire probate attorney where the debts approach the assets, where a will is being questioned, or where any person whose assent the route depends on will not give it.

Step-by-Step Process

Work Out Who Inherits, Because That Is What Qualifies the Estate

Waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 turns on the relationship between the people who inherit and the person who will serve. Six situations qualify: a sole beneficiary under a will who is appointed administrator; all the will beneficiaries appointed as co-administrators, or an appropriate person appointed with all of them assenting; a trust as sole beneficiary with all trustees assenting; a sole intestate heir, which may be the surviving spouse, who is appointed; all the intestate heirs appointed as co-administrators, or an appropriate person appointed with all of them assenting; or the court deciding in its discretion that a waiver is appropriate. Map the beneficiaries or heirs first, then see which situation the estate falls into.

File the Will Within 30 Days If There Is One

RSA 552:2 and RSA 552:3 require the person holding a will to deliver it to the Circuit Court, Probate Division, and the named executor to file it, within 30 days of the death. That deadline runs whether or not anyone intends to open an administration, and it is separate from the decision about which route to use.

Open the Estate on a Petition for Estate Administration

There is no shortcut around this step. Form NHJB-2145-Pe, the Petition for Estate Administration, is filed with a certified death record and the Rule 169 entry fee of $150, $205 or $305 for the gross value of the estate. The petition publishes only as an e-file form, so there is no paper twin to hunt for. Ask for waiver of administration on the petition itself, and file form NHJB-3233-Pe, the Assent to Waiver of Full Administration, from every person whose assent the chosen situation requires.

Collect and Pay, With No Inventory and No Bond

A waiver granted under RSA 553:32 removes the inventory that RSA 554:1 would otherwise require within 90 days, removes the bond under RSA 553:13, and removes the account that RSA 554:26-a would otherwise require within a year. The administrator gathers the assets, pays the funeral expenses, the expenses of administration and the debts, and distributes the rest. The duty to pay valid claims does not go away with the paperwork.

Let the Creditor Window Run

Creditors have 6 months from the ORIGINAL grant of administration to exhibit their demands under RSA 556:3, and RSA 556:1 bars any suit against the administrator during those same first 6 months. A creditor who exhibited a demand has until one year from the grant to begin suit under RSA 556:5. Reaching the real estate of the deceased person is separately barred more than 2 years after the death by RSA 556:29. Do not merge those clocks: they start at different events.

Close on the Affidavit of Administration, or Move for Summary Administration

A waiver estate closes on an affidavit of administration filed not less than 6 months and not more than one year after appointment, stating that there are no outstanding debts or obligations and listing all the real estate the deceased person owned with its location, book and page. An estate that is NOT governed by RSA 553:32 can instead file a Motion for Summary Administration under RSA 553:33 once it has been open 6 months, using forms NHJB-2149-P and NHJB-2122-P and paying $105. The two routes are mutually exclusive, and RSA 553:33, I says so.

County Note: A New Hampshire estate is filed in the Circuit Court, Probate Division for the county where the deceased person was last an inhabitant (RSA 547:8). New Hampshire folded its standalone county probate courts into one statewide Circuit Court under RSA 490-F, so the probate division sits in each of the 10 counties but each court is named by circuit number and city rather than by county, as in the 9th Circuit - Probate Division - Nashua. The fee is the same everywhere, because RSA 490:26-a, I has the supreme court establish one equitable fee schedule for every court in the state and Rule 169 is that schedule. RSA 548 still creates a Register of Probate in each county, but the office is vestigial: RSA 548:17 pays it $100 a year, and the office that takes the filing is the clerk of the Circuit Court. Deeds go to the county registry of deeds, a separate office, and the per-page copy charge there is the one probate-adjacent fee New Hampshire genuinely leaves to each county under RSA 478:17-g, III.

FAQ: New Hampshire Small Estate Options

Does New Hampshire have a small estate affidavit?

No. New Hampshire publishes no small estate affidavit, no collection-by-affidavit section and no voluntary administration, and it sets no dollar threshold that opens a simplified route. The two simplified procedures it does have, waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 and summary administration under RSA 553:33, qualify on relationship and consent rather than on the value of the estate. A form or article offering a New Hampshire small estate affidavit is describing another state.

What is the New Hampshire small estate limit?

There is not one. The dollar figures that turn up alongside New Hampshire probate are a filing-fee schedule and a notice rule: Circuit Court Probate Division Rule 169(I) charges $150 for a gross estate of $10,000 or less, $205 from $10,001 to $25,000 and $305 above $25,000, RSA 553:16 excuses publication of the notice of appointment at $10,000 or less, and RSA 553:13 allows a personal bond without sureties at $25,000 or less. None of them decides which procedure the estate uses.

What is waiver of administration in New Hampshire?

It is the New Hampshire answer to the small estate affidavit, and it works on a different axis. Under RSA 553:32 the Circuit Court, Probate Division waives the inventory, the bond and the accounting when the people who inherit are the people who serve, in one of six listed situations. The estate is still opened on a Petition for Estate Administration and an administrator is still appointed. It closes on an affidavit of administration filed not less than 6 months and not more than one year after appointment. There is no additional court fee for the waiver.

How is summary administration different from waiver of administration?

They are mutually exclusive, and RSA 553:33, I says so by applying summary administration to all estates other than those governed by RSA 553:32. Waiver is decided at the START, on who inherits, and removes the inventory, the bond and the accounting. Summary administration is decided at the END, once the estate has been open at least 6 months with no outstanding debts, obligations or unresolved claims and no estate tax due, and it removes the final account and the receipts. Waiver costs nothing extra; a Motion for Summary Administration costs $105.

Can a New Hampshire simplified estate include a house?

Yes. Neither route is limited to personal property. The affidavit of administration that closes a waiver estate is required to list all the real estate the deceased person owned, with its location and the book and page of the deed, which shows the route was written with real property in view. New Hampshire also allows a transfer on death deed under RSA 563-D, recorded during life, which moves the described real property outside probate entirely.

How much does the simplified route cost in New Hampshire?

Opening the estate costs $150, $205 or $305 by the gross value of the estate under Circuit Court Probate Division Rule 169(I), and that amount is the same in all 10 counties. Waiver of administration adds no court fee and removes the surety bond premium along with the inventory and the accounting. Summary administration adds $105 for the motion. Publishing the notice of appointment costs nothing extra, because the $55 charge is inside the entry fee above $10,000 and no publication at all is required at $10,000 or less.

Official Forms, Sources, and VerificationOfficial references used for this page

RSA 553:32, Waiver of AdministrationNew Hampshire General Court. Current official statute text, accessed August 3, 2026.
RSA 553:33, Summary AdministrationNew Hampshire General Court. Current official statute text, accessed August 3, 2026.
RSA 553:16, Publication of Notice of AppointmentNew Hampshire General Court. Current official statute text, accessed August 3, 2026.
Rule 169. FEES.New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Rules of the Circuit Court, Probate Division. Current official rule text, accessed August 3, 2026.
Circuit Court Filing Fees, printed date 07/01/2025New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Published fee schedule, accessed August 3, 2026.

Information current as of May 31, 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.