Utah Creditor Claims | Settled Estate

Utah runs creditor claims on three dates, and the personal representative decides which of them apply. Publishing a notice to creditors is optional under Utah Code 75-3-801(1)(a), and publishing bars claims three months after the date of first publication. Written notice mailed to a creditor you already know about bars that creditor at 90 days from the published notice or 60 days from the mailing, whichever is later, under 75-3-801(2). Behind both sits the outer bar: one year after the death, under 75-3-803(1)(a).

The worry behind most searches on this topic is personal liability. You pay the family, a hospital bill lands in month eleven, and the money is gone. Utah answers that with a calendar. Every Utah estate is heard in the district court of the county where the decedent lived, in all 29 counties, so there is no separate probate court to track down first. Use this page beside the Utah probate timeline, and start from the Utah probate guide if the estate is not open yet. This is general information about Utah law rather than advice about one estate, so confirm your own dates with the district court holding the file or with a licensed Utah attorney.

Date	What it bars	Statute
3 months from first publication	Claims of creditors reached by the published notice	75-3-801(1)(a)
The later of 90 days from the published notice and 60 days from mailing	The claim of a creditor who received written notice	75-3-801(2)
1 year after the death	Every claim that arose before the death, published or not	75-3-803(1)(a)

Publishing Notice Is Optional, and That Is the Utah Difference

Most states order the personal representative to publish. Utah does not. Section 75-3-801(1)(a) says the personal representative may publish a notice announcing the appointment and address and telling creditors to present claims "within three months after the date of the first publication of the notice or be forever barred." The Utah Courts self-help page on informal probate repeats it in plain words: publication is not required, though a personal representative may want it when the decedent's debts are not fully known.

Publishing buys one thing, and it is the thing that shortens the estate. Here is how the notice has to run, from 75-3-801(1)(b):

once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and
in accordance with Utah Code 45-1-101 for three weeks.

That second line points at Utah's legal notice statute, which adds a statewide step. Under 45-1-101(2)(b), anyone required by law to publish a legal notice also publishes it on a public legal notice website built by Utah's newspapers, and 45-1-101(3) requires that site to be free to view and search. The newspaper may not charge more than its own average advertisement rate (45-1-101(5)(a)), and it has to post the notice on the website at no additional cost (45-1-101(5)(b)). Statute caps what publishing can cost.

One protection makes the decision safer either way. Under 75-3-801(3), the personal representative "shall not be liable to any creditor or to any successor of the decedent for giving or failing to give notice under this section." Publishing and not publishing both leave the personal representative covered on the notice decision itself.

Small estates get their own path. Where the estate is being handled with the affidavit in Utah Code 75-3-1201 and no personal representative exists, 75-3-801(4) lets the person claiming to be the successor publish the notice in an affidavit. That route caps the estate at $100,000, measured on the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances.

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Written Notice to a Known Creditor Runs on Two Clocks

Publication reaches creditors nobody can name. For the mortgage servicer, the card issuer, the hospital and the utility, 75-3-801(2) lets the personal representative give written notice by mail or other delivery. That creditor then has to present the claim within 90 days from the published notice, if notice was published, or within 60 days from the mailing or other delivery, whichever is later. The written notice has to be the same notice described in Subsection (1) or a similar one.

Read the two clocks together. Say the first publication runs on March 2. Unknown creditors are barred on June 2, three months later. Mail written notice to the hospital on March 10 and the hospital's own date is the later of May 31 (90 days from the published notice) and May 9 (60 days from the mailing), so May 31. Mail that same notice on April 20 instead and the hospital's date moves to June 19, because 60 days from the later mailing now falls after the 90-day date.

A late mailing can hand a known creditor more time than the published notice gave everyone else. Because each creditor's date is computed from its own mailing, the mailing date for every written notice and the publisher's proof of publication are the records that fix those dates later. The Utah executor duties guide puts this step in sequence with the rest of the appointment work.

The One-Year Bar, and Why "Earlier Of" Runs the Calendar

Section 75-3-803(1) is the nonclaim rule. Every claim that arose before the death, including claims of the state and its subdivisions, due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract, tort or another legal basis, is barred against the estate, the personal representative and the heirs and devisees unless it is presented within the earlier of:

one year after the decedent's death, or
the time under 75-3-801(2) for creditors given actual notice, and, where notice was published, the time under 75-3-801(1) for all claims barred by publication.

That one word carries the whole calendar. Notice can only shorten the window. A notice sent late, or written generously, still cannot extend a pre-death claim past the first anniversary of the death. Two results follow. An estate that never publishes still closes the door at one year. And a written notice mailed in month ten cannot buy that creditor a date in month thirteen.

Section 75-3-803(2) adds a borrowed bar: claims already barred by the nonclaim statute at the decedent's domicile are barred in Utah as well.

Claims that arise at or after the death sit under 75-3-803(3) and run on their own three-month rule. A claim based on a contract with the personal representative has to be presented within three months after the personal representative's performance is due. Any other post-death claim has to be presented within the later of three months after it arises and one year after the death. The Utah probate deadlines reference lists these beside the other dated duties.

What the Bar Does Not Reach

Section 75-3-803(4) keeps five things outside the bar:

any proceeding to enforce a mortgage, pledge or other lien on estate property. The loan on the house does not evaporate at the one-year mark, and whoever takes the house takes it with the lien.
a proceeding to establish the decedent's or the personal representative's liability where liability insurance covers it, up to the policy limits only. Section 75-3-803(5) even allows a personal representative to be appointed for that limited purpose when nobody was appointed in time.
collection of compensation for services and reimbursement of expenses advanced by the personal representative, or by the attorney or accountant for the personal representative.
medical assistance recovery under Utah Code Title 26B, Chapter 3, Part 10, Medical Benefits Recovery.
enforcement or collection of a criminal account receivable, a civil judgment of restitution or a civil account receivable, as those terms are defined in Utah Code 77-32b-102.

One Utah rule sits above that list and answers the Medicaid question outright. Section 75-3-104(4)(a) says that "for purposes of this chapter, a lien or right to recover described in Section 26B-3-1013 is not a claim," and 75-3-104(4)(b) adds that nothing in the chapter limits the Department of Health and Human Services' right to recover under that section. Estate recovery never entered the claims process, so the presentation rules and the three-month and one-year bars were never going to end it.

Section 75-3-812 backs the same line from the enforcement side. No execution may issue and no levy may be made against estate property under a judgment against the decedent or the personal representative, with two exceptions: lien enforcement in an appropriate proceeding, and collection of the criminal and civil accounts receivable named above.

The Court Notifies Two State Agencies for You

Utah adds a step most states leave to the family. Under Utah Code 75-3-104.5, within 30 days after the day a person files an application or petition for probate, the court shall notify:

the Office of State Debt Collection, created in Section 63A-3-502, if the decedent was at least 18 years old, and
the Office of Recovery Services, created in Section 26B-9-103, if the decedent was at least 55 years old, for presentation or enforcement of a lien or claim under Section 26B-3-1013.

Nobody has to write to the state. Opening the case does it. So a letter from a state office on an estate where the family knows of no state debt is routine rather than a sign that something went wrong, and on any decedent over 55 the personal representative should expect one.

How a Creditor Has to Present a Claim

A phone call is not a claim. Neither is a bill still addressed to the decedent. Utah Code 75-3-804(1) gives two channels:

The claimant delivers or mails a written statement of the claim to the personal representative or the personal representative's attorney of record, or files a written statement with the clerk of the court in the form prescribed by rule. The claim counts as presented on the earlier of the date the personal representative receives it and the date it is filed with the court.
The claimant starts a proceeding against the personal representative in a court that can reach the personal representative, and the proceeding has to begin within the time allowed for presenting the claim.

The written statement has to show the basis of the claim, the claimant's name and address, and the amount claimed. A claim not yet due states when it comes due, a contingent or unliquidated claim states the nature of the uncertainty, and a secured claim describes the security. Describing the security, the uncertainty or the due date incorrectly does not invalidate the presentation.

Two rules run toward the creditor. Section 75-3-104(1)(a) blocks any proceeding to enforce a claim against the estate or its successors before a personal representative is appointed, so a creditor cannot sue an estate that nobody has opened. Section 75-3-203(1)(f) then gives any creditor priority to be appointed personal representative once 45 days have passed since the death, at the bottom of a list headed by the person named in the will, the surviving spouse, other devisees and other heirs. A creditor facing a family that will not open the estate can open it.

Silence Allows the Claim

Section 75-3-806(1) sets the response rule, and the default runs against the personal representative. If the personal representative "fails to mail notice to a claimant of action on the claim within 60 days after the time for original presentation of the claim has expired, this failure has the effect of a notice of allowance." Doing nothing allows the claim. The operative date is 60 days after the presentation window closes, and it runs whether or not anyone is watching it.

Disallowing takes two steps. The notice of disallowance has to warn the claimant of the coming bar. The claimant then has 60 days from the mailing to file a petition for allowance in the court or start a proceeding against the personal representative, or the disallowed part of the claim is barred. Section 75-3-804(2) matches that from the claimant's side: no proceeding on a presented claim may begin more than 60 days after the personal representative mails a notice of disallowance, though the personal representative may consent to an extension and the court may order one to avoid injustice, never running past the applicable statute of limitations.

Interest carries a date that surprises people. Under 75-3-806(4), allowed claims bear interest at the legal rate "for the period commencing six months after the decedent's date of death," unless the underlying contract sets its own rate. The clock starts six months from the death rather than from the day the claim came in, so a slow administration adds interest to claims that arrived early.

The personal representative holds two tools here. Section 75-3-811 allows a counterclaim the estate has against the claimant to be deducted from the claim, and a court can enter judgment for the excess if the counterclaim is larger. Section 75-3-813 allows the personal representative to compromise a presented claim, due or not due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, when that serves the estate.

Paying: Order, Timing and the Liability Trap

Timing comes first. Section 75-3-807(1) directs the personal representative to pay allowed claims "upon the expiration of the earliest of the time limitations provided in Section 75-3-803," in the order of priority, after making provision for homestead, family and support allowances, for claims presented and not yet allowed, and for unbarred claims that may still be presented, including costs and expenses of administration. The homestead, family and support allowances named in that subsection come off the top before a general creditor sees anything.

Order comes second. Where the assets will not cover everything, 75-3-805(1) sets six classes:

reasonable funeral expenses
costs and expenses of administration
debts and taxes with preference under federal law
reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, including compensation of persons attending the decedent, and medical assistance where Section 26B-3-1013 applies
debts and taxes with preference under other laws of this state
all other claims

Utah pays funeral expenses ahead of administration costs. The model Uniform Probate Code reverses those two, so any Utah page built from another state's template has this backwards. Inside a class nothing outranks anything else, and a claim that is due and payable gets no preference over a claim that is not yet due (75-3-805(2)). The Utah debt payment priority guide walks the six classes against an estate that cannot pay them all.

Liability comes third, and it is the reason to hold the line. Section 75-3-807(2) lets the personal representative pay any just claim that has not been barred at any time, with or without formal presentation, then names the price of getting it wrong. The personal representative is personally liable to another allowed claimant who is injured by that payment if the payment went out before the deadline in Subsection (1) without requiring the payee to give adequate security for a refund, or if the personal representative's negligence or willful fault deprived the injured claimant of priority. That exposure turns on the 75-3-805 classification of every claim on the table, which is why an estate that may not pay everyone is one to take to a licensed Utah probate attorney before money moves.

Secured claims settle on their own arithmetic. Under 75-3-809, a secured claim is paid on the allowed amount if the creditor surrenders the security. Otherwise it is paid on the allowed amount less the fair value of the security where the creditor exhausts it, or less the value of the security determined by converting it to money under the security agreement, or by agreement, arbitration, compromise or litigation.

Debts That Were Already Too Old

Section 75-3-802 handles the debt that was stale before the death. A claim barred by a statute of limitations at the date of death cannot be allowed or paid. The personal representative may waive a limitations defense with the consent of every successor whose interest is affected, but not where the estate is insolvent. And a limitations period measured from something other than the death is suspended for the three months following the death, then starts running again. A debt already time-barred at the death sits outside the allowance process.

When Notice to Creditors Never Happens

Two Utah routes skip creditor notice, and both turn on size.

Section 75-3-1201 opens no court case at all. A successor collects personal property on a sworn affidavit 30 days after the death, when the value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 and no application for a personal representative is pending or granted anywhere. There is no court file and no publication, unless the successor chooses to publish under 75-3-801(4).

Section 75-3-1203 closes a case early instead. Where the inventory and appraisal show that the value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, the personal representative may, "without giving notice to creditors," immediately disburse and distribute the estate and file a closing statement under 75-3-1204. Utah writes no dollar figure into that route. It is a sum of moving parts, and several of them change with the decedent's year of death, so it has to be worked out estate by estate rather than looked up.

Closing, and What Survives Closing

The creditor calendar decides when the estate can end. Section 75-3-1003(1)(a) requires the sworn closing statement to say that the time limitation for presentation of creditors' claims has expired, and 75-3-1003(1) blocks that filing before four months after the original appointment. An estate that never published cannot sign that statement accurately until the one-year bar has run, so the notice decision and the closing date are linked.

Closing does not clear every exposure:

Under 75-3-1004, an undischarged claim that is not barred may be pursued against the distributees after the assets go out. No distributee is liable for what they received as exempt property, homestead or family allowance, or for more than the value of the distribution at the time it was made.
Under 75-3-1005, creditors whose claims were not otherwise barred lose their claim against the personal representative for breach of fiduciary duty unless they start a proceeding within six months after the closing statement is filed. Fraud, misrepresentation and inadequate disclosure about the settlement of the estate stay outside that bar.

When to Call a Utah Attorney

Many Utah estates work straight off these sections. Bring in a licensed Utah attorney when:

the claims on the table look larger than the assets, so 75-3-805 classification decides who gets paid
a claim is contingent, unliquidated or secured and the amount to allow is in dispute
you are weighing whether to disallow a claim, since the warning language in 75-3-806(1) is what makes the bar work
the decedent received Medicaid, because 26B-3-1013 recovery sits outside the claims process
a creditor has petitioned for appointment as personal representative under 75-3-203(1)(f)
heirs are pressing for distribution before the claim windows close

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do creditors have to file a claim against a Utah estate?

Three months from the date of first publication, if the personal representative publishes a notice to creditors under Utah Code 75-3-801(1)(a). A creditor who also receives written notice by mail gets the later of 90 days from the published notice and 60 days from the mailing, under 75-3-801(2). Behind both dates, 75-3-803(1)(a) bars every claim that arose before the death one year after the death. Utah applies the earlier of those dates, so notice shortens the window and never pushes it past the first anniversary.

Does a Utah personal representative have to publish notice to creditors?

No. Utah Code 75-3-801(1)(a) says the personal representative may publish, and the Utah Courts self-help page on informal probate says publication is not required. Publishing cuts the claim window to three months from first publication. Skipping it leaves the one-year bar in 75-3-803(1)(a) as the only date, and 75-3-1003(1)(a) blocks a sworn closing statement until the time for presenting creditors' claims has expired.

Where does a Utah notice to creditors have to run?

Once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and in accordance with Utah Code 45-1-101 for three weeks, under 75-3-801(1)(b). Section 45-1-101(2)(b) adds the public legal notice website that Utah's newspapers run together, and 45-1-101(3) requires that site to be free to view and search. The newspaper may not charge more than its own average advertisement rate, and it has to post the notice on the website at no additional cost, under 45-1-101(5).

What happens if the personal representative ignores a claim?

Ignoring a claim allows it. Utah Code 75-3-806(1) says that if the personal representative fails to mail a claimant notice of action on the claim within 60 days after the time for original presentation has expired, the failure has the effect of a notice of allowance. A disallowance bars the claim only when the notice warns the claimant of the coming bar, and the claimant then has 60 days from that mailing to file a petition for allowance or start a proceeding.

Which Utah debts get paid first when the estate is short?

Utah Code 75-3-805(1) sets six classes, in this order: reasonable funeral expenses, costs and expenses of administration, debts and taxes with preference under federal law, reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness including medical assistance where Section 26B-3-1013 applies, debts and taxes with preference under other Utah laws, and all other claims. Utah puts funeral expenses ahead of administration costs, which reverses the order in the model Uniform Probate Code. No claim outranks another in the same class.

Can Utah Medicaid still recover after the claim period closes?

Yes. Utah Code 75-3-104(4)(a) says a lien or right to recover described in Section 26B-3-1013 is not a claim for purposes of the probate chapter, and 75-3-803(4)(d) keeps medical assistance recovery under Title 26B, Chapter 3, Part 10 outside the bar. The court also notifies the Office of Recovery Services within 30 days of the probate filing whenever the decedent was at least 55 years old, under 75-3-104.5(2).

Can a creditor open a Utah probate case?

Yes, once 45 days have passed since the death. Utah Code 75-3-203(1)(f) places a creditor at the bottom of the priority list for appointment as personal representative, behind the person named in the will, the surviving spouse, other devisees and other heirs, and only after that 45-day wait. That route matters because 75-3-104(1)(a) blocks any proceeding to enforce a claim against the estate before a personal representative is appointed, so an estate nobody has opened cannot be sued.

Sources:

Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-801, Notice to creditors. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 364, 2013 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S801_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-803, Limitations on presentation of claims. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/7/2025, Amended by Chapter 59, 2025 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S803_2025050720250507.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-802, Statutes of limitations. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 194, 1977 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S802_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-804, Manner of presentation of claims. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 110, 1988 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S804_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-805, Classification of claims. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/3/2023, Amended by Chapter 330, 2023 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S805_2023050320230503.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-806, Allowance of claims. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 179, 1992 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S806_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-807, Payment of claims. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 179, 1992 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S807_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-104, Claims against decedent, Necessity of administration, Exclusions. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/7/2025, Amended by Chapter 59, 2025 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S104_2025050720250507.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-104.5, Notice to state agencies. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/7/2025, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S104.5_2025050720250507.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-203, Priority among persons seeking appointment as personal representative. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 226, 1983 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S203_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 45-1-101, Legal notice publication requirements. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 2/27/2023, Amended by Chapter 16, 2023 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title45/Chapter1/C45-1-S101_2023022720230227.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-1003, Closing estates, By sworn statement of personal representative, Waiver of accountings. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 179, 1992 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S1003_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-1005, Limitations on proceedings against personal representative. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 194, 1977 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S1005_1800010118000101.html
Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-1203, Small estates, Summary administrative procedure. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 150, 1975 General Session, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S1203_1800010118000101.html
Title: Informal Probate, Utah Courts self-help. Publisher: Utah State Courts, Administrative Office of the Courts. Publication Date: Not listed, accessed 2026-08-28. URL: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/case-categories/probate/informal-probate.html

It is not legal advice.