Utah Probate Guide

Utah probate is the court process that proves a will, appoints a personal representative, settles claims against the estate, and passes what is left to the heirs or devisees. One court hears all of it. Utah Code 75-1-302 gives the court jurisdiction over all subject matter relating to estates of decedents, and the court that holds it is the district court, in every one of Utah's 29 counties.

That is the point most writing about Utah gets slightly wrong. There is no Utah probate court. Utah Code 78A-5-102(1) gives the district court original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal, and 78A-5-101 calls it a trial court of general jurisdiction and requires one in the county seat of each county. So the forum question that eats a week in some states is a one-line answer here, and the only thing that changes between Sanpete County and Salt Lake County is the courthouse address. Use the Utah district courts by county directory to find yours.

Read this page as a map of the process rather than a filing packet. Utah adopted the Uniform Probate Code as Title 75, which means the state runs several real tracks rather than one, and picking the wrong one costs months. What follows walks the tracks in order, then the clocks, then what the court charges.

Utah Runs Three Tracks, Not One

A Uniform Probate Code state gives an estate a choice about how much court it wants. Utah offers three. They differ in who decides, not in what the personal representative owes the beneficiaries afterward.

Informal probate, decided by the registrar

This is the ordinary route for an uncontested Utah estate, and no judge sees it. An application for informal probate of the will, for informal appointment of a personal representative, or for both, goes to the district court, and the registrar acts on it without a hearing.

Utah Code 75-3-306(2) puts the first step on the clerk rather than on the applicant. On receiving an application for informal probate of a will, the clerk gives written notice to the heirs and devisees who have not waived it, naming the applicant, the court and the filing date, and stating that the probate will be granted after 10 days from the date of that notice. Utah Code 75-3-307(1) then lets the registrar appoint the applicant once 10 days have passed since that notice, or once 120 hours have passed since the death if everyone entitled to notice has waived it in writing. One exception is worth knowing before you file. If the decedent was a nonresident, the registrar holds the appointment until 30 days after the death, unless the applicant is the personal representative appointed at the decedent's domicile or the will directs that the estate be governed by Utah law.

An informal appointment is not a lesser appointment. Section 75-3-307(2) says the status, powers and duties of the office are fully established by it, and that the appointment cannot be vacated retroactively.

Formal testacy, decided by a judge

Utah Code 75-3-401 describes a formal testacy proceeding in one sentence: litigation to determine whether a decedent left a valid will. It is the route when a will is contested, when someone wants an informal probate set aside, when the paperwork will not satisfy the registrar, or when an interested person simply wants a judge to decide.

The notice burden shifts with it. Under 75-3-403(1) the court fixes a time and place of hearing, and the petitioner gives notice to the surviving spouse, the children and other heirs, the devisees and executors named in any will offered for probate here or elsewhere, and any personal representative whose appointment has not been terminated. The petitioner must also publish notice to unknown persons and to known persons whose addresses are unknown. While a formal testacy proceeding is pending, 75-3-401(3) bars the registrar from acting on any informal application about the same decedent.

Supervised administration, where the court stays in the room

Utah Code 75-3-501 makes supervised administration a single in rem proceeding under the continuing authority of the court, running until an order approves distribution and discharges the personal representative. A supervised personal representative answers to the court as well as to the interested parties, and takes directions the court issues on its own motion or on any interested party's motion. Any interested person, or the personal representative, may petition for supervision at any time. An estate under supervision cannot be closed with the ordinary sworn closing statement.

Where You File

Utah Code 75-3-201 sets venue for the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceeding in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death. If the decedent was not domiciled in Utah, venue lies in any county where the decedent's property was located at death. Later proceedings stay in the court where the first one started unless that court transfers them. An out-of-state decedent who owned Utah real estate raises a different question, and the Utah ancillary probate guide answers it.

Who gets appointed follows a statutory order rather than a family agreement. Utah Code 75-3-203(1) ranks the person a probated will gives priority to, then a surviving spouse who is a devisee, then other devisees, then the surviving spouse, then other heirs, and, 45 days after the death, any creditor. A person entitled to letters may nominate someone else in writing. The Utah executor duties guide covers the job once the letters issue, and the Utah intestate succession guide covers who inherits when there is no will.

Two Routes That Avoid a Full Administration

Utah has two small-estate mechanisms, and only one of them carries a dollar figure. Treating the state as "a $100,000 state" quietly deletes the other.

The affidavit. Utah Code 75-3-1201(1) requires anyone who owes the decedent a debt or holds the decedent's tangible personal property to pay or deliver it to a claiming successor who presents an affidavit stating four things: that the value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000; that 30 days have passed since the death; that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; and that the claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery of the property. Read the measure closely. It is net of liens and it covers the whole estate, so a $400,000 house carrying a $350,000 mortgage adds $50,000 to the total rather than $400,000.

Two Utah wrinkles ride on that section. Subsection (3) makes the Motor Vehicle Division transfer title to no more than four boats, motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers on the same affidavit, and for that transfer the $100,000 is measured on the estate other than those vehicles. Subsection (4) puts water company shares transferred under Section 73-1-10 or Title 70A, Chapter 8 outside the mechanism entirely, which matters more in Utah than the sentence looks.

The affidavit is not a court filing. The Utah State Courts self-help page says so in plain words: "A small estate affidavit is not filed with the court. Instead, the decedent's successor fills out the form, signs it in front of a notary, and gives it to any third parties, such as the bank." There is no court fee and no court form number for it, and inventing one would be worse than leaving it blank.

One conflict deserves naming rather than smoothing over. That same courts page lists "there is no real property" as a requirement, while Section 75-3-1201(1)(a) imposes only the $100,000 net measure and disqualifies no estate for owning a home. Both sources are official and they do not agree. The statute counts real estate in the measure and never closes the route over it; what the affidavit cannot do is transfer the house itself. A bank or transfer agent may still follow the stricter wording on the courts page, so ask before you rely on it. The Utah small estate affidavit guide works through both readings.

Summary administration. Utah Code 75-3-1203 has no threshold at all. Where the inventory and appraisal show that the value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the sum of the homestead allowance, exempt property, the family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, the personal representative may distribute the estate at once, without giving notice to creditors, and close under 75-3-1204. This is a cheap way to close an estate rather than a cheap way to open one: a personal representative has already been appointed and the $375 has already been paid. Two components of that sum are fixed for a given year of death and adjusted for inflation under Utah Code 75-1-110, so the floor moves every January while the affidavit's $100,000 stays put.

The Clocks

The Utah probate deadlines guide turns that table into a working schedule, and how long Utah probate takes answers the duration question on its own page.

Publishing to Creditors Is Optional, and That Is the Decision

Most states make the personal representative publish. Utah does not. Utah Code 75-3-801(1)(a) says the personal representative may publish a notice announcing the appointment and requiring creditors to present claims within three months after the first publication or be forever barred. Subsection (3) then removes the pressure: the personal representative is not liable to any creditor or successor for giving or failing to give that notice.

Publishing buys something specific. It starts a three-month bar. The notice runs once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and for three weeks on the Utah Public Notice Website under Section 45-1-101. A creditor the personal representative also writes to gets the later of 90 days from the published notice or 60 days from the mailing, under 75-3-801(2).

Behind both sits a harder line. Utah Code 75-3-803(1) bars every claim that arose before the death unless it is presented within the earlier of one year after the death and the 75-3-801 periods. One year after death is the ceiling on the estate's exposure whatever the personal representative does, and publishing pulls that ceiling closer rather than pushing it out. Section 75-3-803(4) leaves several things untouched, including proceedings to enforce a lien, claims within the limits of liability insurance, and medical assistance recovery under Title 26B, Chapter 3, Part 10.

The Inventory Does Not Have to Be Filed

Utah Code 75-3-705 gives the personal representative three months after appointment to prepare an inventory of the property the decedent owned at death, in reasonable detail, showing each item's fair market value as of the date of death and the type and amount of any encumbrance. A copy goes to any interested person who asks for one. Filing the original with the court is permitted rather than required, which surprises people who have administered an estate in a state where the inventory becomes a public court record.

What the Court Charges to Open an Estate

The petition fee is a single statewide number. Utah Code 78A-2-301(1)(a) sets $375 for filing any civil complaint or petition invoking the jurisdiction of a court of record that no other subsection governs, and a petition to open a decedent's estate is exactly that. The Utah State Courts fee page prints the same figure against the same subsection under the heading "Filing Fees - Effective May 6, 2026". No Utah county charges its own probate filing fee, and 78A-2-301(2) states the general rule behind every negative answer on this subject: "There is no fee for services or the filing of documents not listed in this section or otherwise provided by law."

The same section carries a five-band ladder that looks like a probate filing fee and is not one. Subsection (1)(r) opens with the words "the fee for filing any accounting required by law is", then sets $15 for an estate valued at $50,000 or less, $30 above $50,000 through $75,000, $50 above $75,000 through $112,000, $90 above $112,000 through $168,000, and $175 above $168,000. Those figures attach to an accounting, which arises in supervised administration and in conservatorships. Quoting the bottom band without its lead-in would advertise a $15 Utah probate.

A litigant who cannot pay may ask for a waiver by affidavit under Utah Code 78A-2-302. The filing Utah probate yourself guide covers that route and the self-help material the courts publish.

Bond and Compensation

Bond is the exception in Utah rather than the rule. Utah Code 75-3-603(1) requires no bond of a personal representative appointed in formal or informal proceedings, with four exceptions: a special administrator appointed without notice, a will that expressly requires bond, a request by an interested party made before appointment, and a case where Section 75-3-605 requires it. Even then, subsection (2) lets the court dispense with bond on finding it unnecessary.

Compensation is measured rather than scheduled. Utah Code 75-3-718(1) entitles a personal representative and an attorney to reasonable compensation, with no percentage of the estate anywhere in the statute. Where a petition seeks approval and no interested person objects, the amount sought is the reasonable amount. Where someone objects, the court sets it on the quality, quantity and value of the services and the circumstances in which they were rendered.

Closing the Estate

Utah Code 75-3-1003(1) lets a personal representative close by filing a verified statement, and never sooner than four months after the original appointment. The statement says that the time for presenting creditors' claims has expired, that the estate has been fully administered with claims, expenses and death taxes paid or otherwise disposed of and the assets distributed to the people entitled, and that a copy went to every distributee and to every creditor whose claim is neither paid nor barred. Subsection (3) allows the accounting to be waived when all distributees consent in writing.

Two clocks start on that filing. The appointment terminates if no proceedings involving the personal representative are pending one year later, under 75-3-1003(2). And under 75-3-1005 the rights of successors and unbarred creditors against the personal representative for breach of fiduciary duty are barred unless a proceeding starts within six months of the closing statement, with fraud, misrepresentation and inadequate disclosure left outside that bar.

The four-month floor is why no Utah estate closes quickly. Add the three-month creditor window when the personal representative publishes, the three-month inventory, and the ordinary work of selling property and clearing taxes, and an uncontested informal estate commonly runs 6 to 12 months. Treat any number you read as a planning estimate rather than a published court statistic.

Common Questions

Which court handles probate in Utah?

The district court, in every one of Utah's 29 counties. Utah Code 75-1-302 gives that court jurisdiction over all subject matter relating to estates of decedents, protection of minors and incapacitated persons, and trusts. Utah Code 78A-5-102(1) gives the district court original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal, and 78A-5-101(2)(b) puts a district court in the county seat of each county. Utah has no separate probate court and no county-level probate forum, so the answer does not change from county to county.

How much does it cost to file probate in Utah?

The petition fee is a statewide flat $375 under Utah Code 78A-2-301(1)(a), which covers any civil complaint or petition invoking the jurisdiction of a court of record that no other subsection governs. Filing probate documents from another state costs $35 under 78A-2-301(1)(m). No Utah county sets its own probate filing fee, and 78A-2-301(2) says there is no fee for a service or filing the section does not list. Watch the estate-value ladder in 78A-2-301(1)(r), which runs from $15 to $175: its own words are 'the fee for filing any accounting required by law', so it prices an accounting rather than the opening of an estate.

How long do creditors have to present a claim in a Utah estate?

Three months from the first publication of a notice to creditors, if the personal representative chooses to publish one. Utah Code 75-3-801(1)(a) says the personal representative may publish that notice, and 75-3-801(2) gives a creditor who also receives written notice the later of 90 days from the published notice or 60 days from the mailing. Separately, 75-3-803(1) bars claims that arose before the death unless presented within the earlier of one year after the death and the 75-3-801 periods. One year after death is the outer limit, and publishing shortens that window rather than extending it.

Is there a deadline to open probate in Utah?

Three years after the death, under Utah Code 75-3-107(1). No informal probate or formal testacy proceeding may start after that, apart from the listed exceptions, and 75-3-107(3) makes the presumption of intestacy final once three years pass with no will probated. A contest of a will that was probated informally has its own clock: 75-3-107(1)(c) allows it within the later of 12 months from the informal probate or three years from the death. The court keeps jurisdiction after three years to decide what the decedent owned and to appoint a personal representative, but 75-3-107(4) closes the door on the allowances, the elective share and every claim except expenses of administration.

Does Utah have a small estate affidavit?

Yes, and it is never filed with a court. Utah Code 75-3-1201 lets a successor collect personal property by affidavit 30 days after the death when the value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000, and no application for appointment of a personal representative is pending or granted anywhere. The successor signs before a notary and hands the affidavit to the bank or other holder. Utah also has a second route with no dollar figure at all: the summary administrative procedure in 75-3-1203, which turns on whether the estate covers the allowances and the costs of administration rather than on a threshold.

Start at the Utah probate hub for the rest of the state's pages, then take the question you actually have to the guide that owns it.

Sources:

• Title: Utah Code Section 75-1-302, Subject matter jurisdiction. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 150, 1975 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter1/C75-1-S302_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 78A-5-101, State District Court Administrative System -- Definitions. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/4/2022. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78A/Chapter5/C78A-5-S101_2022050420220504.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 78A-5-102, Jurisdiction of the district court -- Appeals. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/6/2026. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78A/Chapter5/C78A-5-S102_2026050620260506.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-107, Probate and testacy proceedings -- Ultimate time limit -- Presumption and order of intestacy. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/8/2018. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S107_2018050820180508.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-201, Venue for first and subsequent estate proceedings -- Location of property. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 150, 1975 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S201_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-306, Informal probate -- Notice requirements. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 194, 1977 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S306_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-307, Informal appointment proceedings -- Delay in order -- Duty of registrar -- Effect of appointment. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 194, 1977 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S307_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-401, Formal testacy proceedings -- Nature -- When commenced. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 194, 1977 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S401_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-501, Nature of proceeding. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Enacted by Chapter 150, 1975 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S501_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-603, Bond not required -- Exceptions. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/12/2015. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S603_2015051220150512.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-705, Duty of personal representative -- Inventory and appraisement. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 194, 1977 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S705_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-718, Compensation of personal representative and attorney. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 245, 2013 General Session. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S718_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-801, Notice to creditors. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Amended by Chapter 364, 2013 General Session. 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. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S803_2025050720250507.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. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S1003_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 75-3-1201, Collection of personal property by affidavit -- Vehicles -- Water shares excluded. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/7/2025. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S1201_2025050720250507.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. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75/Chapter3/C75-3-S1203_1800010118000101.html
• Title: Utah Code Section 78A-2-301, Civil fees of the courts of record -- Courts complex design. Publisher: Utah State Legislature. Publication Date: Effective 5/6/2026. URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78A/Chapter2/C78A-2-S301_2026050620260506.html
• Title: Filing/Record Fees (Court Filing, Transcript, and Record Fees). Publisher: Utah State Courts. Publication Date: Filing Fees - Effective May 6, 2026. URL: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/legal-help/procedures/fees.html
• Title: Small Estates. Publisher: Utah State Courts. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/case-categories/probate/small-estates.html
• Title: Informal Probate. Publisher: Utah State Courts. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/case-categories/probate/informal-probate.html

It is not legal advice.