Utah Probate Types: Informal, Formal, Supervised and Small Estate
Utah runs the Uniform Probate Code, so the first question is not how much the estate is worth but how much court involvement it needs. Informal probate is granted by a registrar without a hearing, and only a contest or a demand pushes an estate up to a judge.
Compare eligibility, timing, court involvement, and local verification points
How to Compare Utah Probate Types
Two structural facts shape every Utah estate. The forum never varies: Utah Code § 75-1-302 gives the district court jurisdiction over all subject matter relating to estates of decedents, Utah Code § 78A-5-102(1) makes that court one of general jurisdiction, and Utah Code § 78A-5-101(2)(b) puts a district court in the county seat of each of the 29 counties across eight judicial districts. There is no separate probate court in Utah and no county-level probate forum, so a page that sends a Utah reader to a probate court is sending them to a building that does not exist.
The second fact is that informal is the default and it is not a hearing. Under Utah Code §§ 75-3-306, 75-3-307 and 75-3-310 an application for informal probate and informal appointment goes to the REGISTRAR of the district court rather than to a judge. The clerk mails notice to the heirs and devisees who have not waived it, and the registrar grants the probate or the appointment 10 days after the date of that notice. Where everybody entitled to notice has waived it in writing, the registrar may appoint once 120 hours have passed since the death. The fee is $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), and it is the same figure informal or formal.
Simplified Path vs Formal Path at a Glance
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| Category | Simplified Path | Formal Path | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides it | The registrar of the district court, on an application, with no hearing and nobody appearing | A district judge, at a hearing fixed by the court, with notice under Utah Code §§ 75-1-401 and 75-3-403 and publication to unknown persons | Simplified Path |
| Cost to open | $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a) | $375 under the same subsection, plus $170 for an objector claim for relief and $250 for a civil jury demand | Simplified Path |
| How fast it starts | 10 days after the clerk mails notice to heirs and devisees, or 120 hours after the death where everyone has waived notice in writing | As fast as the court can set a hearing and notice can be given, which is measured in weeks rather than days | Simplified Path |
| When it settles a fight | It does not. An interested person can demand a formal proceeding, and the informal route gives way | It does. A judge determines testacy and appointment on the record, which is the point of paying for it | Formal Path |
| Real property | Handled, with letters issued by the registrar in the ordinary way | Handled, and the safer choice where title is doubtful or an heir is unlocated | Tie |
| Closing the estate | A verified closing statement no earlier than four months after appointment, under Utah Code § 75-3-1003(1) | The same closing rules apply, except in supervised administration, which may not close by the § 75-3-1003 statement at all | Tie |
| Accountings | None routinely required, and any accounting under Utah Code §§ 75-3-1001, 75-3-1002 or 75-3-1003 is waivable on the written consent of all distributees | The same waiver applies, but supervised administration is where the court actually orders accountings, at $15 to $175 each under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(r) | Simplified Path |
Main Utah Probate Options
| Probate Type | Threshold | Filing Fee | Timeline | Real Estate | Attorney | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Informal Probate and Informal Appointment Utah Code §§ 75-3-306, 75-3-307 and 75-3-310 | No dollar threshold. The ordinary route for an uncontested Utah estate, with or without a will. | $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), the same in all 29 counties | About 6 to 12 months | Yes | No statutory requirement; counsel is usual once there is real property to sell, a business to wind up or a disputed claim | Any estate that needs letters and has nobody objecting, which is most Utah estates |
Formal Testacy and Formal Appointment Proceedings Utah Code § 75-3-107, with notice under Utah Code §§ 75-1-401 and 75-3-403 | No dollar threshold. Used where the will is contested, the estate is complicated, or an interested person demands a hearing. | $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), plus $170 for an objector filing a claim for relief under § 78A-2-301(1)(d)(iii) and $250 for a demand for a civil jury under § 78A-2-301(1)(s) | About 9 to 18 months | Yes | No statutory requirement; a contested testacy proceeding is where counsel usually becomes the real cost | A contested will, an unclear heirship, or any estate where somebody has demanded that a judge decide |
Supervised Administration Utah Code § 75-3-1003 (which the supervised estate may NOT use to close) | No dollar threshold. Ordered by the district court where continuing supervision is warranted. | $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), plus $15, $30, $50, $90 or $175 for each accounting the court requires under § 78A-2-301(1)(r) | Longer than an informal estate, and set by the supervision the court orders rather than by a statutory clock | Yes | No statutory requirement; supervision is ordered where the court or the parties already think the estate needs watching | A beneficiary who cannot be left to trust the representative, a conflicted fiduciary, or an estate the court wants to see before distribution |
Small Estate Affidavit (Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit) Utah Code § 75-3-1201, with the protection for the payer at Utah Code § 75-3-1202 | A net whole-estate value of $100,000 or less, measured on the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Thirty days must have elapsed since the death, no appointment may be pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and the signer must be a successor entitled to the property. | $0. Nothing is filed, so nothing is charged. A notary signature is required | About 1 to 2 months, floored by the 30-day wait | No | No | A modest estate held in accounts, wages, vehicles and belongings, where nobody needs letters and no land has to change hands |
Small Estates: Summary Administrative Procedure Utah Code §§ 75-3-1203 and 75-3-1204 | NO DOLLAR FIGURE EXISTS. Available 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 reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness. For a death in 2026 the two fixed components are a $33,700 homestead allowance and $22,500 of exempt property, a floor of $56,200; the rest are variable. | $375 to open the estate under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a). The summary closing statement adds nothing | About 4 to 8 months, because the appointment and the inventory come first even though the creditor wait does not | Yes | No statutory requirement; worth counsel because distributing without notifying creditors is a judgment call with consequences | An estate that is genuinely exhausted by the family allowances, the funeral bill and the last illness, where the alternative is administering nothing for months |
Informal Probate and Informal Appointment
Utah Code §§ 75-3-306, 75-3-307 and 75-3-310
Any estate that needs letters and has nobody objecting, which is most Utah estates
Threshold: No dollar threshold. The ordinary route for an uncontested Utah estate, with or without a will.
Filing Fee: $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), the same in all 29 counties
Timeline: About 6 to 12 months
Real Estate: Yes
Attorney: No statutory requirement; counsel is usual once there is real property to sell, a business to wind up or a disputed claim
Formal Testacy and Formal Appointment Proceedings
Utah Code § 75-3-107, with notice under Utah Code §§ 75-1-401 and 75-3-403
A contested will, an unclear heirship, or any estate where somebody has demanded that a judge decide
Threshold: No dollar threshold. Used where the will is contested, the estate is complicated, or an interested person demands a hearing.
Filing Fee: $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), plus $170 for an objector filing a claim for relief under § 78A-2-301(1)(d)(iii) and $250 for a demand for a civil jury under § 78A-2-301(1)(s)
Timeline: About 9 to 18 months
Real Estate: Yes
Attorney: No statutory requirement; a contested testacy proceeding is where counsel usually becomes the real cost
Supervised Administration
Utah Code § 75-3-1003 (which the supervised estate may NOT use to close)
A beneficiary who cannot be left to trust the representative, a conflicted fiduciary, or an estate the court wants to see before distribution
Threshold: No dollar threshold. Ordered by the district court where continuing supervision is warranted.
Filing Fee: $375 under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a), plus $15, $30, $50, $90 or $175 for each accounting the court requires under § 78A-2-301(1)(r)
Timeline: Longer than an informal estate, and set by the supervision the court orders rather than by a statutory clock
Real Estate: Yes
Attorney: No statutory requirement; supervision is ordered where the court or the parties already think the estate needs watching
Small Estate Affidavit (Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit)
Utah Code § 75-3-1201, with the protection for the payer at Utah Code § 75-3-1202
A modest estate held in accounts, wages, vehicles and belongings, where nobody needs letters and no land has to change hands
Threshold: A net whole-estate value of $100,000 or less, measured on the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Thirty days must have elapsed since the death, no appointment may be pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and the signer must be a successor entitled to the property.
Filing Fee: $0. Nothing is filed, so nothing is charged. A notary signature is required
Timeline: About 1 to 2 months, floored by the 30-day wait
Real Estate: No
Attorney: No
Small Estates: Summary Administrative Procedure
Utah Code §§ 75-3-1203 and 75-3-1204
An estate that is genuinely exhausted by the family allowances, the funeral bill and the last illness, where the alternative is administering nothing for months
Threshold: NO DOLLAR FIGURE EXISTS. Available 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 reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness. For a death in 2026 the two fixed components are a $33,700 homestead allowance and $22,500 of exempt property, a floor of $56,200; the rest are variable.
Filing Fee: $375 to open the estate under Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a). The summary closing statement adds nothing
Timeline: About 4 to 8 months, because the appointment and the inventory come first even though the creditor wait does not
Real Estate: Yes
Attorney: No statutory requirement; worth counsel because distributing without notifying creditors is a judgment call with consequences
* Utah charges ONE flat statewide fee to open a decedent estate and takes no probate tax. Utah Code § 78A-2-301(1)(a) prices a civil complaint or petition invoking the jurisdiction of a court of record at $375, a probate petition is such a petition, and § 78A-2-301(2) adds that there is no fee for a service or filing the section does not list. The figure is the same informal or formal and the same in all 29 counties. Section 78A-2-301 does contain an estate-value ladder and it is NOT the fee to open probate: § 78A-2-301(1)(r) charges $15, $30, $50, $90 or $175 for filing an ACCOUNTING required by law, which an ordinary informal Utah estate never files and which Utah Code § 75-3-1003(3) lets all distributees waive in writing. The small estate affidavit under § 75-3-1201 costs nothing at all, because it is not filed with a court.
Unfamiliar terms in the comparison? The Utah probate glossary defines them in plain language.
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