Salt Lake County District Court Guide

Thirty days after the death, a person holding the decedent's tangible personal property or owing the decedent a debt must pay or deliver it to a claiming successor who presents a compliant affidavit. The affidavit is NOT filed with the court and there is no filing fee: the successor completes it, signs before a notary, and gives it to the bank or other third party. The $100,000 test is the value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, LESS liens and encumbrances, so it is a net measure of the whole estate and a mortgaged house counts only for its equity. A separate affidavit transfers title to not more than four boats, motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers, and for that transfer the measure excludes those vehicles. Shares of stock in a water company are not eligible for transfer under this part. The affidavit collects personal property and cannot convey real property. Two official Utah sources differ on real property: the Utah Courts small-estates page lists "there is no real property" as a requirement, while 75-3-1201(1)(a) states only the $100,000 net measure and disqualifies nothing. Treat the courts page as the practical rule and get advice before relying on the affidavit where the decedent owned land.

• At least 30 days have passed since the death
• The value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000
• No application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction
• The claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery of the property
• The affidavit is signed in front of a notary and given to the bank or other holder, not filed with the court

Qualifies:

$100,000

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Utah's $100,000 figure is not indexed and is not banded by date of death. Utah Code 75-1-110 lists the estate amounts that adjust for inflation and 75-3-1201 is not among them.

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, the personal representative may immediately disburse and distribute the estate to the persons entitled without giving notice to creditors, and close by filing a verified statement under Utah Code 75-3-1204. This route closes an estate that has already been opened, so a personal representative is already appointed and the $375.00 petition fee has already been paid. There is no extra fee.

• A personal representative has already been appointed and has prepared the inventory and appraisal
• The value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the statutory sum
• The personal representative disburses and distributes to the persons entitled
• The personal representative files a verified closing statement under Utah Code 75-3-1204

Qualifies:

No dollar figure exists. The test is whether the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, is worth no more than the SUM of the homestead allowance, exempt property, the family allowance, administration costs and expenses, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary last-illness medical and hospital expenses. Two of those components are fixed for a given year of death and indexed to inflation under Utah Code 75-1-110, and the rest are variable, so the sum cannot be reduced to one number.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Modelling Utah as a single $100,000 state deletes this route. It has no dollar figure at all, and it is a way of closing an estate cheaply rather than of opening one cheaply.

Utah is a Uniform Probate Code state and runs three real tracks. Informal probate of a will and informal appointment of a personal representative are handled by the REGISTRAR of the district court on an application, with no hearing before a judge. A formal testacy or formal appointment proceeding is litigated before a district judge, on notice, when the will is contested or an interested person demands a hearing. Supervised administration keeps the personal representative under the continuing authority of the court, which must approve distribution. Probate and testacy proceedings may not be commenced more than three years after the death, with the exceptions listed in Utah Code 75-3-107. The personal representative prepares an inventory within three months after appointment, and a closing statement may not be filed earlier than four months after the original appointment. Venue is the county where the decedent was domiciled at death, or, for a decedent not domiciled in Utah, a county where property was located at death.

• File the application or petition with the clerk of the district court in the county of the decedent's domicile at death
• Provide the original will if there is one, plus a certified death certificate
• Give notice to heirs and devisees as Utah Code 75-3-306 or 75-3-403 requires
• Prepare an inventory within three months after appointment (Utah Code 75-3-705)
• Wait at least four months from the original appointment before filing a closing statement (Utah Code 75-3-1003(1))

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is the ordinary route for a Utah estate that does not fit a small-estate shortcut.

Filing fee:

$375

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Do not read the word formal as a fee tier. In Utah, informal and formal are two different procedures under the same $375.00 petition fee, and supervised administration is a third.

A formal testacy proceeding is litigated before a district judge. The court fixes a time and place of hearing and the petitioner gives notice to the surviving spouse, children and other heirs, the devisees and executors named in any will probated or offered for probate, and any personal representative whose appointment has not been terminated, plus notice by publication to unknown persons and to known persons whose addresses are unknown.

• File a petition for formal testacy and/or formal appointment
• The court fixes a hearing and the petitioner gives notice under Utah Code § 75-1-401 and § 75-3-403
• Notice by publication to unknown persons and to known persons whose addresses are unknown
• The same inventory, creditor-notice and closing rules then apply

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. Used where the will is contested, the estate is complicated, or an interested person demands a hearing.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Informal probate of a will and informal appointment of a personal representative are handled by the REGISTRAR of the district court on an application, without a hearing before a judge. On receiving the application the clerk mails notice to the heirs and devisees who have not waived it, and the registrar grants the probate or appointment after 10 days from the date of that notice. Where every person entitled to notice has waived it in writing, the registrar may appoint once 120 hours have passed since the death.

• File an application for informal probate of the will and/or informal appointment of a personal representative with the district court in the county of the decedent's domicile
• Provide the original will, if there is one, and a certified death certificate
• The clerk gives written notice to heirs and devisees; the registrar acts after 10 days from the date of that notice
• Publish notice to creditors if the estate wants the three-month claim bar (Utah Code § 75-3-801)
• Prepare an inventory within three months after appointment (Utah Code § 75-3-705)
• Close by verified closing statement no earlier than four months after appointment (Utah Code § 75-3-1003)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The ordinary route for an uncontested Utah estate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Supervised administration keeps the personal representative under the continuing authority of the district court, which must approve distribution. An estate in supervised administration cannot be closed by the ordinary sworn closing statement under Utah Code § 75-3-1003 or by the summary closing statement under § 75-3-1204.

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. Ordered by the court where continuing supervision is warranted.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Thirty days after the death, a person holding the decedent's tangible personal property or owing the decedent a debt must pay or deliver it to a claiming successor who presents a compliant affidavit. The affidavit is NOT filed with the court: the successor completes it, signs before a notary, and gives it to the bank or other holder. Utah publishes no court form for it. The Motor Vehicle Division will retitle up to four boats, motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers on the Tax Commission's TC-569C Survivorship Affidavit, and for that transfer the $100,000 is measured on the estate OTHER than those vehicles.

• 30 days have elapsed since the death
• The value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000
• No application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction
• The claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery of the property
• Shares of stock in a water company transferred under Section 73-1-10 or Title 70A, Chapter 8 are NOT eligible for transfer under this part

Qualifies:

$100,000 or less, measured as the value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, LESS liens and encumbrances. That is a net measure of the whole estate, so a mortgaged house contributes only its equity. PERSONAL PROPERTY ONLY: the affidavit collects debts, tangible personal property and instruments, and cannot transfer real estate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

TWO OFFICIAL UTAH SOURCES DISAGREE about real property. The Utah Courts self-help page lists as a requirement that "there is no real property"; § 75-3-1201(1)(a) states only the $100,000 net measure of the entire estate and disqualifies nothing. See small-estate.json, which records the conflict and follows the statute.

Where the inventory and appraisal show the estate does not exceed that sum, the personal representative may immediately disburse and distribute the estate to the persons entitled without giving notice to creditors, and close by filing a verified statement under Utah Code § 75-3-1204. That closing statement has the same effect as one filed under § 75-3-1003, and the appointment terminates if no proceedings are pending one year after it is filed.

• A personal representative has been appointed and has prepared the inventory and appraisal
• The value of the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the statutory sum
• The estate is not in supervised administration and the court has not prohibited it
• File a verified closing statement stating the nature and value of the assets at distribution, that the estate was fully administered, and that a copy went to all distributees and to known unpaid, unbarred creditors

Qualifies:

NO DOLLAR FIGURE EXISTS. Available where 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.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Two components of the sum are fixed for a given year of death and indexed under Utah Code § 75-1-110 (for a 2026 death, homestead allowance $33,700 and exempt property $22,500, a floor of $56,200); the family allowance, administration costs, funeral expenses and last-illness medical bills are variable, so the test is NOT reducible to a threshold.