Vermont Probate Types: Small Estate vs Full Administration
Vermont sorts estates by two facts before anything else: what the estate is worth, and whether it holds Vermont real property. Land closes both simplified routes at any value, which is why a modest estate with a house still files a full administration.
Compare eligibility, timing, court involvement, and local verification points
How to Compare Vermont Probate Types
Every Vermont estate opens in the Probate Division of the Superior Court for the county where the decedent lived, and 14 V.S.A. § 1851 draws the boundary between the two chapters: chapter 80 applies to all estates, testate and intestate, other than small estates administered under chapter 81. A small estate under § 1901 is capped at $45,000.00 in fair market value AND must consist entirely of personal property, with a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) as the only exception. Waiver of administration under § 1852 is a different axis again: no dollar cap at all, but the moving party has to be the sole beneficiary or sole heir, has to be the sole fiduciary, and the decedent has to have owned no real property in Vermont.
Two pieces of Vermont vocabulary keep a page accurate. The person in charge is the executor or administrator, never the personal representative, because Vermont never adopted the Uniform Probate Code and Title 14 says executor or administrator throughout. And the court is a division of the Superior Court, not a county probate court: 4 V.S.A. § 272(a) puts one probate district in each county, designated by the name of the county, so the correct name is the Addison Probate Division rather than Addison County Probate Court. Vermont abolished its county probate courts on February 1, 2011, when 2009 Act 154 collapsed 18 districts into 14.
Small Estate vs Full Administration at a Glance
Swipe sideways to see the full table.
| Category | Small Estate | Full Administration | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| What qualifies the estate | Two tests, both required: a fair market value of not more than $45,000.00, and an estate consisting entirely of personal property | Nothing. 14 V.S.A. § 1851 sends every estate here that is not a chapter 81 small estate, whatever its size or contents | Full Administration |
| Cost to open | $50.00 or $110.00, the ordinary band fee. The bond is without surety, so there is no premium | $50.00 to $3,250.00 by the value of the estate, plus a surety premium where the court orders sureties on the bond | Small Estate |
| Real property | Disqualifying. Only a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is allowed | Allowed, and the reason most Vermont estates with a house end up here | Full Administration |
| Inventory | Filed WITH the petition, then confirmed, corrected or supplemented within 60 days after letters issue (§ 1902(b)) | Filed within 60 days after appointment at date-of-death fair market value, with liens and encumbrances shown separately (§ 1051) | Small Estate |
| Accounting | Closes on a sworn statement of the payments made, with no further accounting (§ 1903) | An account within one year of letters and annually until the estate is wholly settled (§ 1055), waivable under § 1069 where the conditions are met | Small Estate |
| Timeline | Usually 6 to 12 months, floored by the four-month creditor window | Commonly 12 to 24 months | Small Estate |
| What does not change | The same four-month creditor bar from first publication, the same duty to pay valid debts first, and conversion under § 1901(c) if the value turns out to be higher | The same creditor bar and the same order of payment, with the court reviewing each account | Tie |
Main Vermont Probate Options
| Probate Type | Threshold | Filing Fee | Timeline | Real Estate | Attorney | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full Administration 14 V.S.A. chapter 80 (Petition to Open Decedent’s Estate) | No threshold and no conditions. 14 V.S.A. § 1851 applies chapter 80 to all estates, testate and intestate, other than small estates administered under chapter 81. This is the route for any estate holding Vermont real property. | $50.00 to $3,250.00 by the value of the estate under the eight bands in 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a), plus $85.00 for an annual account covering a period ending more than one year after the opening | Commonly 12 to 24 months | Yes | No statutory requirement; counsel is usual where real estate has to be sold, a will is contested, or the estate is insolvent | Any estate holding Vermont land, and any estate where the beneficiaries do not all agree |
Small Estate 14 V.S.A. chapter 81 (Petition to Open Small Estate, form 700-00001SM) | Fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 AND an estate consisting entirely of personal property, both required by 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a). A time-share estate as defined by 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only real-property-flavoured asset allowed. | The ordinary band fee, so $50.00 at or under $10,000.00 and $110.00 above that to the ceiling. There is no discounted small-estate rate, because § 1901(a)(3) asks only for the filing fee | Usually 6 to 12 months; letters run for one year and the court may extend them on motion for good cause | No | No | A modest estate of bank accounts, vehicles and belongings with no Vermont real estate in it |
Waiver of Administration 14 V.S.A. § 1852 (Motion to Waive Administration) | No dollar threshold at any estate size. Three facts qualify it under § 1852(a): the moving party is the sole beneficiary under the will or the sole heir on an intestacy, is the sole fiduciary of the estate, and the decedent owned no real property in the State of Vermont. | No additional court fee. The estate pays only the ordinary banded entry fee, and the bond premium disappears with the bond | Usually 4 to 12 months | No. Vermont real property disqualifies the motion outright under § 1852(a)(3) | No | An estate of any size where one person inherits everything and is willing to serve as the only fiduciary |
Affidavit Procedure V.R.P.P. Rule 80.3(g); fee at 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) | No dollar threshold appears in the rule. It qualifies on the CHARACTER of the assets: an estate consisting solely of one or more assets that may pass under the terms of the will, if any, or under the law of descent and survivors rights. Do not import the $45,000.00 figure from § 1901 into it. | $50.00 flat under 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) | Usually 1 to 4 months | No | No | A single stranded asset that plainly passes under the will or by descent, with everyone in agreement |
Enhanced Life Estate Deed 27 V.S.A. chapter 6 (optional statutory form at § 660) | Not a probate route. Planning done during life, and Vermont’s substitute for the transfer-on-death deed it does not have. | Town clerk recording at $15.00 per page under 32 V.S.A. § 1671(a)(6), plus $15.00 for the property transfer return. 27 V.S.A. § 654(d) subjects an executed and recorded deed to the Vermont property transfer tax under 32 V.S.A. chapter 231 | Effective at the death of the grantor, with no probate step at all | Yes, and only real property | No, though the property transfer tax question is worth a review before recording | An owner who wants the house to pass outside probate while keeping the right to sell or mortgage it |
Full Administration
14 V.S.A. chapter 80 (Petition to Open Decedent’s Estate)
Any estate holding Vermont land, and any estate where the beneficiaries do not all agree
Threshold: No threshold and no conditions. 14 V.S.A. § 1851 applies chapter 80 to all estates, testate and intestate, other than small estates administered under chapter 81. This is the route for any estate holding Vermont real property.
Filing Fee: $50.00 to $3,250.00 by the value of the estate under the eight bands in 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a), plus $85.00 for an annual account covering a period ending more than one year after the opening
Timeline: Commonly 12 to 24 months
Real Estate: Yes
Attorney: No statutory requirement; counsel is usual where real estate has to be sold, a will is contested, or the estate is insolvent
Small Estate
14 V.S.A. chapter 81 (Petition to Open Small Estate, form 700-00001SM)
A modest estate of bank accounts, vehicles and belongings with no Vermont real estate in it
Threshold: Fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 AND an estate consisting entirely of personal property, both required by 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a). A time-share estate as defined by 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only real-property-flavoured asset allowed.
Filing Fee: The ordinary band fee, so $50.00 at or under $10,000.00 and $110.00 above that to the ceiling. There is no discounted small-estate rate, because § 1901(a)(3) asks only for the filing fee
Timeline: Usually 6 to 12 months; letters run for one year and the court may extend them on motion for good cause
Real Estate: No
Attorney: No
Waiver of Administration
14 V.S.A. § 1852 (Motion to Waive Administration)
An estate of any size where one person inherits everything and is willing to serve as the only fiduciary
Threshold: No dollar threshold at any estate size. Three facts qualify it under § 1852(a): the moving party is the sole beneficiary under the will or the sole heir on an intestacy, is the sole fiduciary of the estate, and the decedent owned no real property in the State of Vermont.
Filing Fee: No additional court fee. The estate pays only the ordinary banded entry fee, and the bond premium disappears with the bond
Timeline: Usually 4 to 12 months
Real Estate: No. Vermont real property disqualifies the motion outright under § 1852(a)(3)
Attorney: No
Affidavit Procedure
V.R.P.P. Rule 80.3(g); fee at 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30)
A single stranded asset that plainly passes under the will or by descent, with everyone in agreement
Threshold: No dollar threshold appears in the rule. It qualifies on the CHARACTER of the assets: an estate consisting solely of one or more assets that may pass under the terms of the will, if any, or under the law of descent and survivors rights. Do not import the $45,000.00 figure from § 1901 into it.
Filing Fee: $50.00 flat under 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30)
Timeline: Usually 1 to 4 months
Real Estate: No
Attorney: No
Enhanced Life Estate Deed
27 V.S.A. chapter 6 (optional statutory form at § 660)
An owner who wants the house to pass outside probate while keeping the right to sell or mortgage it
Threshold: Not a probate route. Planning done during life, and Vermont’s substitute for the transfer-on-death deed it does not have.
Filing Fee: Town clerk recording at $15.00 per page under 32 V.S.A. § 1671(a)(6), plus $15.00 for the property transfer return. 27 V.S.A. § 654(d) subjects an executed and recorded deed to the Vermont property transfer tax under 32 V.S.A. chapter 231
Timeline: Effective at the death of the grantor, with no probate step at all
Real Estate: Yes, and only real property
Attorney: No, though the property transfer tax question is worth a review before recording
* Vermont probate filing fees are statutory, banded by the value of the estate, and identical in all 14 probate districts. 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(1)-(8) prices the opening of a decedent estate at $50.00 for $10,000.00 or less, $110.00 to $50,000.00, $265.00 to $150,000.00, $500.00 to $500,000.00, $1,000.00 to $1,000,000.00, $1,750.00 to $5,000,000.00, $2,500.00 to $10,000,000.00, and $3,250.00 above $10,000,000.00. Each band is a flat amount rather than a percentage, and the top band is open-ended, so $3,250.00 is the ceiling at any estate size. Bands are written as more than X to not more than Y, so a boundary value belongs to the LOWER band and an estate of exactly $50,000.00 pays $110.00. A small estate pays the same band fee as any other estate of that size, because § 1901(a)(3) asks only for "the filing fee". The affidavit procedure carries its own flat $50.00 under § 1434(a)(30), and waiver of administration adds nothing. Opening documents, including the first two certificates of appointment and the letters, are free under § 1434(b).
Unfamiliar terms in the comparison? The Vermont probate glossary defines them in plain language.
Not sure which type applies to you?
Answer a few questions to see which Vermont probate path fits this estate.
Take the 2-minute assessment