Vermont Probate Information

One separate fee line should not be treated as a full path on this page: 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) prices an affidavit procedure for small estates under V.R.P.P. 80.3(h) at $50.00. The Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure govern that procedure; ask the register of probate or a Vermont attorney whether it applies to your estate.

1. Deliver a will you are holding to the Probate Division where venue lies, or to the named executor, within 30 days after learning of the testator's death (14 V.S.A. § 103).
2. If you are named executor, file the death certificate and petition with reasonable promptness, or file the will with an original death certificate and no petition where no assets require probate administration (14 V.S.A. § 104(a), (b); form 700-00027 Affidavit of No Assets).
3. Give the bond the court sets before letters of administration issue (14 V.S.A. § 906). The court decides whether the bond needs surety.
4. Collect the two free certificates of appointment that come with the letters, and buy extra certificates at $5.00 each if more institutions need them (32 V.S.A. § 1434(b), (c)).
5. File the inventory on form 700-00030 within 30 days of your appointment, as the Vermont Judiciary instructs; 14 V.S.A. § 1051 sets a 60-day statutory outer limit and allows extensions for good cause.
6. Publish the notice to creditors once in a newspaper generally circulating in the community where the decedent lived, or move to waive publication under 14 V.S.A. § 1201. Publishing starts the four-month period from first publication under 14 V.S.A. § 1203(a)(1).
7. Handle creditor claims. The Judiciary's estates guidance and form 700-00003 Notice of Disallowance state that the fiduciary has 60 days after receiving a claim to disallow it and the creditor has 60 days after the disallowance is mailed to respond.
8. Serve and track surviving-spouse rights. The spouse receives notice within 30 days from the filing of the initial inventory, and the elective share clock then runs for four months from the later of service of the notice or service of the inventory (14 V.S.A. § 319).
9. Get court approval before selling or conveying estate real property when required. The real-estate licence motion costs $100.00 (32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(26)), and the Judiciary's 700-00302 booklet (01/2026) states that the report on the licence is due within 30 days of the transaction.
10. Render an account within one year of appointment and annually thereafter until the estate is wholly settled (14 V.S.A. § 1055). An annual account costs $85.00 under 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(12), unless a statutory waiver of final accounting applies after the estate has been open at least six months and no real estate remains (14 V.S.A. § 1069).
11. Complete the tax work. File EST-191 at tax.vermont.gov if required, within nine months of death under 32 V.S.A. § 7446, and apply for the E-2A tax clearance required for closing under 32 V.S.A. § 7454.
12. Close with the fiduciary's closing report and receipts, or the small-estate report and receipts. In a waiver-of-administration estate, close with the affidavit of administration under 14 V.S.A. § 1853.

Probate forms in Vermont are statewide. The same numbered 700- series is filed in all fourteen counties, the forms are free, and the Judiciary publishes them at www.vtcourts.gov/court-forms and on www.vtcourts.gov/probate/estates-and-wills. No Vermont Probate Division publishes a county-only form or cover sheet.

The suffix matters. Form 700-00001 opens a full estate; form 700-00001SM (09/2023) opens a small estate under 14 V.S.A. § 1901. Some current Judiciary pages still use older PE numbers, such as PE 32 for the notice to creditors and PE 25 for an executor's refusal of appointment. Use the number the Judiciary prints for the form you are filing.

If a self-represented filer chooses e-filing, save fillable PDFs as flat files before filing. The Judiciary states that an unflattened fillable PDF may fail and need to be refiled.

Vermont probate fees are statewide. The estate opening fee is set by 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a), graduated on the value of the estate and the eight estate brackets have been in force since July 1, 2015 under 2015 Act 57. The second bracket runs to $50,000, not to the $45,000 small-estate ceiling in 14 V.S.A. § 1901.

Other estate settlement costs are also statewide, but not all share the July 1, 2015 effective date of the eight opening-fee brackets.

The court may waive part of the filing fee if it finds the applicant unable to pay it (32 V.S.A. § 1434(b)). E-filing costs are separate from court fees: the Judiciary's electronic-filing page lists an e-filing platform charge of $14 per filer or firm per case on the first filing, a 2.89 percent credit card charge for e-filing payments and a $1.00 eCheck charge. A credit card payment at the counter or by phone carries a separate 2.39 percent credit card convenience charge. Checks and money orders for court fees are made out to Vermont Superior Court.

1. Within 30 days after learning of the testator's death, a person holding the will delivers it to the Probate Division where venue lies or to the named executor (14 V.S.A. § 103).
2. A named executor who knows of the will files the death certificate and petition with reasonable promptness (14 V.S.A. § 104(a)). No fixed number of days is stated.
3. If no assets require probate administration, the named executor may file the original death certificate and the will without a petition (14 V.S.A. § 104(b), form 700-00027 Affidavit of No Assets).
4. Before letters of administration issue, the executor or administrator gives the bond set by the court (14 V.S.A. § 906).
5. If a will hearing is required, objections to allowance of the will must be filed not less than seven days before the hearing (14 V.S.A. § 107(b)). The Judiciary's 700-00302 booklet (01/2026) also states that signed certified-mail receipts for the hearing notice must be dated at least 14 days before the hearing.
6. In a small estate under 14 V.S.A. § 1901, a non-consenting interested party has 14 days after receiving notice to object. If no objections are filed, the appointment and any will may be approved without further notice or hearing.
7. File the inventory on form 700-00030 within 30 days of your appointment, which is what the Vermont Judiciary's instructions require. The statute sets a 60-day outer limit after appointment (14 V.S.A. § 1051) and allows extensions for good cause.
8. For a small estate, the fiduciary confirms, corrects or supplements the inventory within 60 days after the issuance of letters of administration (14 V.S.A. § 1902(b)).
9. The Judiciary instructs fiduciaries to publish notice to creditors within 30 days of appointment unless the court excuses publication. Publication starts the four-month claim period from the date of first publication (14 V.S.A. § 1203(a)(1)).
10. If notice to creditors is never published, a creditor has one year from the date of death to present a claim (14 V.S.A. § 1203(a)(2); 14 V.S.A. § 931).
11. Claims filed by the State on behalf of Vermont Medicaid must be presented within four months of first publication regardless of the date of death or when the estate was opened (14 V.S.A. § 1203(d)).
12. The fiduciary has 60 days after receiving a claim to disallow it, and the creditor has 60 days after the disallowance is mailed to respond, according to the Vermont Judiciary's published estates guidance and form 700-00003 Notice of Disallowance.
13. The court must give the surviving spouse notice of rights not later than 30 days from the filing of the initial inventory. The spouse has four months from the later of service of that notice or service of the inventory to make an elective share claim to one-half of the balance of the probate estate (14 V.S.A. § 319).
14. An account is due within one year of appointment and annually thereafter until the estate is wholly settled, unless the Probate Division orders otherwise (14 V.S.A. § 1055).
15. The Judiciary's 700-00302 booklet (01/2026) states that a report on a licence to sell, convey, mortgage or lease property is due within 30 days of the transaction.
16. A final accounting may be waived only if the estate has been open at least six months, no real estate remains among the assets, the required consents and schedules are filed, and the tax clearance is filed (14 V.S.A. § 1069).
17. In a waiver-of-administration estate under 14 V.S.A. § 1851, the affidavit of administration is filed not less than six months nor more than one year after appointment (14 V.S.A. § 1853).
18. Small-estate letters of administration last one year from issuance unless extended for good cause (14 V.S.A. § 1902(c)).
19. In an insolvent estate, a family allowance may run for not more than eight months after administration is granted (14 V.S.A. § 316).
20. If EST-191 is required, it is due within nine months of death, and an executor may request a six-month extension to file before the filing period expires (32 V.S.A. § 7446). The tax is due at the nine-month date without extension (32 V.S.A. § 7447).
21. An appeal from the Probate Division to the Civil Division is filed within 30 days from entry of the order or decree (12 V.S.A. § 2383), and the fee is $295.00 (32 V.S.A. § 1431(b)(7)).
22. For a remote appearance change, written notice or a written request must be received by the court and the other party at least three days before the hearing. Remote hearings use Zoom, and the Judiciary's dial-in number is 1-833-435-1820.

Vermont's small-estate ceiling is $45,000 and has been in force since July 1, 2019 (14 V.S.A. § 1901(a); 2019 Act 36). The test is the fair market value of the whole estate, and the estate must consist entirely of personal property except that a time-share estate is allowed. A solely owned parcel of Vermont real estate sends the estate out of the small-estate route regardless of value.

The small-estate route is still an estate opened in the Probate Division. Section 1901(a) lists eight filings: a petition to open a probate estate, list of interested persons, filing fee, original death certificate, inventory, affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and other known or reasonably ascertainable debts, bond without surety in the amount of the estate's fair market value, and the will if any.

A non-consenting interested party has 14 days after receiving notice to object. If no objections are filed, the fiduciary appointment and any will offered for admission may be approved without further notice or hearing (14 V.S.A. § 1901(b)). If the estate later turns out to exceed $45,000, the fiduciary petitions to convert the matter to administration under the rules for larger estates and pays any applicable fees (14 V.S.A. § 1901(c)).

Letters of administration issue in a small estate whether or not there is a will (14 V.S.A. § 1902(a)). The small-estate fiduciary must confirm, correct or supplement the inventory within 60 days after letters issue, and small-estate letters last one year unless extended for good cause (14 V.S.A. § 1902(b), (c)). Closing is by payment of proper expenses and creditors, distribution, sworn statement of payments and recipients, and discharge without further accounting where the court allows it (14 V.S.A. § 1903).

Page last reviewed: September 2026.