Probate in Idaho: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs

Settling an estate in Idaho

What an executor deals with after the funeral: the will, the court, creditors, tax and closing the estate. Each fact links to the statute it comes from and shows the date we last read it.

Filing the original will

In Idaho, if you hold the original will of the person who died, you must hand it over with reasonable promptness to someone who can get it probated, or to the court if no such person is known. The law sets no fixed number of days.

Idaho Code § 15-2-902Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Idaho, probate is handled by the district court (in practice, usually a magistrate judge) in the county where the person who died lived. If they lived out of state, it can be opened in any Idaho county where they owned property.

Idaho Code §§ 15-1-201(8), 15-3-201Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

In Idaho, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) may publish a notice to creditors once a week for three weeks. Creditors then have four months from the first publication to present claims. Creditors mailed a notice get four months from publication or 60 days from the mailing, whichever is later. If no notice is given, claims from before the death are cut off three years after the death.

Idaho Code §§ 15-3-801, 15-3-803Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Idaho, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) must prepare an inventory of what the person who died owned, with values as of the date of death, within three months after being appointed. A copy goes to anyone interested in the estate who asks; filing it with the court is optional.

Idaho Code § 15-3-706Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Idaho, if the estate cannot pay every bill, the executor or administrator pays them in a set order: estate administration costs first, then funeral expenses, then federal priority debts and taxes, then last illness medical bills, then Idaho priority debts and taxes, then everything else.

Idaho Code § 15-3-805Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Idaho has no estate tax, no inheritance tax and no gift tax. Its old estate tax applies only to deaths before 2005.

Idaho Code Title 14, Chapter 4 (repealed)Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Closing an estate

In Idaho, most estates are closed by the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) filing a sworn closing statement with the court, no earlier than six months after appointment, saying the creditor deadline has passed, debts and taxes are handled and the property has been given out, and sending a copy and a full account to the heirs or beneficiaries.

Idaho Code §§ 15-3-1001, 15-3-1003Read the statute · legislature.idaho.govchecked Oct 5, 2026