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

Settling an estate in Kansas

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 Kansas, after the death, whoever has the will must deliver it to the district court. Timing matters: a will generally has no effect unless a petition to probate it is filed within six months after the death, though filing the will with the court within those six months keeps it usable later.

K.S.A. 59-621, 59-617, 59-618, 59-618aRead the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Kansas, probate is handled by the district court in the county where the person who died lived. If they owned no real estate in that county, it can also be opened in a county where they did own real estate.

K.S.A. 59-2203Read the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

In Kansas, a notice to creditors is published, and creditors must present their claims within 4 months after the first publication, or 30 days after receiving actual notice if that is later. If no probate case is opened within 6 months after the death, creditors generally have no claim against the property except liens that existed at death.

K.S.A. 59-2236, 59-2239Read the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Kansas, the executor or administrator must make a sworn inventory of the estate, with the value of each item on the date of death, within 30 days after letters of appointment are issued, unless the court allows more time. The inventory is filed with the district court.

K.S.A. 59-1201; see also 59-1203, 59-2235, 59-3204Read the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Kansas, if the estate cannot pay every debt, claims are paid in four classes, starting with reasonable funeral costs and then Medicaid recovery. Within a class no claim gets preference over another.

K.S.A. 59-1301Read the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Kansas has no estate tax today. The Kansas estate tax applied only to people who died after December 31, 2006 and before January 1, 2010.

K.S.A. 79-15,254; inheritance tax act K.S.A. 79-1537 et seq. repealed by L. 1998, ch. 130, § 38Read the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026effective Jan 1, 2010

Closing an estate

In Kansas, the executor or administrator closes the estate by filing a petition for final settlement with the district court, with an account and a list of the heirs and beneficiaries. After a hearing, the court approves the account and issues a final decree assigning the property to the people entitled to it.

K.S.A. 59-2247, 59-2249Read the statute · ksrevisor.govchecked Oct 5, 2026effective Jul 1, 2015