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

Settling an estate in Nebraska

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 Nebraska, if you hold the original will of the person who died, you must hand it over with reasonable promptness, when an interested person asks, 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.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2356Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Nebraska, probate is handled by the county court in the county where the person who died lived. If they lived out of state, it can be opened in any Nebraska county where they owned property.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 24-517, 30-2410Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

In Nebraska, once an executor or administrator (called the personal representative) is appointed, the court clerk publishes a notice to creditors once a week for three weeks, and the notice must also be mailed to known creditors. Creditors then have two months from the first publication to present claims. If no proper notice is given, claims are cut off three years after the death.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2483, 30-2485Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Nebraska, 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, and file it with the court within three months after appointment.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2467Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Nebraska, 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 state priority debts and taxes, then everything else.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2487Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Nebraska has no estate tax for current deaths, but it does have an inheritance tax paid by the people who receive property. For deaths on or after January 1, 2023, close relatives pay 1% on what each receives above $100,000, a surviving spouse pays nothing, and anyone under 22 pays nothing.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 77-2004, 77-2005, 77-2006, 77-2101.01Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026effective Jan 1, 2023

Closing an estate

In Nebraska, many estates are closed by the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) filing a sworn closing statement with the court, no earlier than five months after appointment, saying creditors were notified, all claims and taxes are handled, and the property has been given out. Others close through a court order after a petition for complete settlement.

Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-24,115, 30-24,117Read the statute · nebraskalegislature.govchecked Oct 5, 2026