Utah · probate and estate law
Probate in Utah: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs
Utah law decides whether an estate needs probate and what a lawyer may charge. Every fact links to its statute, with the date we read it. Not legal advice.
We do not endorse or recommend any attorney
Firms are listed by name with what they publish and what the bar roster says about them; you contact them yourself. A firm can never pay to move up a list.
Do I need a lawyer?
- Small-estate limit
- Estates under $100,000 can use a simpler process instead of full probate. In Utah this usually starts with a signed affidavit.
- Formal probate
- Required above $100,000. Independent administration: no. Uniform Probate Code: yes.
- Typical duration
- About 9 months.
- Source
- Utah Code §75-3-1201 (collection by affidavit ≤ $100,000) statute → · checked Sep 20, 2026
Settling an estate in Utah
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 Utah, after the death, whoever holds the original will must hand it over promptly to someone who can start probate when an interested person asks for it. The law sets no fixed number of days, and a person who willfully fails to deliver it can be held liable for the harm it causes.
- Which court handles probate
In Utah, probate is handled by the district court in the county where the person who died lived. If they lived out of state, it can be opened in any Utah county where they owned property.
- Creditors' deadline to make claims
In Utah, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) may publish a notice to creditors once a week for three weeks in a local newspaper and on the state's public legal notice website, and may mail notice to known creditors. Creditors then have three months from the first publication (or 60 days from a mailed notice, if later) to file a claim, and claims from before the death are barred one year after the death in any case.
- Estate inventory
In Utah, the executor or administrator must prepare an inventory of what the person who died owned, with fair market values as of the date of death and any debts secured on each item, within three months of being appointed. You send a copy to interested people who ask, and filing it with the court is optional.
- The order estate debts are paid
In Utah, if the estate can't pay every bill, debts are paid in a set order: reasonable funeral costs first, then the costs of running the estate, then debts and taxes the federal government puts first, then last-illness medical bills (and some Medicaid repayment), then debts and taxes Utah law puts first, and finally everything else.
- State estate and inheritance tax
Utah has no estate tax and no inheritance tax. Its old tax, tied to a federal credit that ended after 2004, was formally repealed in 2026. Only the federal estate tax can apply, and only to very large estates.
- Closing an estate
In Utah, most estates are closed by the executor or administrator filing a sworn closing statement with the court, no earlier than four months after the first appointment, saying the creditor deadline has passed, the estate is fully settled, and everyone entitled got a copy and a written accounting. Beneficiaries can agree in writing to skip the accounting, and if no one brings a case within one year, the role ends.
What a probate lawyer may charge in Utah
Some states set the fee by statute, as a percentage of the estate. Others say "reasonable compensation", and you agree it with the firm.
No statutory fee schedule is recorded for Utah yet. Either the state leaves fees to "reasonable compensation", or we have not read the statute.
The estate letter · Utah
Settling an estate in Utah, one month at a time
Twelve months of steps with Utah's own numbers and deadlines. Read the checklist now, or sign up there for one email a month.
Get the estate letter- Month 1The first things to gather
- Month 2Work out what the estate is
- Month 3Get the authority to act
- 9 more months
Compare more
Estate checklist for Utah
What the executor does, month by month, with Utah's numbers and deadlines.
Funeral and cremation law in Utah
1 checked facts: who decides, waiting periods, permits.
Before probate
Look a lawyer up yourself
Every attorney we name is checked against the Utah bar roster. You can too: services.utahbar.org →