Settling Small Estates (MH)
Estate settlement in the Republic of the Marshall Islands is generally straightforward, but if necessary you can use a small estate affidavit or an order of transfer.
Small Estate Affidavit
If a Marshall Islands estate is worth <$2,500, you may be able to use a small estate affidavit to settle the estate with no court involvement.
Requirements
To use the small estate process, the personal property (i.e., everything other than real estate) in the estate must have a combined value <$2,500.
In determining the gross value of the estate, you should value assets as of the date of death, and ignore any unsecured debts (but do subtract things like liens and mortgages). Do not include any assets that would not normally go through probate, such as community property with right of survivorship, assets with named beneficiaries (e.g., 401Ks, life insurance policies), and other standard probate exclusions.
Process
To use the small estate process:
- Prepare a Small Estate Affidavit (see below)
- Obtain possession of estate assets by presenting the affidavit to current custodians (this affidavit cannot be used to collect real estate)
- Settle the estate in the normal way (pay debts, distribute remaining assets)
- If everything goes smoothly, no court involvement will ever be required
Affidavit
The small estate affidavit should include:
- The name of the decedent, address, and date of death
- Your relationship to the decedent (e.g., spouse, son, etc.), and, if not the closet surviving relative, your authority for making this claim (e.g., named in the will)
- The names and addresses of any surviving spouse, children, and any survivor of the decedent who is more closely related to the decedent than you
- The nature and value of estate assets
- Whether or not the decedent left a will and, if so, to whom the decedent gave the assets of the estate
- A statement that you will undertake to pay any estate debts to the extent the assets permit
- The names of anyone entitled to a distribution of assets and the share to which each is entitled
Have the affidavit notarized.
See 25 MIRC §§ 116 - 119.
Order of Transfer
Regardless of estate size, estate settlement can be fairly simple in the Marshall Islands if there is no land involved, using an Order of Transfer.
Requirements
You can request an Order of Transfer if you cannot readily obtain possession of estate personal property, and you are a surviving spouse, any adult child, including an adopted child, or no such persons survive, the nearest surviving relative.
Process
To settle an estate via Order of Transfer:
- File a complaint with the High Court asking for the property to be transferred to you
- Upon approval, the court will an order directing the property to be transferred
- Use the order to collect estate assets (this order cannot be used to collect real estate)
- Settle the estate in the normal way (pay debts, make distributions)
- If you belatedly discover the estate cannot pay all its debts, stop, and report back to the court
Complaint
The complaint must include:
- The name of the decedent, residence, and date of death
- Your relationship to the decedent (e.g., spouse, son, etc.), and, if not the closet surviving relative, your authority for making this claim (e.g., named in the will)
- The names and addresses of any surviving spouse and children, or if none, of the nearest surviving relative
- The total value of the estate personal property
- The property, if any, that passed or is to pass under either intestate or under a will, and to whom it went or is to go
- A statement that you will undertake to pay any estate debts to the extent the assets permit, and to distribute anything remaining to the person or persons entitled to it
Have the complaint notarized, and attach a copy of the death certificate and the will (if any)
See 25 MIRC §§ 111 - 115.
Estate Settlement Considerations
Before paying any debts or making any distributions, be sure to account for any Family Entitlements in MH, which typically have priority over everything except expenses of the last illness, funeral charges, and any estate administrations expenses.
Even if the estate does not go through probate, you may still be entitled to Executor Compensation in MH, and this compensation also has priority over most estate debts.
Estate debts have priority over most distributions in turn, so before distributing assets you should resolve any estate debts. If the estate makes any distributions beyond amounts set aside for family entitlements, unpaid creditors have the right to sue the recipients for repayment using those excess distributions. Consequently, even if the settlement process does not require you to publish a Notice to Creditors, you may want to follow MH probate rules for finding estate debts, since doing so may limit the time creditors have to pursue repayment.
If estate solvency is uncertain, an executor should consider going through official probate for the increased creditor protection it offers. Alternately, such uncertainty can sometimes persuade creditors to forgive a portion of debts, since they will want to avoid legal expenses as well, and may prefer to get something rather than nothing.
See also Making Distributions.
Court
In the Marshall Islands, the High Court handles wills and estate matters.
Additional Information
If your estate doesn't qualify for a small estate approach, or you're simply interested in exploring standard probate, take a look at Probate in MH.
And since probate is just the court-supervised subset of winding up a person's affairs after death, you'll probably want to check out our Complete Guide to Estate Settlement in MH.
Finally, in case you're interested, details about handling small estates in other states can be found here: