Settling Small Estates (ND)

Updated Apr 5, 2024
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In North Dakota, small estates can completely bypass probate via small estate affidavit, or simplify it via summary administration. Regardless of estate size, probate is not required if an estate contains only assets exempt from probate.

Small Estate Affidavit

If a North Dakota estate has a gross value <$100,000, you can use the small estate process to settle the estate with no court involvement.

Requirements

To use the small estate process, the following conditions must be true:

  • The entire probate estate has a gross value <$100K
  • At least 30 days have passed since the death
  • No petition has already been made to the court to officially appoint a personal representative

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:

  1. Prepare a Small Estate Affidavit (Form 1 in the Guidebook)
  2. Obtain possession of estate assets by presenting the affidavit to current custodians (this affidavit cannot be used to collect real estate)
  3. Settle the estate in the normal way (resolve debts, distribute assets)
  4. If you are transferring a vehicle, contact the Department of Transportation to get the title changed; you will need a DMV Small Estate Affidavit
  5. If everything goes smoothly, no court involvement will ever be required

See ND Cent Code § 3-1201.

Summary Administration

Summary Administration (also known as simplified probate) can be used for somewhat larger estates, or if you simply want court involvement so that enforcement and protection are a bit more formalized.

Requirements

You can use summary administration if the estate is worth less than the sum of:

  1. The value of any homestead exemption, exempt property, and family allowance
  2. Estate administration expenses
  3. Reasonable funeral expenses
  4. Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness

In determining the value of the estate, you should value assets as of the date of death, and subtract any secured debts such as liens or mortgages (but ignore unsecured debt such as credit card debt). 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 settle an estate via summary administration:

  1. Submit to the court an Application for Informal Probate or an Application for Informal Appointment if there is no will (see ND Informal Administration Guidebook)
  2. Upon approval, the court will appoint you as personal representative for the estate, and give you "Letters"
  3. Whenever you are ready after your appointment, use your "Letters" to collect estate assets from current custodians
  4. Within 30 days after appointment, notify all heirs-at-law and people named in the will as to your appointment (Form 5 in the ND Informal Administration Guide)
  5. Within 6 months after appointment, submit an estate inventory to the court (Form 10 in the ND Informal Administration Guide)
  6. After submitting the inventory, disburse the estate assets to the proper recipients in the priority order listed in the requirements
  7. Prepare a Final Accounting
  8. Prepare and send a Closing Statement (see below) to all unpaid creditors and to all distributees, also providing a copy of the final accounting to any distributees whose interests were affected
  9. Submit the Closing Statement to the court
  10. If no proceedings are pending in the court one year after you file the closing statement, your appointment terminates

Closing Statement

A closing statement must state that:

  • To the best of your knowledge, the value of the entire estate did not exceed the items listed under Requirements above (list each requirement)
  • You fully administered the estate by disbursing and distributing it to the persons entitled to it
  • You sent a copy of the closing statement to all unpaid creditors of whom you are aware, and to all distributees, also providing a copy of the final accounting to any distributees whose interests were affected

See ND Cent Code § 3-1204.

Estate Settlement Considerations

Before paying any debts or making any distributions, be sure to account for any Family Entitlements in ND, 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 ND Executor Compensation, 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 ND 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 North Dakota, the local District Court handles wills and estate probate. If you are using EstateExec and you enter the decedent's county of legal residence on the Decedent tab, you will see a direct link to the appropriate District Court here.

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 ND.

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 ND.

Finally, in case you're interested, details about handling small estates in other states can be found here:

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