Cheyenne County District Court Guide

Not a court proceeding and not filed with any court. Where the total assets of the estate of the decedent SUBJECT TO PROBATE do not exceed $75,000 in value, personal property is transferred to a successor on an affidavit given to the bank, employer or other holder of the property, without letters (K.S.A. 59-1507b). Two things are true at once and both matter: real estate subject to probate COUNTS toward the $75,000 measure, and the affidavit CANNOT transfer Kansas real estate. To move a house you need a probate, a determination of descent under K.S.A. 59-2250, a recorded transfer-on-death deed or a surviving-joint-tenant proceeding under K.S.A. 59-2286. The $75,000 figure took effect on July 1, 2023; it was $40,000 before that.

• The decedent must have died a resident of Kansas, with or without a will
• The total assets of the estate subject to probate must not exceed $75,000 in value
• The claimant must be a successor within the meaning of K.S.A. 59-1507b
• Give the affidavit to the holder of the property; it is not filed with the district court, so there is no docket fee
• Use a form in substantial compliance with the Kansas Judicial Council form, which the Council publishes as "Small Estates Affidavit (02-2024)" (K.S.A. 59-1507b(b))

Qualifies:

$75,000

Typical duration:

Days, once the holder accepts the affidavit

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

There is no court filing fee because the affidavit never reaches a court. The Kansas Department of Revenue publishes its own version for vehicle work as form TR-83b, whose printed heading is "SMALL ESTATES AFFIDAVIT, TRANSFERRING CERTAIN PERSONAL PROPERTY IN ESTATES UNDER $75,000 PURSUANT TO K.S.A. 59-1507b", which corroborates the figure from a second official Kansas host. A narrower route at K.S.A. 59-1507a reaches up to $10,000 of certain monthly social security, veterans, retirement or annuity benefits, and only 180 days or more after the death.

K.S.A. 59-3201 through 59-3206 are the Kansas simplified estates act. Under simplified administration the court does not supervise the administration and no notice of the executor or administrator's actions is given except notice of final settlement. In deciding, the court may consider the size of the estate, the degree of kinship of the heirs and devisees, the solvency of the estate, its nature, the wishes of the heirs and devisees, the probable cost of administration and any other pertinent matters. Kansas has no dollar-limited "summary administration": this is a discretionary procedural simplification, not a small-estate ceiling.

• Seek administration under the Kansas simplified estates act in the petition
• The court determines at the hearing whether the estate is simplified or supervised (K.S.A. 59-3202)
• The notice must advise all persons that the court need not supervise administration, that no notice of the executor or administrator's actions will be given except notice of final settlement, and that written objections may cause the court to order supervised administration (K.S.A. 59-2222(b))
• Letters must be designated on their face as issued under the Kansas simplified estates act (K.S.A. 59-3203(c))

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The court decides at the hearing whether the estate is administered as a simplified estate or a supervised estate (K.S.A. 59-3202).

Filing fee:

$109.50

source

Typical duration:

6 to 12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Opened on the same K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) docket fee as a supervised administration. Simplified administration removes court supervision, not the four-month creditor bar of K.S.A. 59-2239 or the nine-month settlement period of K.S.A. 59-1501, so the statutory floor is the same; the saving is in hearings and notices rather than in elapsed months.

The district court admits the will, if any, to probate on a petition, appoints an executor or administrator and issues letters. The personal representative publishes notice to creditors, files an inventory and valuation, gives actual notice to known creditors, pays allowed demands in the K.S.A. 59-1301 order of classification and closes on a petition and notice of final settlement. For a will to pass property the petition must be filed within six months of the death (K.S.A. 59-617).

• File the petition for probate of the will or for administration in the district court of the county of the decedent's residence (K.S.A. 59-2203), within six months of the death if a will is to pass property (K.S.A. 59-617)
• Give notice of the hearing under K.S.A. 59-2222
• Mail the elective-share notice to the surviving spouse within 10 days of qualification (K.S.A. 59-2233)
• Publish notice to creditors within 30 days of filing the petition, once a week for three consecutive weeks (K.S.A. 59-709(a))
• File the inventory and valuation within 30 days of the letters of appointment (K.S.A. 59-1201)
• Give actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors before the nonclaim period expires (K.S.A. 59-709(b))
• Settle the estate within nine months of appointment unless the court extends the period (K.S.A. 59-1501)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is the ordinary Kansas route where the court does not order administration as a simplified estate.

Filing fee:

$109.50

source

Typical duration:

6 to 12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $109.50 figure is the flat statewide docket fee for "Probate of an estate or of a will" under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1); it is identical in all 105 counties and is not value-based. On and after July 1, 2026 the supreme court may add up to $22 per docket fee, so a clerk may quote between $109.50 and $131.50. Publishing the notice to creditors is a separate cost paid to a newspaper. The timeline is DERIVED from the statutory floor (a four-month creditor bar from first publication plus a nine-month settlement period), not from measured Kansas case data.

The district court admits the will, if any, to probate on a petition, appoints an executor or administrator and issues letters. The personal representative publishes notice to creditors, files an inventory and valuation, gives actual notice to known creditors, pays allowed demands in the K.S.A. 59-1301 order of classification, and closes on a petition and notice of final settlement.

• File a petition for probate of the will or for administration in the district court of the county of the decedent's residence (K.S.A. 59-2203), within six months of the death if a will is to pass property (K.S.A. 59-617)
• Give notice of the hearing under K.S.A. 59-2222 and 59-2209
• Mail the elective-share notice to the surviving spouse within 10 days of qualification (K.S.A. 59-2233)
• Publish notice to creditors within 30 days of filing the petition, once a week for three consecutive weeks (K.S.A. 59-709(a))
• File the inventory and valuation within 30 days of the letters of appointment (K.S.A. 59-1201)
• Give actual notice to known or reasonably ascertainable creditors before the nonclaim period expires (K.S.A. 59-709(b))
• Settle the estate within nine months of appointment unless the court extends the period (K.S.A. 59-1501)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The ordinary route where the court does not order simplified administration.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

K.S.A. 59-3201 through 59-3206 are the Kansas simplified estates act. Under simplified administration the court does not supervise the administration and no notice of the executor or administrator's actions is given, except notice of final settlement. In making the determination the court may consider the size of the estate, the degree of kinship of the heirs, devisees and persons seeking appointment, the solvency of the estate, the nature of the estate, the wishes of the heirs and devisees, the probable cost of administration and settlement, and any other pertinent matters.

• Seek administration under the Kansas simplified estates act in the petition
• The court determines at the hearing whether the estate is simplified or supervised (K.S.A. 59-3202)
• The notice must advise all persons that the court need not supervise administration and that no notice of the executor or administrator's actions will be given except notice of final settlement, and that written objections may cause the court to order supervised administration (K.S.A. 59-2222(b))
• Letters must be designated on their face as issued under the Kansas simplified estates act (K.S.A. 59-3203(c))

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The court decides. K.S.A. 59-3202 directs the court, at the hearing on the petition for appointment or for probate of a will where administration is sought under the act, to determine whether the estate is administered as a simplified estate or as a supervised estate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The district court may, in its discretion, refuse to grant letters. Proof of the value and nature of the estate may be offered by or for the surviving spouse or minor children. If the court is satisfied that no estate will be left after the exempt property and statutory allowances, or that the real and personal estate does not exceed the statutory figure where a creditor or heir petitions, it may order that no letters issue, and when further proceedings appear unnecessary it enters an order terminating the administration. This is a DIFFERENT route from the K.S.A. 59-1507b affidavit even though both now carry the same $75,000 number: this one is a court order, it measures real property as well as personal, and one act raised both figures from different starting points in 2023.

• File a petition for refusal of letters in the district court
• Where a surviving spouse or minor children petition, give notice under K.S.A. 59-2222 (K.S.A. 59-2287(c))
• Where an heir, devisee, legatee, creditor or other interested person petitions on the value ground, give bond in a sum of not less than the value of the estate, approved by the court and conditioned on paying the decedent's debts in order of preference and distributing the balance

Qualifies:

$75,000 on the K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(2) ground, measured on the real and personal estate, where the estate is not subject to the K.S.A. 59-403 allowances or they are waived and the petitioner gives bond. On the separate K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(1) ground there is no dollar figure at all: the test is whether the property is worth no more than the exempt property plus the K.S.A. 59-403 allowance.

Filing fee:

$48.50

source

Typical duration:

1 to 3 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $48.50 docket fee is the K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) line for "Refusal to grant letters of administration". K.S.A. 59-2287(a)(2) also provides that no creditor, heir or other person is deemed to have an interest after six months from the date of death as to real estate sold under the section.

The ordinary Kansas route for clearing title to real estate when nobody opened a probate. Any person interested in the estate, or claiming an interest in the property, petitions the district court of the county of the decedent's residence or of any county where property is situated. On proof, the court assigns the property to the persons entitled at the time of death under the law of intestate succession in effect on the date of death, or under a valid settlement agreement (K.S.A. 59-2251).

• Wait until the decedent has been dead more than six months (K.S.A. 59-2250)
• Confirm no will was filed under K.S.A. 59-618a within six months and no probate or administration petition has been filed
• Give notice under K.S.A. 59-2209 where title to real estate is to be assigned, otherwise under K.S.A. 59-2208
• Record the decree with the register of deeds of the county where the real estate lies

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is time plus the absence of any other proceeding: more than six months since the death, no will filed under K.S.A. 59-618a within six months of the death, no petition filed for probate of a will in Kansas, and no petition for administration filed.

Filing fee:

$49.50

source

Typical duration:

1 to 3 months after the six-month wait

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $49.50 docket fee is the K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1) line for "Determination of descent of property". This is the route a Kansas family most often needs when the only asset is a house and the six-month probate window under K.S.A. 59-617 has already closed.

Not a court proceeding. Where the total assets of the estate subject to probate do not exceed $75,000, personal property transferable to the estate is transferred to a successor on an affidavit given to the holder of the property, without letters. The affidavit reaches personal property only and cannot transfer real estate, although real estate subject to probate counts toward the $75,000 measure.

• The decedent must have died a Kansas resident, testate or intestate
• The total assets of the estate subject to probate must not exceed $75,000 in value
• The claimant must be a successor: entitled by will or intestate succession, or nominated as personal representative under the decedent's will
• The affidavit is sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council, published as "Small Estates Affidavit (02-2024)"

Qualifies:

$75,000, measured on the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate (K.S.A. 59-1507b(a)). The figure was $40,000 before July 1, 2023.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one