Greeley County Court Guide

Not a court proceeding and not filed with the Greeley County Court. Thirty days after the death a successor presents a sworn affidavit to whoever holds the property, and that person must pay or deliver it. The route is open where the value of ALL of the decedent's PERSONAL property, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 and no personal representative has been appointed or applied for. REAL ESTATE IS NOT COVERED BY THIS AFFIDAVIT and does not count toward its measure: Nebraska gives real property its own parallel affidavit, with its own separate $100,000 cap and its own valuation basis, under Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. 30-24,129. The two figures are concurrent tests on different classes of property, not one limit that moved.

• Thirty days have passed since the death
• A certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate is attached to the affidavit
• The value of the entire personal estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, is $100,000 or less
• No personal representative has been appointed and no application or petition for one is pending
• The affiant is entitled to payment or delivery of the property

Qualifies:

$100,000

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

No court filing fee, because nothing is filed with a court. To retitle a vehicle, motorboat, all-terrain vehicle, utility-type vehicle or minibike the affidavit is furnished to the Department of Motor Vehicles through the county treasurer, and the ordinary title fee applies.

Filed with the REGISTER OF DEEDS of the county where the land lies, not with the county court. It is open where the decedent's interest in all Nebraska real property does not exceed $100,000, and the value is taken FROM THE ASSESSMENT ROLLS FOR THE YEAR IN WHICH THE DECEDENT DIED, less real estate taxes and interest due at death, rather than from market value. Every claiming successor must sign, and the affidavit and the certified death certificate must be recorded again in every other Nebraska county where the decedent owned real property.

• Thirty days have passed since the death
• The decedent's interest in all Nebraska real property, valued from the assessment rolls for the year of death less real estate taxes and interest due at death, does not exceed $100,000
• No personal representative has been appointed or applied for in Nebraska
• Every claiming successor signs the affidavit
• The affidavit and a certified or authenticated death certificate are recorded with the register of deeds in each county where the real property lies

Qualifies:

$100,000

Filing fee:

$10

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $10 is the register of deeds recording fee for the first page under Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. 33-109, plus $6 for each additional page. There is no court filing fee because nothing is filed with a court, and the fee is paid again in every other county where the decedent owned land.

Nebraska's third simplified route carries NO dollar threshold, which is why a bare figure cannot answer whether it applies. If it appears from the inventory and appraisal that the whole estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the allowances and costs listed in Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. 30-24,127, the personal representative may distribute the estate without notice to creditors and close it with a closing statement. It needs an appointed personal representative and an inventory, so it is a shortcut inside a probate rather than a way to avoid one.

• A personal representative already appointed by the county court
• An inventory and appraisal showing the estate is within the allowances and costs the statute lists
• Disbursement and distribution of the estate to the persons entitled to it
• A closing statement filed with the county court

Qualifies:

No dollar figure exists. The estate, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness.

Filing fee:

$44

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. 30-2446(1)(f) also excuses bond where the petition alleges that the probable value of the whole estate will permit summary procedures.

The judge-supervised route in the Greeley County Court, used where the will or the appointment is contested, where heirs must be determined, where an informal application was denied, or where any interested person asks the court to decide the matter. The filing fee is not flat: Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. 33-125(1)(b) sets twenty brackets on the gross value of the estate, and Sec. 33-125(2) measures that as real and personal property in Nebraska at the time of death, less liens and joint tenancy property.

• A petition for formal probate or formal appointment, filed with the clerk of the county court
• Notice to interested persons and a hearing before the county judge
• A certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate
• The original will, if there is one

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is whether the matter needs a judge, not the size of the estate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The formal probate fee is graduated on estate value, so there is no single filing fee.

Nebraska is a Uniform Probate Code state and most estates here are opened INFORMALLY. An application goes to the clerk of the Greeley County Court, the registrar makes the statutory findings without a hearing, and a personal representative is appointed and administers the estate without ongoing court supervision. The county court has exclusive original jurisdiction of all matters relating to decedents' estates under Neb. Rev. Stat. Sec. 24-517(1), subject only to the transfer provisions that section cross-references, and venue is the county of the decedent's domicile at death under Sec. 30-2410.

• An application for informal probate or informal appointment, filed with the clerk of the county court
• A certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate
• The original will, if there is one
• The names and addresses of the heirs and devisees
• Publication of the notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks after appointment

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is Nebraska's ordinary unsupervised route, used where nothing is contested and the registrar can make the findings on the application.

Filing fee:

$44

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The $44.00 is the amount collected at filing, not the $22.00 the statute names. Informal fees are capped so they never exceed what a formal proceeding on the same estate would cost.