Essex Probate Division Guide

Vermont DOES have a small-estate affidavit, and it is a court-rule procedure rather than a statute. In place of the petition required by V.R.P.P. 80.3(a)(1), an interested person may pay the small-estate entry fee and file an affidavit with a death certificate and the will. The rule applies 'when an estate consists solely of one or more assets that may pass in accordance with the terms of the will, if any, or the law of descent and survivor's rights', and the affidavit must attest to the matters in paragraphs (a)(5) and (6) and to notice to, or consent of, the other interested persons. THE RULE STATES NO DOLLAR THRESHOLD OF ITS OWN: do not import the $45,000.00 small-estate ceiling into it.

• The estate consists solely of assets that may pass under the will or the law of descent and survivor's rights
• Pay the entry fee for a small estate
• File the affidavit with a death certificate and the will, attesting to the matters in V.R.P.P. 80.3(a)(5) and (6)
• Give notice to, or obtain the consent of, the other interested persons

Qualifies:

No dollar limit in the rule; qualifies by the character of the assets

Filing fee:

$50

source

Typical duration:

1-4 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

TWO THINGS RECORDED AND DELIBERATELY NOT RECONCILED. (1) 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) prices 'Affidavit procedure for small estates pursuant to Rule 80.3(h)' at $50.00 while the current rule text places the affidavit procedure at paragraph (g). Cite (h) when quoting the fee statute and (g) when describing the procedure. (2) The rule itself says only 'upon paying the entry fee for a small estate' and names no amount, while the statute and the Judiciary's fee page both publish $50.00. $50.00 is the amount to quote, but a small estate's ORDINARY entry fee is $110.00 above $10,000.00, so for a larger affidavit estate confirm the figure with the Probate Division rather than presenting $50.00 as certain. The amendment was promulgated as an EMERGENCY amendment on 2025-10-06 effective 2026-01-01 and was sent out for comment at the same time, so it may still be revised. Sources published before 2026 cite paragraphs (a)(4) and (5) for the same requirement; that is a stale cross-reference, not a second rule.

Vermont's ordinary route. An interested person files a petition to open the decedent's estate with the Essex Probate Division, together with the original will if there is one and a certified death certificate. A will is not effective until the Probate Division allows it (14 V.S.A. § 101). The court appoints an executor or administrator and issues letters, the fiduciary files an inventory at date-of-death fair market value (14 V.S.A. § 1051), gives notice to creditors under the Rules of Probate Procedure, pays allowed claims, files accounts, and closes on a final decree of distribution. Vermont uses the terms EXECUTOR and ADMINISTRATOR; it is not a Uniform Probate Code state and 'personal representative' is not the statutory term.

• File the will with the Probate Division; a custodian must deliver it within 30 days of learning of the death (14 V.S.A. § 103)
• File a petition to open the decedent's estate with a certified death certificate and the ordinary § 1434(a) filing fee for the estate's value band
• File a list of interested persons
• Give bond unless the court orders otherwise (14 V.S.A. § 906)
• File an inventory at date-of-death fair market value (14 V.S.A. § 1051)
• Publish and give notice to creditors, then file accounts and close on a final decree of distribution

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The default route for any estate that is not a small estate under 14 V.S.A. § 1901.

Typical duration:

12-24 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The filing fee is banded by estate value, so no single amount is stored on this procedure; see the fees block.

The court allows the will and issues letters, the executor or administrator files an inventory within 60 days of appointment, gives notice to creditors under the Rules of Probate Procedure, accounts within one year and annually after that, pays claims, and closes on a decree of distribution.

• Petition to open the decedent's estate, with an original death certificate and the will if there is one
• Bond under 14 V.S.A. § 906, filed before the court issues letters
• Inventory within 60 days of appointment (14 V.S.A. § 1051)
• Notice to creditors as required by the Rules of Probate Procedure (14 V.S.A. §§ 1201, 1203)
• Account within one year of letters and annually until the estate is wholly settled (14 V.S.A. § 1055)

Qualifies:

No threshold. This is the default route for any estate that does not qualify for a small estate under 14 V.S.A. chapter 81 or for waiver of administration under chapter 80.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

A small estate is a REAL probate proceeding opened by petition, not an out-of-court affidavit. It is available when the estate's fair market value is not more than $45,000.00 AND the estate consists entirely of personal property, the one exception being a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a). The petition carries a list of interested persons, an original death certificate, an inventory, an affidavit of funeral expenses and debts, a bond without surety unless the judge orders otherwise, and the will if there is one. If the estate turns out to have exceeded $45,000.00, the fiduciary must petition to convert it to a full administration (§ 1901(c)). REAL PROPERTY DISQUALIFIES IT: an estate holding a house cannot use this route.

• Fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 at the date of death
• The estate consists entirely of personal property (a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only real-property-like asset allowed)
• File the petition to open a small estate (700-00001SM) with the ordinary § 1434(a) filing fee
• File the will, an original death certificate, a list of interested persons, an inventory and an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and debts
• Give a small-estate administration bond, which is without surety unless the judge orders otherwise

Qualifies:

$45,000 or less, personal property only

Typical duration:

6-12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

No discounted fee. 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a)(3) requires 'the filing fee', which is the ordinary § 1434(a) band amount: $50.00 at or under $10,000.00 and $110.00 above it. Because the $45,000.00 ceiling sits inside the second band, a small estate never pays more than $110.00 to open.

In lieu of filing the petition required by V.R.P.P. 80.3(a)(1), an interested person may pay the small-estate entry fee and file an affidavit accompanied by a death certificate and the will, attesting to the matters set out in Rule 80.3(a)(5) and (6) and that notice has been given to, or consent obtained from, any other interested persons. If the court is satisfied with the facts attested to, it may order the asset or assets distributed under the will or the laws of descent and survivor's rights.

Filing fee:

$50

source

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Vermont's other shortcut, and it is NOT value-based. The estate is still opened, but on a motion for waiver of administration the court waives the inventory, waives or discharges the bond and dispenses with further filings except a final affidavit of administration. 14 V.S.A. § 1852 requires that the moving party be the sole beneficiary under the will or the sole heir if there is no will, that the same person be the sole fiduciary, and THAT THE DECEDENT OWNED NO REAL PROPERTY IN VERMONT. It applies to every estate other than a small estate (§ 1851), so the two routes are mutually exclusive by their own terms.

• The moving party is the sole beneficiary under the will, or the sole heir if the decedent died intestate
• The same person is the sole executor or administrator
• The decedent owned no real property in Vermont
• File the Motion to Waive Administration and close with an affidavit of administration

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold; sole beneficiary or sole heir, sole fiduciary, and no Vermont real property

Typical duration:

4-12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

No separate filing fee. The estate still opens on the ordinary § 1434(a) band fee, and § 1434(a) has no line item for this route.

Vermont has NO transfer-on-death deed. It has the Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act, 27 V.S.A. chapter 6 - a Lady Bird deed. A validly executed and recorded ELE deed does not affect the grantor's ownership rights or creditors, transfers no present interest to the grantee, and does not expose the property to the grantee's creditors. The grantor may convey the property during life without the grantee's joinder or consent. If not conveyed during the grantor's life, the interest vests in the grantee at death subject to encumbrances of record.

• Executed and recorded during the grantor's life in the land records of the town where the land lies
• An optional statutory form is provided at 27 V.S.A. § 660

Qualifies:

Not applicable. A recorded enhanced life estate deed passes the described real property outside probate at the grantor's death.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one