How Long Does Probate Take by State
Typical probate timelines for all 50 states — with the statutory creditor-claim period that sets the floor, the statutory deadlines along the way, and the documented factors that extend it.
| State | Typical duration | Creditor claim period | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Not published | Cal. Prob. Code §9100(a): a creditor must file before expiration of the LATER of four months after the date letters are first issued to a general personal representative, or sixty days after the date notice of administration is mailed or personally delivered to the creditor. §9100(a)(2) adds that nothing in that paragraph extends the time provided by Code of Civil Procedure §366.2, and §9100(c) that nothing in the section extends or tolls any other statute of limitations — so the filing window does not rescue a claim already time-barred. | |
| Texas | Not published | A personal representative must give notice to creditors within one month after receiving letters testamentary or of administration (Tex. Est. Code §308.051(a)). Texas sets no general nonclaim deadline for unsecured creditors: a claim for money is barred at 121 days only where the representative chooses to give the permissive notice under §308.054, which must state that the creditor has until the 121st day after receiving it (§§308.054(b), 403.055). In an independent administration the executor may approve a claim, reject it, or take no action on it (§403.051(a)(3)), and the claim procedures that govern supervised administrations do not apply (§403.058). | — |
| Florida | Not published | Three months after the first publication of notice to creditors (or 30 days after service on a known creditor, whichever is later), under Fla. Stat. §733.702. An absolute 2-year cap applies under Fla. Stat. §733.710. | |
| New York | Not published | New York sets no date on which a creditor's claim is extinguished. Under SCPA §1802, where a claim is not presented within seven months from the date of issue of letters, the fiduciary "shall not be chargeable for any assets or moneys that he may have paid in good faith in satisfaction of any lawful claims or of any legacies or distributions" made before the claim was presented. The seven months runs from the date letters were first issued to any fiduciary, including a temporary administrator or preliminary executor. It protects the fiduciary; it does not bar the claim. | — |
| Pennsylvania | Not published | Pennsylvania sets no date on which a creditor's claim is extinguished — it has no nonclaim bar. Under 20 Pa.C.S. §3532(a), one year from the first complete advertisement of the grant of letters (advertised under §3162) is the point after which the personal representative may distribute without being at risk for a claim not then known, and under §3532(b)(1) a claimant generally has no claim against distributed personal property unless the claim was known to the personal representative within that year, or after it but before the distribution. Under §3532(b.1) the personal representative may demand written notice of a claim within 60 days from the mailing or delivery of the demand or within one year from the first complete advertisement, whichever is later, and a person who does not respond loses the rights that subsection gives. Section 3384 is a different rule: written notice of a claim given to the personal representative or the attorney of record before the claim is barred tolls the statute of limitations. It does not set the one-year period. | — |
| Illinois | Not published | A claim is barred unless it is filed on or before the date stated in the notice to creditors. Under 755 ILCS 5/18-3(a) that date must be not less than 6 months from the date of first publication and not less than 3 months from the date of mailing or delivery to a known or reasonably ascertainable creditor, whichever is later, so the mailed branch runs alongside the published one and the later of the two governs. Under 755 ILCS 5/18-12(b) every claim that could be barred is barred 2 years after the decedent's death whether or not letters of office were issued, and because that subsection applies unless the claim is sooner barred under subsection (a), a claim already barred stays barred. 755 ILCS 5/18-12(c) leaves actions to establish the decedent's liability untouched to the extent the estate is protected by liability insurance. | — |
| Ohio | Not published | Except as §2117.061 provides, all claims must be presented within six months after the death of the decedent, whether or not the estate is released from administration or an executor or administrator is appointed during that six-month period (Ohio Rev. Code §2117.06(B)). A claim not presented within those six months is forever barred as to all parties, including devisees, legatees and distributees; no payment may be made on it and no action maintained on it, except as §§2117.37 to 2117.42 provide for contingent claims (§2117.06(C)). The clock runs from death, so nothing the executor does moves it. A claim is presented by a writing delivered to the executor or administrator or to their identified counsel, by a writing filed with the probate court bearing the estate's case number, or by a writing actually received by the executor or their identified counsel within that period regardless of whom it is addressed to (§2117.06(A)(1)); once a final account or certificate of termination has been filed, presentation is made in a writing to the distributees who may share liability for the claim (§2117.06(A)(2)). | — |
| Georgia | Not published | Three months from the date of publication of the personal representative's LAST notice, not the first: the notice runs once a week for four weeks and must be published within 60 days of qualification (O.C.G.A. §53-7-41(a)-(b)). Missing it is not a bar. Under §53-7-41(d) a creditor who comes in late loses the right to equal participation with creditors of the same priority who were already paid, and cannot hold the personal representative liable for misappropriation, but if assets remain and no higher-priority claims are unpaid those assets are still applied to the debt. | — |
| North Carolina | Not published | Under N.C.G.S. §28A-14-1(a) the day named in the general notice to creditors "must be at least three months from the day of the first publication or posting of the notice." The 90-day figure belongs to a different clock: under N.C.G.S. §28A-19-3(a) a creditor who must be delivered or mailed individual notice under §28A-14-1(b) instead has 90 days after the date of that delivery or mailing, and only where that 90-day period expires later than the day named in the general notice. The inventory is due within three months after qualification under N.C.G.S. §28A-20-1. | — |
| Michigan | Not published | Four months after the date of publication of the notice to creditors, where notice is given in compliance with MCL 700.3801 or 700.7608 (MCL 700.3803(1)(a)). For a creditor known to the personal representative at the time of publication or during the four months after it, the period is the later of those four months or one month after the notice is subsequently sent to that creditor (§700.3803(1)(b)) — so a creditor notified late runs on the one-month leg, which can end after the four months has already closed. Where notice is not given, the claim is barred three years after the decedent's death (§700.3803(1)(c)). A claim already barred at the decedent's domicile before publication in Michigan is barred here too, and §700.3803(3) exempts proceedings to enforce a mortgage, pledge or other lien on estate property and claims to the extent of liability insurance. | — |
| Connecticut | Not published | Creditors have 150 days from the date the first fiduciary is appointed. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. §45a-356(a) that period protects a fiduciary who pays or distributes in good faith after it runs out; it does not extinguish a claim presented later. A fiduciary may also give written notice at any time to a person believed to have a claim, setting a date not less than 90 days from the notice (§45a-357(a)); a creditor so notified who misses that date is forever barred, and a creditor who presents in time may not increase the claim afterwards (§45a-357(b)). A creditor who missed the date through no fault of their own may apply to the Probate Court for an extension within 180 days of the notice (§45a-357(c)). A creditor whose claim is rejected has 120 days from the rejection to bring suit (§45a-363(b)), and the fiduciary files a return and list of claims within 60 days after the 150 days expire (§45a-361). Over all of it sits an outer limit: under §45a-375(c), and except as §45a-375(b) and (d) provide, no claim may be presented and no suit commenced against the fiduciary, the estate, or any creditor or beneficiary of the estate except within two years from the date of the decedent's death, or the date on which the statute of limitations applicable to the claim — including any period set under §45a-357 — would otherwise have expired, whichever first occurs. The two years is therefore a ceiling, and a shorter limitation period on the underlying debt cuts it down further. Presenting a claim before its limitation period expires suspends the running of that period until the claim is rejected under §45a-360 (§45a-375(b)). Where the person against whom a claim exists dies within thirty days before the applicable limitation period would expire, the claimant has thirty days from the appointment of the fiduciary to present it (§45a-375(a)). | — |
| Arkansas | Not published | No Arkansas figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §28-40-111, §28-50-101. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and Arkansas law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as ar-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Indiana | Not published | No Indiana figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §29-1-14-1. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and Indiana law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as in-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Oklahoma | Not published | The personal representative must file notice to creditors within two months of issuance of letters, and the claim presentment date must be at least two months after that notice is filed, under 58 O.S. §331. | — |
| Oregon | Not published | A claim is barred from payment unless it is presented within the statute of limitations applicable to the claim AND before the later of four months after the date of publication of notice to interested persons, or, where the personal representative was required to deliver or mail a notice under ORS 115.003(2), 45 days after that notice is delivered or mailed to the claimant's last-known address (ORS 115.005(2)). The limitation period is a separate gate: satisfying the four months does not help a claim already time-barred. ORS 115.005(3) provides a relief route — a claim presented after those periods is still paid from the estate where it is presented before the applicable statute of limitations expires and before the personal representative files the final account, by a person who did not receive a §115.003 notice. | — |
| New Jersey | Not published | No New Jersey figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §3B:22-4. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and New Jersey law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as nj-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Washington | Not published | Where the personal representative gave notice under RCW 11.40.020 and the creditor was given actual notice, the claim must be presented within the later of thirty days after service or mailing of the notice to that creditor and four months after the date of first publication (RCW 11.40.051(1)(a)). Where notice was given but the creditor was not given actual notice, the period depends on whether the creditor was reasonably ascertainable as defined in RCW 11.40.040: a creditor who was not reasonably ascertainable has four months after first publication, while a creditor who WAS reasonably ascertainable has twenty-four months after the decedent's date of death (§11.40.051(1)(b)). | — |
| Arizona | Not published | Four months after the first publication of notice to creditors (or 60 days after mailed notice to a known creditor, whichever is later), under A.R.S. §14-3801 and §14-3803. | |
| Colorado | Not published | Four months after the first publication of notice to creditors under C.R.S. §15-12-801, but not always a full four months: §15-12-801(1) requires the published notice to name a date no earlier than four months from first publication or one year from the date of death, whichever occurs first, so where death preceded publication by more than eight months the bar falls earlier. A creditor given written notice has the later of that published date or 60 days after the notice was mailed or delivered, and in no case later than one year from the date of death (§15-12-801(2)). Claims arising before death are barred one year after the date of death under C.R.S. §15-12-803(1)(a)(III). | — |
| Massachusetts | Not published | A personal representative is not held to answer an action by a creditor of the deceased unless the action is COMMENCED within one year after the date of death and, before that year expires, one of three things has happened: the process has been served by delivery in hand on the personal representative, service has been accepted by them, or a notice stating the name of the estate, the creditor's name and address, the amount of the claim and the court in which the action was brought has been filed with the register (M.G.L. c. 190B, §3-803(a)). Massachusetts runs no notice to creditors — §3-801, the section the Uniform Probate Code uses for that, reads "Reserved" — so nothing the personal representative does moves the date. A trustee of a trust whose assets are reachable by the decedent's creditors is held to the same period and manner (§3-803(b)), and a claim barred by the statute of the decedent's domicile before the Massachusetts limitation runs is barred here too (§3-803(c)). | — |
| Maryland | Not published | A claim is forever barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and legatees unless presented within the EARLIER of six months after the date of the decedent's death, or two months after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers the creditor a notice in the form required by Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §7-103 (§8-103(a)). The mailed notice shortens the period rather than extending it: the six-month death clock is the outer limit either way. Particular claims run separately — a claim based on the conduct of or a contract with the personal representative is barred unless an action is commenced within six months after the claim arose (§8-103(c)), and a Maryland Department of Health Medical Assistance recovery claim runs from publication of notice of the first appointment rather than from death (§8-103(f)). Nothing in the section affects enforcement of a mortgage, pledge, judgment or other lien or security interest on estate property (§8-103(d)), or an action for injury or property damage against a decedent who had been duly served with process before death (§8-103(e)). | — |
| Minnesota | Not published | The bar is in Minn. Stat. §524.3-803(a), not §524.3-801, which is the notice section. A creditor entitled only to notice by publication has four months after the date of the court administrator's notice as subsequently published (§524.3-803(a)(1)). A creditor served under §524.3-801(c) has the later to expire of four months after first publication or one month after the service (§524.3-803(a)(2)). And every claim is barred within one year after the decedent's death, "whether or not notice to creditors has been published or served" (§524.3-803(a)(3)) — a ceiling, not an extension, except that claims authorized by §§246.53, 256B.15 and 256D.16 are not barred at one year. | — |
| Missouri | Not published | Six months after the date of the first published notice of letters testamentary or of administration, or, where notice was actually mailed to or served upon the creditor, two months after the date that notice was mailed or served, "whichever later occurs" (Mo. Rev. Stat. §473.360(1)). Claims not filed in the probate division within that period, and claims not paid by the personal representative within six months after the first published notice, are forever barred against the estate, the personal representative and the heirs, devisees and legatees. | — |
| Alabama | Not published | No Alabama figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §43-2-350. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and Alabama law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as al-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Alaska | Not published | Claims are barred unless presented within four months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, where notice is given in compliance with AS 13.16.450 (AS 13.16.460(a)(1)). Where notice to creditors has NOT been published, claims are barred three years after the decedent's death (§13.16.460(a)(2)) — the three years turns on whether notice was published, not on whether a particular creditor was notified. AS 13.16.460(a) sets no separate period for a creditor given written notice by mail or delivery. A claim barred by the nonclaim statute at the decedent's domicile before the first publication here is barred in Alaska too, and §13.16.460(c) leaves untouched, to the limits of the insurance only, a proceeding to establish liability for which there is liability-insurance protection. | — |
| Delaware | Not published | Claims arising before death are barred unless presented within 8 months of the date of death, under 12 Del. C. § 2102 — one of the longer nonclaim periods in the country. | — |
| Hawaii | Not published | A claim is barred unless presented within the earlier of two periods (HRS §560:3-803(a)). The first is four months after the date of first publication of the notice to creditors under §560:3-801(a), or 60 days after service of written notice under §560:3-801(b), whichever of those two expires later. The second is 18 months after the decedent's death, which applies where notice has neither been published nor served — because the statute bars a claim unless it is presented within the earlier of the two paragraphs, the 18 months operates as a ceiling rather than an extension. A claim barred by the nonclaim statute of the decedent's domicile before notice is given in Hawaii is barred in Hawaii too (§560:3-803(b)), and §560:3-803(d) leaves untouched, to the limits of the insurance only, a proceeding to establish liability covered by liability insurance. A disallowed claim is barred unless the claimant petitions or sues within 60 days of the notice of disallowance (§560:3-806). | — |
| Idaho | Not published | Four months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, which the personal representative "may publish" rather than must, under Idaho Code §15-3-801(a). A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has the later of that four months or 60 days after the mailing or delivery (§15-3-801(b)). Claims arising before death are barred at the earlier of three years after the decedent's death or the applicable §15-3-801 period (Idaho Code §15-3-803(a)). | — |
| Iowa | Not published | Claims are barred unless filed within the later of four months after the second publication of the notice to creditors or one month after mailed notice to a known creditor, under Iowa Code §633.410. | — |
| Kansas | Not published | A demand is forever barred unless presented within the later of four months from the date of first publication of the notice under K.S.A. §59-2236, or, for a creditor whose identity is known or reasonably ascertainable, 30 days after actual notice was given (K.S.A. §59-2239(1)). The same subsection adds a separate rule that is not a claim period: no creditor has any claim against or lien upon the decedent's property, other than liens existing at the date of death, unless a petition for probate of the will or for administration is filed within six months after the death. | — |
| Kentucky | Not published | Six months after the personal representative is appointed under KRS 396.011 (restored to the pre-2020 rule by 2021 legislation). If no personal representative is appointed, creditors have two years from the date of death. | — |
| Louisiana | Not published | Louisiana sets no nonclaim period. A creditor of a succession under administration submits a written claim to the succession representative for acknowledgment and payment in due course of administration (La. C.C.P. art. 3241). The representative acknowledges or rejects the claim in writing within thirty days, and failure to act operates as a rejection (art. 3242). Acknowledgment creates a prima facie presumption of the claim's validity, entitles the creditor to be included in the petition to pay debts or the tableau of distribution, and suspends prescription for as long as the succession is under administration (art. 3243). A universal successor's liability for estate debts is limited to the value of the property received (La. Civ. Code art. 1416). | |
| Maine | Not published | Four months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, which the personal representative must publish on appointment, once a week for 2 successive weeks (18-C M.R.S. §3-801(1)). A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has the later of that four months or 60 days after the mailing or delivery (§3-801(2)). Claims arising before death are barred at the earlier of nine months after the decedent's death or the applicable §3-801 period (§3-803(1)) — the nine months is a cap that applies whether or not notice was published, not only a fallback where it was not. | — |
| Mississippi | Not published | No Mississippi figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §91-7-145, §91-7-151. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and Mississippi law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as ms-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Montana | Not published | Four months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, which the personal representative must publish on appointment, once a week for 3 successive weeks (MCA §72-3-801(1)). A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has the later of that four months or 30 days from the mailing or delivery (§72-3-801(2)). Claims arising before death are barred at the earlier of one year after the decedent's death or the applicable §72-3-801 period (MCA §72-3-803(1)). | — |
| Nebraska | Not published | Two months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, where notice is given in compliance with Neb. Rev. Stat. §§25-520.01 and 30-2483 (§30-2485(a)(1)). The clerk of the court publishes that notice once a week for three successive weeks, with first publication within thirty days after the appointment (§30-2483(a)). Where notice was not given in compliance with those sections, claims arising before death are barred three years after the decedent's death (§30-2485(a)(2)). A creditor who did not present a claim within the two months, including one who received no notice, may apply to the court within sixty days after that period expires, and the court may allow further time not to exceed thirty days for good cause shown (§30-2485(a)(1)). | — |
| Nevada | Not published | Ninety days after the first publication of the notice to creditors under NRS §155.020, or ninety days after the mailing for those required to be mailed (NRS §147.040(1)). A creditor who receives the notice by mail under §155.020(5) must file within 30 days after that mailing or 90 days after first publication, whichever is later (§147.040(2)). §147.040(4) reduces the 90 days to 60 where summary administration is granted under chapter 145. Under §147.040(3) a claimant who shows they had neither notice under §155.020 nor actual notice of the administration may file at any time before the final account is filed. | — |
| New Hampshire | Not published | A creditor's demand must be exhibited to the administrator within six months after the ORIGINAL GRANT OF ADMINISTRATION, exclusive of any time the administration was suspended (RSA §556:3); a notice sent to the administrator or their agent by registered mail setting out the nature and amount of the claim and a demand for payment is a sufficient exhibition (RSA §556:2). New Hampshire also sets a floor: no action may be sustained against an administrator if it is begun within six months after that grant, nor unless the demand has been exhibited and payment demanded (RSA §556:1). Suit must then be begun within one year after the original grant, again exclusive of suspension, except where the administrator has retained estate in hand for payment of the claim by order of the judge and in the cases RSA §556:7 and RSA §556:28 provide for (RSA §556:5). No exhibition is required where the estate has been represented insolvent within those six months (RSA §556:4). | — |
| New Mexico | Not published | No New Mexico figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §45-3-801, §45-3-803. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and New Mexico law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as nm-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| North Dakota | Not published | Three months after the date of the first publication and mailing of the notice to creditors, under N.D.C.C. §30.1-19-03(1)(a). Publication is optional in North Dakota; where notice to creditors has not been published and mailed, claims are barred three years after the decedent's death (§30.1-19-03(1)(b)). Claims barred by the nonclaim statute of the decedent's domicile before the first publication for claims in this state are also barred here. | — |
| Rhode Island | Not published | R.I. Gen. Laws §33-11-5(a): claims "shall be presented within six (6) months from the first publication or be forever barred", subject to the extension in §33-11-5(b). That subsection is a relief route: a creditor who by reason of accident, mistake, excusable neglect or lack of adequate notice of the estate failed to present a claim within the six months may, before distribution, petition the probate court for leave to present it out of time. | — |
| South Carolina | Not published | Eight months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, which the personal representative must publish on appointment (S.C. Code §62-3-801(a)). A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has one year from the decedent's death or 60 days from the mailing or delivery, whichever is earlier (§62-3-801(b)). South Carolina departs from the Uniform Probate Code wording here: 2013 Act No. 100 replaced "whichever is later" with "whichever is earlier" in subsection (b), so written notice can shorten a noticed creditor's period rather than extend it. Claims arising before death are barred at the earlier of one year after death or the applicable §62-3-801 period (§62-3-803(a)). Notice to creditors is not required at all if no personal representative is appointed during the one year following the death (§62-3-801(d)). | — |
| South Dakota | Not published | No South Dakota figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §29A-3-801, §29A-3-803. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and South Dakota law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as sd-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Tennessee | Not published | No Tennessee figure is stated in this field. The governing provision is §30-2-306, §30-2-307. The figure previously stated here was never verified against a statute or an independent publisher: its only source was a commercial reproduction of the code, and Tennessee law cannot be read at a primary source from the environment this page was checked in. It is recorded in data/withdrawn-figures.json as tn-creditor-claim-period, so it cannot return to any page without failing the build. | — |
| Utah | Not published | Three months after the date of the first publication of the notice to creditors, which the personal representative "may publish" rather than must, under Utah Code §75-3-801(1)(a). A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has the later of 90 days from the published notice or 60 days from the mailing or delivery (§75-3-801(2)). Claims arising before death are barred at the earlier of one year after the decedent's death or the applicable §75-3-801 period (Utah Code §75-3-803). | — |
| Vermont | Not published | Claims that arose before death are barred unless presented within four months after the first publication of the notice to creditors given under the Rules of Probate Procedure, or within one year after the decedent's death where notice has not been published or otherwise given, under 14 V.S.A. §1203(a). Claims barred by the nonclaim statute of the decedent's domicile before the first publication for claims in this State are also barred here. Claims for possession of or title to real estate, and claims for injury to the person or damage to property caused by the decedent, sit outside that bar; claims the State files on behalf of Vermont Medicaid run on the same four months regardless of the date of death or when the estate was opened (§1203(d)). 14 V.S.A. §1201 lets the Probate Division excuse notice to creditors in limited cases. | — |
| Virginia | Not published | Virginia has no general non-claim statute — unlike most states, no single deadline bars all creditor claims. Under Va. Code §8.01-229(B)(2)(a) a claim may be filed before the applicable limitation period expires or within one year after the personal representative qualifies, whichever occurs later. The one-year figure is a floor that can extend a short limitation period, not a ceiling, and it runs from qualification rather than from the date of death. Each debt runs on its own limitation period: five years on a written contract signed by the person who owed it, three years on an unwritten one (Va. Code §8.01-246), and ten years on a judgment entered on or after July 1, 2021 (twenty years for judgments dated before that, Va. Code §8.01-251). Death does not shorten those periods. What closes the estate is a procedure rather than a date: the commissioner of accounts holds a hearing to receive proof of debts and demands, advertised at least ten days beforehand (Va. Code §64.2-550), and once that report is filed and six months have passed since qualification, the court may order creditors to show cause against distribution (Va. Code §64.2-556(A)). A legatee or distributee who is paid may still be sued for five years afterwards to refund a share of any claim that was allowed, or that was never presented (Va. Code §64.2-556(B)). | — |
| West Virginia | Not published | Claims against the estate must be filed within sixty days of the date of first publication of the notice of administration (W. Va. Code §44-1-14a(a)(7)). The notice is published by the clerk of the county commission, not by the personal representative, once a week for two successive weeks, within thirty days of the filing of the appraisement or within one hundred twenty days of the personal representative's qualification where no appraisement is filed (§44-1-14a(a)). Claims may also be filed with or presented to the fiduciary commissioner at any time following qualification, before the notice is published at all (§44-2-7). Where the appraisement shows $200,000 or less exclusive of real estate specifically devised and nonprobate assets, or there is a single competent beneficiary, settlement proceeds without reference to a fiduciary commissioner unless within sixty days of first publication a party in interest requests a reference or an unpaid creditor files a claim (§44-1-14a(a)(10)). | — |
| Wisconsin | Not published | The court, or the probate registrar in informal administration, sets the claim deadline by order when the application for administration is filed; that date must be not less than 3 nor more than 4 months from the date of the order (Wis. Stat. §859.01). A claim not filed on or before that date is barred (§859.02(1)), except for the classes §859.02(2)(a) lists — among them claims based on tort, on Wisconsin income, franchise, sales, withholding, gift or death taxes, or on unemployment insurance contributions or overpaid benefits; claims for funeral or administrative expenses; and claims of the United States. | — |
| Wyoming | Not published | Claims must be filed with the clerk of court within three months after the date of the first publication of the notice of probate, under Wyo. Stat. §§2-7-201 and 2-7-703(a). A creditor whose identity is reasonably ascertainable must also be mailed a copy of that notice, and that creditor's own deadline is the later of the three months or 30 days after the mailing (§§2-7-205(a)(ii), 2-7-703(a)). | — |
A date means every citation in that row has been checked against the statute. A dash means it has not been checked yet.
All 50 states are listed above. The statutory creditor-claim period sets the floor on how quickly an estate can close. Note that the clock does not start on the same event in every state: depending on the statute it runs from the date of death, from the date letters are issued, or from first publication of notice.
Want to understand probate first?
If you’re new to probate, start with our main explainer — it walks through the process step by step before you look at state-specific timelines:
- Executor Deadlines by State — the creditor-claim period that sets each state’s timeline floor, quoted from the statute.
- What Is Probate and How Does It Work?
- How Much Does Probate Cost by State (companion guide)
- What to Do When Someone Dies — the practical checklist for the first days and weeks
Educational information only — not legal advice. Always confirm current statutes and figures with a licensed attorney in your state.