Delaware Probate Inventory (Form 600 RW): Deadlines and Requirements

The Delaware probate inventory is more than a list of what the decedent owned. In Sussex County, it's also the legal instrument that transfers real property to the heirs. An error on this form — a missing tax parcel number, a wrong property description — can quietly break the chain of title on a piece of real estate, a problem that often doesn't surface until someone tries to sell the property years later.

Here's what Delaware executors need to know about Form 600 RW, the deadline, and the specific risks involved.

The 3-Month Deadline

Under Title 12 of the Delaware Code, the personal representative must file the Inventory within three months of the date Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are granted. That's not three months from the date of death — it's three months from when the Register of Wills formally appoints you as executor or administrator.

The inventory must be notarized before submission.

Extensions: If three months isn't enough time to fully catalog the estate assets, you can apply for an extension of up to six months. Extensions require a formal application and explicit approval from the Chief Deputy Register of Wills. This isn't automatically granted — you'll need to explain why you need more time.

Missing the three-month deadline without an approved extension triggers late-filing penalties. A document filed more than 30 days past its due date incurs a $25 penalty, and the accounting department may reject and return an incorrect inventory, which starts another round of corrections and additional delays.

What Goes on the Inventory

Form 600 RW requires a complete catalog of all estate assets valued at fair market value as of the date of death — not what they're worth today, not what the decedent paid for them. You're documenting what a willing buyer would have paid a willing seller on the exact date the person died.

Assets to include:

• All solely owned personal property (bank accounts, investment accounts, vehicles, jewelry, household goods, collectibles)
• Solely owned real estate in Delaware
• The decedent's share of jointly held assets (note the co-owner's name and the decedent's proportional interest)
• Business interests
• Receivables owed to the decedent

Assets that do NOT go on the inventory:

• Assets held in a trust
• Accounts with designated beneficiaries (life insurance paid directly to beneficiaries, IRAs, payable-on-death accounts)
• Assets held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship (these transfer automatically to the surviving joint tenant)

Getting valuations for non-liquid assets — real estate, business interests, personal property of significant value — often requires professional appraisals. The cost of those appraisals is an allowable estate expense.

The Sussex County Deed Trap

In New Castle and Kent counties, the Inventory is what it sounds like: an accounting document that establishes the estate's value for closing cost purposes.

In Sussex County, it does something more. Local practice treats the Inventory as the legal instrument that passes real estate to the heirs. It functions, effectively, as the deed.

This creates risks that are almost invisible until they surface during a future real estate transaction:

• Missing tax parcel numbers — Sussex County property descriptions require the specific parcel number assigned by the county assessor. If you list the property only by street address or legal description without the parcel number, the Inventory may be legally insufficient to clear title.
• Typographical errors in property descriptions — A transposed number, an abbreviated street name that differs from the recorded deed, or an incorrect acreage figure can render the title defective.
• Omitting real estate entirely — Some executors don't realize that even a low-value property must appear on the Inventory. Omitting it means title was never formally passed through probate.

When an heir tries to sell the property five years later, a title company will search for how title passed from the decedent to the current owner. If the chain is broken — because the Inventory was defective — the sale cannot close without reopening the estate, filing a corrected Inventory, or pursuing a quiet title action. All of those are expensive and time-consuming.

If the estate includes real property in Sussex County, verify every detail against the recorded deed before submitting Form 600 RW.

How the Inventory Connects to Closing Costs

The total value established in the Inventory is the starting point for the Final Accounting. During administration, the executor adds income and gains, subtracts allowable deductions, and arrives at the net personal estate — the number on which the Register calculates the closing fee (1.25% in Sussex, 1.75% in Kent, 2.0% in New Castle).

An inflated inventory — one that fails to claim allowable deductions or incorrectly includes non-probate assets — artificially inflates closing costs. If you accidentally include a beneficiary-designated IRA in the probate inventory, you could pay a closing fee on assets that legally never passed through probate.

The Delaware Probate Process Guide walks through the full Form 600 RW requirements, the Sussex County deed rules, and how to structure the inventory to support an accurate Final Accounting.

Practical Tips for Filing Form 600 RW

Start gathering asset valuations immediately. Three months sounds like a long time when you're grieving; it goes quickly when you're tracking down account statements, waiting for appraisals, and managing everything else that follows a death.

Use the date-of-death values throughout. Document how you arrived at fair market value for each asset — account statements dated at death, appraisal reports, public records. The Register's office may ask for supporting documentation.

Consult the county's specific instructions. The three county offices sometimes have local formatting preferences. Sussex County in particular has specific requirements for how real estate must be described.

Keep a copy. The Inventory becomes the foundation of your Final Accounting twelve months later. You'll reference it repeatedly throughout administration.

If you need to request an extension, do it before the three-month deadline — not after. File the extension application early, explain the circumstances, and get written confirmation of approval before the deadline passes.

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