New Hampshire Probate Forms: Every Form You Need and When to File It

New Hampshire handles probate differently from most states. Every estate case must be filed electronically through the Circuit Court Probate Division's e-filing portal, and certain original documents still have to be mailed to Concord in hard copy. Getting the forms right matters less than getting the sequence right — filing the wrong form first or missing the physical mailing requirement can delay your case by weeks.

Here is every probate form a surviving spouse or administrator typically needs, in the order you will use them.

The Initial Filing: Petition for Estate Administration

The first form you will encounter is Form NHJB-2145-P, the Petition for Estate Administration. This is the master petition that opens the probate case, whether the deceased left a will (testate) or did not (intestate).

You do not download this form as a blank PDF and mail it in. You generate it through the New Hampshire Judicial Branch e-filing portal by creating a self-represented account and following the system's prompts. The portal walks you through entering the decedent's information, listing heirs and beneficiaries, estimating the estate's value, and identifying all real property by county, book, and page number from the Registry of Deeds.

What you must mail separately: Even though the petition itself is electronic, the court requires physical originals of three documents sent to the Estates Electronic Filing Center at 2 Charles Doe Drive, Suite 2, Concord, NH 03301:

• The original Last Will and Testament (if one exists)
• Any original codicils
• An original certified death certificate

Do not send photocopies. The court will not process the electronic petition until these physical originals arrive.

Filing fees depend on the estate's estimated value:

Out-of-state administrators must also file an Appointment of Resident Agent form designating a New Hampshire resident to accept service of process. Estates valued over $25,000 may require a corporate surety bond.

Simplified Pathways: Waiver and Summary Administration

New Hampshire repealed its Small Estate Affidavit in 2005. There is no shortcut form for small estates. Instead, the state offers two streamlined pathways that reduce paperwork — but both still require opening a formal probate case first.

Waiver of Administration (RSA 553:32)

The Waiver is the most common simplification. When the court grants a waiver, you skip the inventory, the bond, and the formal accounting. The estate can be managed privately.

You qualify if the estate is solvent and one of these conditions applies:

• You are the surviving spouse and sole heir (intestate), and you are appointed administrator
• All beneficiaries named in the will consent to your appointment
• A trust is the sole beneficiary and the trustee is appointed
• The court grants it at its discretion

The closing form is NHJB-2144-Pe, the Waiver of Full Administration Statement. You e-file this between six months and one year after your appointment, certifying that all debts and taxes have been paid and all assets distributed. Once approved, the estate closes.

Summary Administration (RSA 553:33)

If the estate does not initially qualify for a waiver — perhaps not all heirs consented at the outset — you can still shorten the process after six months. File Form NHJB-2149-P, the Motion for Summary Administration. All creditors must be paid and all interested parties must now assent. The court closes the estate, releases any bond, and waives the final accounting.

Beyond Probate: Forms Survivors Commonly Need

Probate is only one part of the administrative burden after a death in New Hampshire. Several other agency-specific forms interact with the probate timeline, and surviving spouses often need them simultaneously.

Property Tax Credits (Form PA-29)

New Hampshire relies heavily on local property taxes, and several credits are available to surviving spouses:

• Surviving spouse of active-duty deceased: $700 to $2,000 annually under RSA 72:29-a
• Surviving spouse of a totally disabled veteran: $700 to $4,000 under RSA 72:35
• Standard veterans' tax credit: $51 to $750 under RSA 72:28

File Form PA-29 (Permanent Application for Property Tax Credits/Exemptions) with your local selectmen or assessors. The deadline is April 15 preceding the tax year — miss it and you lose the credit for the entire year.

Trust Property Tax Qualification (Form PA-33)

If the deceased placed the family home in a revocable trust to avoid probate, the surviving spouse may lose their property tax credits unless they file a Statement of Qualification (Form PA-33) with the Department of Revenue Administration and the local assessor. The trust technically removes the property from the individual's name, which can disqualify them from credits meant for homeowners. This catches many families off guard.

Low-Income Property Tax Relief (Form DP-8)

The state offers a separate circuit-breaker program for the State Education Property Tax. Single filers earning $37,000 or less (or $47,000 for married/head of household) can apply using Form DP-8. Unlike the municipal PA-29, this form goes directly to the DRA between May 1 and June 30 of the year following the tax year.

The Filing Sequence That Matters

Knowing the forms is less useful than knowing the order. Here is the typical sequence for a surviving spouse settling an estate in New Hampshire:

1. Obtain 10-15 certified death certificates from your municipal town clerk ($15 first copy, $10 each additional)
2. File the Petition for Estate Administration (NHJB-2145-P) through the e-filing portal
3. Mail original will and death certificate to the Concord processing center
4. Request Waiver of Administration at the time of petition if you qualify
5. File Form PA-29 with your town assessor before the April 15 deadline (if applicable)
6. File Form PA-33 if the home is held in a trust
7. Notify creditors — they have six months from your appointment to file claims under RSA 556:3
8. Close the estate with NHJB-2144-Pe (waiver) or NHJB-2149-P (summary) between six and twelve months after appointment

The forms themselves are free to access through the Judicial Branch website and e-filing portal. The complexity is in the timing — filing the waiver statement too early triggers a rejection, missing the PA-29 deadline costs you a full year of tax credits, and forgetting to mail the physical originals stalls the entire case.

Where to Find Each Form

The New Hampshire Survivor Benefits Navigator walks through each of these forms in chronological order, with the exact filing windows, agency contact information, and the non-obvious interactions between probate deadlines and tax credit applications that trip up most families.

See more New Hampshire guides →