Utah Probate Creditor Claims: Deadlines, Notices, and What Gets Paid First

One of the most misunderstood parts of being a personal representative in Utah is handling creditor claims. Get it right and you protect the heirs. Get it wrong and you can become personally liable for debts you paid out of order — or for money you distributed to beneficiaries before a valid claim was settled.

Here's how creditor claims actually work in Utah probate, step by step.

The Two Types of Creditors in Utah Probate

Utah law treats creditors differently depending on whether the personal representative knows about them.

Unknown creditors are those the estate has no reason to know about — medical providers not yet billed, old credit accounts, unlisted debts. To handle these, Utah Code 75-3-801 authorizes the personal representative to publish a notice to creditors in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the decedent resided. This notice must run once a week for three consecutive weeks. From the date of first publication, unknown creditors have exactly three months to file a formal claim with the estate. After that window closes, their claims are barred forever — even if the debt was legitimate.

Known creditors — those whose identity and debt are reasonably known to the representative — must receive actual written notice by mail or direct delivery. A known creditor gets 60 days from the date that notice was mailed, or 90 days from the date of the first newspaper publication, whichever is later, to file their claim. Simply publishing in the newspaper is not enough for creditors you already know about.

What Happens If You Don't Publish

If the personal representative never publishes notice to creditors and never mails written notice, Utah Code 75-3-803 provides a backstop: all claims are absolutely barred one year after the date of the decedent's death. The one-year bar applies regardless of whether the debt was legitimate.

That sounds like a shortcut, but it's not a strategy. Failing to publish means the estate stays open and exposed for a full year, during which you can't safely distribute anything to heirs. Publishing notice costs $100–$200 for three weeks of newspaper publication and starts the 90-day clock immediately, letting you close the estate four to five months after appointment rather than waiting a full year.

How Creditors File Claims

A creditor files a claim against the estate by submitting a written statement to the personal representative that identifies the creditor, states the amount owed, and describes the basis for the claim. Claims are typically mailed or delivered to the personal representative's address — they are not filed with the court in an informal probate unless the creditor is pursuing formal litigation.

When you receive a claim, you have two options: allow it or disallow it. If you allow it, you pay it according to the priority rules (see below). If you disallow it, the creditor must file a petition with the district court within 60 days or the claim is forever barred.

The Priority of Payment Order

Not all debts are equal. Utah law establishes a strict hierarchy for paying estate claims. If the estate doesn't have enough money to pay everyone, higher-priority creditors get paid in full before lower-priority creditors receive anything. The order is:

1. Costs of estate administration — court fees, attorney fees, appraiser costs, the personal representative's compensation
2. Reasonable funeral and burial expenses (not prepaid arrangements, which are typically pre-funded separately)
3. Debts and taxes with priority under federal law — federal income taxes, for example
4. Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses from the decedent's last illness — including Medicaid recovery claims from the Office of Recovery Services (ORS)
5. State taxes — Utah income taxes, etc.
6. All other claims

This hierarchy matters enormously when the estate is insolvent or near-insolvent. Credit card debt, for example, sits at the bottom of the priority list. If the estate runs out of money after paying administration costs, funeral expenses, and medical bills, unsecured creditors get nothing — and heirs can't be compelled to pay from their own pockets.

Medicaid Claims: A Special Category

If the decedent received Medicaid at any point after age 55, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Recovery Services (ORS) may file a claim under Utah Code 26-19-13.5. ORS claims for medical assistance paid fall within the "medical expenses of last illness" priority category, which ranks ahead of ordinary unsecured debt.

ORS may also have placed a TEFRA lien on the decedent's real property during their lifetime if they resided in a nursing facility. If a lien is recorded, it must be resolved before any real estate can be sold or transferred — you cannot simply distribute the home to heirs and expect ORS to go away.

Exceptions apply: ORS is prohibited from pursuing recovery if the decedent left a surviving spouse, a child under 21, or a child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled. Always contact ORS directly and in writing before distributing any estate assets involving real property or significant personal property.

What Personal Representatives Get Wrong

The most common creditor-related mistakes in Utah probate:

• Distributing assets to heirs before the creditor window closes. You must wait at least 90 days after first publication (and ensure known creditors have received proper notice) before distributing anything — otherwise you're personally on the hook.
• Forgetting the known-creditor rule. Publishing in a newspaper protects you against unknown creditors. It doesn't protect you against a medical provider or bank that you already knew about. Mail written notice to every known creditor.
• Ignoring ORS. Medicaid recovery claims don't show up in the newspaper. If there's any chance the decedent received Medicaid after 55, contact ORS proactively.
• Paying debts out of priority order. If you pay a credit card company before outstanding medical bills and the estate turns out to be insolvent, you may have violated your fiduciary duty.

The Bottom Line

Utah's creditor notice system is designed to help personal representatives close estates cleanly and quickly — but only if you follow the process. Publish notice, mail known creditors, wait for the window to close, and pay in the right order.

The Utah Probate Process Guide includes a creditor notice checklist and a priority-of-payment worksheet so you can track every claim against the estate without missing a deadline.

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