Utah Uniform Probate Code: What Families Need to Know About the State's Estate Laws

If you've ever searched for Utah estate planning or probate rules, you've seen references to "Title 75" and the "Uniform Probate Code" scattered across every legal resource. But what is it, what does it actually control, and — most importantly — how has Utah's major recodification changed where you find the rules you need?

What the Uniform Probate Code Is

The Uniform Probate Code (UPC) is a model law created by the Uniform Law Commission to standardize how states handle wills, trusts, estate administration, and guardianship. Utah adopted its version as Title 75 of the Utah Code, making it one of roughly 18 states that have adopted the UPC in some form.

In practical terms, the UPC governs nearly every aspect of what happens to your assets and legal affairs after death — and many aspects of incapacity planning during life:

• Will execution requirements (how to create a valid will)
• Intestate succession (who inherits when there's no will)
• Probate administration (formal and informal processes)
• Spousal protections (homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, elective share)
• Creditor claims (how debts are prioritized and paid)
• Small estate transfers (the affidavit process for estates under $100,000)
• Non-probate transfers (transfer-on-death deeds, POD/TOD designations)

The 2024–2026 Recodification: What Moved and Where

Starting with Senate Bill 79 in the 2024 General Session and continuing with Senate Bill 100 in 2025, the Utah Legislature began moving fiduciary and trust provisions out of the traditional Title 75 and into two new statutory titles:

Title 75A — Fiduciaries. This new title now houses:

• Powers of attorney (formerly in Title 75)
• Advance health care directives (moved from Title 75, Chapter 2a)
• The Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA), now at Title 75A, Chapter 6
• Guardianship and conservatorship provisions

Title 75B — Trusts. This title consolidates:

• The Utah Uniform Trust Code
• Trust administration and modification rules
• Charitable trust provisions

What stayed in Title 75: The core Uniform Probate Code provisions — wills, intestacy, probate administration, creditor claims, small estate affidavits, and non-probate transfers (including transfer-on-death deeds) — remain in Title 75.

This recodification doesn't change the substance of the law. The rules themselves are the same. But any document, website, or form that references old statutory section numbers may now point to the wrong location. If you're looking up advance directive requirements at the old Title 75, Chapter 2a address, you won't find them — they've moved to Title 75A, Chapter 9.

Key Provisions That Affect Ordinary Families

Informal Probate (the Streamlined Path)

Utah's UPC offers informal probate — a process where a personal representative is appointed by the court registrar without a formal hearing. If the will is clear, no one contests it, and the personal representative files the right paperwork, the estate can be administered without ever appearing before a judge. The court filing fee is $375.

The Harmless Error Doctrine

One of Utah's most protective provisions: if a will doesn't meet every formal requirement (missing a witness signature, for example), the court can still enforce it if there's clear and convincing evidence that the deceased intended the document to be their will. This rule, codified in Section 75-2-503, saves families from the devastating outcome of a technically defective will being thrown out entirely.

Statutory Priority Allowances

Before any creditor gets paid and regardless of what the will says, the surviving spouse (or minor children if there's no surviving spouse) is entitled to three statutory allowances:

• Homestead allowance: $22,500
• Exempt property allowance: $15,000 in household goods, vehicles, and personal effects
• Family allowance: Up to $27,000 lump sum or $2,250/month for one year

These allowances take priority over everything — debts, bequests, creditor claims. They exist to prevent a surviving spouse from being left with nothing while the estate is administered.

The Small Estate Affidavit

For estates where the net personal property (excluding up to four motor vehicles) is under $100,000 and at least 30 days have passed since death, a successor can collect assets using a sworn affidavit — no court filing, no personal representative appointment, no probate process at all. This provision makes simple estates genuinely simple.

Why This Matters for Your Estate Plan

The UPC creates the default rules. If you don't create a will, Utah's intestacy rules decide who inherits. If you don't name a healthcare agent, the statutory priority list controls who makes your medical decisions. If you don't coordinate your beneficiary designations with your will, the UPC's non-probate transfer rules determine which document wins (spoiler: the beneficiary designation, every time).

An estate plan is essentially your override of these default rules. The better you understand what the defaults are, the more precisely you can customize your plan to match what you actually want.

The Utah Basic Estate Planning Kit is built around these UPC provisions — step-by-step instructions that work with Utah's specific statutory framework rather than generic national advice that may not apply here.

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