Quick answer: confirm personal property is at or under $10,000, then file the Waiver of Administration with the Circuit Court Probate Division — no waiting period, no bond, and no publication required. Check whether an estate qualifies with the New Hampshire small estate checker.
Step by step
- Total the personal property against the $10,000 cap.
- File with the Circuit Court Probate Division in the decedent's county — there's no waiting period, so this can happen right away.
- Skip the bond — it's automatically waived for this process.
- Skip newspaper publication of creditor notice — also waivable for small estates.
- Understand no fee is available for handling the estate under this track.
Filed with the same court as full probate
Worth knowing: a Waiver of Administration is filed with the Circuit Court Probate Division in the county where the decedent lived — the same court, and the same RSA 553:16 publication waiver, apply to smaller estates using this simplified process.
A genuinely fast path, with a real trade-off
No waiting period, no bond, and no publication requirement make this the fastest path available — but whoever handles the estate does so without compensation, since the option to be paid simply isn't part of this particular track.
Facing probate in New Hampshire?
Talk to a New Hampshire attorneyA local probate attorney can review your estate — many offer a free consultation.
Each of New Hampshire's ten counties processes this the same way through its own Circuit Court Probate Division location.