Probate in Kansas: small estates, no will, and skipping court

Updated 2026-10-18

The short answer

In Kansas, family can collect personal property without probate using a small estate affidavit if the probate estate is $75,000 or less. Real estate can't pass that way, but a recorded transfer-on-death deed skips court. Larger estates go through simplified or supervised administration. Kansas has no estate or inheritance tax.

When someone dies in Kansas, the family's first question is usually practical. Do we have to go to court, and how long will it take?

Sometimes the answer is no. This page covers Kansas's small estate affidavit, its simplified probate, the deed that passes a house without court, and who inherits with no will. It is part of our estate planning guides by state. If the word is new, start with what probate is.

Can my family use a small estate affidavit in Kansas?

Yes, if the estate is small enough. When a Kansas resident dies and the total probate assets are $75,000 or less, anyone holding the person's personal property must hand it over to a "successor" who presents an affidavit (K.S.A. 59-1507b). No court appointment is needed.

Item	Small estate affidavit
What it covers	Personal property: bank accounts, vehicles, stocks
What it doesn't cover	Real estate
Value limit	Total probate assets of $75,000 or less
Waiting period	None stated in the statute
Who can use it	An heir, someone named in the will, or the executor named in the will
Form	The Kansas Judicial Council form is deemed sufficient

The limit changed in 2023 and 2024, so older articles may show a different amount.

Separately, Social Security, VA, retirement or annuity benefits up to $10,000 can be paid by affidavit at least 180 days after death. Both rules are in the small estate sections (K.S.A. 59-1507a and 59-1507b). They go to the spouse first, then children, then parents, then siblings.

What about the house? There is no affidavit for real estate. If someone has been dead more than six months with no will probated and no estate opened, an interested person can ask the district court to "determine descent" (K.S.A. 59-2250). That is a court case, but a shorter one than full administration.

Who inherits if there's no will?

Kansas's intestacy law decides. Kansas is not a community property state. Here is the order (K.S.A. 59-504 to 59-509):

Spouse, no children: the spouse takes everything.
Spouse and children: the spouse takes half and the children share the other half. This is true even if every child is also the spouse's child.
Children, no spouse: the children share everything equally. A deceased child's children split that child's share.
No spouse or descendants: your parents equally, or the surviving parent.
No parents either: each parent's half passes to that parent's other heirs, such as your brothers and sisters and their children, then further out.

Nobody beyond the sixth degree of kinship inherits, other than direct descendants. A surviving spouse also has a right to half of any real estate you owned during the marriage and sold without the spouse's written consent (K.S.A. 59-505).

Some online articles say a spouse takes everything. In Kansas, not if there are children.

Notice too that friends never appear on the list. If you want a friend, a charity or a favorite neighbor to receive anything, it has to be in a will or trust. Our post on dying without a will covers what happens when the list runs short.

Who serves as executor?

If there is a will, the executor named in it serves, if competent and willing. Without a will, the court appoints an administrator in this order (K.S.A. 59-701 and 59-705):

The surviving spouse or next of kin, or both, as the court decides, or someone they choose.
If none of them is suitable or willing, a creditor or someone the creditor nominates.
Anyone else, if the court finds it's in the estate's best interest.

The executor is a fiduciary: legally required to act in the estate's interest and follow what the will says.

Can someone out of state serve?

Yes. Kansas doesn't limit nonresident executors to relatives. A nonresident must first appoint, in writing, a Kansas resident to accept legal papers, and file that with the district court (K.S.A. 59-1706).

A 2026 change made this easier. Since April 23, 2026, that resident agent can live anywhere in Kansas. Before, the agent had to live in the county where the case was opened (2026 SB 480). The revisor's web page may still show the old wording.

Simplified or supervised: which one?

Kansas has a Simplified Estates Act. At the appointment hearing, the court decides whether the estate will be "simplified" or "supervised" (K.S.A. 59-3201 to 59-3206). It looks at the estate's size, how closely the heirs are related, whether debts can be paid, what the heirs want, and cost.

A simplified estate means less court involvement. Any interested person can later ask to move it to supervised administration. Our post on the probate process walks through the steps, and how long probate takes covers timing.

How long do creditors have?

A notice to creditors is published. Creditors must come forward within four months of the first publication. Creditors the executor knows about, or could reasonably find, get the later of four months or 30 days after actual notice (K.S.A. 59-2236 and 59-2239).

There is also an outer limit. If no probate case is filed within six months of death, creditors generally lose the right to collect from the person's property, apart from existing liens.

How much is the executor paid?

Kansas says "just and reasonable" compensation, plus necessary expenses (K.S.A. 59-1717). There is no percentage schedule. The executor can ask the court to approve fees during the case. Our post on what an executor gets paid compares approaches.

Can my house skip probate?

Yes, with a transfer-on-death deed (K.S.A. 59-3501 to 59-3504). What to know:

You sign it, it is acknowledged, and it must be recorded with the register of deeds in the county before your death.
The beneficiary doesn't need to agree or even be told.
You can change or revoke it with a later recorded document. A will can't revoke it.
The beneficiary takes the house subject to any mortgage, liens and Kansas Medicaid estate recovery.
For deeds recorded on or after July 1, 2023, if a beneficiary dies first, that share goes to the beneficiary's descendants unless the deed required survival.

A living trust is the other common way to keep a home out of court. Our post on how to avoid probate compares the options.

Will my heirs owe Kansas estate or inheritance tax?

No. Kansas's estate tax doesn't apply to deaths after 2009 (Kansas Department of Revenue, Notice 10-07). Its inheritance tax ended in 2008 (Notice 08-01).

Which route fits?

Situation	Likely route
Personal property only, probate assets $75,000 or less	Small estate affidavit
House with a recorded transfer-on-death deed	Passes under the deed, outside probate
Real estate, no will, no case opened in six months	Petition to determine descent
Larger estate, family in agreement	Simplified administration
Disputes, or the court decides it's needed	Supervised administration

Here is a typical case, a composite. Ruth, 76, lived in Topeka and never married. She had recorded a transfer-on-death deed naming her nephew, and her bank accounts were under $75,000. Her nephew used the affidavit for the accounts, and the house passed under the deed. There was no court case.

Some people would rather not leave this to a nephew in another state. Trella Trust Company, through a Kinly membership, can be named as executor or trustee, first or as backup to someone you choose. If it steps in and settles the estate, that work is charged by the hour, and you see the rates before anything starts.

Before death, the papers that matter most are your powers of attorney. See our Kansas financial power of attorney guide and Kansas medical power of attorney guide.

Common questions

What is the small estate limit in Kansas?

The affidavit works when the total probate assets are $75,000 or less. It transfers personal property only, not real estate. The statute states no waiting period.

Does a surviving spouse inherit everything in Kansas?

Only if there are no children or descendants of a deceased child. If there are children, the spouse takes half and the children share the other half, even when all of them are the spouse's children too.

Can someone who lives in another state be an executor in Kansas?

Yes. The nonresident must appoint a Kansas resident as agent for legal papers and file it with the court. Since April 23, 2026, that agent can live anywhere in Kansas.

Does Kansas have an inheritance tax?

No. Kansas's inheritance tax ended in 2008, and its estate tax doesn't apply to deaths after 2009.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws vary by state.

Keep reading

State guidesPower of attorney in Kansas: the rules, signing and who to namePower of attorney in Kansas must be titled durable, say it survives incapacity and be notarized. Banks must accept it. Here's how to sign yours the right way.State guidesMedical power of attorney in Kansas: how it works, how to signMedical power of attorney in Kansas: sign before two qualified witnesses or a notary, who can't witness, the living will, and why Kansas has no default list.State guidesEstate planning by state: guides for all 50 statesEstate planning by state: what stays the same everywhere, what changes, and power of attorney, medical and probate guides for all 50 states.