New Hampshire

New Hampshire estates are heard in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court. New Hampshire
has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code — it keeps its own statutory scheme — so procedures
here differ from most of its neighbours.

Waiver of administration

This is the New Hampshire feature worth knowing, and it makes many estates dramatically simpler.

Where the deceased left a will naming the surviving spouse as sole beneficiary, and that
spouse is appointed to administer the estate, administration may proceed by waiver. The
practical effect: no inventory, no bond, and no accounting. The estate is opened, the waiver
filed, and after the statutory period it closes.

The same relief is available in other sole-beneficiary situations. For a couple whose estate
passes entirely to the survivor, it turns probate from a year-long chore into a short
administrative exercise. Ask about it at the outset — it is a different filing, not something to
convert to later.

No death tax, and none coming

New Hampshire levies no estate tax and no inheritance tax. It also has no general income tax on
wages, and the interest and dividends tax has been repealed. For estate purposes, only the federal
return can arise.

What still has to happen

Where waiver does not apply: notice to creditors, an inventory, payment of debts and the final
income tax returns, and an accounting for the court to approve.

Before distributing

Let the creditor period run and, unless the estate proceeds by waiver, wait for the accounting to
be approved.

A New Hampshire will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another at their
express direction in their presence), and signed by two or more credible witnesses who attest
in the testator's presence. The testator must be 18 or older and of sound mind.

New Hampshire does not accept holographic wills

The reasoning is simple and absolute: a holographic will by definition has no witnesses, and New
Hampshire requires witnesses. So an unwitnessed handwritten will is not valid here, however
plainly it says what the person wanted, and there is no curative provision to rescue it.

New Hampshire is stricter than Vermont and Maine on either side, so a will made elsewhere in New
England is worth checking after a move.

Make it self-proving

Attach a self-proving affidavit before a notary. New Hampshire practice relies on it, and without
one a witness has to be located and produced.

Draft to qualify for waiver of administration

This is the practical drafting point that saves a New Hampshire family the most money. If the
will leaves the estate to the surviving spouse as sole beneficiary and appoints them
administrator, the estate can proceed by waiver — no inventory, no bond, no accounting.

A will that instead splits the residue between a spouse and children, or leaves small legacies to
others, may forfeit that relief and put the family through a full administration for the sake of
a modest gift. If a simple outright gift to the spouse reflects your intention anyway, say so
plainly and let the second death deal with the children.

Also

• Name an alternate executor and consider waiving bond expressly.
• A surviving spouse has a statutory share whatever the will says.
• Review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to New Hampshire.

Yes. A New Hampshire administrator or executor is entitled to reasonable compensation for
services rendered. New Hampshire prescribes no percentage and no schedule.

What "reasonable" turns on

The size and nature of the estate, the time actually spent, the responsibility assumed, the skill
the work required, the difficulty of the problems encountered, and the results achieved. The
Probate Division assesses it on the accounting.

Records decide it

With no tariff to point at, contemporaneous time records are the argument. Dated entries from
the first week showing what was done and how long it took.

Where the estate proceeds by waiver

This is the New Hampshire wrinkle. In a waiver of administration — the common case where the
surviving spouse is sole beneficiary and administrator — there is no accounting, so nothing is
filed for the court to review and no fee is claimed against anyone.

In that situation the question usually disappears entirely: the administrator and the sole
beneficiary are the same person, and taking a fee from yourself achieves nothing except creating
taxable income out of a tax-free inheritance. Do not do it.

Where there are other beneficiaries, agree the figure with them in writing before taking it.

If the will fixes the figure

A will provision governs where the executor accepts the appointment on those terms.

Tax

Compensation is taxable income federally; an inheritance is not. New Hampshire has no estate
tax, no inheritance tax and no income tax on wages, so there is no state-level offset in either
direction. For a family executor who is also a beneficiary, taking a fee is almost always a plain
loss here.

A New Hampshire executor is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable expenses of
administration, separately from any compensation for their time.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, the headstone, and a reasonable reception.
• Probate Division filing fees, certified letters, certified death certificates, and publication
  of the notice to creditors.
• Attorney's fees, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040 and any Form 1041.
• Appraisals of real property, woodlots and timber, vehicles, firearms and collections.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: insurance, New Hampshire property tax — which
  is among the highest in the country and does not pause — utilities, security, maintenance,
  landscaping and snow removal and roof raking.
• Winterising a property: keeping heat on, draining lines, and preventing ice dams. An empty
  New Hampshire house through February is a burst-pipe claim waiting to happen, and prevention
  costs a fraction of the repair.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents, including a lake or mountain
  property.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate.
• Bond premiums where bond was required and not waived.

Normally not claimable

• The executor's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account and run every payment through it. Even where the estate proceeds
by waiver of administration and no accounting is filed, keep the record — the estate's income
tax return still has to be right, and a beneficiary who later asks a question deserves an answer.

New Hampshire's waiver of administration makes a large share of estates here genuinely simple,
so the case for a professional executor is narrower than in most states.

Consider a professional when

• The estate does not qualify for waiver — because the residue is split, or there are legacies
  to people other than the sole beneficiary — and a full administration with inventory and
  accounting is required.
• The estate holds a working farm, woodlot or timberland, or an operating business. New
  Hampshire's current use land assessment can produce a land use change tax when land comes
  out of the programme, which is easy to trigger unintentionally on a sale.
• There is lake or mountain property, or a second home used by several family members, which
  raises the familiar question of dividing something nobody wants to sell.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years.
• The named executor lives out of state and cannot see to a property through a New England
  winter.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage with a minimum annual fee. Attorneys
generally bill hourly. Because New Hampshire prescribes no percentage, ask precisely what the
basis will be, in writing.

Middle ground

Appoint a family member, waive bond, and let them retain a New Hampshire probate attorney at the
estate's expense. First, though, ask the attorney whether the estate qualifies for waiver of
administration — if it does, the legal bill should be small, and paying for a full-service
fiduciary would be money thrown away.

A named executor who does not want the job can decline before appointment.