Kansas Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Kansas has no separate probate court; estates are handled in the probate division of each county's District Court under the Kansas Probate Code, K.S.A. Chapter 59, and the state runs its own Simplified Estates Act rather than the Uniform Probate Code.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Kansas

Kansas has no free-standing probate court. Probate matters are handled within a probate department or division of the District Court in each county, under the Kansas Probate Code codified at K.S.A. Chapter 59. K.S.A. 59-102 defines "district court" for purposes of the probate code, confirming that the District Court is the exclusive forum for Kansas probate.

Kansas never adopted the Uniform Probate Code and instead runs its own independently structured probate statute with several distinct tracks. Supervised administration is the traditional, court-supervised default, requiring judicial approval at each material step. The Kansas Informal Administration Act, K.S.A. 59-3301 et seq., in effect since January 1, 1986, offers a one-step procedure with no dollar limit that functions much like an unsupervised administration, even though it is not derived from the Uniform Probate Code. Separately, the Kansas Simplified Estates Act, K.S.A. 59-3201 et seq., lets the court weigh the estate's size, the heirs' relationship to the decedent, solvency, cost, and the heirs' own wishes in deciding whether simplified or supervised administration applies, and the court can convert a simplified estate to supervised administration if it later finds that necessary.

Intestate Succession in Kansas: Who Inherits Without a Will

When a Kansan dies without a valid will, K.S.A. 59-504, 59-506, and 59-507 set the order of inheritance, and none of these sections care whether the decedent's children are also the surviving spouse's children.

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and no children or other descendants, K.S.A. 59-504 gives the surviving spouse the entire estate. If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and a child or children (including the issue of a previously deceased child), K.S.A. 59-506 splits the estate: one-half passes to the surviving spouse, and the other half passes to the children, divided among them per stirpes. Unlike many states, Kansas draws no distinction here for blended families; a stepchild who is not legally adopted still inherits nothing as an heir, but a biological or adopted child from any relationship of the decedent's counts equally toward that half share.

If there is no surviving spouse, the decedent's descendants take the entire estate, divided equally or per stirpes as the case requires, also under K.S.A. 59-506. If there is no surviving spouse and no descendants, K.S.A. 59-507 sends the estate to the decedent's parents, who share equally if both survive, or entirely to the sole survivor if only one parent is living. If no parent survives, K.S.A. 59-508 continues the line of descent to the decedent's siblings and then to more distant kin under Kansas's degree-of-kinship rules.

Kansas is a common-law, separate-property state, not a community-property state, so there is no pre-existing 50% spousal ownership interest to account for before applying these statutory shares; the full estate passes under K.S.A. 59-504 through 59-508 as written.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Kansas's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Kansas Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Kansas

Kansas offers a straightforward affidavit procedure for small estates under K.S.A. 59-1507b. If the decedent's probate-subject assets do not exceed $75,000, a successor can present a notarized affidavit directly to banks or other holders of the decedent's personal property to have those assets transferred, without ever obtaining letters of administration or letters testamentary from the District Court. Substantial compliance with the Kansas Judicial Council's standard affidavit form is sufficient; the affidavit does not need to match the form exactly. This $75,000 threshold was raised from a prior $40,000 cap effective July 1, 2023, meaningfully expanding how many Kansas estates qualify. The mechanism is limited to personal property; it does not transfer real estate.

For estates that do not qualify for the affidavit, or that include real estate or other complications, Kansas's Informal Administration Act and Simplified Estates Act (described above) offer lighter-weight court tracks than full supervised administration, without a fixed dollar ceiling. Which track fits depends on the estate's size, complexity, and whether the heirs and the court agree simplified administration is appropriate.

Creditors face a firm deadline regardless of the track used. Under K.S.A. 59-2239, the Kansas nonclaim statute, claims are forever barred unless presented within the later of four months from the date of first publication of the notice to creditors, or 30 days after actual notice to a known or reasonably ascertainable creditor. In every case, no creditor claim survives at all unless a petition for probate or administration is filed within six months of the decedent's death. Notice-to-creditors requirements are set out separately at K.S.A. 59-2236.

Does Kansas Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

No. Kansas has neither a state estate tax nor a state inheritance tax. Kansas repealed its state estate tax for deaths occurring after December 31, 2006, and since then Kansas estates owe no state-level estate tax regardless of size. Kansas has never separately imposed an inheritance tax on beneficiaries. The federal estate tax can still apply to the very largest estates nationally, but only above the federal exclusion amount, far beyond what the vast majority of Kansas estates are worth. For most families settling a Kansas estate, no state-level death tax filing is required at all.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Many Kansas estates that qualify for the K.S.A. 59-1507b affidavit or informal administration can be handled without a lawyer, particularly when the estate is solvent, uncontested, and involves only personal property. An attorney is worth engaging when a will contest is likely, the estate includes real estate title issues or a business interest, the family situation is blended in a way K.S.A. 59-506's flat 50/50 split does not resolve cleanly, or the case is complex enough that the court is weighing simplified versus supervised administration under the Kansas Simplified Estates Act.

For a broader look at how probate and intestate succession work across the country, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession law in Kansas as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Kansas, particularly for a contested estate, a business interest, a blended family, or an estate involving real property disputes. Figures, thresholds, and statutes change; verify current details directly against the Kansas Statutes or with the applicable District Court before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.