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

Utah probate runs through the state's District Courts rather than a separate probate court, and most estates use the informal, no-hearing appointment process available because Utah has adopted 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 Utah

Utah does not have a separate probate court. Probate matters are heard in Utah's District Courts, the state's trial courts of general jurisdiction, which have full subject-matter jurisdiction over decedents' estates, will construction, and heir determination under Utah Code § 75-1-302.

Because Utah has adopted the Uniform Probate Code, it offers the two-track system that distinguishes UPC states from states like Tennessee or Texas. Informal probate, governed by Utah Code § 75-3-301 and following sections, is the most common path. An applicant files with the court registrar, a court official rather than a judge, and no hearing or notice to interested persons is required before the registrar appoints a personal representative, so long as the application is complete and no will contest is apparent on its face. Filing an application for informal probate carries no fixed waiting-period bar of its own. Once the registrar makes the required findings, the registrar issues the written statement of informal probate, appointing the personal representative, after 10 days have elapsed since the notice required by Utah Code § 75-3-306 to interested persons, or, if every person entitled to that notice has waived it in writing, after only 120 hours, five days, have elapsed since the decedent's death.

Formal probate, covered in Part 4 of the same chapter, involves an actual judge, formal notice to interested persons, and a court hearing before an order is entered. Families use this track when a will is contested, when heirs disagree about who should serve as personal representative or how the estate should be handled, or when someone specifically wants ongoing court supervision, for example to protect a beneficiary who cannot manage their own affairs. A case can also move from informal to formal proceedings mid-administration if a dispute arises after the registrar's initial appointment.

Once a personal representative is appointed, whether informally or formally, the creditor claims period generally runs three months from the date of first publication of notice to creditors, or 60 to 90 days from a direct mailed notice to a known creditor, whichever is later, under Utah Code § 75-3-801. Utah Code § 75-3-803 sets a separate outer bar of one year after death on presenting any claim and folds those more specific publication-notice and actual-notice deadlines back into § 75-3-801 rather than stating them itself. In practice, a simple, uncontested informal probate in Utah commonly closes in about four to six months. Contested or more complex estates, particularly those routed through formal probate, can take a year or more.

Intestate Succession in Utah: Who Inherits Without a Will

When a Utah resident dies without a valid will, Utah Code § 75-2-102 sets the order of inheritance, and it does not ask what the deceased actually wanted.

If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, or the decedent has no surviving descendants at all, the surviving spouse inherits the entire intestate estate. That covers the most common situation: a married couple whose children, if any, belong to both of them. The rule changes when one or more surviving descendants are not also descendants of the surviving spouse, for example children from a previous relationship. In that case, the surviving spouse takes the first $75,000 of the estate plus one-half of whatever balance remains, and the decedent's descendants divide the rest. Utah is not a community property state, so unlike Texas, there is no separate community-versus-separate-property split to work through; these shares apply to the estate as a whole under standard separate-property rules.

If there is no surviving spouse or descendant, Utah Code § 75-2-103 sends the estate to the decedent's parents, split equally if both survive or entirely to the survivor if only one does. If no parent survives, the estate passes to the descendants of the decedent's parents, meaning siblings and their own descendants, divided per capita at each generation, a method that treats people at the same generational distance from the decedent equally regardless of how many relatives are ahead of them in another branch. If no one qualifies at that level, the statute continues to the decedent's grandparents and their descendants. Only when no relative can be found through any of these levels does the estate escheat to the State of Utah, which is rare in practice.

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

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Utah

Utah's small estate affidavit, under Utah Code § 75-3-1201, lets a successor collect the decedent's personal property directly, without filing anything in court, when the value of the entire estate, minus liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000. The affidavit is only available once at least 30 days have passed since the date of death, and only if no application for a personal representative is pending or has already been granted. Up to four vehicles, boats, or trailers are excluded from the $100,000 cap entirely, which can meaningfully help estates that are otherwise close to the threshold.

Because the affidavit does not require a court filing, it is generally faster and cheaper than even Utah's informal probate track, and it is well suited to estates made up mainly of a bank account, personal belongings, and perhaps a vehicle.

Utah has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax; Utah's own inheritance tax act has been repealed, according to the Utah State Tax Commission. Only the federal estate tax could apply to a Utah estate, and for 2026 that tax reaches only estates above a $15,000,000 per-person exclusion, confirmed on IRS.gov, so it affects a small share of Utah estates.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Many straightforward Utah estates, particularly those that qualify for the small estate affidavit or that move through informal probate without objection, are genuinely manageable without hiring a lawyer, since Utah's Uniform Probate Code framework was built with that kind of administrative simplicity in mind. A probate attorney becomes more important when a will is contested, when heirs disagree about who should serve as personal representative, when the estate includes a business or property in more than one state, or when the family situation is blended in a way intestate succession does not address well. For how probate works in other states, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Utah 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 Utah, particularly for a contested estate, a business interest, a blended family, or an estate large enough to raise a federal estate tax question. Figures, thresholds, and program details change; verify current details directly with the official source 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.

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