New Hampshire timeline
New Hampshire probate timeline and creditor deadlines
The waiting-period requirement has not been verified, so no number is published below.
New Hampshire creditor deadlines are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
The one date this page can source
No waiting-period number is published for the summary administration (post-appointment closing) route. The six-month interval runs from appointment, not death; encoding it as death-based waitingDays would change the legal trigger. Read: RSA 553:33, II.
Section 553:33 553:33 Summary Administration. I. This section shall apply to all estates, testate and intestate, other than those estates governed by RSA 553:32. II. Summary administration is available to expedite the closing of an estate when further court supervision of the administration of the estate is no longer necessary. The approval of a motion for summary administration by the court will eliminate the requirement of filing a final account and receipts for the balance of the estate. All other documents required by statute shall be filed. In those estates in which there is federal estate tax liability, the court shall not require the administrator to file a closing letter from the Internal Revenue Service. An administrator may file a motion for summary administration to close an estate not less than 6 months after the date of appointment of the administrator.N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 553:32-:33 — New Hampshire Legislature; 2021, 206:2, Pt. VI, Sec. 2, eff. July 1, 2021..
Creditor deadlines
- From publication of notice to creditors
- RSA 553:16 requires publication of appointment within 15 days unless the gross estate is $10,000 or less; chapter 556 does not run the claim deadline from publication.
- From actual notice to a known creditor
- A claim must be exhibited and payment demanded within six months after the original grant; registered-mail notice is sufficient.
- From appointment of the representative
- No action during the first six months; exhibition within six months; suit generally within one year after original grant.
- Outer limit, running from death
- One year after original grant for suit, exclusive of suspension and subject to §§ 556:5, 556:7 and 556:28 exceptions.
How these combine. New Hampshire uses appointment-based stages: no action in the first six months, exhibition and demand within six months after the original grant, and suit within one year after that grant, with suspension and statutory exceptions. These are distinct procedural deadlines rather than one claim-bar number.
556:1 No Action Within Six Months, Etc. No action shall be sustained against an administrator if begun within six months after the original grant of administration, nor unless the demand has been exhibited to the administrator and payment has been demanded. Source. RS 161:1. CS 170:1. GS 179:1. GL 198:1. PS 191:1. PL 302:1. RL 355:1. RSA 556:1. 1959, 114:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1960. Section 556:2 556:2 Notice of Claim. A notice sent to the administrator or his agent by registered mail, setting forth the nature and amount of the claim and a demand for payment, shall be deemed a sufficient exhibition and demand. Source. 1919, 69:1. PL 302:2. RL 355:2. Section 556:3 556:3 Exhibition of Demand; Time.N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 556:1-:7 — New Hampshire Legislature; 1959, 114:3, eff. Jan. 1, 1960..
General sequence: first week, how long probate takes.
New Hampshire record: 4/4 verified, 14 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction