Simplified route
$100,000
Collection of personal property by affidavit (N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01); usable 30 days after death.
Eligibility and caveatsNorth Dakota estate administration
North Dakota probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Small-estate limit: $100,000
This guide explains probate in North Dakota: North Dakota is a Uniform Probate Code state. Personal property of a decedent whose estate (net of liens and encumbrances) does not exceed $100,000 can be collected by affidavit under N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01, thirty days after death, with no court filing. Probate proceedings are filed in the District Court, where the statewide civil filing fee is $160 under N.D.C.C. § 27-05.2-03. Personal representatives receive reasonable compensation under § 30.1-18-19.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
Answer first
North Dakota simplified probate route
Up to $100,000; usable 30 days after death. Source: N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01.
Collection of personal property by affidavit (N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01)Screen a specific North Dakota estate with the calculators on the small-estate page and the executor-fee page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
$160
One statewide amount.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Court-reviewed
No percentage schedule; the court decides what is reasonable. Source: N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-19.
Compensation detailCreditor deadline
Multiple triggers
N.D.C.C. § 30.1-19-03(1) (North Dakota Legislative Branch (Century Code); reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsStatutes read in full for North Dakota
Read on the enacting state’s own site, with the date each was read.
| Citation | What reading it established | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| N.D.C.C. § 27-05.2-03 | Which North Dakota filing fee a probate attracts depends on what is being filed — court and filing cost note | 2026-09-17 |
| N.D.C.C. § 30.1-19-03 (UPC 3-803) | North Dakota runs a three-month window, but only once notice is both published and mailed — creditor deadline note | 2026-09-17 |
| N.D.C.C. §§ 30.1-23-01, 30.1-23-03, 30.1-23-04 | North Dakota has two small-estate routes, and only one of them is a dollar figure — small estate route note | 2026-09-17 |
| N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-19 (UPC 3-719) | North Dakota adopted the uniform fee rule and did not add factors to it — representative pay note | 2026-09-17 |
North Dakota decision map
The four facts that change the North Dakota route
Each North Dakota answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded North Dakota answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Collection of personal property by affidavit (N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01) |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. |
| What is the amount screen? | $100,000 |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | $160 is the recorded statewide amount. |
| What does compensation use? | Reasonable compensation set by the court, measured on the estate accounting. |
Limits and unresolved costs
Continue
What North Dakota courts publish
Every link is probed before each release.
- Self-help centreNorth Dakota Courts — Legal Self-HelpNorth Dakota Court System
- Court resourceNorth Dakota Courts — Informal ProbateNorth Dakota Court System
- Fee scheduleNorth Dakota Courts — District Court FeesNorth Dakota Court System
Limits on court material
- Probate in North Dakota is handled by the District Court. The court system publishes statewide informal-probate self-help resources and a district-court fee page. The operative filing fee is set statewide by N.D.C.C. § 27-05.2-03; the § 30.1-23-01 affidavit is a private demand instrument, not a court filing.
- The North Dakota Century Code chapter PDFs at ndlegis.gov embed subset fonts that do not extract to machine-readable text; the section bodies are therefore sourced from the North Dakota Legislative Branch's official Century Code JSON API (ndlegis.gov/api/data/century_code.json), which serves the same codified text as clean strings.
North Dakota primary sources
- N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01 — N.D.C.C. § 30.1-23-01 (3-1201) — Collection of personal property by affidavit
- N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-19 — N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-19 (3-719) — Compensation of personal representative
- N.D.C.C. § 27-05.2-03(1)(a) — N.D.C.C. § 27-05.2-03 — Fees to be charged by the clerk of the district court
- N.D.C.C. § 30.1-19-03(1) — N.D.C.C. § 30.1-19-03 (3-803) — Limitations on presentation of claims
Every quotation, edition label and machine check is on the North Dakota source record.
North Dakota record: 4/4 verified, 14 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction