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Massachusetts source record

Every source behind the Massachusetts guide

4 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 16 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch October 3, 2026

What each source establishes

The Massachusetts guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201

Massachusetts Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 9, 2026

If a person domiciled in the commonwealth dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value, any interested person

What was published from this source

  • MA G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • threshold and asset scope
  • waiting period
  • prior petition disqualifier
  • section identity
  • section identity

Response digest 9e34c9a7f7660950… · HTTP 200

Court cost rule

G.L. c. 262, § 40

Massachusetts Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 9, 2026

for the filing of a petition for public administration, for formal removal of personal representative, for statement of voluntary administration, $100;

What was published from this source

  • MA G.L. c. 262, § 40

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • voluntary administration fee
  • formal and informal probate fee
  • section identity
  • section identity

Response digest 226a2a16fc0192ea… · HTTP 200

Executor compensation rule

G.L. c. 190B, § 3-719

Massachusetts Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 9, 2026

A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services. If a will provides for compensation of the personal representative and there is no contract with the decedent regarding compensation, the personal representative may renounce the provision before qualifying and be entitled to reasonable compensation.

What was published from this source

  • MA G.L. c. 190B, § 3-719

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • reasonable compensation
  • will provision renunciation
  • section identity
  • section identity

Response digest 2f00eb327fd129cd… · HTTP 200

Creditor deadline rule

G.L. c. 190B, § 3-803

Massachusetts Legislature · Publisher states no currentness signal; manual session review required · Verified August 9, 2026

a personal representative shall not be held to answer to an action by a creditor of the deceased unless such action is commenced within 1 year after the date of death of the deceased

What was published from this source

  • MA G.L. c. 190B, § 3-803

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • general outer limit
  • section identity
  • section identity

Response digest 9853db51dc9de035… · HTTP 200

Statutes read in full for Massachusetts

Read on the enacting state’s own site, with the date each was read.

CitationWhat reading it establishedRead on
G.L. c. 262, § 40Massachusetts charges the same $375 to open an estate, then prices the accounts by size and by year — court and filing cost note2026-09-17
G.L. c. 190B, § 3-803Massachusetts gives creditors a year, and measures it from the death itself — creditor deadline note2026-09-17
M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201Massachusetts sets a low ceiling but does not count the car against it — small estate route note2026-09-17
M.G.L. c. 190B, §§ 3-719, 3-1201Massachusetts publishes no fee schedule, and its cheapest route has no fee at all — representative pay note2026-09-17

What Massachusetts courts publish

Every link is probed before each release.

Limits on court material

  • Massachusetts publishes statewide probate forms, a court fee page, and a statewide court-location directory.

Checking these Massachusetts records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the267 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for Massachusetts. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the Massachusetts estate guide ·All 267 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected