Vermont route screening

Vermont small-estate limit: $45,000

An estate with fair market value not more than $45,000 consisting entirely of personal property may use the small-estate filing; a time-share estate is expressly permitted.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised October 17, 2026.

1. Where and when

StateVermontFixed to this page. Open the navigator to compare another state.Date of deathRequired. Without it no waiting period can be tested and the route stays undecided.

2. What they left

Asset 1

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real property

Asset 2

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real propertyWill it be sold during administration?Some court charges are assessed on sale proceeds and exclude real property that is kept, so this changes the amount.

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Private by design: entries stay in this browser.

Your working estimate

Vermont estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted

Court chargeMore information neededOpening a decedent estate2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.More information neededAffidavit procedure for small estates (Probate Rule 80.3(h))2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.

Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.32 V.S.A. § 1143 is the fiduciary-compensation statute: an executor or administrator is paid $4.00 for each day's attendance on the business of the appointment, and in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow such further sum as it judges reasonable. The $4.00 per-diem is a nominal, archaic figure, so in any non-trivial estate the operative compensation is the further reasonable sum the court allows rather than a percentage of the estate. That is a fact about the statute, not an omission: Vermont publishes no percentage schedule.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

No waiting period is published because § 1901 does not state one and the governing court rules were not authenticated.

Where the limit comes from

Is this the limit that applies?

$45,000 is the limit in 14 V.S.A. § 1901 as it read on October 3, 2026; confirm it with the probate court before you file.

Controlling citation: 14 V.S.A. § 1901, Vermont Statutes, Commencement of Small Estate (Vermont General Assembly; The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.).

The section’s own words

§ 1901. Commencement of small estate (a) When a decedent's estate has a fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 and consists entirely of personal property, provided that the estate may include a time-share estate as defined by 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a), an estate may be commenced by filing: (1) a petition to open a probate estate; (2) a list of interested persons; (3) the filing fee; (4) an original death certificate; (5) an inventory of the estate, including information or estimates available at the time of filing; (6) an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and any other known or reasonably ascertainable debts of the decedent; (7) a bond without surety in the amount of the fair market value of the estate; and (8) the will, if any.

How the Vermont screen is measured

Procedure	Commencement of small estate
What counts	Personal property only; real property is outside this route
Value basis	Gross value; liens are not subtracted
Waiting period	Confirm the filing date with the Probate Division of the Superior Court

Section 1901 states filing prerequisites but no post-death waiting period; absence from that section alone does not prove that no court rule supplies one. Before submitting the paperwork, confirm whether a waiting period applies and which event starts it. Check: 14 V.S.A. ch. 81 and Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure

The Vermont caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Vermont overview.

The official Vermont path

Vermont Judiciary probate page — Vermont Judiciary
Vermont Judiciary court locations — Vermont Judiciary
Vermont Judiciary Estates and Wills forms — Vermont Judiciary. The Vermont Judiciary probate page states that forms for small estates and formal estates are found on this Estates and Wills page.

What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.

Controlling source

Statute

14 V.S.A. § 1901

Vermont Statutes, Commencement of Small Estate

The section’s own words

§ 1901. Commencement of small estate (a) When a decedent's estate has a fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 and consists entirely of personal property, provided that the estate may include a time-share estate as defined by 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a), an estate may be commenced by filing: (1) a petition to open a probate estate; (2) a list of interested persons; (3) the filing fee; (4) an original death certificate; (5) an inventory of the estate, including information or estimates available at the time of filing; (6) an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and any other known or reasonably ascertainable debts of the decedent; (7) a bond without surety in the amount of the fair market value of the estate; and (8) the will, if any.

Vermont General Assembly · The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly. · Rechecked October 3, 2026

Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Vermont source list · how sources are checked · report a correction

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