Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal advice. Probate notice rules change, courts add local rules, and some states were not verified in this round. Talk to a probate attorney in your state before you rely on any deadline.
Estate Planning Data & Research → Probate Notice to Creditors by State
When an estate goes through probate, most states make the executor (or the court clerk) print a notice to creditors in a local newspaper. We read the current statute text on official state legislature or code sites for every state and D.C. We were able to confirm the rule for 50 of the 51 jurisdictions (all but Pennsylvania). Of those 50, 37 require a newspaper notice, 7 make it optional, and 6 (Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia) have no general newspaper notice to creditors. Most require it once a week for two or three weeks in a row. Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon and Texas require a single publication. Georgia, Missouri and North Carolina require four.
The notice matters because it starts a clock. Once it runs, creditors who don’t file in time usually lose their claim. The deadlines range from 60 days after the first notice in West Virginia and two months in Nebraska to eight months in South Carolina. That clock, the publication cost and the public record of the death and the estate are all part of what probate means for a family.
If you’re deciding whether to rely on a will or set up a trust, this guide walks through the tradeoffs: Trust vs. will: which one do you need?
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Cite this page URL when reusing findings. Not a substitute for official sources or professional advice.
Key findings
- 37 of 50 checked jurisdictions require a newspaper notice to creditors (or, in California, a published notice of the probate petition that starts the creditor process). In 12 of them, the court or a court official (clerk, register or court administrator) arranges it, not the executor.
- 7 states make publication optional: Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Washington. An executor in these states can skip the notice, but then the longer catch-all deadline (often a year or more after death) protects creditors instead of the short one.
- 6 have no general newspaper notice to creditors: Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia. New Jersey gives creditors nine months from death to present claims. Massachusetts publishes a probate notice once but has no separate creditor notice, and claims must be brought within one year of death. Louisiana has creditors submit written claims to the succession representative. Ohio uses a flat six-months-after-death bar. New York protects the executor for claims not presented within seven months of letters.
- Three weeks is the most common rule: 20 jurisdictions require three publications, 13 require two, 3 (Georgia, Missouri and North Carolina) require four, and 5 (Connecticut, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon and Texas) require just one. We couldn’t confirm the count in official text for Mississippi, New Mexico and Vermont.
- The claim window after notice runs from 60 days to 8 months. It is four months in 19 of the jurisdictions where a deadline runs from notice or letters. Some states, like Delaware and Maryland, measure from the date of death instead.
- Fewer papers to print it in. Northwestern University’s Medill State of Local News project counted 213 U.S. counties with no local news source in 2025, and 1,524 more with only one. These statutes still assume there’s a local paper.
| State | Newspaper notice | Publications | Who publishes | Creditor claim deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks, within 30 days of letters) | Personal representative | Later of 6 months after letters or 5 months after first publication | Ala. Code 43-2-60, 43-2-61; Ala. Code 43-2-350 |
| Alaska | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | AS 13.16.450; AS 13.16.450 |
| Arizona | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | A.R.S. 14-3801; A.R.S. 14-3801 |
| Arkansas | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks, under the general notice rule; not confirmed for this notice) | Personal representative | 6 months after first publication | Ark. Code 28-40-111; Ark. Code 28-50-101(a) |
| California | Required (notice of petition to administer) | 3 (before the hearing) | Petitioner | 4 months after letters issue, or 60 days after mailed notice if later | Prob. Code 8121; Prob. Code 9100 |
| Colorado | Required | 3 (in 3 successive calendar weeks) | Personal representative | At least 4 months after first publication (or 1 year after death, if earlier) | C.R.S. 15-12-801; C.R.S. 15-12-801 |
| Connecticut | Required | 1 (at least once, within 14 days of appointment) | Court of Probate | 150 days after first fiduciary appointed (fiduciary protection); 2-year outer limit | C.G.S. 45a-354; C.G.S. 45a-356; 45a-375 |
| Delaware | Required (small estates excepted) | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Register of Wills | 8 months after death | 12 Del. C. 2101; 12 Del. C. 2102 |
| District of Columbia | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative | 6 months after first publication | D.C. Code 20-704; D.C. Code 20-903 |
| Florida | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative | 3 months after first publication | Fla. Stat. 733.2121; Fla. Stat. 733.702 |
| Georgia | Required | 4 (once a week, 4 weeks, within 60 days of qualification) | Personal representative | 3 months after the last publication (late creditors lose equal participation) | O.C.G.A. 53-7-41; O.C.G.A. 53-7-41(d) |
| Hawaii | Optional | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | HRS 560:3-801; HRS 560:3-801 |
| Idaho | Optional | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | Idaho Code 15-3-801; Idaho Code 15-3-801 |
| Illinois | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Representative | At least 6 months after first publication, or 3 months after mailing if later | 755 ILCS 5/18-3; 755 ILCS 5/18-3 |
| Indiana | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative (notice issued by clerk) | 3 months after first publication; 9 months after death outer limit | Ind. Code 29-1-7-7; Ind. Code 29-1-7-7(e), (g) |
| Iowa | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after second publication, or 1 month after mailing if later | Iowa Code 633.230 / 633.304; Iowa Code 633.410 |
| Kansas | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Petitioner | 4 months after first publication | K.S.A. 59-2236 / 59-2209; K.S.A. 59-2236 |
| Kentucky | Required (clerk’s monthly appointment list) | 1 (in a monthly clerk notice) | Probate court clerk | 6 months after personal representative appointed (2 years after death if none) | KRS 424.340; KRS 396.011 |
| Louisiana | None (no creditor-notice statute) | 0 | Not applicable | No notice-based bar; written claims are submitted to the succession representative during administration | Code Civ. Proc. art. 3241; Code Civ. Proc. art. 3241 |
| Maine | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | 18-C M.R.S. 3-801; 18-C M.R.S. 3-801 |
| Maryland | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Register of wills | 6 months after death, or 2 months after mailed notice if earlier | Est. & Trusts 7-103; Est. & Trusts 7-103 |
| Massachusetts | None (creditor notice); probate notice published once | 1 (notice of informal probate or appointment) | Petitioner | 1 year after death (action deadline) | M.G.L. c. 190B, 3-801 (reserved); 3-306(b); M.G.L. c. 190B, 3-803 |
| Michigan | Required | 1 (single notice under MCR 5.208(A)) | Personal representative | 4 months after publication | MCL 700.3801; MCR 5.208; MCL 700.3801; MCR 5.208(A)(4) |
| Minnesota | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Court administrator | 4 months after the court administrator’s notice | Minn. Stat. 524.3-801; Minn. Stat. 524.3-801 |
| Mississippi | Required | Not confirmed in official text | Executor or administrator | 90 days after first publication | Miss. Code 91-7-145; Miss. Code 91-7-151 |
| Missouri | Required | 4 (once a week, 4 weeks) | Clerk | 6 months after first publication | RSMo 473.033; RSMo 473.360 |
| Montana | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | MCA 72-3-801; MCA 72-3-801 |
| Nebraska | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Clerk of the court | 2 months after first publication | Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-2483; Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-2483 |
| Nevada | Required | 3 (on three dates) | Personal representative | 90 days after first publication | NRS 155.020; NRS 147.040 |
| New Hampshire | Required (estates over $10,000) | 2 (2 weeks successively) | Register of probate | 6 months after grant of administration | RSA 553:16 / 550:10; RSA 556:3 |
| New Jersey | None (no creditor-notice statute) | 0 | Not applicable | 9 months after death (fiduciary protection) | N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4; N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4 |
| New Mexico | Optional (not confirmed in official text) | Not confirmed in official text | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication (or 60 days after mailed notice, if later) | NMSA 45-3-801; NMSA 45-3-801; Form 4B-501 NMRA |
| New York | None | 0 | Not applicable | 7 months after letters (fiduciary protection) | SCPA 1802; SCPA 1802 |
| North Carolina | Required | 4 (once a week, 4 weeks) | Personal representative | At least 3 months after first publication | N.C.G.S. 28A-14-1; N.C.G.S. 28A-14-1 |
| North Dakota | Optional | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 3 months after first publication or mailing | N.D.C.C. 30.1-19-01; N.D.C.C. 30.1-19-01 |
| Ohio | None | 0 | Not applicable | 6 months after death | R.C. 2117.06; R.C. 2117.06 |
| Oklahoma | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | Personal representative | At least 2 months after the notice is filed | 58 O.S. 331; 58 O.S. 331, 333 |
| Oregon | Required | 1 | Personal representative | 4 months after publication | ORS 113.155; ORS 113.155 |
| Pennsylvania | Not verified this round | 20 Pa.C.S. 3162 | |||
| Rhode Island | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks, under the general probate notice rule) | Probate court | 6 months after first publication | R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11; R.I. Gen. Laws 33-11-5 |
| South Carolina | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 8 months after first publication | S.C. Code 62-3-801; S.C. Code 62-3-801 |
| South Dakota | Optional | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication | SDCL 29A-3-801; SDCL 29A-3-801 |
| Tennessee | Required | 2 (consecutive weekly notices; not confirmed in official text) | Court clerk | 4 months after first publication; 12 months after death outer limit | Tenn. Code 30-2-306; Tenn. Code 30-2-306(b), 30-2-307 |
| Texas | Required | 1 (within 1 month after letters) | Personal representative | No general bar from the published notice; unsecured creditors sent a 308.054 notice have 120 days | Estates Code 308.051; Estates Code 355.001; 355.060 |
| Utah | Optional | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 3 months after first publication | Utah Code 75-3-801; Utah Code 75-3-801 |
| Vermont | Required (court may excuse) | Set by court rule (not confirmed) | Executor or administrator | 4 months after first publication (1 year after death if no notice) | 14 V.S.A. 1201; V.R.P.P. 64; 14 V.S.A. 1203 |
| Virginia | None (debts-hearing notice only) | 0 | Commissioner of accounts (hearing notice) | No general publication bar | Va. Code 64.2-550; Va. Code 64.2-550 |
| Washington | Optional | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 4 months after first publication (or 30 days after mailing if later) | RCW 11.40.020; RCW 11.40.051 |
| West Virginia | Required | 2 (once a week, 2 weeks) | County commission clerk | 60 days after first publication | W. Va. Code 44-1-14a; W. Va. Code 44-1-14a |
| Wisconsin | Required | 3 (class 3 notice) | Court | Deadline set by order, 3 to 4 months after the order | Wis. Stat. 859.07 / 879.05; Wis. Stat. 859.01 |
| Wyoming | Required | 3 (once a week, 3 weeks) | Personal representative | 3 months after first publication | Wyo. Stat. 2-7-201; Wyo. Stat. 2-7-201 |
“Publications” counts newspaper printings required by the statute. “Not verified this round” means we couldn’t load and read the current official statute text, so we left the cells blank instead of guessing. The CSV lists each state’s citation and official source.
Why the newspaper notice exists
A will or an intestacy law decides who inherits. Before anyone inherits, the estate has to pay the decedent’s debts. Probate courts need a way to tell unknown creditors (a hospital, a contractor, a lender nobody in the family knew about) that the person has died and that there is a deadline to file a claim. The newspaper notice is that way. It’s a form of “constructive notice”: the law treats creditors as told once the notice runs, whether or not they ever read it.
Since a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Tulsa Professional Collection Services v. Pope, publication alone isn’t enough for creditors the executor knows about or could reasonably find. They have to get direct notice, usually by mail. That’s why many statutes in the table set two deadlines: one counted from publication for unknown creditors, and a shorter or different one counted from mailing for known creditors. The newspaper notice is mainly for everyone else.
How the rules differ
Who places it. In most states the executor or administrator must publish the notice and file proof with the court. In Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin, the court or a court official publishes it or orders it, and the cost is usually charged to the estate.
How many times. “Once a week for three successive weeks” is the language of the Uniform Probate Code and the most common rule. Florida, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, D.C. and several others use two weeks. Georgia, Missouri and North Carolina use four. Connecticut, Michigan and Oregon require a single publication, Kentucky prints appointments in a monthly clerk notice, and Texas requires one notice within a month after letters are issued.
When the clock starts. Most states count the creditor deadline from the first publication. Iowa counts from the second publication, California from the date letters are issued, and Delaware and Maryland from the date of death. Some states use whichever date comes later, or earlier, of publication and direct mailing.
Optional states. In Hawaii, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Washington, the executor “may” publish. Publishing is how the executor gets the short deadline. Without it, creditors generally have until a longer outside limit, which in Uniform Probate Code states is typically one year after death.
What this means for a will or a trust
A will doesn’t avoid probate. If the main assets pass under a will, the executor usually goes through the notice-and-deadline process in the table. That isn’t all bad. The short creditor deadline gives the family a clear end point, after which the executor can distribute the estate without worrying about a surprise claim.
A funded revocable living trust usually skips probate, so there’s often no court-supervised newspaper notice and no short creditor cutoff. Creditors may then have until the longer general limitation period. Some states let a trustee publish a similar notice to shorten it (California has a trust-claims procedure, for example), but many don’t. A trust also keeps the estate’s details out of the newspaper and out of the public court file, which some families value.
Other assets skip probate whatever the plan says: assets with a named beneficiary, joint accounts with survivorship, payable-on-death accounts and transfer-on-death deeds. In many states, a small estate under a dollar threshold can use a simpler affidavit process with no publication at all. New Hampshire, for example, skips publication for estates worth $10,000 or less, and Delaware has a small-estate exception.
Methodology
We built a list of the probate statute that governs notice to creditors in each state and D.C., then read the current text of each one on the state’s official legislature or code site (for example, azleg.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, flsenate.gov, ilga.gov, mgaleg.maryland.gov and code.wvlegislature.gov) in October 2026. For each one, we recorded:
- whether publication is required (“shall” or “must”), optional (“may”) or not part of the statute
- the number of required publications
- who publishes the notice
- the creditor claim deadline and the section that sets it
Where publication rules and claim deadlines are in different sections, both are cited.
A jurisdiction is marked “Verified” when we read both the publication rule and the deadline in official text: a legislature’s code site, its bulk statute file, or an enacted session law (Georgia’s 2020 HB 865, which rewrote O.C.G.A. 53-7-41). It’s “Partly verified” when we could confirm only part of the rule in official text. Arkansas: the claim deadline is from the official court form (Form 13), and the two-week count comes from the general notice rule in the Arkansas Judiciary’s probate benchbook. Indiana: the official Indiana Code PDF was readable only through a search index copy. Mississippi: the 90-day deadline is quoted from Miss. Code 91-7-145 and 91-7-151 in a 2021 Court of Appeals opinion, but the number of publications isn’t. New Mexico: the official court form confirms the four-month deadline, but we couldn’t read the statute’s publication language on an official site. Tennessee: the deadline is confirmed by current bill text on the legislature site, but the publication count isn’t. Vermont: the statute sets the four-month deadline and leaves the publication details to court rules we couldn’t read. Rhode Island’s count of two publications comes from the general probate advertisement rule (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11). Louisiana and New Jersey are classed as having no creditor notice because we found no statute requiring one. Kentucky’s notice is the clerk’s monthly published list of fiduciary appointments (KRS 424.340). Pennsylvania is marked “Not verified” because its legislature’s site asks automated tools not to collect its pages, and we respected that. Counts in this article cover the 50 verified or partly verified jurisdictions.
The news-desert figures come from Northwestern University Medill’s 2025 State of Local News report.
Caveats
- Statutes are only part of the rule. Court rules, local practice and standard court forms can add requirements, such as which newspapers qualify or a separate affidavit of publication.
- Deadlines in the table are the general rules for unknown creditors. Known creditors usually get mailed notice with its own deadline, and claims by the state (for example, Medicaid estate recovery), secured creditors and tax authorities often follow different rules.
- Several states also have an outer limit (often one year after death) that applies whether or not notice is given. Not all of those limits are shown.
- D.C.’s current code text includes temporary legislation set to expire March 27, 2027, and the permanent version may differ.
- California’s published notice is a notice of the petition to administer the estate. The creditor deadline runs from the date letters are issued.
- Some states let notices appear on a statewide public-notice website as well as in the newspaper (Utah requires both). Rules on online notices are changing.
Related research: more estates now have debts to settle. See older Americans’ debt by year: 52.2% of families headed by someone 75 or older carried debt in 2025, with a median of $32,300 among those with debt (Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances).
Frequently asked questions
Does every probate estate have to publish a notice to creditors?
No. In the 50 jurisdictions we checked, 37 require it, 7 make it optional and 6 don’t use a general newspaper notice. Small estates handled by affidavit usually skip it, and some states exempt estates below a value threshold.
How long do creditors have to file a claim after the notice?
It depends on the state: 60 days after first publication in West Virginia, 90 days in Mississippi, two months in Nebraska, three months in Florida, Utah and Wyoming (and three months after the last notice in Georgia), four months in most Uniform Probate Code states, six months in Illinois, Missouri, Rhode Island and Kentucky (from appointment), and eight months in South Carolina.
Who pays for the newspaper notice?
The estate. The cost is an administration expense paid before heirs receive anything. Prices depend on the newspaper and the length of the notice.
Does a living trust have to publish a notice to creditors?
Usually not, because a funded trust generally isn’t administered through probate court. That also means the short creditor deadline from the probate notice doesn’t apply unless your state has a trust-specific notice procedure.
What happens if the executor never publishes the notice?
In states where publication is required, the estate can’t close normally and the executor may be personally liable for debts. In states where it’s optional, creditors generally keep their claims until a longer statutory limit runs out.
Can the notice be posted online instead of in a newspaper?
Mostly no. These statutes call for a newspaper of general circulation. Some states add, or allow, a statewide public-notice website. With 213 counties lacking any local news source in 2025, finding a qualifying paper can take longer in some places.
Sources
Statutes (official state sites, read October 2026)
- Each state’s publication and deadline citation, with its official source site, is listed in the CSV download on this page. Examples: Arizona Revised Statutes 14-3801 (https://www.azleg.gov/ars/14/03801.htm); California Probate Code 8121 and 9100 (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov); Florida Statutes 733.2121 and 733.702 (https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/733.2121); 755 ILCS 5/18-3 (https://www.ilga.gov); Maryland Estates and Trusts 7-103 (https://mgaleg.maryland.gov); New York SCPA 1802 (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SCP/1802); West Virginia Code 44-1-14a (https://code.wvlegislature.gov/44-1-14a/).
Case law
- Tulsa Professional Collection Services, Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478 (1988).
Local news
- Northwestern University Medill Local News Initiative, The State of Local News 2025: https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/
Added 2026-10-26 (fill-in round)
- KS: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0009.html
- OK: https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=72285 ; CiteID=72289
- KY: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=18272 ; id=51057
- MA: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleII/Chapter190B/Section3-306
- TX: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ES/htm/ES.355.htm
- CT: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_802b.htm
- LA: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=111664
- MI: https://www.courts.michigan.gov (MCR ch. 5, 5.208/5.106) ; https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-700-3801
- RI: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-5.htm ; https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-11.htm
- IN (partial): https://iga.in.gov/ic/2026/Title_29/Article_1/Chapter_7.pdf
Added 2026-10-26 (second fill-in round)
- AL: https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama (sections 43-2-60, 43-2-61, 43-2-350, via the site’s own data service)
- GA: https://gov.georgia.gov/document/2020-signed-legislation/hb-865/download (HB 865, 2020, rewrote 53-7-41)
- NJ: https://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/nxt/gateway.dll/statutes/1/3735/4362 ; https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip
- AR (partial): https://arcourts.gov/sites/default/files/files-list/Form%2013.pdf ; https://arcourts.gov/sites/default/files/Probate%20Benchbook%202022.pdf
- MS (partial): https://courts.ms.gov/images/Opinions/CO159999.pdf
- NM (partial): https://nmcourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/4B-501-Notice-to-creditors-by-publication-and-notice-to-creditors-by-written-notice-mailing-or-other-delivery.pdf
- TN (partial): https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/HB0906.pdf ; https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/SB0044.pdf
- VT (partial): https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/14/066/01201 ; https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/14/066/01203 ; https://www.vtcourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/PE32.pdf
- LexisNexis public access (GA, TN, MS, AR): returned a CAPTCHA bot check; not circumvented.
Cite this data
Family Estate Guide, “Probate Notice to Creditors by State,” October 2026, based on official state statute text. https://familyestateguide.com/estate-planning-data/probate-notice-publication-by-state/
You’re welcome to reuse the table with a link back to this page. State statute text is public law.
Published October 26, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: official state statute text reviewed October 2026; Northwestern Medill State of Local News 2025. Editorial standards.