Probate in Utah: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

All wills go through probate in the state of Utah, with a few exceptions and some nuances. If the deceased does not have a will, this is called intestate succession. An estate will go through probate in Utah if there is no will, with a few exceptions.

‍

Those exceptions include the following.

• Any life insurance policies that have a designated beneficiary.

• Any retirement accounts with a designated beneficiary.

• Any bank or brokerage accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation.

• Any property owned jointly with right of survivorship.

If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in Utah. If the property that would otherwise need probate is valued at $100,000 or less and doesn't include real estate, a small estate affidavit lets banks and brokerages release the assets directly.

Succession Laws Without a Will in Utah

Before determining who will inherit which assets, it is important to understand how Utah treats property ownership. Utah is not a community property state. It does draw a distinction between marital and separate property, but that distinction only matters for divorce and for calculating a surviving spouse's elective share, not for ordinary intestate succession.

‍

If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following lines of succession.

• If you have no descendants, or if all of your surviving descendants are also your spouse's, your spouse inherits your entire estate.

• If you have descendants who are not your spouse's, your spouse inherits the first $75,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your descendants inherit the rest.

• If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.

• If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit everything, then your siblings.

Utah Probate Process

Utah offers both informal probate, where a personal representative can be appointed without a hearing, and formal probate for contested estates. For estates that have already entered probate, Utah also offers a streamlined 'summary administration' process that skips the creditor-notice period when the estate's value (after certain statutory allowances and expenses) is small enough — though this still requires opening probate, unlike the small estate affidavit.

Avoiding Probate in Utah

Because probate is widely known for being a long and often expensive process, people sometimes wish to avoid it altogether. Here are some ways you can avoid probate.

• Put your assets in a revocable living trust. A living trust lets you have full control over your estate as the trustee. You name a successor trustee who will manage distributing your assets after your death.

• Name beneficiary designations on financial and retirement accounts. A payable-on-death (POD) designation will specify who receives payment at the time of your death. A transfer-on-death (TOD) designation names a new owner for those accounts.

• Establish joint ownership with right of survivorship. This gives your spouse or another co-owner automatic ownership of any joint property.

Want to learn more about trusts in Utah? Check out this article.