Exact deadlines vary by state and by whether administration is supervised or independent. Treat the windows below as a working scaffold to confirm the specific periods and triggers against your jurisdiction's probate code and local rules.
Stage 1: Opening the estate
- File the petition for probate / administration promptly after death; many states expect it within a set number of days of receiving the will.
- Lodge the original will with the court often required within a fixed period of learning of the death, independent of opening administration.
- Obtain letters testamentary / letters of administration before the personal representative acts on the estate's behalf.
- Post bond if required and not waived by the will.
Stage 2: Notice
- Notice to heirs and beneficiaries within the statutory window after appointment.
- Notice to known and reasonably ascertainable creditors, plus published notice to unknown creditors.
- Open the creditor claim period track its close date; claims filed after it are generally barred.
- Notice to government agencies where applicable (e.g. state Medicaid recovery).
Stage 3: Inventory & valuation
- File the inventory and appraisal of estate assets within the period set after appointment (commonly a few months).
- Secure date-of-death valuations for real property, securities, and business interests.
- Identify the estate's tax obligations — see Stage 4.
Stage 4: Tax
The deadlines most often missed
- Final individual income tax return for the decedent (Form 1040) for the year of death.
- Estate income tax returns (Form 1041) for each tax year the estate remains open.
- Federal estate tax return (Form 706) where the estate exceeds the exemption, generally due nine months after death, with a possible extension.
- State estate or inheritance tax filings, which have their own thresholds and dates.
Stage 5: Claims & administration
- Allow or reject creditor claims within the response window after the claim period closes.
- Pay valid debts and expenses in the statutory order of priority before distribution.
- File any interim accounting the court requires for a prolonged administration.
Stage 6: Closing the estate
- File the final accounting showing all receipts, disbursements, and proposed distributions.
- Obtain beneficiary approvals or waivers of the accounting where permitted.
- Distribute assets and obtain signed receipts from each beneficiary.
- Petition for discharge of the personal representative and closure of the estate.
The deadline that hurts you is rarely the one you forgot existed: it's the one that arrived while you were buried in another matter. The fix is a single live view of every open window across the whole portfolio.
Never miss one
Legsys ties every deadline above to the matter it belongs to and surfaces them by proximity, firm-wide: so the windows closing this week are the first thing you see, not the thing you discover too late.