How Do I File for Probate in Kansas?

Kansas offers a small-estate or summary procedure that can transfer property without a full grant of Letters when the estate qualifies. Kansas abolished separate probate courts; the district court exercises probate jurisdiction (K.S.A. ch. 59). One petition can request probate of the will and issuance of letters testamentary (59-2220) or administration on intestacy (59-2219), and elects the Kansas Simplified Estates Act (59-3201 to 59-3206) — a court-supervised lighter administration the court approves at the hearing, NOT a UPC-style non-judicial registrar track. EVERY Kansas appointment runs through a NOTICED HEARING, not an over-the-counter filing: "A probate proceeding may be commenced in the district court by filing a petition and causing it to be set for hearing. When a petition is filed, the court shall fix the time and place for the hearing on it" (K.S.A. 59-2204), and notice of that hearing is given under K.S.A. 59-2209 unless the court orders otherwise (K.S.A. 59-2222(a)). The 59-2210 Probate Notice of Hearing is one of only two free statewide probate forms the Judicial Council publishes. Letters then issue only after the appointee files the required OATH and bond (59-2227 testate, 59-2232 intestate). Any person interested in the estate may petition (K.S.A. 59-2221). TIMING (two distinct six-month rules, often conflated): (1) K.S.A. 59-617 bars a late-probated WILL from passing property — "No will of a testator who died while a resident of this state shall be effectual to pass property unless a petition is filed for the probate of such will within six months after the death of the testator." (2) K.S.A. 59-2239(1) conditions CREDITOR claims on a timely opening — "No creditor shall have any claim against or lien upon the property of a decedent ... unless a petition is filed for the probate of the decedent's will pursuant to K.S.A. 59-2220 ... or for the administration of the decedent's estate pursuant to K.S.A. 59-2219 ... within six months after the death of the decedent." A related duty: anyone who knowingly withholds a will from the district court for more than six months after death is liable for attorney fees, costs, and damages to innocent beneficiaries (K.S.A. 59-618), who may still petition within 90 days of learning of the will. Either way, six months after death is the tight window that governs executor-facing guidance (see appointmentTiming for why no maxYearsAfterDeath number is set).

District Court handles decedents' estates in Kansas. District court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration after the court grants the petition.

Letters Testamentary are issued when there is a will (to the executor); Letters of Administration are issued when there is no will (to an administrator). They give the personal representative authority to act for the estate.