What to Do When Someone Dies in Kent County, Delaware

E-filing through File & ServeXpress is mandatory for all Kent County Register of Wills matters, effective October 1, 2013, under the Court of Chancery's standard e-filing practices and procedures.

Any person in possession of a document that might be a will must deliver the original (not a copy) to the Register of Wills within 10 days after receiving notice of the death. Once filed for a decedent, the will is public record.

Claims against an estate are filed on a Statement of Claim with supporting documentation and a $30 flat filing fee, within 8 months of the date of death. The $30 covers the first 10 pages ($2 per additional page); refiling the same claim is $10.

Small Estate Affidavit: $5.00 in person, $10.00 by mail. The by-mail request needs the original death certificate with raised seal, the original will, a copy of the front and back of the signer's state ID, the asset list with estimated amounts, and a check or money order payable to the Register of Wills.

The inventory of assets is due within three months (90 days) after the granting of letters; filing fee $15.00. The accounting is due within one year of opening the estate; recording and indexing the final accounting costs $20.00, and the closing fee is 1.75% of the net personal estate. A Jointly Held Real Estate Affidavit ($10.00) clears title held jointly with right of survivorship.

For an in-person opening bring the original death certificate, the original will (if one exists), the estimated value of assets and of real estate solely owned at death, a list of next of kin with relationship and full address, and a valid driver's license (or passport if not a U.S. citizen). The opening checklist adds any original codicil, an apostille for documents issued outside the United States, renunciations, and the Case Information Sheet. Openings by mail send the same documents with a copy of the ID.

The office no longer retains certified death certificates: once a deputy has reviewed it or a clerk has scanned it, the certified copy is returned to the person who submitted it.

Appointments are necessary to open the estate and to close the estate. A deputy reviews the submitted paperwork and then contacts you to schedule the opening; the deputy also states the fees due.

Older estates are stored on microfiche or microfilm; more recent estates are kept as paper files. Records date back to the 1600s and cover only people domiciled in Kent County at death. Copies are ordered by written request with payment.

Probate records are searchable online, and the probate forms are in the Register of Wills forms library. The current fee schedule (Rev. 2.5.2026) is linked from the Wills & Estates page.

Kent County probate records search and the Register of Wills forms library.

Will safekeeping (launched October 6, 2025): an original will is deposited for a one-time $10.00 fee by appointment, call 302-744-2331. Examining a deposited will costs $2.00; adding a codicil or amending the memorandum costs $5.00; a memorandum deposited with the will is free. Deposited wills are not public record, and only the testator, their attorney or their written designee can withdraw one.