New Hampshire Estate Planning: Free Wills, Forms & Calculators

Like all states, New Hampshire recognizes formally executed wills and living trusts as valid estate planning tools. A standard will here requires 2 adult witnesses, and adding a notarized self-proving affidavit can streamline the probate process later.

The state adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in 2018, modernizing its rules around financial powers of attorney. Documents created before 2018 may not reflect the current law's protections.

If you die without a will in New Hampshire, your heirs must survive you by at least 120 hours to inherit anything. This "survival period" exists to prevent property from passing through multiple estates in quick succession when family members die close together in time, such as in an accident. The amount a surviving spouse inherits without a will depends on whether your parents are still alive. If they are, your spouse may have to share the estate with them—a result that surprises many people and underscores why having a will matters.

New Hampshire has a relatively low threshold for simplified estate procedures—only estates under $10,000 can avoid formal probate. This means most families will need to go through the full probate process, making strategies like living trusts or beneficiary designations particularly valuable here.

New Hampshire does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax, which means estates are only subject to the federal estate tax (currently exempting the first $15,000,000 per person, or $30,000,000 for married couples using portability). This is a meaningful advantage over the states that layer their own death taxes on top of the federal system.

New Hampshire allows transfer-on-death deeds for real estate, enabling property to pass directly to named beneficiaries without probate. This is a significant probate avoidance tool that doesn't require creating a trust. Transferring property into a revocable trust does not trigger a property tax reassessment in New Hampshire, so property taxes remain at their current level. New Hampshire fully enforces no-contest clauses in trusts and wills. A beneficiary who unsuccessfully challenges the document can lose their entire inheritance, which strongly discourages frivolous disputes.

New Hampshire provides a statutory homestead exemption protecting up to $400,000 in home equity from creditors. While not as strong as the constitutional protections in states like Texas or Florida, this still provides meaningful protection for the family home. Executors must publish a notice to creditors, who then have 12 months to file claims against the estate.

New Hampshire does not automatically revoke an ex-spouse as beneficiary upon divorce. Without updating beneficiary designations after a divorce, an ex-spouse may still inherit life insurance proceeds and retirement accounts—regardless of what a will says.

New Hampshire authorizes remote online notarization (RON), allowing trusts, healthcare directives, powers of attorney to be notarized via video call from anywhere. However, wills are excluded from RON and still require in-person notarization.