Usually, yes. A will doesn't avoid probate — it directs it. The will tells the court who should be appointed and who inherits, but the court still has to appoint that person before anyone has authority to sell a car, close an account, or transfer a deed.

What does avoid probate is how assets are titled. Property held jointly with right of survivorship, accounts with a payable-on-death designation, life insurance and retirement accounts with a named living beneficiary, and anything already held in a trust all pass outside the estate.

That's why some people die with a will and need a full administration, while others die with a will and need almost nothing. It depends entirely on what was left in the decedent's own name.

Plan on the better part of a year for a straightforward estate. The floor isn't set by how organized you are — it's set by the creditor period. Creditors have six months from the grant of administration to present their claims under RSA 556:3, and you generally shouldn't distribute before that window closes.

Estates involving real estate that has to be sold, a business interest, a contested claim, or an out-of-state property routinely run longer. Estates that qualify for a waiver of full administration move faster because much of the reporting drops away.

The delays that actually hurt are usually avoidable ones: waiting months to open the estate, or missing the inventory deadline under RSA 554:1 and having to explain it.

More than most people expect. You're a fiduciary. You're required to identify and safeguard the assets, keep them separate from your own, file an inventory, deal with creditors, pay debts and taxes in the order the statute sets, and account for every dollar.

The exposure that catches people out is payment order. If you pay a credit card before administration expenses and funeral costs, or distribute to beneficiaries before the creditor period closes, you can end up personally responsible for the shortfall. Good intentions are not a defense.

None of this means you need a lawyer for every estate. It does mean you should know which category you're in before you start writing checks.

That's an insolvent estate, and New Hampshire has a specific process for it. Debts get paid in a strict statutory order under RSA 554:19 — administration expenses first, then funeral and burial, then certain preferred debts, with general unsecured creditors well down the list.

The order matters enormously. Funeral costs a family member paid out of pocket sit near the top. Credit card balances sit near the bottom and frequently receive nothing.

Whether to open an estate at all is a real question when there's nothing to distribute. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes opening it is the only way to reimburse the person who paid for the funeral, clear a title, or get a decree discharging the administrator from further claims. That's a conversation worth having before you file anything.

The estate is distributed according to New Hampshire's intestacy statute, RSA 561:1, and the court appoints an administrator rather than an executor.

The common assumption is that a surviving spouse inherits everything. Often they don't. Depending on whether there are surviving children, whether those children are also the spouse's, and whether the decedent's parents are living, the statute divides the estate between the spouse and others in set proportions.

Families are frequently surprised by this, and it's the single most common reason an intestate estate becomes contentious. The distribution isn't discretionary — the court applies the statute regardless of what everyone believes the decedent would have wanted.