The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026
By State · Probate

Executor Deadlines by State

The statutory dates an executor works to — the inventory deadline, the creditor-claim period, and the outer bar beyond which claims cannot be brought — quoted from each state's code, with the event the clock actually runs from.

The clock does not start on the same event in every state

This is the fact that makes a general answer useless. Across just the 33 states documented below, the creditor-claim clock resolves 10 different ways — in one of them the length is set by the court rather than by the statute, and in another there is no general claim period at all:

Clock starts from States documented here Statute for the first-listed state
First publication of the notice to creditors Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming Ariz. Rev. Stat. §14-3801(A)–(B)
Letters issued to the personal representative California, New York Cal. Prob. Code §9100(a)
Date of death Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio 12 Del. C. §2102(a)
The date stated in the notice to creditors Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma 755 ILCS 5/18-12(a)
Second publication of the notice to creditors Iowa Iowa Code §633.410(1), (2)
Appointment of the personal representative Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. §396.011(1)
The original grant of administration (no publication required) New Hampshire N.H. Rev. Stat. §§556:1, 556:3, 556:5
Qualification of the personal representative Texas Tex. Est. Code §308.051(a); §308.054(b)
No general non-claim period (cut-off runs through the court) Virginia Va. Code §§64.2-550(A), 64.2-556(A)
The court's order setting the claim deadline (length set by the court within a statutory band) Wisconsin Wis. Stat. §§859.01, 859.02(1)

A date calculated from the wrong trigger is wrong, and a missed claim deadline is generally not curable. Two states break a calculator outright. Virginia sets no general non-claim period, so there is no date to compute — cut-off runs through a court procedure instead. Wisconsin does set a period, but the statute does not fix its length: the court, or the probate registrar in informal administration, orders the deadline, and the statute only requires that it fall between three and four months from the date of that order (Wis. Stat. §859.01). The date is read off the order, not derived from the death.

Washington shows a third complication, this one inside a single state: the trigger is not the same for every creditor of the same estate. A creditor given actual notice runs from the later of the publication date or the mailing; a creditor who was not reasonably ascertainable runs from publication; and a creditor who was reasonably ascertainable but was never notified runs from the date of death, with 24 months to claim (Wash. Rev. Code §11.40.051(1)). One estate, one publication date, three different clocks.

Wisconsin is not the only state where somebody chooses the date. In Oklahoma the personal representative picks it: the notice states a “presentment date,” and the statute constrains only its floor — a date certain at least two months after the notice is filed with the court, or at least one month in two defined situations (Okla. Stat. tit. 58, §331). It is also anchored to the court filing, not to publication; first publication merely has to follow within ten days. So Wisconsin’s date comes from the court, Oklahoma’s from the executor, and neither can be derived from the death.

Iowa shows how fine the distinction can get. Its period runs from the second publication of the notice, not the first (Iowa Code §633.410(1)) — and because the notice runs once a week for two consecutive weeks (§633.304(2)), reading it as “first publication,” the way most states are written, puts the deadline a week early. A week early is safe; the same mistake in the other direction is not.

A fourth complication is that the two periods are not always combined the same way. Most states documented here give a directly-notified creditor the later of the published period or a short period from the mailing — the notice extends their time. Maryland and South Carolina do the opposite: their statutes bar a claim at the earlier of the two dates (Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §8-103(a); S.C. Code §62-3-803(a)). In Maryland a creditor notified in month one is barred at month three, not month six. Reading “later of” where the statute says “earlier of” produces a date that is months too generous.

The lengths themselves span more than an order of magnitude. West Virginia gives creditors 60 days from first publication (W. Va. Code §44-1-14a(a)(7)); South Carolina gives eight months (S.C. Code §62-3-801(a)). West Virginia is also the one state documented here where the county clerk publishes the notice rather than the personal representative, and where the statute says in terms that failing to mail — or failing to receive — the notice “shall not relieve any creditor… of the duty to present and prove his claim” (§44-2-4). In most states an un-notified creditor who was reasonably ascertainable gets relief from the bar. In West Virginia the relief runs against any undistributed surplus instead (§44-2-26).

New Hampshire is the one state documented here that sets a floor as well as a ceiling. No action against an administrator may be sustained if it is begun within six months of the original grant of administration (N.H. Rev. Stat. §556:1); the demand must be exhibited within six months (§556:3); and suit must be begun within one year (§556:5). That is a window, not a deadline, and nothing has to be published for it to open — New Hampshire runs no notice to creditors at all, so the clock starts on the grant itself.

Two states go further and unsettle what “the deadline” even means.

New York’s seven months is not a bar on the claim. N.Y. Surr. Ct. Proc. Act §1802 provides only that a fiduciary not presented with a claim within seven months of letters “shall not be chargeable” for assets already paid out in good faith — and §1810 says in terms that nothing in the article prevents a claimant from suing at law or in equity. The period protects the personal representative who distributed; it does not extinguish the creditor. The only hard cut-off in the article runs the other way: 60 days to sue after a claim is rejected.

New Jersey is drafted the same way. Its nine months runs from the date of death, and a claim must be presented in writing and under oath — but §3B:22-4 says only that a representative not presented in time “shall not be liable to the creditor with respect to any assets” already delivered or paid before presentation. New Jersey’s forever-bar exists only where the estate is adjudged insolvent (§3B:22-33), and even there it yields if the estate proves sufficient or the creditor finds an asset the representative never accounted for.

Rhode Island’s own chapter gives two different dates. §33-11-5(a) measures the six months from first publication. The notice form prescribed at §33-11-5.1(b) — which a personal representative is conclusively presumed to have complied with by sending — tells the creditor to present “within six (6) months after qualification.” Whenever publication and qualification do not fall on the same day, the statute and the form it mandates disagree, and the statute does not resolve it.

Massachusetts asks for more than a filed claim. Its year runs from the date of death, but Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B §3-803(a) requires the creditor to commence an action inside it and, before it expires, either have the process served by delivery in hand on the personal representative, have service accepted, or file a notice with the register. A claim merely lodged with the estate does not satisfy it. Massachusetts also publishes no notice to creditors at all — §3-801, the section the Uniform Probate Code uses for that, is marked “Reserved” in the Massachusetts version — so nothing the executor does moves the date.

Any tool or table that maps a single date of death onto statutory deadlines without accounting for this will produce incorrect dates in most states.

Each figure is quoted from the statute cited in its row. Click a column heading to re-sort.
State Clock runs from Inventory deadline Creditor claim period Outer bar
Arizona first publication Not retrieved for this entry. Four months after the date of the first publication of the notice, or be forever barred. Known creditors must also be given written notice and have four months after the published notice. Section 14-3801 states that claims not presented within the published period are forever barred. No separate outer limit was retrieved for this entry.
California letters issued Four months after letters are first issued to a general personal representative. The later of four months after the date letters are first issued to a general personal representative, or 60 days after the date notice of administration is mailed or personally delivered to the creditor. Section 9100 states that it does not extend the time provided in Code of Civil Procedure §366.2. The content of that section was not retrieved for this entry and is not restated here.
Delaware death Three months after the granting of letters testamentary or of administration. The inventory and appraisal is filed with the Register of Wills in the county where letters were granted, and a copy is filed in any other county where the decedent owned real estate. Eight months from the date of death. Delaware runs this period from death itself and states expressly that it applies whether or not the notice to creditors was given, so publication does not start, extend, or shorten it. The eight-month period in §2102(a) is itself the bar, and it runs from death regardless of notice. Separately, a claim that has been rejected by the executor or administrator is barred forever unless suit is commenced within three months after rejection (§2102©).
Florida first publication Section 733.604 requires the personal representative to file a verified inventory but does not itself state a filing deadline; that deadline is set by rule rather than by the statute. No deadline is recorded here because none was sourced from the statute. The later of three months after the time of the first publication of the notice to creditors, or — as to a creditor required to be served — 30 days after service. Two years after the person's death, regardless of notice.
Idaho first publication Not retrieved for this entry. Four months after the date of the first publication of the notice, or be forever barred. Where written notice is given to a particular creditor, that creditor is notified to present the claim within four months after the published notice. Section 15-3-801 states that claims not presented within the published period are forever barred. No separate outer limit was retrieved for this entry.
Illinois notice Sixty days after the issuance of letters. A supplemental inventory is due within 60 days after further property comes to the representative's knowledge. A claim is barred if the claimant does not file on or before the date stated in the notice given under 755 ILCS 5/18-3, or on or before the date stated in the published notice where the claimant is not known or reasonably ascertainable. Two years after the decedent's death, whether or not letters of office are issued.
Iowa second publication Ninety days after the personal representative qualifies, unless the court grants a longer time. Iowa files a combined report and inventory, verified or affirmed under penalty of perjury, listing among other things the date of death, whether the decedent died testate or intestate, the surviving spouse, each beneficiary or heir with relationship and address, any child born to or adopted by the decedent after the will was executed, and legal descriptions and estimated values of real estate both in and outside Iowa. The later of four months after the date of the SECOND publication of the notice to creditors, or — for a claimant whose identity is reasonably ascertainable — one month after service of notice by ordinary mail to the claimant's last known address. The notice runs once each week for two consecutive weeks (§633.304(2)), so the operative date is the second insertion, not the first. Medicaid estate-recovery claims run separately: six months after notice is sent by electronic transmission to the entity the department of health and human services designates (§633.410(2)). No outer bar measured from death. Two carve-outs sit outside the §633.410 period: parties entitled to equitable relief due to peculiar circumstances are not barred by it (§633.415(1)), and notice by mail is not required to a creditor whose claim will be paid or otherwise satisfied during administration (§633.410(3)). An action already pending against the decedent that survives is treated as a claim filed against the estate if notice of substitution is served on the personal representative within the §633.410 period, and a separate action may be commenced against the personal representative in lieu of filing a claim, within the same period (§633.415(1), (2)).
Kansas first publication Thirty days after the date of the personal representative's letters of appointment, unless the court grants longer. Kansas has one of the shortest inventory deadlines in the country. The later of four months from the date of first publication of the notice under §59-2236, or — for a creditor whose identity is known or reasonably ascertainable — 30 days after actual notice was given. Kansas attaches a separate six-month condition that runs from death and does not depend on notice: no creditor has any claim against or lien upon the decedent's property, other than liens existing at death, unless a petition for probate of the will or for administration is filed within six months after the death.
Kentucky appointment Ninety days from the date the personal representative qualifies. The inventory is filed under seal and is confidential except as the statute provides. Six months after the appointment of the personal representative. Kentucky runs this period from the appointment itself rather than from publication of a notice to creditors. Two years after the decedent's death where no personal representative has been appointed.
Maine first publication Three months after appointment. The personal representative files the inventory with the court or mails it to interested persons who request it. Four months after the date of first publication of the notice to creditors. Where written notice is given to a particular creditor, that creditor has the later of the 4-month published period or 60 days after the mailing or other delivery of the notice. Section 3-801 states that claims not presented within the published period are forever barred. No separate outer limit was retrieved for this entry.
Maryland death Three months after the appointment of the personal representative, subject to §7-205. Each item is listed in reasonably descriptive detail with its fair market value as of the date of death and the type and amount of any encumbrance. The earlier of six months after the date of death, or two months after the personal representative mails or delivers the creditor a notice in the form required by §7-103. Maryland's mailed notice shortens the period rather than extending it: a creditor notified in month one is barred at month three, while a creditor notified in month five is still barred at month six, because the six-month death clock is the outer limit either way. Six months after the date of death is itself the outer bar; there is no longer alternative period. Particular claim types run separately: a claim based on the conduct of, or a contract with, the personal representative is barred unless an action is commenced within six months after the claim arose (§8-103©); a Maryland Department of Health Medical Assistance recovery claim runs from publication of notice of the first appointment rather than from death (§8-103(f)); a claim for slander arising before death is barred even where the decedent was served before dying (§8-103(b)); and the section does not affect enforcement of a mortgage, pledge, judgment, lien or security interest on estate property, or an action for injury or property damage against a decedent who had already been served with process before death (§8-103(d), (e)).
Massachusetts death Three months after appointment. A successor personal representative also has three months, but values the property as of the date of their own appointment rather than the date of death. The inventory is filed with the court or mailed to all interested persons whose addresses are reasonably available; filing the original with the court is optional. One year after the date of death — but Massachusetts asks for more than a filed claim inside it. The creditor must COMMENCE an action within the year AND, before the year expires, do one of three things: have the process served by delivery in hand on the personal representative, have service accepted by them, or file a notice with the register stating the name of the estate, the creditor's name and address, the amount of the claim, and the court in which the action was brought. Massachusetts also runs no notice to creditors: §3-801, the section the Uniform Probate Code uses for that, is marked "Reserved" in the Massachusetts version. Nothing is published, so nothing about the executor's conduct moves the date. The one year is itself the bar, and it reaches beyond the estate: a trustee of a trust whose assets are reachable by the decedent's creditors as a matter of substantive law is held to the same period and manner (§3-803(b)). A claim already barred by the statute of the decedent's domicile before the Massachusetts limitation runs is barred here too (§3-803©). Four things sit outside it (§3-803(d)–(f)): proceedings to enforce a mortgage, pledge or other lien on estate property; an action for personal injury or death commenced more than a year after the death, allowed up to three years after the cause of action accrues but satisfiable ONLY from liability bond or insurance proceeds and not from the general assets — and maintainable naming the decedent as defendant where no personal representative has been appointed; collection of compensation and expenses by the personal representative or their attorney or accountant; and MassHealth recovery, which runs under ch. 118E §§31–32 instead. Separately, the Supreme Judicial Court may on a complaint in equity give judgment to a creditor who did not prosecute in time, where justice and equity require it and the creditor is not chargeable with culpable neglect — but only if the §3-803(a) notice is filed in the registry of probate forthwith on filing the complaint, and the judgment does not affect any payment or distribution made before that filing (§3-803(e)).
Minnesota first publication Not retrieved for this entry. Four months after the date of the court administrator's notice as subsequently published, or be forever barred, unless the creditor is entitled to further service of notice under paragraphs (b) or ©. Publication runs once a week for two successive weeks. Section 524.3-801 states that claims not presented within the published period are forever barred. No separate outer limit was retrieved for this entry.
Missouri first publication Not retrieved for this entry. Six months after the date of the first published notice of letters testamentary or of administration. Where notice was actually mailed to or served on a creditor, that creditor has two months after the date of mailing or service, whichever occurs later. Section 473.360 is itself framed as a limitation barring claims not filed within the stated periods. No separate outer limit was retrieved for this entry.
Montana first publication Nine months after appointment. The personal representative prepares an inventory of probate property listing each item's fair market value as of the date of death and any encumbrance. Four months after the date of first publication of the notice. A creditor given written notice by mail or other delivery has the later of that four-month period or 30 days from the mailing or delivery. Publication is mandatory in Montana — the statute directs that the personal representative shall publish. One year after the decedent's death. Montana bars claims at the EARLIER of one year from death or the notice period, so the one-year limit can cut off a claim before the published four months has run its course.
Nebraska first publication Not retrieved for this entry. Two months after the date of the first publication of the notice, or be forever barred. The first publication must itself be made within 30 days after the appointment of the personal representative. Section 30-2483 states that claims not presented within the published period are forever barred. No separate outer limit was retrieved for this entry.
Nevada first publication Not retrieved for this entry. Ninety days after the mailing for notices required to be mailed, or 90 days after first publication of the notice to creditors. A creditor receiving notice by mail under NRS 155.020(5) must file within 30 days after the mailing or 90 days after first publication. Not retrieved for this entry.
New Hampshire grant of administration 90 days after the date of appointment, filed with the court under the penalties of law. Failing to file within 30 days after that date puts the administrator in default; the clerk mails notice of the default within 10 days and issues a citation notice under §554:26-a. The inventory itemizes all real and personal property at date-of-death fair market value and must state how each value was determined — appraisal, tax information, bank statement or other source. No appraiser is required, though the judge may appoint one on motion or on the court's own action. Six months from the original grant of administration to exhibit the demand, and one year from the same date to begin suit — with a moratorium in front of both: no action may be sustained against an administrator if it is begun WITHIN six months of the grant (§556:1). New Hampshire is the only state documented here where the statute sets a floor as well as a ceiling, so there is a window rather than a deadline. Both periods run exclusive of any time the administration was suspended. A notice sent to the administrator or their agent by registered mail setting out the nature and amount of the claim and a demand for payment is a sufficient exhibition (§556:2), and no exhibition at all is required where the estate has been represented insolvent within the six months (§556:4). One year from the original grant of administration, exclusive of any period of suspension, subject to three documented exceptions: where the administrator has retained estate in hand for payment of the claim by order of the judge, and the cases provided for by §§556:7 and 556:28 (§556:5). Under §556:28 a claimant who has not prosecuted within the time limited may petition the court with subject-matter jurisdiction; if the court is of the opinion that justice and equity require it and that the claimant is not chargeable with culpable neglect, it may extend the time to a date certain — but no extension or judgment affects payments or compromises made before the proceedings began. Separately, where no administration has been granted within two years of the death, no creditor may thereafter maintain an action to reach the real estate the decedent died seized of (§556:29).
New Jersey death There is generally no mandatory inventory in New Jersey. §3B:16-2 provides that a personal representative "may" make and file one, and must do so only where the court requires it or where the family exemption under §3B:16-5 is to be set off. Where an inventory is filed, an appraisal by two discreet and impartial persons accompanies it. The court may not require the filing until three months after the grant of letters — except that where an exemption is to be set off, the inventory and appraisal must be made within those three months. Nine months from the date of death, and the claim must be presented to the personal representative in writing and under oath, specifying the amount claimed and the particulars of the claim. Read what the nine months does: §3B:22-4 provides that a claim not presented in time leaves the personal representative not liable to that creditor for assets already delivered or paid in satisfaction of lawful claims, devises or distributive shares before the claim was presented. Like New York, the period protects the representative who distributed rather than extinguishing the creditor. New Jersey publishes no notice to creditors, so nothing the representative does moves the date. A forever-bar exists but only for insolvent estates. Where an estate is adjudged insolvent, a creditor who failed to exhibit a claim within the §3B:22-4 period is forever barred from prosecuting or recovering on it — with two exceptions written into the same section: where the estate proves sufficient after all exhibited and allowed claims are fully satisfied, and where the creditor finds some other asset the personal representative did not account for before distribution, in which case the creditor takes a ratable proportion of it. Before distribution, the court may on a creditor's application and after notice to the personal representative extend the time for presenting claims on such terms as it deems just. Outside insolvency, the code contains no equivalent non-claim bar.
New York letters issued Not retrieved for this entry. New York's inventory requirement sits in the Uniform Rules for the Surrogate's Court (22 NYCRR §207.20) rather than in the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, and nycourts.gov could not be reached when this row was compiled, so no figure is recorded here rather than an unsourced one. Seven months from the date letters were first issued — but read what the seven months actually does. It is not a bar on the claim. §1802 provides only that a fiduciary who has not been presented with a claim within that period is not chargeable for assets paid out in good faith on lawful claims, legacies or distributions before the claim was presented. §1810 confirms the other side of it: nothing in Article 18 prevents a claimant from commencing an action on the claim at law or in equity. The period therefore protects the fiduciary who distributed; it does not extinguish the creditor. The clock begins with the first letters issued to any fiduciary, including a temporary administrator or preliminary executor, is not restarted by any later issue of letters, and does not run during any time there is no fiduciary in office. There is no non-claim bar in Article 18. A claimant may sue at law or in equity regardless of the seven months (§1810), subject to the ordinary statutes of limitation. The one hard deadline the article does impose runs the other way, after a claim is rejected: where a claim has been presented and rejected — or deemed rejected under §1806 — in whole or in part, the action must be commenced within 60 days of the rejection. Missing that 60 days is expressly not treated as a waiver of the claimant's right to a jury trial (§1810).
North Carolina notice Three months. By the date specified in the general notice to creditors under G.S. 28A-14-1(a); where notice must be delivered or mailed, within 90 days after the date of delivery or mailing of that notice. Section 28A-19-3 refers to the case where qualification under G.S. 28A-14-1 does not occur within three years after the death of the decedent.
North Dakota first publication Six months after appointment, or nine months after the decedent's death, whichever is later. The personal representative may file the inventory with the court, or mail it to the heirs or devisees and to any interested person who requests it. Three months after the date of first publication and mailing of the notice to creditors. Publication of the notice is optional in North Dakota; where the personal representative elects to publish, the notice must run once a week for three successive weeks and must also be mailed to creditors whose identities are known or reasonably ascertainable. Three years after the decedent's death where notice to creditors has not been published and mailed.
Ohio death Three months after the date of the executor's or administrator's appointment, unless the probate court grants an extension for good cause shown. Six months after the death of the decedent, whether or not the estate is released from administration or a fiduciary is appointed within that period. The same six-month period operates as the bar. A claim not presented within six months after the death of the decedent is forever barred as to all parties.
Oklahoma notice Two months from the date of the order of appointment, unless the court orders otherwise; the court may extend the time for good cause. The personal representative may satisfy the appraisement requirement by stating their own opinion of the value of the estate described in the inventory, but the court must order a formal appraisement on written demand by an heir, devisee, legatee, a creditor who has filed a claim, a guardian, conservator, guardian ad litem, or other person interested in the estate. A presentment date the personal representative states in the notice, rather than a period fixed by the statute. The notice must be filed with the court within two months after letters issue, and the presentment date must be a date certain at least two months after that filing — reduced to at least one month where the decedent has been dead more than five years before the probate is commenced, or where regular proceedings are dispensed with under §241. First publication must appear on or before the tenth day after the filing and runs once a week for two consecutive weeks, and a file-stamped copy must be mailed first-class to all known creditors by that same tenth day (§331.2). If the stated presentment date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it moves to the next day that is not. No outer bar measured from death. The presentment date is itself the bar, subject to one documented exception: where the claimant shows by affidavit — to the satisfaction of the personal representative and the district judge, and as noted on the claim — that they had no notice by reason of being out of the state and that a copy of the notice to creditors was not mailed to them, the claim may be presented at any time before a final decree of distribution is entered. No notice by mail is required to a creditor whose identity and address were not known to the personal representative on the date the notice was filed, even if the representative learns them afterwards (§331.2). Foreclosure of a mortgage on the decedent's real property is not time-limited by this chapter, but any balance remaining unpaid after foreclosure is not a claim against the estate unless it was presented as the code requires.
Oregon first publication 90 days after the date of appointment, unless the court grants a longer time. Property that surfaces later requires a supplemental inventory within 30 days after the personal representative receives possession or knowledge of it (§113.175). The later of four months after the date of publication of the notice to interested persons, or — for a claimant the personal representative was required to notify directly — 45 days after that notice is delivered or mailed. Oregon publishes the notice once rather than serially (§113.155(1)), so "the date of publication" is a single date. Separately, during the three months following appointment the personal representative must make reasonably diligent efforts to identify claimants (§115.003(1)). A claim must also be within its own statute of limitations. No fixed number of months from death. Oregon's outer limit is an event rather than a date: a claim presented after the four-month period is still paid from the estate if it is within its own statute of limitations, is presented before the personal representative files the final account, comes from a person who was not sent a notice under §115.003 more than 30 days before presentation, and would otherwise be allowable. Such a claim is paid only after the expenses having priority. Separately, a claim the personal representative disallows is barred unless the claimant requests summary determination or commences a separate action within 30 days after the notice of disallowance is mailed or delivered (§115.145).
Rhode Island first publication Ninety days after appointment, or such longer period as the probate court allows. The inventory is returned to the probate court under oath and covers all personal property, tangible and intangible, plus all claims, rights, causes of action and other assets — but not real property — with an appraisal as of the date of death. Six months from the first publication. Rhode Island's chapter contains a discrepancy on this point that it does not resolve: §33-11-5(a) measures the period from first publication, while the notice form §33-11-5.1(b) prescribes — and which a personal representative is conclusively presumed to have complied with by sending — tells the creditor to present a claim "within six (6) months after qualification." Those are two different dates whenever publication and qualification do not coincide. A personal representative who knows of, or can reasonably ascertain, a creditor must take reasonable steps to see that they receive notice of the commencement of the estate, and is not liable to the creditor for giving or failing to give it (§33-11-5.1(a)). Where the decedent was 55 or older at death, notice must also go to the executive office of health and human services (§33-11-5.1©). Two years from the date of first publication, and before any order of distribution has been made — no personal representative answers a creditor's suit commenced after that, except on the fiduciary's bond or as otherwise provided (§33-11-50). Before then, a creditor who missed the six months by reason of accident, mistake, excusable neglect, or lack of adequate notice of the estate may petition the probate court for leave to present a claim out of time, at any point before distribution. Notice under §33-11-5.1 given at least 60 days before the six months expires is deemed adequate for this purpose, which forecloses the lack-of-notice ground. Leave is discretionary and on the court's terms; a late claim, if allowed, is paid only out of the assets in the personal representative's hands when notice of the petition was received. There is no de novo appeal to the superior court from an order granting leave (§33-11-5(b), ©).
South Carolina first publication Ninety days after appointment. The inventory and appraisement of probate property is filed with the court, and a copy mailed to interested persons who filed a demand for notice under §62-3-204. A separate list of nonprobate property is due within 90 days of an interested person's demand for one. The court may extend either deadline on the personal representative's application. Eight months after the date of first publication of the notice to creditors, which runs once a week for three successive weeks — the longest published period in this dataset. A creditor given written notice by mail or delivery instead gets the earlier of one year from the decedent's death or 60 days from the mailing; a 2013 amendment changed that test from "whichever is later" to "whichever is earlier." No notice is required at all where no personal representative is appointed during the year following the death (§62-3-801(d)). One year after the decedent's death — and it works as a cap rather than a floor. §62-3-803(a) bars a claim unless presented within the earlier of one year after death or the applicable §62-3-801 notice period, so an eight-month published period that would otherwise run past the first anniversary of the death is cut short by it. The bar reaches nonprobate transferees as well as the estate, the personal representative, the heirs and the devisees. A claim already barred by the non-claim statute of the decedent's domicile before notice was given in South Carolina is barred here too (§62-3-803(b)). Claims arising at or after death run on their own schedule under §62-3-803©.
Texas qualification Before the 91st day after the date the personal representative qualifies, unless the court grants a longer period or an affidavit in lieu of inventory is filed under §309.056. The personal representative must publish notice to creditors within one month after receiving letters. Where permissive notice is given to an unsecured creditor, that creditor must present the claim before the 121st day after receipt of the notice or the claim is barred. Section 308.054 preserves the general statutes of limitation; the content of those provisions was not retrieved for this entry and is not restated here.
Virginia no nonclaim statute Four months after the date of the order conferring the personal representative's authority. The inventory is returned to the commissioner of accounts, and covers personal estate, the decedent's interest in any multiple-party account, real estate over which the representative has a power of sale, and any other real estate that is an estate asset, whether or not it is situated in Virginia. Virginia does not set a general non-claim period. There is no fixed number of months from death, from qualification, or from a published notice after which claims against the estate are barred. Claims remain subject to the ordinary statutes of limitation, and proof of debts is taken by the commissioner of accounts at a hearing published at least 10 days in advance (§64.2-550(A)). Cut-off is achieved instead through the show-cause procedure below, which the personal representative may set in motion six months after qualification. There is no outer bar running against creditors. The exposure runs the other way: a legatee or distributee who has been paid may be sued to refund a due proportion of allowed or unpresented claims within five years after the payment or delivery. A personal representative who has complied in good faith with the show-cause procedure and distributed under the court's order is not liable for creditors' demands.
Washington first publication Three months after appointment, unless the court grants a longer time. The inventory and appraisement need not be filed with the court, but a copy must be supplied within 10 days to any heir, legatee, devisee, claim-filing creditor, nonprobate beneficiary from whom contribution is sought, or the Department of Revenue that requests one in writing. Four months after the date of first publication of the notice to creditors, which runs once a week for three successive weeks; for a creditor given actual notice, the later of that or 30 days after the notice was served or mailed. Giving notice at all is optional in Washington — §11.40.020(1) provides that the personal representative "may" give it — and which deadline applies depends on which of the four cases in §11.40.051(1) the creditor falls into. Twenty-four months after the decedent's date of death, in two situations: where no notice was given under chapter 11.40 or 11.42 at all, and where notice was published but a reasonably ascertainable creditor was not given actual notice. A creditor who was not reasonably ascertainable is held to the four-month publication period regardless. The bar reaches nonprobate as well as probate assets, and an otherwise applicable statute of limitations applies without the tolling §4.16.190 would normally provide.
West Virginia first publication Ninety days from the date of qualification of the personal representative. West Virginia calls the filing an appraisement rather than an inventory: it is completed on a form prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, lists probate and nonprobate real estate and all probate personal property at date-of-death fair market value, and is returned with a notarized nonprobate inventory form to the clerk of the county commission or the fiduciary supervisor. Sixty days from the date of first publication of the notice of administration — the shortest general claim period documented in this dataset. The notice is published by the clerk of the county commission, not by the personal representative, once a week for two successive weeks, within 30 days of the filing of the appraisement, or within 120 days of qualification where no appraisement is filed. Claims may also be presented to the fiduciary commissioner at any time after the personal representative qualifies, before the notice is published at all (§44-2-7). The bar is framed as a bar against recovery from the personal representative rather than as an absolute extinguishment, and it survives even where another statute of limitations has not yet run. Two features cut against the creditor in ways most states do not. First, the fiduciary commissioner mails a copy of the notice to known creditors from a list the personal representative supplies, but "failure to mail, or to receive, such notice shall not relieve any creditor, distributee or legatee of the duty to present and prove his claim as required by such notice" (§44-2-4) — un-notified status is not itself relief. Second, the relief that does exist runs against a surplus, not against the bar: where a surplus remains after all timely claims, has not yet been distributed, and the claimant proves they had no actual notice of the publication nor knowledge of the proceedings before the fiduciary commissioner, they may prove the claim by action or suit and have it allowed out of that surplus, and the fiduciary commissioner must reopen the report to provide for it. Separately, a personal representative who distributes after six months from qualification, after the report of claims is confirmed, and after withholding what the commissioner directs, is not personally liable for a claim not presented in time (§44-2-23).
Wisconsin court order Within a reasonable time, and no later than six months after appointment, unless the court has by order extended or shortened the time. Within five days of filing, the personal representative must send the surviving spouse and other interested persons a statement that the inventory has been filed and that a copy will be supplied on written request (§858.03). Set by the court, not fixed by the statute. When the application for administration is filed, the court — or the probate registrar in informal administration — orders a date as the deadline for filing claims, and that date must be not less than three nor more than four months from the date of the order. Notice of the deadline is published, with the first insertion within 15 days of the order (§859.07(1)). One year after the decedent's death, for the class of claim that escapes the court-set deadline. A claim is not barred by that deadline where all three of the following are true: the personal representative knew or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known of the claim and of the claimant's identity and mailing address; the representative had not given the claimant notice of the deadline at least 30 days before it; and the claimant did not otherwise have actual knowledge of the proceeding at least 30 days before it. Such a claim must still be filed within one year after death and within 30 days after notice or actual knowledge, whichever comes first. Tort claims, state and federal tax claims, funeral and administration expenses, certain state medical-assistance recovery claims, and claims of the United States are outside the deadline as well (§859.02(2)(a)).
Wyoming first publication 120 days after the personal representative's appointment. Where the will is admitted under the summary procedure of W.S. §2-5-101, the inventory is due not more than 75 days after the will is admitted. A report of appraisal follows within 120 days after the inventory is filed (§2-7-404(a)). Failure to file on time is punishable as contempt, and any fine imposed is paid into the estate. Three months from the date of first publication of the notice of probate, which is published once a week for three consecutive weeks. A creditor whose identity is reasonably ascertainable must also be mailed a copy of the notice no later than 30 days before that three months expires; that creditor's own deadline is the later of the three months or 30 days after the mailing. None measured from death. The published notice period is itself the bar, and the statute preserves two classes of claim from it: a claimant entitled to equitable relief due to peculiar circumstances, if the court so finds in adversary proceedings, and a claimant who was not mailed notice where the court finds the personal representative could reasonably have ascertained their identity within the notice period. Separately, a claim already barred by the general statute of limitations cannot be allowed (§2-7-714), and a rejected claim must be sued on within 30 days after the rejection notice is mailed (§2-7-718).
Coverage. This cluster currently documents 33 states. It is being built state by state from each state's own code, and a state appears here only once its deadlines have been read from the statute and cited. States are not estimated from their neighbours or inferred from the Uniform Probate Code.

Why this is documented per state rather than generally

Widely-repeated general answers — “the executor has a year,” “creditors get six months” — are not accurate in any particular state. The statutes differ on the length of the period, on the event the period runs from, and on whether an outer bar applies regardless of notice. Florida and Illinois both impose a two-year outer bar measured from death (Fla. Stat. §733.710; 755 ILCS 5/18-12(b)); Ohio’s six-month period is itself the bar (Ohio Rev. Code §2117.06).

Educational information only — not legal advice. Statutes are amended and court rules impose additional dates not reproduced here. Confirm every date with the court handling the estate or a licensed attorney in that state.