Probate
The personal representative is also called the executor or administrator.
Probate is the court process for settling a person's estate: proving the will, paying debts, and passing property to heirs. The personal representative, often called the executor, is the person who handles it.
In Utah
Not every estate needs probate. Small estates without real estate can often use a small estate affidavit instead. Utah Courts’ self-help center has forms and guides.
What the personal representative does
- Gathers the person’s property and records
- Pays valid debts and final expenses, including the funeral
- Files final tax returns
- Distributes what’s left to the heirs
A note
This is general information, not legal advice. Whether an estate needs probate depends on what the person owned, including property that isn’t obvious. Land is real property, and Utah treats water rights much the same way, transferring them by deed like real estate. Mineral rights are also generally real property. A small estate affidavit can’t transfer real property. For the details of your situation, and for anything contested or complicated, talk with a Utah probate attorney.
- Utah Courts Self-Help Center, Small Estate Affidavit, checked September 30, 2026: a small estate affidavit cannot be used to transfer real property such as land or a house.
- Utah Code 73-1-10: water rights are transferred by deed in substantially the same manner as real estate.