How to Remove an Executor in New Hampshire — Grounds, Steps, and Deadlines (2026)

✓ Verified September 2026

To remove an executor in New Hampshire, you ask the court that appointed the New Hampshire uses “administrator” as the umbrella statutory term (RSA 553 is titled “Administrators and Their Appointment”) and RSA 553:1 provides that the word “administrator” includes an executor; the court and its forms use “executor” for a person named in a will, “administrator” for an intestate estate,

and “fiduciary” as the general term in RSA 554:26-a and the Circuit Court Probate Division rules.

New Hampshire has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so “personal representative” is not the controlling New Hampshire term. to take the job away, and the court will do it only on a ground the statute recognizes.

This guide gives the New Hampshire answer in plain English: the grounds, who has standing, what the filing is called, what the court can do the same day to protect the estate, and what happens after. All facts are from New Hampshire law, verified as of September 2026.

Remove an Executor in New Hampshire: At a Glance

Here are the New Hampshire facts that decide most requests to remove an executor in New Hampshire:

When a Court Will Let You Remove an Executor in New Hampshire

An executor who is slow, unfriendly, or making decisions you disagree with is not, by itself, removable.

Courts appoint a New Hampshire uses “administrator” as the umbrella statutory term (RSA 553 is titled “Administrators and Their Appointment”) and RSA 553:1 provides that the word “administrator” includes an executor; the court and its forms use “executor” for a person named in a will, “administrator” for an intestate estate, and “fiduciary” as the general term in RSA 554:26-a and the Circuit Court Probate Division rules.

New Hampshire has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so “personal representative” is not the controlling New Hampshire term. to carry out the will, and they protect that appointment.

What changes the picture is a breach of duty: money missing or mixed with the executor’s own, an inventory or accounting that was never filed, a sale to a relative below value, a refusal to communicate with beneficiaries for months, a conflict of interest, or a conviction or incapacity that makes the job impossible.

Every state’s statute lists the grounds, and the request to remove an executor in New Hampshire succeeds when the facts fit one of them.

Grounds to Remove an Executor in New Hampshire

RSA 553:10 states that if an executor or administrator, “by reason of absence, or infirmity of body or mind, or by wasteful or fraudulent management in his trust, becomes unfit for the discharge thereof, or unsafe to be trusted therewith, the judge, upon due notice, may revoke the administration.” So the four statutory grounds are: (1) absence; (2) infirmity of body or mind (incapacity); (3) wasteful management;

(4) fraudulent management — each measured against whether the fiduciary is unfit or unsafe to be trusted.

Separately, RSA 553:28 provides for removal for noncompliance with the bond, inventory, and accounting requirements of the preceding sections, and RSA 554:26-a puts a fiduciary in default for failing to file the RSA 554:1 inventory or the RSA 554:26 account on time.

Conflict of interest and self-dealing are addressed in New Hampshire through the “unfit”/”unsafe to be trusted” and “wasteful management” language of RSA 553:10 rather than as a separately itemized statutory ground.

The Steps to Remove an Executor in New Hampshire

Step one is to confirm you have standing — Any interested person — beneficiaries and legatees under the will, heirs at law, the surviving spouse, creditors of the estate, and a co-fiduciary — may raise the issue with the Probate Division;

the statute requires only that the judge act “upon due notice.” The court may also act on its own motion: under RSA 554:26-a the clerk gives notice of default and the court issues a citation without any private party filing, and RSA 553:28 provides for removal for noncompliance.

RSA 553:11 allows revocation by consent where the fiduciary agrees. New Hampshire courts apply a general interested-person standing test rather than a closed statutory list in RSA 553:10 itself..

Step two is the paper trail: write to the New Hampshire uses “administrator” as the umbrella statutory term (RSA 553 is titled “Administrators and Their Appointment”) and RSA 553:1 provides that the word “administrator” includes an executor; the court and its forms use “executor” for a person named in a will, “administrator” for an intestate estate,

and “fiduciary” as the general term in RSA 554:26-a and the Circuit Court Probate Division rules.

New Hampshire has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so “personal representative” is not the controlling New Hampshire term. asking for the inventory, the accounting, and an explanation, and keep the letter. Step three is the filing — There is no single dedicated statewide NHJB form number for removal.

In practice it is filed either as a “Motion to Remove Fiduciary” / “Petition for Revocation of Administration” in the already-open estate file, or as an objection/motion filed in response to a fiduciary’s account.

Circuit Court Probate Division Rule 4 requires approved forms where one exists and Rule 6 requires that petitions, motions, and pleadings be filed with the Register of the appropriate Circuit Court Probate Division location — never addressed directly to a Judge of Probate.

Filing is in the Probate Division for the county where the estate is pending; e-filing is available at all Probate Division locations for estate cases opened electronically. — with the ground stated and the documents attached.

Step four is the hearing, where the New Hampshire uses “administrator” as the umbrella statutory term (RSA 553 is titled “Administrators and Their Appointment”) and RSA 553:1 provides that the word “administrator” includes an executor; the court and its forms use “executor” for a person named in a will, “administrator” for an intestate estate, and “fiduciary” as the general term in RSA 554:26-a and the Circuit Court Probate Division rules.

New Hampshire has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so “personal representative” is not the controlling New Hampshire term. answers and the court decides. Many courts let you ask for interim protection in the same filing, which is the part families miss.

Protecting the Estate While the Court Decides

While a removal request is pending the Probate Division may appoint a temporary administrator under RSA 553:20-a to protect the estate, or a special administrator who — under directions and restrictions inserted in the commission — must return an inventory, take care of and preserve the decedent’s property and effects, give bond with sufficient sureties, and perform any other acts the judge directs.

The court may also require or increase a bond under RSA 553:13 (personal bond without sureties permitted where the gross estate is 25000 or less; bond and surety requirements may be waived in the judge’s discretion), restrict the fiduciary’s authority over estate assets, order the fiduciary to file the overdue inventory or account, and issue a citation under RSA 554:26-a.

RSA 554:26-a treats a fiduciary as in default 30 days after the inventory due date or 90 days after the account due date, and the clerk must mail notice of the default within 10 days.

What Happens After Removal

Under RSA 553:7 (De Bonis Non), when administration becomes vacant by death, extinguishment, or revocation, the Probate Division may grant administration on the estate not before administered to such person as the judge thinks proper, having due regard to the priority rule prescribed in RSA 553:2.

In a testate estate the court will normally look first to any successor or alternate executor named in the will; otherwise the RSA 553:2 statutory priority (surviving spouse, then next of kin, then others the judge finds suitable) governs. The court may in its discretion require the administrator de bonis non to furnish an inventory, a bond, or an accounting for assets before the administration is completed.

Repaying losses: Yes — a removed fiduciary in New Hampshire can be held personally liable for losses. RSA 547:3, I gives the Probate Division exclusive jurisdiction over all matters relating to the composition, administration, settlement, and final distribution of decedents’ estates, which includes examining and allowing or disallowing the fiduciary’s account filed under RSA 554:26 and charging the fiduciary with assets improperly handled.

Recovery may also be pursued against the probate bond required by RSA 553:13.

For trusts, the parallel remedies are express: RSA 547:3 grants exclusive jurisdiction over the appointment, removal, and surcharge of trustees, and RSA 564-B:10-1001 lets the court compel a trustee to redress a breach by paying money or restoring property, appoint a special fiduciary, suspend or remove the trustee, reduce or deny compensation, and impose a lien or constructive trust.

Removal and surcharge are separate requests — removal alone does not order repayment. Whether a surcharge is available in any particular estate depends on the facts, and you may want to check with the New Hampshire Circuit Court Probate Division or a licensed New Hampshire attorney.

Other New Hampshire rules: (1) New Hampshire has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code — do not apply UPC removal standards or UPC terminology here. (2) Inventory deadline: RSA 554:1 requires a full, true, and itemized inventory of all estate property, with fair market values as of the date of death and how each value was determined, filed within 90 days after the date of appointment.

(3) Accounting deadline: RSA 554:26 requires an account of administration within 1 year after appointment and annually thereafter until the estate is closed. (4) Default trigger: under RSA 554:26-a a fiduciary is in default 30 days after the inventory due date or 90 days after the account due date, and the clerk must mail notice of default within 10 days; that default feeds directly into removal under RSA 553:28.

(5) Bond: RSA 553:13 requires bond with sufficient sureties, but only a personal bond without sureties where the gross estate is 25000 or less, and the judge may waive bond and surety requirements entirely — so a removal request is often paired with a request to impose or increase bond.

(6) Waiver of administration under RSA 553:32 (common where the surviving spouse or sole heir serves) suspends the ordinary inventory and accounting oversight, but any interested person may petition for full administration at any time from the original grant of administration until the affidavit of administration is filed,

and the court may grant it for good cause shown — in a waived estate this is frequently the practical first step before or alongside a removal request.

(7) Procedure: Probate Division Rule 6 requires filing with the Register, not with a judge; Rule 4 requires use of approved forms where one exists. (8) Revocation by consent is available under RSA 553:11 where the fiduciary agrees to step down, which is faster than a contested RSA 553:10 proceeding.

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

The court filing fee to remove an executor in New Hampshire is small; the real cost is the hearing.

If the New Hampshire uses “administrator” as the umbrella statutory term (RSA 553 is titled “Administrators and Their Appointment”) and RSA 553:1 provides that the word “administrator” includes an executor; the court and its forms use “executor” for a person named in a will, “administrator” for an intestate estate, and “fiduciary” as the general term in RSA 554:26-a and the Circuit Court Probate Division rules.

New Hampshire has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so “personal representative” is not the controlling New Hampshire term. contests the motion, both sides usually retain counsel, and a contested removal can run several months and several thousand dollars in fees, which the court may or may not order the estate to pay.

Uncontested removals — a fiduciary who has stopped responding or has moved away — are faster and cheaper, and courts grant them routinely when the missed filings are on the record.

Two facts decide the economics. First, the estate’s size: a removal fight over a small estate can consume what is left, so beneficiaries of small estates often ask the court to compel the accounting and set deadlines instead of removing the fiduciary outright. Second, the evidence: a missing inventory is proved with a docket printout, while suspected self-dealing needs bank records and sometimes an appraisal.

The stronger the paper, the shorter the case.

Ask the court clerk what the New Hampshire uses “administrator” as the umbrella statutory term (RSA 553 is titled “Administrators and Their Appointment”) and RSA 553:1 provides that the word “administrator” includes an executor; the court and its forms use “executor” for a person named in a will, “administrator” for an intestate estate, and “fiduciary” as the general term in RSA 554:26-a and the Circuit Court Probate Division rules.

New Hampshire has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so “personal representative” is not the controlling New Hampshire term. has actually filed before deciding which path to take, and get the docket printout in writing — it is the exhibit every remove an executor in New Hampshire motion starts with.

What to Expect When You Remove an Executor in New Hampshire

A request to remove an executor in New Hampshire is a contested proceeding inside the probate case, not a separate lawsuit. The court will want the ground stated plainly, the documents that prove it, and a proposed replacement. Hearings are usually short; the decision turns on whether the executor breached a duty, not on whether the family gets along.

Two things surprise people. The first is that the court can act before the hearing — a bond, a freeze on the estate account, or a special administrator — if the estate is at risk. The second is that the estate keeps running while the motion to remove an executor in New Hampshire is pending: creditor deadlines, tax filings, and property upkeep do not pause.

Ask the court to address both in the same filing.

Quick Answers: Remove an Executor in New Hampshire

How long does it take to remove an executor in New Hampshire?

Uncontested removals — a fiduciary who stopped responding or never filed the inventory — can be granted within weeks. A contested motion to remove an executor in New Hampshire usually runs several months to a hearing.

Official New Hampshire Sources & Resources

• New Hampshire Probate Court: https://www.courts.nh.gov/our-courts/circuit-court/probate-division/estates
• New Hampshire Removal Statute: https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LVI/553/553-mrg.htm
• Internal Revenue Service — Estate Tax: irs.gov
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: law.cornell.edu/wex

This New Hampshire guide was last verified against official sources in September 2026. Laws change — verify with your state court or a licensed attorney.

More New Hampshire Estate Guides

• Contest a Will in New Hampshire
• New Hampshire Probate Process
• Dying Without a Will in New Hampshire
• What to Do When an Executor Is Not Doing Their Job
• All State Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Estate, probate, and tax laws change and vary by state and county. Verify current rules and dollar figures with your state’s court, statute, or a licensed attorney or tax professional before acting. For urgent matters like an active probate or a tax deadline, consult a licensed professional in your state right away.