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

✓ Verified September 2026

To remove an executor in Vermont, you ask the court that appointed the Executor (person named in a will) or administrator (person appointed when there is no will or no named executor); Title 14 also uses the umbrella term “fiduciary” for both. Vermont has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code term “personal representative” as its primary statutory label — 14 V.S.A.

Chapter 61 is titled “Executors and Administrators.” to take the job away, and the court will do it only on a ground the statute recognizes. This guide gives the Vermont 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 Vermont law, verified as of September 2026.

Remove an Executor in Vermont: At a Glance

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

When a Court Will Let You Remove an Executor in Vermont

An executor who is slow, unfriendly, or making decisions you disagree with is not, by itself, removable. Courts appoint a Executor (person named in a will) or administrator (person appointed when there is no will or no named executor); Title 14 also uses the umbrella term “fiduciary” for both. Vermont has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code term “personal representative” as its primary statutory label — 14 V.S.A.

Chapter 61 is titled “Executors and Administrators.” 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 Vermont succeeds when the facts fit one of them.

Grounds to Remove an Executor in Vermont

Under 14 V.S.A. § 917, the court may act when it appears that (1) a person has failed to comply with procedures required by law or by the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure (for example, failure to file the inventory or an annual account), (2) the estate is not being promptly and properly administered, or (3) the fiduciary is incapable or unsuitable to discharge the trust.

In practice this covers neglect of duty, mismanagement or waste of estate assets, self-dealing or conflict of interest, incapacity, and unexplained delay. Vermont’s statute is a general “unsuitability/noncompliance” standard rather than a numbered checklist of offenses.

The Steps to Remove an Executor in Vermont

Step one is to confirm you have standing — Any interested person, and the court on its own motion. Section 917 is triggered “when it appears to the court,” so the Probate judge may start removal proceedings sua sponte.

“Interested person” is defined at 14 V.S.A. § 204 to include heirs, devisees, legatees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, and any other person having a property right in or claim against the estate that may be affected by the proceeding, plus persons having priority for appointment as executor or administrator and fiduciaries representing interested persons. A co-executor or co-administrator qualifies as an interested person..

Step two is the paper trail: write to the Executor (person named in a will) or administrator (person appointed when there is no will or no named executor); Title 14 also uses the umbrella term “fiduciary” for both. Vermont has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code term “personal representative” as its primary statutory label — 14 V.S.A.

Chapter 61 is titled “Executors and Administrators.” asking for the inventory, the accounting, and an explanation, and keep the letter. Step three is the filing — A motion filed in the already-open estate case — commonly captioned “Motion to Remove Fiduciary” or “Motion to Remove Executor/Administrator” — filed in the Probate Division of the Superior Court for the unit (county) where the estate is pending.

Vermont has no separate statewide preprinted removal form; it is filed as a motion under the Vermont Rules of Probate Procedure, generally through the Probate Division e-filing system, with copies served on the fiduciary and all interested persons. — with the ground stated and the documents attached.

Step four is the hearing, where the Executor (person named in a will) or administrator (person appointed when there is no will or no named executor); Title 14 also uses the umbrella term “fiduciary” for both. Vermont has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code term “personal representative” as its primary statutory label — 14 V.S.A. Chapter 61 is titled “Executors and Administrators.” 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

Under 14 V.S.A. § 917 the court may suspend the fiduciary while the matter is pending (suspension is authorized separately from removal), may issue a notice directing the fiduciary to correct the deficiency within a specified period, may order the party to appear and answer, and may exercise contempt powers.

The court may require or increase a bond under 14 V.S.A. § 906, which lets the Probate Division set the bond amount and decide whether sureties are required.

Under 14 V.S.A. § 961 the court may appoint a special administrator when the interests of the estate are jeopardized or there is delay in appointing or qualifying a fiduciary; §§ 962–966 cover the special administrator’s powers, bond, liability, and when those powers cease.

What Happens After Removal

If there is a surviving co-executor or co-administrator, that remaining fiduciary may complete the administration unless the will provides otherwise; the court may also appoint a suitable person to serve alongside the remaining fiduciary on the motion of any interested person.

If no fiduciary remains, the court appoints a successor: an alternate or successor executor named in the will is appointed under 14 V.S.A. § 902 if that person accepts and gives any required bond.

If the will names no one who can serve, or the decedent died intestate, 14 V.S.A. § 903 governs — appointment may go to the surviving spouse or next of kin, or both, or to a person nominated by the surviving spouse or next of kin, and otherwise to another suitable person. The successor administers the assets not yet administered (administration de bonis non).

Repaying losses: Yes. 14 V.S.A. § 917 expressly allows the Probate Division to “tax costs, including surcharge,” and to order a party to pay other parties the amount of reasonable expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, or losses incurred because of an act or omission.

Separately, 14 V.S.A. § 917a provides that termination of appointment does NOT discharge the former executor or administrator from liability for transactions or omissions occurring before termination, and does not relieve them of the duty to preserve assets under their control or to account for and deliver assets. A removed fiduciary’s bond under 14 V.S.A. § 906 is also available to make the estate whole.

Many estates can recover losses this way, but no outcome is guaranteed — check with the Vermont Probate Division or a licensed Vermont attorney.

Other Vermont rules: (1) Notice-and-cure step — 14 V.S.A. § 917 lets the court, before removing anyone, give the fiduciary notice of the complaint or omission together with a notice to correct it within a specified period, or order the fiduciary to appear and answer. A removal motion in Vermont therefore often produces a cure order first rather than immediate removal.

(2) Inventory deadline — 14 V.S.A. § 1051 requires the executor or administrator to file an inventory of the decedent’s property with the Probate Division within 60 days after appointment, listing each item with its fair market value as of the date of death and any lien or encumbrance; the court may extend the time for good cause. Missing this is a documented § 917 noncompliance ground.

(3) Accounting deadline — 14 V.S.A. § 1055 requires an account of administration within 1 year of receiving letters, and annually thereafter until the estate is wholly settled. (4) Bond — 14 V.S.A. § 906 requires the bond to be filed before the court issues letters; the court sets the amount and decides whether sureties are needed, and can revisit it during a removal dispute.

(5) Nonresident fiduciaries — 14 V.S.A. § 904 requires a nonresident estate fiduciary to designate in writing a Vermont resident agent who accepts service of process; failure to do so is itself a compliance failure.

(6) Filing fees — 32 V.S.A. § 1434 charges a single estate-opening fee based on estate value in eight bands (50 at 10000 or less, up to 3250 above 10000000), and no fee is charged for documents pertaining to opening the estate including two certificates of appointment; the 90 postjudgment/reopening motion fee under 32 V.S.A. § 1431 expressly excludes estates,

so a removal motion in an already-open Vermont estate carries no separate filing fee.

An appeal from the Probate Division to the Civil Division costs 295. Part of a fee may be waived under V.R.C.P. 3.1 if the court finds the applicant unable to pay. (7) Terminology caution — 14 V.S.A. § 907 was repealed by 2017, No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, so older Vermont removal citations to § 907 are obsolete; § 917 is the operative authority.

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

The court filing fee to remove an executor in Vermont is small; the real cost is the hearing. If the Executor (person named in a will) or administrator (person appointed when there is no will or no named executor); Title 14 also uses the umbrella term “fiduciary” for both. Vermont has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code term “personal representative” as its primary statutory label — 14 V.S.A.

Chapter 61 is titled “Executors and Administrators.” 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 Executor (person named in a will) or administrator (person appointed when there is no will or no named executor); Title 14 also uses the umbrella term “fiduciary” for both. Vermont has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code term “personal representative” as its primary statutory label — 14 V.S.A.

Chapter 61 is titled “Executors and Administrators.” 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 Vermont motion starts with.

What to Expect When You Remove an Executor in Vermont

A request to remove an executor in Vermont 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 Vermont is pending: creditor deadlines, tax filings, and property upkeep do not pause.

Ask the court to address both in the same filing.

Official Vermont Sources & Resources

• Vermont Probate Court: https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/probate
• Vermont Removal Statute: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/fullchapter/14/061
• Internal Revenue Service — Estate Tax: irs.gov
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: law.cornell.edu/wex

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

More Vermont Estate Guides

• Contest a Will in Vermont
• Vermont Probate Process
• Dying Without a Will in Vermont
• 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.