Section 560:3-108 - Probate, testacy and appointment proceedings; ultimate time limit(a) No probate proceeding to establish a will and related appointment proceeding, other than an ancillary proceeding , shall be commenced more than five years after the decedent's death; provided that:(1) If a previous proceeding was dismissed because of doubt about the fact of the decedent's death, appropriate probate proceedings may be maintained at any time thereafter upon a finding that the decedent's death occurred before the initiation of the previous proceeding and the applicant or petitioner has not delayed unduly in initiating the subsequent proceeding;(2) Appropriate probate proceedings may be maintained in relation to the estate of an absent, disappeared, or missing person for whose estate a conservator has been appointed, at any time within three years after the conservator becomes able to establish the death of the protected person;(3) A formal probate proceeding to contest an informally probated will and to secure appointment of the person with legal priority for appointment if the contest is successful, may be commenced within: (A) Ninety days after receiving notice of an informal proceeding pursuant to section 560:3-306;(B) Twelve months from the date the will was informally admitted to probate; or(C) Thirty days from the entry of a formal order approving the accounts and settlement of the estate by an informally appointed personal representative, whichever time period expires first. If an informal proceeding is closed informally, the court in its discretion may allow a will contest to proceed after the limitations period has expired if it determines that notice of the informal probate proceedings was not provided pursuant to section 560:3-306 and not more than five years has elapsed since the decedent's death; and
(4) A formal testacy proceeding may be commenced at any time after five years from the decedent's death if: (A) In the discretion of the court, it would be equitable to do so for the purpose of establishing an instrument to direct or control the ownership of property passing or distributable after the decedent's death from one other than the decedent when the property is to be appointed by the terms of the decedent's will ;(B) The terms of the decedent's will provide for a distribution to the decedent's revocable living trust;(C) Newly discovered assets of the decedent require administration; or(D) All interested parties who are entitled by statute to notice of the petition join in the petition.(b) A proceeding seeking an adjudication of intestacy and related appointment proceeding may be commenced at any time unless there has been a prior probate proceeding concerning the decedent's estate. If there has been a prior probate proceeding, a formal proceeding seeking an adjudication of intestacy may be commenced only under the conditions and circumstances set forth in section 560:3-412.(c) These limitations shall not apply to proceedings to construe probated wills or determine heirs of an intestate.(d) In cases under subsection (a)(1) or (2), the date on which a probate proceeding is properly commenced shall be deemed to be the date of the decedent's death for purposes of other limitations provisions of this chapter that relate to the date of death.Amended by L 2023, c 158,§ 33, eff. 6/29/2023.L 1996, c 288, pt of §1; am L 2002, c 82, §1 .