§ 15-3-303 — INFORMAL PROBATE — PROOF AND FINDINGS REQUIRED

(a) In an informal proceeding for original probate of a will or informal statement of intestacy where the estate is community and there is a surviving spouse, the registrar shall determine whether:
(1) The application is complete;
(2) The applicant has made oath or affirmation that the statements contained in the application are true to the best of his knowledge and belief;
(3) The applicant appears from the application to be an interested person as defined in subsection (25) of section 15-1-201, Idaho Code;
(4) On the basis of the statements in the application, venue is proper;
(5) An original, duly executed and apparently unrevoked will is in the registrar’s possession;
(6) Any notice required by section 15-3-204, Idaho Code, has been given and that the application is not within section 15-3-304, Idaho Code;
(7) It appears from the application that the time limit for original probate has not expired; and
(8) If the application is for a statement of intestacy of a community estate with a surviving spouse, on the basis of statements in the application and affidavit: 1. the decedent left no will, 2. the decedent’s estate consists solely of community property of the decedent and the surviving spouse, and 3. the decedent left a surviving spouse. In addition to this, the registrar shall set out the name of the surviving spouse.
(b) The application shall be denied if it indicates that a personal representative has been appointed in another county of this state or, except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, if it appears that this or another will of the decedent has been the subject of a previous probate order.
(c) A will which appears to have the required signatures and which contains an attestation clause showing that requirements of execution under section 15-2-502, 15-2-503 or 15-2-506, Idaho Code, have been met shall be probated without further proof. In other cases, the registrar may assume execution if the will appears to have been properly executed, or he may accept a sworn statement or affidavit of any person having knowledge of the circumstances of execution, whether or not the person was a witness to the will.
(d) Informal probate of a will that has been previously probated elsewhere may be granted at any time upon written application by any interested person, together with deposit of an authenticated copy of the will and of the statement probating it from the office or court where it was first probated.
(e) A will from a place that does not provide for probate of a will after death, and that is not eligible for probate under subsection (a) of this section, may be probated in this state upon receipt by the registrar of a duly authenticated copy of the will and a duly authenticated certificate of its legal custodian that the copy filed is a true copy and that the will has become operative under the law of the other place.

Legislative History

[15-3-303, added 1971, ch. 111, sec. 1, p. 233; am. 1971, ch. 126, sec. 1, p. 487; am. 1973, ch. 167, sec. 19, p. 319; am. 2020, ch. 82, sec. 3, p. 176.]