The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
001
:
GENERAL PROVISIONS
(Cite as: 14 V.S.A. § 919)
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§ 919. Persons unheard from for five years; settlement of estate
When a person is absent and unheard from for five years or when a certificate of presumed
death of a person has been issued under 18 V.S.A. § 5219, that person’s estate shall be subject to administration by the Probate Division
of the Superior Court. If a will exists, the will shall be presented to the court
and may be allowed and the estate closed thereunder. If no will is found, the court
having jurisdiction of the estate may grant letters of administration thereof and
proceed with the estate as in the settlement of intestate estates. Distribution of
the estate shall not be made until five years after the granting of administration
or letters testamentary. Before granting an order for distribution or for payment
of legacies named in any will that may have been allowed, the court shall require
from the legatees or distributees a bond or bonds with sufficient surety to the court,
which may take into account the likelihood of the reappearance of the person presumed
deceased, conditioned to return the amount distributed or paid with lawful interest
thereon to the person so absent and unheard from upon reappearance and demand for
the same. If the distributee or legatee is unable to give the security required by
this section, the same shall be placed at interest upon security approved by the court
or by the executor or administrator, as the case may be, and the interest shall be
paid annually to the distributee or legatee and the estate shall remain at interest
until the Probate Division of the Superior Court by which the letters of administration
or letters testamentary were granted shall order it paid to the legatees or distributees.
Upon motion, an order shall not be made permitting payment or distribution without
the security required by this section until at least seven years have elapsed since
the granting of letters testamentary or of administration on the estate of the supposed
decedent. (Amended 1985, No. 144 (Adj. Sess.), § 43; 1989, No. 236 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 4, 1990; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011; 2017, No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)