Vermont Executor Bond Requirement

Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In Vermont, vermont requires every executor or administrator to give a bond to secure performance of duties, with the Probate Division setting the amount; the core bond statute contains no general will-waiver language.

Does Vermont require an executor to post a bond?

Vermont requires every executor or administrator to give a bond to secure performance of duties, with the Probate Division setting the amount; the core bond statute contains no general will-waiver language.

“shall issue an order waiving the duty to file an inventory, waiving or discharging the fiduciary bond, and dispensing with further filing with the court other than the final affidavit of administration”

Source: 14 V.S.A. §§ 906, 1852

Can the will waive it in Vermont?

No. 14 V.S.A. § 906, Vermont’s general bond statute, requires a bond and contains no clause allowing the will to waive it outright; the only statutory discharge mechanism found is the sole-beneficiary motion under § 1852.

Can the heirs or beneficiaries waive it in Vermont?

Sometimes. Under 14 V.S.A. § 1852, if the moving party is the sole beneficiary/heir AND sole fiduciary AND the decedent owned no Vermont real property, the court may issue an order waiving or discharging the fiduciary bond entirely.

If a bond is required, how much?

Vermont’s own bond-amount statute sets no fixed percentage or dollar formula at all; the court sets the amount case by case. Vermont’s own small-estate track skips a bond once the estate is $45,000 or less in personal property, and its separate waiver-of-administration route skips one at any estate size for a sole heir or sole beneficiary with no Vermont real estate.

What makes Vermont different

Unlike most states surveyed, Vermont’s general bond statute does not give the will itself a stated power to waive bond; instead Vermont created a narrow, separate ‘waiver of administration’ procedure (added 2017) available only when one person is simultaneously the sole beneficiary/heir and sole fiduciary and there is no in-state real property.

Every statute quoted on this page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; a probate court has final discretion over bond in every state; confirm your own case with the court or a local attorney before relying on the default described here.