Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In New Hampshire, you have 6 months to contest a will that has already been admitted to probate, running from probate of a will proved without notice (1 year after a minority, incapacity, or absence-from-the-U.S. disability is removed).
How long do you have to contest a will in New Hampshire?
| Deadline to contest an admitted will | 6 months |
| What starts the clock | probate of a will proved without notice (1 year after a minority, incapacity, or absence-from-the-U.S. disability is removed) |
| Dedicated will-contest statute? | Yes |
“Any party interested may have the probate of a will which has been proved without notice re-examined, and the will proved in solemn form before the court of probate at any time within 6 months of such probate…A minor, insane person or person out of the United States…may have the probate of a will proved without notice re-examined at any time within one year after the removal of the disability.”
What makes New Hampshire different
New Hampshire never adopted Uniform Probate Code ‘contest’ terminology; the mechanism is a demand to have the will re-proved ‘in solemn form,’ with an explicit statutory tolling provision extending the window to 1 year after a minority, incapacity, or absence-from-the-U.S. disability ends. The controlling authority is N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 552:7, 552:9, and the window runs from probate of a will proved without notice (1 year after a minority, incapacity, or absence-from-the-U.S. disability is removed).
What happens once this deadline passes?
Once the window above closes, New Hampshire’s probate of the will generally becomes final and binding on everyone who had the chance to object, subject only to the tolling or discovery exceptions described above; a separate objection New Hampshire allowed at the original probate hearing does not reopen or extend it.
Sources
| Statute / rule | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 552:7, 552:9 |
| New Hampshire courts (general reference) | New Hampshire judicial branch |
| New Hampshire (additional reference) | New Hampshire.gov |
| Confidence | High |
Every statute or rule quoted on this New Hampshire page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/court/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; whether a specific contest is still timely can turn on facts (exactly when notice was given, how the will was probated, whether a disability applies) that only your own New Hampshire probate court file can confirm.