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MORTL → State Guides → Kansas
State Guide
What Kansas law actually says about death, probate, cremation, advance directives, and estate taxes. No legal jargon. Just what you need to know.
Someone just died in Kansas? The first 24 hours, step by step →
Guide Status
● Last reviewed August 2026
Laws change. Each section shows when it was last verified. Always confirm with a licensed Kansas attorney for your specific situation.
This is general information, not legal advice. Kansas law changes. Your situation is specific. For anything that matters, talk to a licensed Kansas attorney. Our directory doesn't list attorneys, so you'll find one on your own.
The short answer
In Kansas, estates under $75,000 can skip full probate through a simplified process or affidavit. Cremation has no statutory waiting period. There's no Kansas estate or inheritance tax. Every figure below names its source and the date it was checked.
Reviewed August 2026 · Kansas
Someone just died in Kansas: the first 24 hours →Verified providers in Kansas →
Last verified: August 7, 2026
Source: K.S.A. 65-2412; KDHE Office of Vital Statistics ↗At a Glance
File within 3 days · Restricted for 25 years · Then public
A death certificate must be filed with the state registrar within three days after the death and before the body leaves the state, and in every case before the body is buried or otherwise disposed of. The funeral director or person acting as one who first assumes custody of the body files it, gets the personal data from the next of kin or the best source available, and gets the certification of cause of death from the certifier last in attendance. Filing goes through the Kansas electronic death registration system. (K.S.A. 65-2412)
Ask each bank, insurer, court, agency, and property office whether it requires a certified copy. Order an initial quantity based on those actual needs, and confirm the current fee and process for ordering more.
Certified copies of death certificates can be ordered from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Office of Vital Statistics. Eligible individuals include immediate family members, legal representatives, or those with a direct and tangible interest.
Order certified copies from Kansas's vital records office; this section's source link is the official process. The funeral home or cremation provider usually orders the first copies for you. Ask each bank, insurer, court, and agency whether it needs its own certified copy before you decide how many to order.
$20.00 per certified copy in Kansas, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.
Last verified: August 9, 2026
Source: K.S.A. 59-1507b (transfer of personal property by affidavit); K.S.A. Chapter 59 (Kansas Probate Code) ↗At a Glance
Small estate threshold vs. national average
If the total assets of a Kansas resident's estate subject to probate don't exceed $75,000, a successor can collect personal property with an affidavit instead of getting letters of administration or letters testamentary. The affidavit reaches personal property only. Real estate still needs a court process or a recorded transfer-on-death deed. Above $75,000, formal probate is generally required. (K.S.A. 59-1507b)
No Kansas court publishes a typical probate duration, so this guide doesn't claim one. The statutory clocks set the floor: a probate petition must be filed within six months of the death, and creditor demands run four months from the first published notice, so estates stay open at least that long (K.S.A. 59-2239).
If a Kansas resident dies without a valid will (intestate), their property will be distributed according to Kansas's laws of intestate succession. The distribution depends on the surviving family members.
Kansas offers several methods to avoid probate, allowing assets to pass directly to beneficiaries without court involvement. These include revocable living trusts, payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designations for bank accounts and securities, and joint ownership with right of survivorship for real estate and other assets.
$75,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.
Not always. If the estate qualifies for the simplified process covered above, many people handle it without a lawyer. Hire one for full probate, a contested will, or property in more than one state. Before you hire anyone, know the fee structures: hourly, flat, and (in a few states) statutory percentages. Our probate attorney cost guide covers what each should run you.
No will yet, or one that's out of date? How to write a will covers what belongs in one and the signing requirements, step by step. The rules on this page are what Kansas law adds.
Yes. Kansas authorizes the transfer-on-death deed under Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 59-3501 through 59-3507. Record it while you’re alive and the property passes to your named beneficiary at death, outside probate, revocable any time before then. Kansas was one of the earliest TOD-deed states (1997); the deed must be recorded in the register of deeds office of the county where the land sits before death.
Kansas doesn't require a private employer to give bereavement leave, paid or unpaid. Whatever you get is your employer's policy, and it can be changed or refused.
Who it covers. Nobody. No Kansas private employer has to give bereavement leave.
How much. None required.
Paid or unpaid. Not applicable.
State workers are the exception, and it's a policy, not a statute reaching private employers: the Kansas Department of Administration lists funeral leave among state employee benefits at up to six days of paid leave on the death of a close relative (https://admin.ks.gov/offices/personnel-services/jobs/benefits). That covers state employment only. Kansas has no pregnancy-loss leave provision and no city ordinance filling the gap.
Yes. Kansas enforces pet trusts under K.S.A. 58a-408, so money you set aside for an animal is legally binding on whoever you put in charge of it. The trust ends when your animal dies, or when the last of them dies if you covered more than one, and Kansas sets no year limit on it. Whoever you name in the trust enforces it, and if you name nobody a court appoints someone. Anyone who cares about your animal can also ask the court to appoint an enforcer or to remove one who isn't doing the job. A judge can cut the amount back if it holds more than your animal's care requires. Unless your trust says where the extra should go, it comes back to you if you're living, and otherwise to whoever inherits from you. Kansas covers an animal that was alive at some point during your life, so a pet your family takes in after you die needs its own arrangement. Name the caretaker and the person who enforces the trust, plus a backup for each; Kansas won't pick them for you.
Last verified: July 17, 2026
Source: K.S.A. §§ 59-504 to 59-514 ↗If you die intestate (without a valid will) in Kansas, K.S.A. §§ 59-504 to 59-514 decides who inherits everything a will would have covered. The shares depend on exactly who survives you: spouse, children, parents, siblings. What you told people you wanted doesn't matter. Only a signed will changes these defaults.
No dollar lump sums and no named grandparent tier: remote kin inherit as 'heirs of the parents.' Heirs of the decedent's last deceased spouse take before anything escheats to the state.
What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:
With no spouse, the children take everything in equal shares, and a deceased child's issue collectively take that child's share.
With no spouse, child, or issue, everything goes to the parents equally; if none, to the heirs of each parent (siblings first, then remoter kin, traced as if each parent had owned half and died intestate); if none, to the living heirs of the decedent's last deceased spouse; and only then does the estate escheat to the state (K.S.A. 59-514).
Last verified: August 7, 2026
Source: K.S.A. 65-28,103 (living will); K.S.A. 58-629 (health care power of attorney) ↗At a Glance
Living Will
Specifies end-of-life care wishes
Healthcare Proxy
Names a decision-maker for you
DNR / POLST
Do-not-resuscitate orders
Kansas law recognizes two documents. A living will under the natural death act states your wishes on withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining procedures in a terminal condition (K.S.A. 65-28,101 et seq.). A durable power of attorney for health care decisions names an agent to make medical decisions for you when you can't (K.S.A. 58-629). Each document is valid if it's signed and dated in the presence of two witnesses at least 18 years old, or acknowledged before a notary public. The notary is an alternative to the witnesses, not an extra requirement.
The living will statute prints a fill-in-the-blank form in K.S.A. 65-28,103. You can complete it without an attorney.
In Kansas, a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (HCPOA) allows you to appoint an agent to make medical decisions on your behalf if you're unable to do so. This document can be a standalone form or combined with a Living Will. The agent's authority typically begins when your physician determines you lack the capacity to make your own decisions.
Kansas uses a Transportable Physician Orders for Patient Preferences (TPOPP) form, which is similar to POLST/MOLST forms in other states. TPOPP is a medical order set for patients with serious illness or frailty, translating their wishes into actionable medical orders that follow them across healthcare settings. It covers medical treatments, resuscitation, and other life-sustaining measures, and is signed by both the patient (or their representative) and a physician.
Start with K.S.A. 65-28,103 (living will); K.S.A. 58-629 (health care power of attorney), linked as this section's source. Use the current form or sample that the official source provides or identifies. Form authority and execution requirements vary by state, so confirm the source before signing and get legal help if your situation or the instructions are unclear.
Kansas requires 2 adult witnesses; notarization isn’t required. Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.
Last verified: August 7, 2026
Source: K.S.A. §§ 65-1762, 65-1763, and 65-2426a ↗At a Glance
Kansas sets no waiting period before cremation. Two documents gate it. First, a coroner's permit to cremate: for a death that happened in Kansas, no body may be cremated unless one has been executed (K.S.A. 65-2426a). Cremating without it is a crime punishable by a fine of up to $500. Second, a cremation authorization form signed by an authorizing agent, naming the decedent, stating whether the death came from an infectious or contagious disease, and confirming there's no pacemaker or other hazardous implant left in place (K.S.A. 65-1762). Only licensed crematory operators may perform the cremation. Known pacemakers and other potentially hazardous implants have to be removed before the body goes to the crematory, and that's the authorizing agent's responsibility. If the crematory can't cremate right away, it has to refrigerate the body at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less unless the body was embalmed (K.S.A. 65-1763).
Source: K.S.A. § 65-2426a: coroner's permit to cremate ↗Source: K.S.A. § 65-1763: hazardous implants and crematory procedure ↗
Green burial is legal in Kansas. State law doesn't require embalming or the use of a casket for burial. Natural burial grounds exist where un-embalmed bodies are buried in biodegradable containers or shrouds, without concrete vaults. Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation) and human composting aren't explicitly addressed in Kansas statutes, but home burial is generally permitted if local zoning and health regulations are followed.
Funeral homes in Kansas are licensed and regulated by the Kansas State Board of Mortuary Arts. They must comply with the FTC Funeral Rule, which requires transparent pricing and allows consumers to choose only the goods and services they want. Funeral homes must provide an itemized general price list upon request.
Kansas sets this order by statute. The first person on the list who is available and willing decides, and a funeral home takes its instructions from them.
Naming someone in advance. No standalone disposition-agent form. Kansas recognizes only the agent named in a durable power of attorney for health care decisions under K.S.A. 58-625 et seq., and only if that POA expressly conveys authority to decide disposition of the remains (K.S.A. 65-1734(a)(1)). For a service member who died in active service, DD Form 93 outranks everything.
When the same tier disagrees. Not stated as a general rule; there is no majority requirement and no referral to a court anywhere in the section. Among adult children, one child may direct after confirming notification of the others in writing, and that authority stops only if the funeral establishment or crematory authority receives a written objection from another adult child. Among persons of the same degree of kinship under (a)(5), "any person of that degree may direct the manner of disposition," with no objection mechanism at all.
An executed health care POA that mentions remains outranks the spouse, so a Kansas agent can displace a widow or widower. There is no felony disqualification, no estrangement rule, and no forfeiture for failing to act within a deadline. Subsection (c) immunizes funeral directors, funeral establishments, and crematories that carry out otherwise lawful instructions from someone they reasonably believe is entitled to control final disposition.
Three separate pots of money, on three different agencies' websites, collected nowhere. A family that qualifies for all three usually claims none of them.
1. When nobody can pay. County burial through the coroner under K.S.A. 22a-215. There is no statewide indigent burial program. A separate, discretionary funeral benefit exists for people who were receiving state assistance, under K.S.A. 39-713d and K.A.R. 30-4-98. The county coroner, paid from the county general fund. For the assistance-recipient benefit, the Kansas Department for Children and Families.
What it pays. Not published. K.S.A. 22a-215 states no dollar amount and sets no cap on what the county general fund pays. K.S.A. 39-713d states no amount either: it says the secretary 'may pay funeral and cemetery expenses in amounts which shall not be more than the maximum amounts fixed for such purposes by rules and regulations adopted by the secretary.' The regulation that implements it, K.A.R. 30-4-98, publishes no dollar figure for the benefit itself. The only dollar figure in the regulation is a $2,000 eligibility resource limit.
What disqualifies you. K.S.A. 22a-215(a): the coroner delivers the body to the immediate family or next of kin. If there's no immediate family or next of kin, and no delivery is required under chapter 65 article 9, the coroner has the body cremated or buried. Expenses are paid from any property found with the body first. If that's not enough and the person was eligible for assistance under chapter 39 article 7, they're paid under K.S.A. 39-713d. Otherwise they're paid from the county general fund, unless the person died in the custody of the Secretary of Corrections, in which case the Department of Corrections pays. K.A.R. 30-4-98: funeral assistance may be provided on the death of a recipient at the secretary's discretion, covering preparation of the body, a minimal casket or urn, transportation of the body within Kansas, or cremation. The request has to be made within six months after the date of death or the date the coroner releases the body, whichever is later. Funeral assistance may be provided if the value of countable available resources doesn't exceed $2,000. Life insurance proceeds on the decedent, and death benefits from SSA, VA, railroad retirement, KPERS and any other burial funds, all count as available. A cemetery lot bought without public funds isn't deducted from the funeral expenses, per K.S.A. 39-713d(b).
2. If the death was caused by a crime. $7,500. K.S.A. 74-7301(a) defines 'allowance expense' to include 'a total charge not in excess of $7,500 for expenses in any way related to funeral, cremation or burial.' The wording is deliberately broad, so a headstone or burial clothing would come out of that same $7,500 rather than having its own sub-cap. No separate sub-caps for headstone, flowers or burial clothing are published. Crime scene cleanup has its own separate limit of $2,500 in the same definition. The overall cap is $25,000: K.S.A. 74-7305(i) says compensation payable to a victim and to all other claimants because of injury to or death of that victim 'may not exceed $25,000 in the aggregate.'
Kansas crime victim compensation ↗
3. Money the person was already owed. Search Kansas's unclaimed property before you borrow anything. Searching and claiming are free.
Kansas has no statewide burial fund. It's a county charge, and no dollar amount is published anywhere in the law. K.S.A. 22a-215 puts it on the coroner. The coroner releases the body to immediate family or next of kin. When there's nobody to take it, the coroner arranges cremation or burial. The bill gets paid in this order: first from any property found with the body, then, if the person was getting state assistance, under K.S.A. 39-713d, and otherwise out of the county general fund. If the person died in the custody of the Secretary of Corrections, the Department of Corrections pays. So call the coroner's office in the county where the death happened and ask what the county will pay. The statute sets no cap and names no figure, so counties handle this differently and asking is the only way to find out. One thing worth knowing about your rights here. If a coroner hands the body to a particular funeral home over the objection of the immediate family or next of kin, that's a class B nonperson misdemeanor and the coroner forfeits the office. You get a say in who handles the person. There's a second benefit if the person was getting assistance from the Department for Children and Families when they died. Under K.A.R. 30-4-98, DCF may pay for preparation of the body, a minimal casket or urn, transportation of the body within Kansas, or cremation. The regulation publishes no dollar amount, so ask DCF what they'll cover. Two rules matter. You have to ask within six months of the death, or within six months of the coroner releasing the body if that's later. And the countable resources have to be $2,000 or less. Life insurance on the person, plus death benefits from Social Security, the VA, railroad retirement and KPERS, all count toward that $2,000. It's discretionary, so ask anyway. A cemetery lot bought with private money isn't deducted. If the death was a violent crime, the Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board can pay up to $7,500 for anything related to the funeral, cremation or burial, inside a $25,000 total for everyone claiming because of that person's death. You generally have five years from the death to file. The crime normally has to be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours, but the board can waive that if it finds good cause, so file even if the report was late. The board also has to find that you'd suffer financial stress without the award. Call the Division of Crime Victims Compensation at (785) 296-2359. Then search kansascash.ks.gov, the State Treasurer's unclaimed property site, for money held in the person's name.
Last verified: August 7, 2026
Source: Kansas Department of Revenue, Notice 10-07 (estate tax repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2010) ↗At a Glance
Kansas doesn't impose a state estate tax. K.S.A. 79-15,253 repealed the estate tax statutes on January 1, 2010, and the legislature hasn't enacted anything to replace them, so no tax is due from the estate of anyone who died after December 31, 2009. The Department of Revenue says it won't even process estate tax returns filed for those estates (Notice 10-07).
While Kansas has no state estate tax, residents may still be subject to the federal estate tax if their estate exceeds the federal exemption amount.
Kansas doesn't levy an inheritance tax. Beneficiaries inheriting property from a Kansas decedent won't owe state inheritance tax on those assets.
The federal estate tax applies to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for married couples. This is separate from any state estate or inheritance tax. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent, so the drop to roughly $7 million once scheduled under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act never took effect.
No. Kansas has no state estate tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for a married couple.
No. Kansas doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive.
$15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent. Estates below the threshold owe no federal estate tax.
Last verified: August 8, 2026
Source: K.S.A. 65-3220 et seq. (Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act); Donate Life Kansas ↗At a Glance
In Kansas, you can register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor through several convenient methods. Registering ensures your wishes are known and legally recognized.
In Kansas, a registered organ donor decision is legally binding, and nobody else can amend or revoke it after your death (K.S.A. 65-3227(a)). One exception: if the donor is an unemancipated minor, a parent who is reasonably available can revoke or amend the gift (K.S.A. 65-3227(g)). Organ procurement organizations still consult families in practice, so tell yours what you decided.
Source: K.S.A. 65-3227 (preclusive effect of anatomical gift) ↗
Need Help in Kansas?
Wills, trusts, advance directives, and probate all benefit from a licensed professional. We've compiled a directory of funeral directors, grief counselors, hospice providers, and financial advisors. Sorted by state. Before a listing appears, we check the provider's phone and address against the provider's own website.
Find Help in Kansas →From The MORTL Edit
Sources: Kansas Statutes Annotated (K.S.A.), Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department of Revenue. Individual sections are updated and re-dated whenever a law changes, which is why the date at the top of the guide can be newer than this one. The whole guide also gets a front-to-back review on a schedule. Last front-to-back review: June 2026.
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