Kansas
Death Laws & End-of-Life Guide

At a Glance

Filing requirements and timeline.

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)

Who can order copies.

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.

• -Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Office of Vital Statistics: https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/1165/Office-of-Vital-Statistics
• -Cost: approximately $20.00 per certified copy

Who can order a death certificate in Kansas?

Records are closed to public inspection under K.S.A. 65-2422d. You have to be named on the record, an immediate family member 18 or older (a parent, the current spouse, an adult child, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew), or able to show legal proof that the record is needed to determine a personal or property right; guardians attach the court papers. Certified copies come from Kansas's Office of Vital Statistics, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, in Topeka, walk-in in Topeka, online or by phone through VitalChek with a $15 expedite fee, through the iKan mobile app with a $5 fee, or by mail.

How do I get a death certificate in Kansas?

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.

How much does a death certificate cost in Kansas?

$20 per certified copy in Kansas, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.

At a Glance

When probate is required.

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)

If you die without a will.

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.

• -If you have a spouse but no descendants (children, grandchildren), your spouse inherits all your intestate property.
• -If you have a spouse and descendants, your spouse inherits half of your intestate property, and your descendants inherit the other half.
• -If you have descendants but no spouse, your descendants inherit all your intestate property.
• -If you have no spouse or descendants, your parents inherit your intestate property. If your parents are deceased, then your siblings inherit.
• -If no relatives can be found, the living heirs of your last deceased spouse inherit before anything escheats to the state of Kansas (K.S.A. 59-514).

Avoiding probate.

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.

Handwritten wills.

Kansas doesn't accept an unwitnessed handwritten will. Every will has to be signed at the end and attested by two or more competent witnesses who saw the person sign or heard them acknowledge it (K.S.A. 59-606). A will signed outside Kansas counts if it met the law of the place it was signed or of the person's home state when they signed it or died, as long as it's in writing and signed by the person (K.S.A. 59-609).

Source: K.S.A. 59-606 (Kansas Revisor of Statutes) ↗

What is the small-estate limit in Kansas?

$75,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.

Do I need a probate attorney in Kansas?

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.

Does Kansas allow transfer-on-death deeds?

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.

Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. §§ 59-3501 through 59-3507 ↗

Time off work after a death in Kansas

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.

Source: No Kansas statute. Kansas Department of Labor, Workplace Laws FAQs and Workplace Laws and Requirements ↗

Can I leave money to care for my pet in Kansas?

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.

Source: K.S.A. 58a-408 ↗

How to set one up, and what it costs →

Die without a will in Kansas and this law picks your heirs.

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.

What your spouse gets.

What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:

• -Spouse only (no descendants or parents): the spouse takes everything.
• -Spouse + parents (no descendants): parents change nothing, the spouse still takes everything.
• -Spouse + joint descendants: one-half to the spouse, one-half to the children.
• -Spouse + blended family: same split, one-half to the spouse, one-half to the decedent's children.
• -Source: K.S.A. §§ 59-504 to 59-514

Children's shares.

With no spouse, the children take everything in equal shares, and a deceased child's issue collectively take that child's share.

No spouse, no children: the line of succession.

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).

At a Glance

What Kansas requires.

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.

• -Living will witnesses can't be: the person who signed the declaration on your behalf, anyone related to you by blood or marriage, anyone entitled to a share of your estate, or anyone directly financially responsible for your medical care (K.S.A. 65-28,103).
• -Power of attorney witnesses can't be: the agent, anyone related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, anyone entitled to a share of your estate, or anyone directly financially responsible for your health care (K.S.A. 58-629).
• -Your agent can't be your treating health care provider, an employee of that provider, or an employee, owner, director, or officer of a hospital, nursing home, or similar facility, unless that person is related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption (K.S.A. 58-629(d)).
• -A living will has no effect while you're pregnant. K.S.A. 65-28,103(a) suspends the declaration for the whole course of a pregnancy diagnosed by your attending physician.

Healthcare power of 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.

POLST / MOLST forms.

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.

Where do I get Kansas's advance directive form?

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.

Does Kansas require a notary or witnesses for an advance directive?

Kansas accepts either 2 adult witnesses or a notary, as shown in the requirements above; you don't need both. Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.

At a Glance

Cremation rules in Kansas.

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 and alternatives.

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.

• -Green burial: Permitted, with several natural burial grounds available.
• -Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation): Not explicitly regulated, consult local authorities.
• -Home burial: Generally allowed, subject to local zoning and health department rules.

Funeral home regulations.

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.

Who decides what happens to the body in Kansas

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.

1. person named on DD Form 93 to direct disposition, if the decedent died during active military service (takes priority over everyone in subsection (a))
2. agent under a durable power of attorney for health care decisions (K.S.A. 58-625 et seq.), only if the POA conveys authority over disposition of the remains
3. spouse of the decedent
4. surviving adult children (any one may direct after confirming notification of the others in writing, unless another adult child files a written objection)
5. surviving parents
6. persons in the next degree of kinship under the laws of descent and distribution (any person of that degree may direct)
7. guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of death
8. personal representative of the decedent
9. public official charged with arranging disposition under K.S.A. 22a-215, for indigents and others whose disposition is the state's or county's responsibility

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.

Source: K.S.A. 65-1734 ↗

If you can't afford the funeral in Kansas

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), as amended by 2026 H.B. 2331 (in effect July 1, 2026): the coroner delivers the body to the immediate family or next of kin. If there's no immediate family or next of kin, or they refuse or can't accept the remains, the coroner notifies and delivers the remains under chapter 65 article 9, and if no delivery is required the coroner has the body cremated or buried. Under (b), 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, or was a veteran, in which case an unclaimed body's expenses are paid under K.S.A. 73-304 to the extent it applies. 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).

The official page ↗

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 unclaimed property ↗

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, or the family refuses or can't accept 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. If the person was a veteran, an unclaimed body's expenses are paid under K.S.A. 73-304 to the extent it applies. Since July 1, 2026, K.S.A. 22a-215 also covers cremated remains the coroner holds. A person who's authorized to take custody and claims them has to reimburse the coroner for the cost of the cremation and any other fees the coroner's office charges. If nobody has claimed the remains three years after the death, the coroner can publish a notice in a county newspaper, and if the immediate family or next of kin don't claim them within 30 days of that notice, the coroner can bury them in a church or cemetery plot, a scatter garden or a columbarium, or hand a veteran's remains to the Kansas office of veterans services or a national cemetery. 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.

At a Glance

Kansas doesn't have a state estate tax.

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).

Kansas doesn't have an inheritance tax.

Kansas doesn't levy an inheritance tax. Beneficiaries inheriting property from a Kansas decedent won't owe state inheritance tax on those assets.

Federal estate tax.

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.

Does Kansas have an estate tax?

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.

Does Kansas have an inheritance tax?

No. Kansas doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive.

What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?

$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.

At a Glance

Registering as a donor in Kansas.

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.

• -Donate Life Kansas Registry: https://donatelifeks.com/
• -Register when applying for or renewing your driver's license or state ID at the Kansas Department of Revenue (DMV).
• -Indicate your wishes on your advance directive forms.

Your family can't override an adult donor's decision.

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) ↗