Vermont Statutes Annotated

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 1205 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026

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(Cite as: 14 V.S.A. § 1205)

§ 1205. Classification of claims

(a) If the applicable assets of the estate are insufficient to pay all claims in full, the executor or administrator shall make payment in the following order:

(1) costs and expenses of administration;

(2) reasonable funeral, burial, and headstone expenses, and perpetual care, not to exceed $3,800.00 exclusive of governmental payments, and reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness of the decedent, including compensation of persons attending him or her;

(3) wages due employees which have been earned within three months prior to the death of the decedent, not to exceed $300.00 to each claimant;

(4) all other claims; including the balance of wages due but unpaid under subdivision (3) of this subsection.

(b) No preference shall be given in the payment of any claim over any other claim of the same class, and a claim due and payable shall not be entitled to a preference over claims not due but the same shall be prorated if there are insufficient assets to satisfy all claims within the class. (Added 1975, No. 240 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; amended 2003, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 24, 2004.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 2010–2013 · leading case: Carpentier v. Tuthill, 195 Vt. 52 (Vt. 2013).

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Carpentier v. Tuthill, 195 Vt. 52 (Vt. 2013). “Defendant again points to the probate court’s ruling that plaintiffs claim against the estate was entitled to no priority under this statute and asserts that plaintiff is bound by this ruling.”

Carpentier v. Tuthill & Hartford Town Clerk, 195 Vt. 52 (Vt. 2013). “In a similar vein, defendant asserts that the estate distribution statute, 14 V.S.A. § 1205, requires that the attachment be vacated.”

In re Est. of Elizabeth LaFrance (Vt. Super. Ct. 2011). “14 V.S.A. § 1205(a)(1). In cases where, as here, partial distributions of estate assets are made prior to the final accounting, it sometimes happens that the remaining estate assets are “insufficient to satisfy the ultimate expenses.”

Rasmussen v. Huntington (Vt. Super. Ct. 2010). “” 14 V.S.A. § 1205(b). Rather, payments to unsecured creditors must be “prorated if there are insufficient assets to satisfy all claims within the class.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 1205(a)(1) — 1 case

In re Est. of Elizabeth LaFrance (Vt. Super. Ct. 2011). “14 V.S.A. § 1205(a)(1). In cases where, as here, partial distributions of estate assets are made prior to the final accounting, it sometimes happens that the remaining estate assets are “insufficient to satisfy the ultimate expenses.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 1205(b) — 1 case

Rasmussen v. Huntington (Vt. Super. Ct. 2010). “” 14 V.S.A. § 1205(b). Rather, payments to unsecured creditors must be “prorated if there are insufficient assets to satisfy all claims within the class.”

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