Bank accounts after a death

One fact decides most of what follows here: whose names were on the account, and whether anyone was named to receive it. That is what a bank means by how an account was held, and it is what decides whether the account passes outside the estate or waits on somebody having authority over it.

Mostly the same everywhere

Sources: 3 primary sources
States verified: 50

Short answer

Before you call anyone, find a recent statement and read how the account is owned. Two names joined by wording that carries survivorship, or one name followed by “payable on death to”, and the account passes outside the estate to the survivor or the person named — on that bank’s own procedure, in its own time. One name on its own, and it waits.

What it waits for is authority: a court appointment, or a small-estate affidavit — a sworn form that lets a family claim a modest estate without probate. Ask for the department that handles deceased customers rather than the branch, and tell them before you close anything. There is also a 6 months deposit-insurance grace period after a death, set out below.^{Source 1}

Verified where marked: FDIC — Death of an Account Owner (Deposit Insurance guide, 12 C.F.R. §330.3(j)) (opens in a new tab) checked 2026-08-12

Jump to what you need

How the account was held
Can I pay the funeral bill from it?
Being executor is not the same as authority
Money arriving after the death
The six-month insurance window
What to do now, and what can wait

Paying the funeral, and the bills that keep arriving

This is the question families ask first and the one most likely to cause trouble later. Money in a sole-name account is not yours to spend because you are next of kin, and a well-meant withdrawal to cover a funeral invoice is difficult to unwind once an estate is opened.

Before paying anything personally, ask the provider what its terms actually are and when payment is due — a funeral home may be willing to be paid by the estate later, and that is a question rather than an assumption. If somebody does pay an estate expense personally, keep the receipt and check the state’s reimbursement and priority-of-claims rules before assuming the estate will repay it.

Using a debit card or online banking on a deceased person's sole account after the death is the version of this that goes wrong quietly. The bank may treat it as unauthorized once it learns of the death, and an executor appointed later has to account for it.

Where the account was joint with survivorship, or the reader is the person named to receive it, the account does not pass through the estate and this section is not about them. What the bank requires before releasing it, and what the account agreement and the state’s law say, still decide what happens next.

Being named executor is not the same as having authority

A will nominates an executor. A court appoints one. Until the second thing happens, a bank has nobody to deal with. It is why a family can be turned away at a branch while holding the will that names them.

Named in the willappointed by the court

Nomination is the deceased person's wish. Appointment is the court's grant of power, and it arrives as a document — letters testamentary, or letters of administration where there is no will. A bank acts on the second.

Notifying the bankgetting access

Telling a bank someone has died is something anyone can do, and should do early. It stops cards, flags the account and prevents fraud. It does not open the account to the person who called.

There is a second route. Most states let a successor collect a bank account with a sworn affidavit instead of opening probate at all, once a waiting period has passed and provided the estate is under a stated ceiling. Whether it is open to a particular family depends on that ceiling and on what else is in the estate. The form, the ceiling and the wait are set by the state where the person lived — not by where the bank has branches.

A ceiling on the estate — a few thousand dollars in some states, several hundred thousand in others. Some count the house in that figure and some do not.
A waiting period after the death before the affidavit may be used at all, commonly between ten and sixty days.
Required contents, set by statute rather than by the bank — which is why a bank cannot waive them and cannot add to them either.
Who may sign, which is usually a successor to the estate rather than whoever holds the death certificate.

Every state has a version of this and no two are the same. The ceiling ranges from a few thousand dollars to several hundred thousand, and some states count the house while others do not. The state that governs is the one the person lived in.

The numbers themselves live with small-estate procedures, which sets out each published state's ceiling and waiting period. Ask for it by the state's own name for the procedure — several states call it something other than a small-estate affidavit, and asking for the wrong words at a branch is a common way to be told it does not exist.

The six-month deposit-insurance window

The FDIC insures a deceased owner's accounts as if they were still alive for 6 months after the death. The purpose is to give a surviving owner time to restructure accounts so everything stays fully insured.

After that window closes, coverage depends on how the accounts are then held, and the drop can be large. The FDIC's own example: a couple with a $500,000 joint account and a $100,000 single account, fully insured while both are alive. Six months after one dies, with nothing restructured, that $600,000 is treated as the survivor's single accounts, insured to $250,000 with $350,000 uninsured.

This only matters if the bank later fails, which is why it is easy to leave unattended until the window has closed.

Two limits are worth knowing. The grace period is not applied where applying it would reduce coverage, and there is no grace period at all when a beneficiary of an account dies, where coverage can drop immediately.

^{Source 1Source 2}

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Money that arrives after the death

Payments keep landing in an account for weeks after somebody dies, and not all of them are the estate's to keep. Social Security is the one that catches families out: the benefit paid for the month of death has to go back, even though the person was alive for most of it.

Social Security reclaims these directly from the bank, often without warning and sometimes months later. If the money has already been distributed, the family is asked for it back. Leaving a final deposit untouched until it is clear whose it is costs nothing and avoids that conversation entirely.

A pension or annuity may have the same rule — ask the plan rather than assuming.
A final paycheck usually belongs to the estate or, in some states, directly to a surviving spouse.
A tax refund is the estate's, and is claimed on its own form.
Interest earned after the date of death is the estate's income, not the person's.

^{Source 3}

What to do now, and what can wait

Bank accounts, in the order they actually matter

Now Find a recent statement and read how each account is heldThis one fact decides the path for every account, and it takes ten seconds per statement.
Now Notify each bank of the deathAnyone can do this. It stops cards, prevents fraud and flags the account. It does not give anyone access.
This week Stop automatic payments that are no longer neededSubscriptions and memberships keep drawing. Insurance on a house nobody lives in usually should not be canceled — ask first.
Within 6 months Restructure joint accounts for deposit insuranceThe FDIC grace period is the only deadline on this page that runs silently.
When authority exists Close or transfer sole-name accountsEither with letters from the court or with a small-estate affidavit, whichever fits.

Almost nothing here is urgent in the first week. The exception is fraud: a death notice is public, and accounts belonging to somebody who has died are a known target. Notifying the bank early is worth doing for that reason alone.

^{Source 1}

How this works at each bank

First: how was the account held?

This is on the statement, and it decides the entire path. Everything below assumes you have read it rather than remembered it.

How it was held	What happens	What you do
Joint, with right of survivorship	The surviving owner already owns it. The account does not pass through the estate and does not wait for probate.	Take a certified death certificate and your ID to the bank and have the deceased owner removed. Ask at the same visit about restructuring for deposit insurance.
Payable-on-death, or with a named beneficiary	It passes to the named beneficiary directly, outside the estate and outside the will.	The beneficiary claims it with a certified death certificate and ID. No court authority is needed.
Sole name, no beneficiary named	It becomes part of the estate. Nobody has authority over it until an executor or personal representative is appointed, or until a state's small-estate procedure applies.	Do not expect access before then. Notify the bank of the death so the account is flagged, and wait for authority.
Held by a trust	The successor trustee takes over under the trust's own terms, without probate.	The successor trustee presents the trust document, or a certification of trust, along with the death certificate and their ID.

The procedure, at each institution

The steps are the same everywhere; the forms are not. Every bank has its own deceased-customer process, and asking for it by name saves a week.

Gather what every bank will ask for

A certified copy of the death certificate, your own government ID, the account numbers, and — for a sole-name account — the court document appointing you. Many banks keep the certified copy, so bring one per institution rather than expecting it back.
Ask for the estate or deceased-customer department, not the branch

Almost every large bank has a specialist unit for this, and a branch teller will usually restart the process from the beginning. Ask by name: "your estate servicing team" or "your deceased account services department".
Notify first; close later

Notifying the bank flags the account and stops new activity. Closing it too early can be a problem when a final direct deposit, a refund, or a returned Social Security payment still has to move through it.
Deal with the payments going out, not just the money sitting there

Mortgage, insurance and utility payments may be leaving the account automatically. Some should keep running so that property stays insured and out of default. Stopping all of them indiscriminately causes more problems than it solves.
Ask about deposit insurance before the six months are up

For a surviving joint owner, this is the one action with a real deadline. Ask the bank what the coverage will be once the grace period ends and what restructuring would keep the balance fully insured.^{Source 1}

What to ask for by name

"Your estate servicing or deceased account services department" — not the branch.
"What is your process for a deceased customer, and what documents do you require?"
"Do you keep the certified death certificate, or return it?"
"What will the deposit insurance coverage be after the six-month grace period, and what would you recommend restructuring?"
"Are there any automatic payments leaving this account, and can you list them for me?"
"Was there a safe-deposit box, and what is your procedure for it?"

What your state decides about a dead person's account

Everything above applies in every state. These are the parts that do not.

Whether you can reach the account without a court appointment

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

Not with an affidavit across a counter. Alabama's summary distribution is a verified petition filed with the judge of probate in the county where the person was domiciled, and a self-proved will has to be filed with it. No bond is required. So it is a court route rather than a bank route, and it is a short one.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-691 — definitions, Revised Alabama Small Estates Act (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-692 — petition for summary distribution (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Yes, thirty days after the death, provided nobody has opened a probate case or asked for a personal representative anywhere. The Alaska Court System answers the question directly: no court case is needed if the estate meets the conditions.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

Yes, 30 days after the death, on the non-probate affidavit A.R.S. §14-3971 authorizes. No court appearance is part of it. One condition has nothing to do with the bank and closes the route for a family still waiting on an insurer or a burial policy: the funeral expenses and the expenses of the last illness must already have been paid.^{Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•Source: A.R.S. §14-3971(B)(4) (opens in a new tab)•}
Arkansas

Yes, forty-five days after the death, provided no petition for a personal representative is pending or has been granted. Form 23 is sworn for the purpose of dispensing with administration altogether.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

Yes. Probate Code §13100 lets the successor, forty days after the death, collect money due the decedent “without procuring letters of administration or awaiting probate of the will”. A bank balance is squarely inside it — money due the decedent is the first thing the section names.^{Source: California Probate Code §13100 (opens in a new tab)•}
Colorado

Yes, and sooner than anywhere else: ten or more days after the death. The section reaches funds on deposit and the contents of a safe deposit box by name.^{Source: C.R.S. §§ 15-12-1201, 15-11-403 and 15-10-112 — collection of personal property by affidavit, exempt property, and the cost of living adjustment (opens in a new tab)•}
Connecticut

Yes, and with no waiting period at all, but only through the Probate Court. Form PC-212 is filed there, and the court decrees who takes what; there is no affidavit handed straight to a bank.^{Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 — settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Connecticut Probate Courts — PC-212, Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration (rev. 07/23) (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no petition for a personal representative pending or granted. Section 2306 is headed distribution without a grant of letters.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

No. Florida has no affidavit a family hands across a counter. Both routes end in a court order: summary administration, on a petition filed in the circuit court for the county where the person lived at death, or the narrower disposition without administration for an estate effectively exhausted by the funeral bill and the medical and hospital expenses of the last sixty days of the last illness.^{Source: Fla. Stat. §735.201 (Summary administration) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Fla. Stat. §735.301 (Disposition without administration) (opens in a new tab)•}
Georgia

Yes, but not by handing a bank anything — Georgia's route is an order. Where the estate owes no debts and every heir has agreed in writing on the division, the probate court declares that no administration is necessary, and the order is what reaches the account. There is no ceiling to be under and no affidavit to swear at a counter.^{Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

Yes, and Hawaii's is the most direct route in this table: an affidavit handed to whoever holds the money, with a death certificate, and no court at any point. The statute makes it a duty on the holder rather than a request from the family.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, Hawaii Revised Statutes current compilation (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

Yes, more than thirty days after the death. Idaho's bar is wider than most: no application or petition for a personal representative OR for summary administration may be pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

Yes, and this is the strongest version of the route in the country. 755 ILCS 5/25-1(a) makes the affidavit mandatory on the holder rather than optional: an institution furnished with one “shall pay the indebtedness, grant access to the safe deposit box, deliver the personal estate”. No court at any point, and the safe deposit box is included, which several states put behind a court order. The route closes the moment anyone contemplates letters.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

Yes, forty-five days after the death, with no appointment pending or granted in any jurisdiction. The five-day shortcut in the same section is for a vehicle or watercraft only and does not reach a bank account.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

Yes, forty days after the death, without procuring letters of appointment. Iowa also names the Iowa Medicaid agency itself as a successor entitled to use the same route where the decedent received medical assistance.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

Yes, and with no waiting period at all. Kansas gates the route on value and on no petition for an executor or administrator being pending or granted, not on time since the death.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Kansas Judicial Council — Small Estates Affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b, published as KDOR form TR-83b (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

Not by handing anything to the bank. Kentucky's route to money in an account without a full administration is an exemption that the District Court SETS APART on application, to the surviving spouse or, if there is none, to the surviving children. It reaches money in a bank or other depository as readily as it reaches goods, and it is not automatic: somebody has to apply.^{Source: KRS 391.030 — descent of personal property; exemption for surviving spouse and children (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

Often yes, with no waiting period and no judge. It is not necessary to open judicially the small succession of a Louisiana resident who died intestate, and two further cases are listed alongside it.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3431 — small successions; judicial opening unnecessary (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no application or petition for a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

Not by affidavit. Maryland's route is to open a small estate with the Register of Wills, which is an administrative process rather than a court one and very rarely involves a judge, and then to act on the letters that office issues.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

Yes, thirty days or more after the death, provided no formal or informal petition for probate of a will or appointment of a personal representative has been filed. There is no outer limit at all: the time limitations of section 3-108 do not apply.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Yes, twenty-eight days after the death, and MCL 700.3983(1) frames it as a duty on the holder rather than a permission: a person indebted to the decedent “shall pay the indebtedness” on being presented with the death certificate and a sworn statement. One gate has no threshold at all — the estate must include no real property, of any value.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Yes, thirty days after the death, and Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 binds the holder rather than inviting them to co-operate: a person indebted to the decedent, a person having possession of tangible personal property, or a safe deposit company shall pay or deliver on a certified death record and an affidavit. Naming the safe deposit company in the same breath is unusual — several states put the box behind a court order.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

Yes. Mississippi's successor affidavit is presented to whoever owes the money or holds the property, and on presentation they must pay or deliver. No court, no filing.^{Source: Mississippi Senate Bill 2850, 2020 regular session, enrolled — amending Miss. Code 91-7-322 and 91-5-35, Secretary of State's enrolled acts, Mississippi Department of Archives and History (opens in a new tab)•}
Missouri

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no application for letters or for refusal of letters pending or granted. Missouri also lets the court refuse letters outright where the estate is no greater than the exempt property and the family allowance, after which the surviving spouse may collect the personal property as if appointed.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.090 — refusal of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no application or petition for a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no application or petition for a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Yes, forty days after the death, which is the longest wait here, and only where the person left no Nevada real property, interest, mortgage or lien.^{Source: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 146.080 — estates not exceeding certain amounts, affidavit showing right to assets (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nevada DMV — VP-24, Affidavit for Transfer of Title for Estates Without Probate (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

Only where the account itself was set up to pass. New Hampshire has no small-estate affidavit for a bank account: its simplified route is a waiver of administration, which is an appointment with the inventory, bond and accounting waived rather than a way round the counter. What does reach an account without letters is the account's own form — a payable-on-death designation, or a joint account with survivorship.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 383-B:4-404 — payable on death accounts, Depository Bank Act (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

Two questions here, not one, and the second is the one that decides how long the money takes. Administration can be avoided where the estate is intestate: a surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner takes it on an affidavit executed before the county Surrogate, and where there is none, one heir may do the same with the written consent of every other heir. But the account is separately frozen by the inheritance tax lien, and that freeze does not lift because you avoided probate.^{Source: N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3 (When spouse, partner in a civil union, or domestic partner entitled to assets without administration) (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.J.S.A. 3B:10-4 (When heirs entitled to assets without administration) (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation — Tax Waiver Requirements (opens in a new tab)•}
New Mexico

Yes, thirty days after the death, provided no probate has been filed. New Mexico's court guide names the bank as the recipient of the affidavit rather than describing a generic holder.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

Not without the courthouse, but not by probate either. New York's route is voluntary administration under SCPA Article 13: an affidavit filed with the clerk of the Surrogate's Court in the county where the person was domiciled, with a certified copy of the death certificate. The filing fee is one dollar.^{Source: NY SCPA Article 13 (opens in a new tab)•Source: NY SCPA Article 13 (opens in a new tab)•}
North Carolina

Yes, thirty days after the death — and North Carolina wrote the route twice so that a will would not close it: G.S. 28A-25-1 for an intestate estate, and 28A-25-1.1 in almost identical words for a testate one, widened to let a person named as executor in the will swear it. The affidavit is a court filing rather than a private document: a copy goes to the clerk of superior court in the county of domicile, who indexes it in the index to estates and mails a copy to everyone the affidavit names.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1 — collection of property by affidavit, intestate and testate (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no appointment pending or granted in any jurisdiction. Summary administration under section 30.1-23-03 is the other route and it happens inside an estate rather than instead of one.^{Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-23-01 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.D. Cent. Code §§ 30.1-23-03 and 30.1-23-04 — small estates, summary administrative procedure and closing (opens in a new tab)•}
Ohio

No affidavit, and no administration either. Ohio's route is release from administration: an application by any interested party, the notice the court directs plus publication, and an order relieving the estate. What separates it from its neighbors is reach — the order directs transfer of real property as well as delivery of personal property, where the Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas equivalents are confined to personal estate and leave a family holding a house with a second problem.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

Yes, ten days after the death, which is the shortest wait in this comparison alongside Colorado's. 58 O.S. § 393 makes the affidavit binding rather than persuasive: a person indebted to the decedent, or holding tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, shall make payment or deliver it on being presented one.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

Not without a filing. Oregon's simple estate affidavit goes to the clerk of the probate court with a fee, and it is the filed affidavit that reaches the account — so there is a court step even though there is no administration and no personal representative.^{Source: ORS 114.515 — simple estate affidavit; who may file; fee (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

Yes, and Pennsylvania is one of the few states with a rule written for bank accounts specifically rather than for estates generally. 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 calls these dispositions independent of letters, and for a deposit the verb is shall: the institution shall pay, to a spouse, child, parent or sibling, preference in that order.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 — dispositions independent of letters, and the ceilings on each (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

Yes, thirty days after the death, but through the probate court rather than across a counter: a statement is filed, a judge reviews it, and the clerk issues a certification of appointment of voluntary administrator.^{Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 — administration of small estates where an executor is named in the will (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

Yes, thirty days after the death, but not on your own say-so: the affidavit must be approved and countersigned by the probate judge of the county of domicile and then filed in the probate court.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

Yes, thirty days after the death, with no appointment pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and only where the decedent owed the Department of Social Services nothing for nursing home or other institutional medical care.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

No — Tennessee is the clearest no in this table. There is no affidavit route to a bank account: the family petitions for limited letters, and it is the letters that reach the account. Forty-five days from the death unless the court waives it, and only if nobody has sought a full personal representative in the meantime.^{Source: Tennessee House Civil Justice Amendment No. 1 to HB0337 (113th General Assembly) — The Small Estate Probate Act, enacted as Public Chapter 297, effective 28 April 2023 (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

Check one thing before any of this, because in Texas it decides the whole question and it is not what people assume: a joint account does NOT pass to the survivor merely because it is joint. Survivorship has to have been agreed in writing and cannot be inferred from joint ownership, so two names on a Texas account prove nothing on their own. Where survivorship was agreed, the money is the survivor's and none of what follows applies. Only with a judge. The Texas small estate affidavit is filed with the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction and venue, and the judge must approve it before it does anything. It is intestate only, from its opening clause — a family holding a will is outside the chapter altogether, and their route is admitting the will as a muniment of title, where no representative is appointed and the order itself is what banks and transfer agents act on.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§111.001, 111.002, 111.052 — survivorship agreements and nontestamentary transfers (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§257.001, 257.102, 257.103 — probate of a will as a muniment of title (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

Yes, 30 days after the death, with no application or petition for a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction. The Judiciary is emphatic that nothing is filed with the court: the successor signs before a notary and hands it to the bank.^{Source: Utah State Courts — Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Tax Commission — TC-569C, Survivorship Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

Not by affidavit. Vermont has no such route: the small estate is a probate estate, commenced by filing eight items including a bond without surety in the amount of the whole estate, and what issues at the end is letters of administration.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1901 — commencement of small estate (opens in a new tab)•Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1902 — letters of administration in a small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

Yes, and Virginia has two doors at different heights. Below $35,000 the holder may simply pay a successor sixty days after the death, with no affidavit, no form, and no requirement that a will have been probated. Above that, and up to $75,000, there is an affidavit — and on that one the holder shall pay.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

Yes, forty days after the death, on an affidavit under RCW 11.62.010 — and no release from any Washington state or local taxing authority may be demanded before the assets are paid over. No waiver, no clearance, no letter from the Department of Revenue. That is unusual enough to be worth quoting to a counter clerk who has not seen the section.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: RCW 11.62.010(3)–(5) — securities, certificates of ownership, and no tax release (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

Yes, but recorded rather than handed over: the affidavit of small estate is tendered for recording to the clerk of the county commission, or that clerk's fiduciary supervisor, for the county that would have had probate jurisdiction.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

Yes, and with no waiting period, though two thirty-day holds can attach. A holder receiving the affidavit from a person named in the will as personal representative may not transfer anything for thirty days.^{Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.03 (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

Yes, not earlier than thirty days after the death, with no application for a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction in the state.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•}

How much the no-appointment route covers, and what counts toward it

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

Alabama defines its ceiling by reference rather than by figure: the small estate amount is the homestead allowance, the exempt property and the family allowance added together and then moved by a consumer price index formula. Sahvelo states the components and the mechanism and does not state a derived figure, because the figure moves and nobody publishes it as a number. The exempt-property component is capped at $7,500 of household furniture and similar goods, over any security interests in them.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-691 — definitions, Revised Alabama Small Estates Act (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-8-111 — exempt property (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Two ceilings that must both hold, together $150,000, each measured after subtracting debts and liens. Money in a bank falls in the smaller of the two, the one for personal property other than registered vehicles. Any real property at all, however small, closes the route.^{Source: Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles — deceased owner, small estate affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

$200,000 in personal property, less liens and encumbrances, counted across the whole personal estate rather than account by account. Both the ceiling and the waiting period belong to this route alone — neither applies to a beneficiary designation or to a survivorship account, which is why a family with one of those should stop reading here.^{Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•}
Arkansas

$100,000, counted less encumbrances, and the count leaves out the homestead and the statutory allowances for a surviving spouse or minor children.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

$208,850 for a death on or after 1 April 2025, and the figure turns on the date of death rather than the date you sign. It is measured on the gross value of the decedent's real and personal property in California, so the house counts: a modest account can be locked out by a property nobody is claiming under this route at all. Real property has its own separate petition under §13150.^{Source: Judicial Council of California — Probate Code section 890 adjusted amounts (§§13100, 13101) (opens in a new tab)•Source: California Probate Code §13100 (opens in a new tab)•Source: California Probate Code §13150 (Petition to determine succession to real property) (opens in a new tab)•}
Colorado

A figure that appears nowhere in the section: twice the surviving spouse's exempt property amount in section 15-11-403, indexed under section 15-10-112 to the consumer price index for the calendar year before the year of death. Sahvelo states the base and the mechanism rather than a derived number.^{Source: C.R.S. §§ 15-12-1201, 15-11-403 and 15-10-112 — collection of personal property by affidavit, exempt property, and the cost of living adjustment (opens in a new tab)•}
Connecticut

$40,000 of solely owned tangible and intangible personal property, counted after excluding anything that passes outside probate by operation of law. Solely owned Connecticut real estate closes the route whatever the account holds.^{Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 — settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Connecticut Probate Courts — PC-212, Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration (rev. 07/23) (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

$50,000 of personal estate, counted without jointly owned property. Any Delaware real estate at all closes the route, including a share held as tenants in common.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

$75,000 of the estate subject to administration, less exempt property — or no ceiling at all once the person has been dead more than 2 years. The two are alternatives rather than conditions, and the second is what quietly solves an account nobody dealt with at the time.^{Source: Fla. Stat. §735.201(2) (Summary administration; nature of proceedings) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Fla. Stat. §735.201(2) (Summary administration; two-year alternative) (opens in a new tab)•}
Georgia

None. Georgia is the only state in this table with no figure of any kind for this: the test is whether the estate owes debts and whether the heirs agree, not what the account holds. A large balance does not close the route and a small one does not open it.^{Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

$100,000 of gross value of the estate in Hawaii — before debts, and counting Hawaii property only. Gross is the word to notice: a loan against an asset does not bring the estate under the line. Registered vehicles sit outside the calculation entirely.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — the $100,000 ceiling and the motor-vehicle exception (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

$100,000 of the estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Property passing outside probate is outside the figure.^{Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

$150,000 of tangible and intangible personal property, excluding motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State. Illinois does not care whether there is a will — the section reaches property passing “by intestacy or under a will”, which is the exact opposite of Texas.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

$100,000 of gross probate estate for a death after 30 June 2022, counted less liens, encumbrances and reasonable funeral expenses, and measured wherever the property is located.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

$50,000 of gross personal property, and the measurement is unusual: the value at any time SINCE the death, not on the date of the affidavit. There must be no real property, or, for a death before 1 January 2025, real property passing to persons exempt from inheritance tax as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

$75,000 of total assets subject to probate, testate or intestate alike. The figure rose on 1 July 2023 from a substantially lower one, so older guidance names a number that is now wrong.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Kansas Judicial Council — Small Estates Affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b, published as KDOR form TR-83b (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

$30,000 of personal property or money on hand or in a bank or other depository, exempt from distribution and sale. The statute names the depository expressly, which is what makes it reach a bank account rather than only household goods.^{Source: KRS 391.030 — descent of personal property; exemption for surviving spouse and children (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

$200,000 gross, valued as of the date of death, and gross means before debts. A third limb is not a money test at all: twenty years after a death, the succession is small whatever the Louisiana property is worth.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3421 — small successions defined (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

$40,000 is the base and not the operative figure: it is adjusted for inflation under section 1-108. Maine legislated for its own staleness, and every county probate court must publish the current adjusted value on its website annually. Ask for that number.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

$50,000 of gross probate assets, doubled to a hundred thousand dollars where the surviving spouse is the sole heir or legatee. A bank balance in the deceased's sole name is a probate asset and counts in full.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

$25,000 of personal property, with the value of a car excluded, and the estate must consist entirely of personal property. The figure is applied as of the date of FILING rather than the date of death, so an account that has grown since the death can put the estate outside the route.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

$50,000 of the entire estate wherever located, net of liens and encumbrances. It is a base figure rather than the operative one: section 1210 adjusts it annually by reference to the year the person died, so the number that governs is higher than the one printed in the statute and has to be got from the department of treasury.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

$75,000 of the entire probate estate, valued as at the date of death, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances — and the section says expressly that the count includes the contents of a safe deposit box, which families routinely leave out of it. Wherever located is not limited to Minnesota.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

$75,000 — the entire probate estate wherever located, but counted excluding all liens and encumbrances. Both halves of that matter: out-of-state property counts toward the figure, and a mortgaged asset counts for less than it is worth. That is the opposite of Hawaii, which counts gross value but only in-state.^{Source: Mississippi Senate Bill 2850, 2020 regular session, enrolled — amending Miss. Code 91-7-322 and 91-5-35, Secretary of State's enrolled acts, Mississippi Department of Archives and History (opens in a new tab)•}
Missouri

$40,000 of the entire estate, less liens, debt and encumbrances. Property the decedent held as a tenant by the entirety or a joint tenant is expressly outside the count.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

$100,000 of probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, wherever located. Probate estate, so a payable-on-death account is outside the count; wherever located, so an out-of-state account is inside it.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

$100,000 of all the personal property in the estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Real estate is outside the count and outside the route.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nebraska DMV — Transfer of Ownership, certificates of title in the decedent's name only (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Two figures rather than one: $150,000 where the claimant is the surviving spouse, and twenty-five thousand dollars for anybody else. The count is of the decedent's Nevada property, excluding armed-forces pay and the value of any registered motor vehicle.^{Source: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 146.080 — estates not exceeding certain amounts, affidavit showing right to assets (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

There is no threshold, because there is no affidavit route to have one. The waiver of administration turns on who is administering rather than on how much is in the estate: it applies where the sole beneficiary or sole heir is the administrator, or where all of them are co-administrators, or where somebody serves with the assent of all of them.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

$50,000 on the spouse or partner route and $20,000 where there is no spouse, counting real assets as well as personal ones — so a house of any real value ends both. Both are intestate only. Neither figure has anything to do with the tax freeze, which applies to an account of any size.^{Source: N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3 (When spouse, partner in a civil union, or domestic partner entitled to assets without administration) (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.J.S.A. 3B:10-4 (When heirs entitled to assets without administration) (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation — Tax Waiver Requirements (opens in a new tab)•}
New Mexico

$50,000 of total estate, and the estate must include no real property at all. A house of any value closes the route to the bank account as well as to itself.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

$50,000 of personal property at gross value, excluding property that must be set off for a surviving spouse or for children under twenty-one. The threshold has risen twice — it was twenty thousand dollars from 1996 and thirty thousand from the start of 2009 — so material written for an earlier death is describing a smaller route than the one that exists now.^{Source: NY SCPA Article 13 (opens in a new tab)•}
North Carolina

$20,000 of personal property, less liens and encumbrances. Where the affiant is the surviving spouse and sole heir it rises to thirty thousand dollars, after reduction for any year's allowance already paid — and the allowance is $60,000, so a spouse who has taken it has considerably less room under the higher figure than the number suggests.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1 — collection of property by affidavit, intestate and testate (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.C.G.S. 30-15 — the surviving spouse's year's allowance (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

$100,000 of the estate subject to distribution or succession, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances.^{Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-23-01 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Ohio

$35,000 of the assets of the estate — or one hundred thousand dollars where the surviving spouse is taking the whole estate anyway, either under a valid will leaving it to them or by intestacy plus the support allowance. The higher figure is about who inherits rather than about how large the family is.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

$50,000, and two qualifications in the same sentence are easy to read past. The count is of property located in Oklahoma rather than wherever located, which works in a family's favor. And liens and encumbrances come off before the ceiling is applied.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

$75,000 of personal property other than manufactured homes, tested separately from a two-hundred-thousand-dollar limit on real property and manufactured homes. Both must hold. The whole interest is counted without reduction for liens, so debt does not help.^{Source: ORS 114.510 — simple estate criteria (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

$20,000, measured as the total standing to the decedent's credit at that institution — per institution, not per estate. What is collectable this way is then taken out of the count for the separate small-estate petition to the orphans' court, whose own ceiling is $50,000 and which excludes real estate of any value.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 — dispositions independent of letters, and the ceilings on each (opens in a new tab)•Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 — settlement of small estates on petition, and the one-year revocation window (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

$15,000, counted exclusive of tangible personal property. Because a bank balance is intangible, it counts in full here while the car and the house contents do not, which is the opposite of how the figure reads.^{Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

$45,000 of the entire probate estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. The ceiling rose in May 2025.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

$100,000 of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

$50,000, personal property only — and the exclusions decide more cases than the figure. An account held jointly with right of survivorship does not count, and neither does one payable to a named beneficiary, because neither is probate property. A search that reports twenty-five thousand dollars is quoting the 1997 limit.^{Source: Tennessee House Civil Justice Amendment No. 1 to HB0337 (113th General Assembly) — The Small Estate Probate Act, enacted as Public Chapter 297, effective 28 April 2023 (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

$75,000 of estate assets valued as at the date of the affidavit, excluding homestead and exempt property — so an estate with a house can still qualify. There is a second test that reads past easily and is not a ceiling: the assets, on the same exclusions, must exceed the estate's known liabilities.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

$100,000 of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Vehicles are outside that count, so a family whose other large asset is a car is more likely to be inside the route than they expect. Real property of any value closes it.^{Source: Utah Code § 75-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, vehicles (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Courts — Informal Probate (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Courts — Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

$45,000 of fair market value, and the estate must consist entirely of personal property. Where it turns out to have exceeded that at the date of death, the fiduciary petitions to move it onto the ordinary rules rather than starting again.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1901 — commencement of small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

Two ceilings, measured two different ways, and the difference decides most Virginia cases. The affidavit route counts the decedent's entire personal probate estate, wherever located, against $75,000. The route below it counts each asset on its own against $35,000 — so an estate made up of three separate accounts of thirty thousand dollars each can be inside the smaller section for every one of them and outside the affidavit section altogether.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

$100,000 of the estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances — measured without the surviving spouse's or domestic partner's community property interest in any asset subject to probate. In a community property state that exclusion does enormous work: a couple's estate can be well over the ceiling on paper and still qualify.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

$50,000 of personal probate estate as of the date of death, wherever located, itemized with an estimate of value. Owning any probate real property, or any interest in it, closes the route.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

$50,000 of gross value of property subject to administration in Wisconsin, so debts do not reduce it. Section 867.02 measures the same figure net of secured debts, which is why the same estate can be inside one route and outside the other.^{Source: Wisconsin DMV — transfer a vehicle to an heir (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.02 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

$400,000, the highest here, counting the estate located in Wyoming and subject to administration, less liens and encumbrances. Located in Wyoming, so an out-of-state account is outside the figure.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•}

What you hand the bank

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

The petition itself has to allege eleven things before an order follows, and the two families do not expect are that the funeral expenses have been paid or arranged for out of the estate, and that the claims against the estate have been paid or arranged for. What a bank is then shown is the probate court's order rather than the petition. Sahvelo has read the petition's requirements and not the form of the order.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-692 — petition for summary distribution (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Form P-110, sworn before a notary or a court clerk, and it is filed with nobody. You may be asked for a copy of the death certificate before anything is released, which the form warns about as a practical matter rather than a legal condition.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — form P-110, affidavit for collection of personal property of decedent (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

The §14-3971 affidavit. What Sahvelo has verified is what the affidavit must establish rather than what an individual institution adds to it: that thirty days have run, that the personal estate net of liens and encumbrances is inside the ceiling, and that the funeral and last-illness expenses are paid.^{Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•Source: A.R.S. §14-3971(B)(4) (opens in a new tab)•}
Arkansas

A copy of the affidavit certified by the clerk. Arkansas routes it through the court first and hands back a stamped copy, which is what a bank is shown; the raw affidavit is not the instrument.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

An affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury carrying the eleven statements §13101(a) lists, with a certified death certificate attached — and, for a death on or after 1 April 2022, the Judicial Council's published table of adjusted amounts in force on the date of death attached as well. That last requirement lives in the Probate Code rather than in any bank's checklist, which is why it is the one that gets missed. Where more than one successor signs, §13101(b) has the statements modified to reflect that rather than requiring a sole successor.^{Source: California Probate Code §13101(a) (opens in a new tab)•Source: California Probate Code §13101(f) — the adjusted-amounts list is attached to the affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Cal. Prob. Code §13101(b) (opens in a new tab)•}
Colorado

An affidavit stating four things: the value test, that ten days have elapsed, that no application or petition for a personal representative is pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and that you are entitled to payment.^{Source: C.R.S. §§ 15-12-1201, 15-11-403 and 15-10-112 — collection of personal property by affidavit, exempt property, and the cost of living adjustment (opens in a new tab)•}
Connecticut

The Probate Court's decree, obtained on form PC-212. The form asks for the assets by description, and names a vehicle identification number specifically, which is a useful indication of the level of detail expected.^{Source: Connecticut Probate Courts — PC-212, Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration (rev. 07/23) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 — settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

An affidavit attesting to seven things, and two of them have to be true before you sign rather than after: all known debts already paid or provided for, and the surviving spouse's allowance paid, provided for, waived or expired.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

The order. Summary administration produces an order of the circuit court, and that is the document the institution acts on; the narrower route produces the court's authorization to pay or transfer the property to whoever is entitled to it. Sahvelo has not verified a Florida form a bank accepts in place of one.^{Source: Fla. Stat. §735.201 (Summary administration) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Fla. Stat. §735.301 (Disposition without administration) (opens in a new tab)•}
Georgia

The probate court's order declaring no administration necessary, together with the heirs' agreement the court approved. Where an administration was opened instead, letters of administration or letters testamentary.^{Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 3 — petition for letters of administration, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

A death certificate and the affidavit, which states three things: that the estate is under the ceiling, that no personal representative has been applied for or appointed in Hawaii, and who the successor is and how they were related. Nothing is filed and no order is obtained.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, Hawaii Revised Statutes current compilation (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

An affidavit, and Idaho publishes two forms. Form ITD 3413 is drawn from the probate code, asks nothing about a will, and opens with a competence test: over eighteen, and qualified as a witness in Idaho.^{Source: Idaho Transportation Department — form ITD 3413, Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

The affidavit in substantially the form printed in the statute itself. It is not a court form or an agency form: the text is in 755 ILCS 5/25-1(b). It makes you list the unpaid debts and sort them into seven statutory classes, and one paragraph must be set in bold at fourteen point or larger so that it cannot be skimmed past.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(b), (d), (f) — the statutory affidavit form, the indemnity, and jurisdiction over a non-resident affiant (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

An affidavit stating six things. The fifth is the one families miss: the affiant must already have notified every distributee named in it of the intention to present it.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

An affidavit under penalty of perjury stating twelve things, several of them undertakings rather than facts: that Medicaid reimbursement, taxes and creditors will be paid to the extent of the funds received.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

An affidavit showing entitlement, on the Judicial Council's form, deemed sufficient if in substantial compliance with it. A certified copy of the death certificate is attached, and the affidavit itemizes the personal property including insurance proceeds payable to the estate.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Kansas Judicial Council — Small Estates Affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b, published as KDOR form TR-83b (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

An order from the District Judge, and which order depends on which route. For the small, fast one the statute describes the whole transaction: the surviving spouse presents an order authorizing a withdrawal of up to two thousand five hundred dollars, the bank permits it, endorses the amount withdrawn on the order itself, and lodges the order with the circuit clerk, where it is set against the exemption later. Nothing is presented to a bank for the larger exemption: the District Court sets that apart on application, and what the bank sees is the court's order rather than a form the family fills in. The practical consequence is that a Kentucky family cannot prepare paperwork in advance and take it to a branch, the way Alabama or Ohio allows. The court comes first.^{Source: KRS 391.030 — descent of personal property; exemption for surviving spouse and children (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 395.450 — jurisdiction to dispense with administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

A multiple original of the affidavit, or a certified copy, signed by at least two people including the surviving spouse where there is one, and sworn to nine statements.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3432 — affidavit for small succession; contents (opens in a new tab)•Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3434 — endorsed copy of affidavit; authority for delivery of property (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

An affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor, stating the value, the thirty days, the absence of any appointment, and the claimant's entitlement.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

Letters of Administration from the Register of Wills. Expect to need more than one: additional letters are among the extra charges the Register lists, because institutions each want their own copy.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Probate and other fees (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

An attested copy of the Voluntary Administration Statement, form MPC 170, issued by the Register of Probate. No certificate of appointment can issue, because no appointment is made, and the attested copy is the only document that exists.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

The death certificate and a sworn statement making five statements, the first two of which are the gates. There is an official version rather than a draft-your-own: the state court administrative office is required to develop and publish a standardized sworn statement, and it carries a notice that a false statement may lead to prosecution for perjury.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

A certified death record and the affidavit. Four statements go in it and each can close the route on its own: the entire probate estate is inside the ceiling; thirty days have elapsed; no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; and the claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

An affidavit stating the estate is under the figure, that thirty days have passed since the death, that no personal representative is pending or appointed in any jurisdiction, the facts of relationship establishing the affiant as successor, how the property is to be distributed, and an acknowledgment of the obligation to distribute to anybody with a superior right.^{Source: Mississippi Senate Bill 2850, 2020 regular session, enrolled — amending Miss. Code 91-7-322 and 91-5-35, Secretary of State's enrolled acts, Mississippi Department of Archives and History (opens in a new tab)•}
Missouri

The clerk's certificate of the affidavit, and a bond, which no other small-estate route here requires as standard: not less than the value of the personal property, conditioned on paying the decedent's debts, including debts to the State of Missouri, and the funeral and burial expenses. The court may dispense with it where it finds it unnecessary.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

An affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor, stating four things. Unclaimed property held by the Department of Revenue has its own separate and much lower route that ignores the size of the estate.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

An affidavit stating six things, with a certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate attached. Where the certificate is delayed, Nebraska accepts an abstract of death instead, which no other state in this comparison names.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Form VP-24, sworn before a notary, with a certified copy of the death certificate attached. Eleven statements go in it, including that all debts of the decedent, including funeral and burial expenses and money owed for Medicaid, have been paid or provided for.^{Source: Nevada DMV — VP-24, Affidavit for Transfer of Title for Estates Without Probate (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 146.080 — estates not exceeding certain amounts, affidavit showing right to assets (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

For a payable-on-death account, a death certificate and whatever identification and information the bank asks for — the statute says the claimant provides what the bank requests. For anything else, letters from the probate court. One thing to check rather than assume on a joint account: the written agreement governs, and the statutory survivorship rule applies only where there is none, so the signature card is the document to ask for.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 383-B:4-404 — payable on death accounts, Depository Bank Act (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 383-B:4-405 — joint accounts, Depository Bank Act (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

For the freeze, one of two documents. Either the Division's waiver, Form Form 0-1, which only the Inheritance Tax Branch can issue and which you cannot download or fill in yourself; or Form Form L-8, a self-executing affidavit for Class A beneficiaries that is filed with the institution itself. The mechanics decide whether it is accepted at the counter: one per institution, every account in that institution listed separately at its full date-of-death balance, notarized, both sides completed. The institution then files the original with the Division within five business days — the family never mails it, and mailing it produces nothing.^{Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation — Tax Waiver Requirements (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation — Tax Waiver Requirements, blanket waiver and Form L-8 (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.J. Division of Taxation, Form L-8 — execution, per-institution scope and the releasing institution's filing duty (opens in a new tab)•}
New Mexico

An Affidavit of Successor in Interest, signed by the person entitled to receive the property and notarized. There is no central form: the guide sends you to your local Probate Court for it.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

The affidavit filed with the clerk, and Sahvelo has not verified what the court issues back — ask the Surrogate's Court clerk what the institution will be shown. Who may swear it is fixed by priority rather than by choice: surviving spouse, then children or grandchildren, then parents, then brothers or sisters, then nieces or nephews, then aunts or uncles, then a distributee's guardian, committee or conservator, then the county's chief fiscal officer. Where there is a will, the named executor or alternate has priority instead.^{Source: NY SCPA Article 13 (opens in a new tab)•Source: NY SCPA § 1301 (cross-references § 1303) (opens in a new tab)•}
North Carolina

A certified copy of the filed affidavit. Certified, and filed first, which is the order families get wrong: the clerk takes the statutory fee, indexes the affidavit and does the mailing, and only then is there a document an institution can act on.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1 — collection of property by affidavit, intestate and testate (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

An affidavit stating four things, made by or on behalf of the successor.^{Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-23-01 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Ohio

The court's order. Two things have to happen before it exists. Where the assets are not all cash or readily valued securities, an appraiser chosen by the applicant and approved by the court must value them, and that valuation goes into the application. And where there is a will it must be presented for probate and admitted first: releasing an estate from administration does not excuse probating the will.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

The affidavit, carrying four statements. Three are the usual ones — the value, no personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and each successor's proportion. The fourth is not, and it is the one to settle before signing: that all taxes and debts of the estate have been paid, otherwise provided for, or barred by limitations.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

A certified copy of the filed simple estate affidavit. The affiant delivers it to anybody holding personal property of the estate or indebted to the person who died.^{Source: ORS 114.515 — simple estate affidavit; who may file; fee (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

A receipted funeral bill, or an affidavit executed by a licensed funeral director setting out that satisfactory arrangements for payment of the funeral have been made. That condition is the whole key to the section and it is the one nobody is told: no funeral bill, no payment.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 — dispositions independent of letters, and the ceilings on each (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

The certification of appointment, five dollars on top of a thirty dollar filing fee. The statement itself schedules every asset known to be in the decedent's sole name with an estimated value.^{Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 — administration of small estates where an executor is named in the will (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

The countersigned affidavit. The judge signs only on being satisfied that the successor is entitled to payment or delivery, so the approval is substantive rather than clerical.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

An affidavit stating five things rather than the usual four, the extra one being the Medicaid bar.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

The limited letters, with the petition attached to and made part of them — so the bank can read on the face of the document that this account is one of the itemized items the representative may deal with. An account left off the petition is not covered by the letters.^{Source: Tennessee House Civil Justice Amendment No. 1 to HB0337 (113th General Assembly) — The Small Estate Probate Act, enacted as Public Chapter 297, effective 28 April 2023 (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

The approved affidavit. It is not a form one heir signs: it must be sworn to by two disinterested witnesses and by every distributee who has legal capacity, with a natural guardian or next of kin swearing for a minor or incapacitated distributee. It has to list all known assets and liabilities, name and address every distributee, and set out the family history facts that establish each one's right to receive.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

The affidavit itself, sworn before a notary. The courts' version has a line the Tax Commission's does not: the signer may be the successor or their duly authorized agent.^{Source: Utah State Courts — Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Courts — Affidavit for Transfer of Title to Motor Vehicles in a Small Estate Proceeding (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

Letters of administration, issued under section 902 where there was a will and section 903 where there was not. They carry a limit most letters do not: one year from issuance, extendable only on motion and for good cause.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1902 — letters of administration in a small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

On the affidavit route, an affidavit made by all of the known successors — all of them, not one claiming successor, so a single relative who will not sign closes it. It is on a form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, so nobody has to draft it, and it must state that the decedent's will, if any, was duly probated. Below the smaller ceiling, nothing at all.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

Proof of death and the affidavit. Three of its conditions are sworn statements about the whole estate rather than about the account being claimed, and each has defeated a family that read only the number: forty days elapsed; no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction; and all debts of the decedent, funeral and burial expenses included, paid or provided for. Written notice must also have gone to every other successor, with at least ten days elapsed since it was served or mailed.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

The recorded affidavit, made upon oath and under penalty of perjury, with the original will attached and recorded where there was one in due and proper form.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

An affidavit stating three things, and the third decides whether the state gets paid first: whether the decedent or their spouse ever received long-term care or medical assistance. Where the answer is yes, notice goes to the Department of Health Services by certified mail and the proof of delivery is attached.^{Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

A certified copy of the FILED affidavit. The two-step catches people: it goes to the county clerk first, and only the certified copy of the filed document is honored.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•}

Whether the bank has to release it, and what protects the bank

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

Yes, and Alabama says so more plainly than any other state in this table. On being handed a copy of the probate judge's summary distribution order, the people it names are entitled to have the property transferred to them by anyone owing money to the estate, holding the decedent's personal property, or acting as a registrar or transfer agent — which covers a bank, a brokerage and a relative holding goods. The holder who pays is then discharged and released to the same extent as if it had paid a court-appointed executor, and is expressly not required to see the petition or to inquire into the truth of anything in it. A branch asking for the petition or for proof of the heirs is asking for something the statute says it does not need. A refusal is met with an action to compel rather than an argument. Two things still come first: an administration already open, and anybody with a superior right to the account.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-694 — transfer of property to persons entitled (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-696 — effect of transfer pursuant to a summary distribution order (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Yes. Give a copy of the affidavit to any person or business holding the property and they are required by law to give it to you. What you take, you hold for the beneficiaries or heirs, and you are accountable to any personal representative later appointed and to anyone with a superior right.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — form P-110, affidavit for collection of personal property of decedent (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

Sahvelo has not verified an Arizona provision compelling a bank to pay on the affidavit, and does not state one. What §14-3971 verifiably does is remove the need for letters; it does not follow that a particular holder must act on it, so expect the institution's own estate department to set the paperwork on top.^{Source: A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)•}
Arkansas

Yes, on the certified copy, and without an order of the court or any other proceeding. The affidavit also swears that there are no unpaid claims and that the Department of Human Services furnished no benefits or has been reimbursed.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

Sahvelo has not verified the California provision that protects a paying institution, and does not state one. What it has verified is where the risk sits for the person who signs. The affiant swears, under penalty of perjury, that no other person has a superior right to the property — and a person who takes property under this chapter carries the liabilities Probate Code §§13109 to 13113 impose.^{Source: California Probate Code §13101(a) (opens in a new tab)•Source: California Vehicle Code §5910(c) (opens in a new tab)•}
Colorado

Yes. Section 15-12-1201 puts the duty on the holder rather than the permission on the family: any person indebted to the decedent or holding their personal property, including funds on deposit at any financial institution, shall pay or deliver on the affidavit.^{Source: C.R.S. §§ 15-12-1201, 15-11-403 and 15-10-112 — collection of personal property by affidavit, exempt property, and the cost of living adjustment (opens in a new tab)•}
Connecticut

What the bank is shown is a court decree rather than a family's sworn statement, which is why Connecticut needs no protective clause for the institution. The order of payment is fixed and debts-first: funeral expenses, the costs of administering the estate and last-illness claims come before any beneficiary.^{Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 — settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

The holder is released to the same extent as if they had paid a personal representative, and is not required to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit. If they refuse anyway, Delaware sends the dispute to the Court of Chancery rather than to a probate registry.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2307 — effect of distribution without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

Sahvelo has verified no Florida provision compelling a holder to release funds and states none. What it has verified is the outer edge of what the family is waiting out: a claim against the estate that arose before the death is barred 2 years after it, whatever notice was given.^{Source: Fla. Stat. §733.702 (Limitations on presentation of claims) (opens in a new tab)•}
Georgia

Not established. Sahvelo has read the Georgia standard form and the statutory citations it carries, which set out the petition, the notice and the order — and has not read a provision compelling a depository to pay on that order, or protecting one that does. Georgia publishes its Code only through a subscription service, so the sections that would settle this were not readable. Ask the branch what it relies on rather than expecting a statute to hand them.^{Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

Yes, and the protection is as strong as any in this comparison. The holder must pay or deliver on presentation, is then discharged and released to the same extent as if it had dealt with a personal representative, and is not required to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit. A refusal is answered by an action to compel. One thing to know before signing: the protection runs to the bank, not to the person collecting, who stays answerable to a personal representative or to anybody with a superior right. And in Hawaii the Department of Human Services may present the same affidavit against the estate, with priority over the family's.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1202 — effect of the affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — who may make the affidavit, and the department of human services priority (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

Yes. The holder shall make payment of the indebtedness or deliver the property on the affidavit, and a transfer agent is bound the same way. The statute says person or entity, which is what lets the state itself use the same affidavit to recover Medicaid.^{Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

Yes — shall pay — and the protection runs the same way. An institution acting in good faith on the affidavit “shall be fully protected and released”, because Illinois protects the bank by moving the exposure onto the person who signed. That signature is a promise to pay every valid claim in statutory order before any heir receives anything, plus an indemnity to creditors, heirs and the institution for whatever a reliance on it costs them, with the winner's legal costs on top. Sign it after the debts are known rather than before.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(b), (d), (f) — the statutory affidavit form, the indemnity, and jurisdiction over a non-resident affiant (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

Yes. On presentation of a compliant affidavit, a person indebted to the decedent shall make payment and a person holding an instrument evidencing a debt, an obligation, a stock or a chose in action shall deliver it.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

Yes, and Iowa leans on the holder from both sides. Receipt of the affidavit constitutes sufficient acquittance, the holder may rely on it in good faith with no duty to inquire, and an office that unreasonably refuses it pays the successor's attorney fees. Where the certificate of ownership cannot be produced the holder may require a bond instead.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

Yes, and the wording is stronger than most: the property shall be transferred to the successor. The transfer is deemed to have been made to a personal representative, and the successor's receipt is a full discharge and release to the institution to the same extent as if it had dealt with an executor.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

On the withdrawal order, yes, in the statute's own words: on presentation, the bank or depository shall permit the surviving spouse to withdraw the sum. That is a duty rather than a courtesy, and it is the one place Kentucky says so. What Sahvelo has not found is the other half. Alabama tells a paying bank it is discharged and released as if it had paid a court-appointed executor and need not read the petition behind the order; Kentucky has no equivalent in the sections read here — the exemption statute, the two dispensing sections, and the descent chapter. A depository is relying on the court's own order and not on a statutory safe harbor. Ask the branch what it needs to see; do not expect a provision to hand them.^{Source: KRS 391.030 — descent of personal property; exemption for surviving spouse and children (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

Yes, and Louisiana's protection for the institution is the most complete in this comparison. The affidavit is full and sufficient authority for any federally insured depository institution to pay, and no creditor, heir, legatee, succession representative or other person has any right or cause of action against it for having done so.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3434 — endorsed copy of affidavit; authority for delivery of property (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

Yes. Section 3-1201 opens with a duty rather than a permission: any person indebted to the decedent shall make payment on presentation of the affidavit, and a transfer agent shall change the registered ownership on the corporation's books.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

Sahvelo has not verified a Maryland provision obliging a holder to release funds, and does not state one. What is verified is what the family presents and what it costs: no fee at all on a small estate, and a sliding scale on the gross estate above it, from a hundred dollars at fifty thousand to two thousand at a million.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Probate and other fees (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

The person paying is discharged and released to the same extent as if they had dealt with a personal representative, and is not required to inquire into the truth of the Statement. A refusal can be compelled in a proceeding brought on proof of right.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Yes, on the sworn statement, and the same section binds a transfer agent to change the registered ownership of a security on the same document — so this reaches a brokerage as well as a bank. Where the affidavit does not fit, Michigan's other route is a probate court order, and its price is unusual: an heir who receives property under one is personally responsible, for sixty-three days from the date of the order, for any unsatisfied debt of the decedent up to the value of what they took.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982 — court order distributing a small estate, and the heir's 63-day liability (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Yes — shall make payment or deliver — and the same affidavit binds a transfer agent to change the registered ownership of a security, so it reaches a brokerage as well as a bank. What collecting does not do is settle who keeps the money: the claiming successor must disburse the proceeds to anyone with a superior claim under the exempt-property or the priority-of-claims section. A state or county agency with a medical assistance claim may present the same affidavit.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

Yes. The holder must pay or deliver on presentation; a holder who does is discharged and released as if it had dealt with a personal representative, and is not required to see to the proper application of the property or to inquire into the truth of anything in the affidavit. A refusal is compelled in chancery court on proof of the successor's right. Who may sign is a strict ladder — the spouse, then a child, then a grandchild, then a parent or sibling — and a child cannot use it while a spouse survives.^{Source: Mississippi Senate Bill 2850, 2020 regular session, enrolled — amending Miss. Code 91-7-322 and 91-5-35, Secretary of State's enrolled acts, Mississippi Department of Archives and History (opens in a new tab)•}
Missouri

The bond is the protection, and it runs to the creditors rather than to the bank. Where the court has refused letters instead, the surviving spouse may collect and sue for the personal property in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been appointed and qualified.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.090 — refusal of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

Yes. The holder is discharged and released as if they had dealt with a personal representative and is not required to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit, which is what lets a bank act without investigating the family. A refusal can be compelled on proof of right.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1102 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

Yes, and Nebraska adds a power most states leave to a teller's discretion. On the affidavit the successor may endorse or negotiate a check, draft or other negotiable instrument payable to the deceased or the estate, and the institution accepting it is discharged from all claims for the amount, notwithstanding three named sections of the Uniform Commercial Code.^{Source: Nebraska Revised Statute 30-24,125 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

A person receiving a conforming affidavit is entitled to rely on the information in it and, relying in good faith, is immune from civil liability. Where the property sits in a state that requires a court order, Nevada provides an ex parte petition to obtain one.^{Source: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 146.080 — estates not exceeding certain amounts, affidavit showing right to assets (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

No, and New Hampshire is the sharpest example in this table of why that distinction matters. A payable-on-death balance VESTS in the payee at the death — immediately, by statute. The bank's permission to pay it arrives 90 days later, and it is permissive: the bank MAY pay at ninety days and is discharged from all claims if it does. Nothing read here obliges it to pay sooner, or at all. So a family can own the money on the day of the death and be unable to reach it for three months. Where no payee survives, the account stays in the estate and after ninety days is payable to the personal representative, so letters are needed after all.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 383-B:4-404 — payable on death accounts, Depository Bank Act (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

The rule runs the other way in New Jersey: without written consent the institution may not release, and the lien it is waiting on runs fifteen years whether or not any tax is ever assessed. Three things move regardless. Half of the account may go under the blanket waiver — half of the entire account, not half to each claimant — to an executor, administrator, legal representative or surviving joint tenant. A check made payable to New Jersey Inheritance and/or Estate Tax may be honored for any amount there are funds for. And a check the person wrote before dying may be honored if it reaches the bank within ten days of the death.^{Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation — Tax Waiver Requirements (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.J. Division of Taxation, Tax Waiver Requirements — Blanket Waiver (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Jersey Division of Taxation — Tax Waiver Requirements, blanket waiver and Form L-8 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Mexico

The guide states the practice rather than a statutory duty: the affidavit can be presented to banks to collect the decedent's money. Sahvelo has not verified the section's own language on the holder's obligation or discharge and does not state one.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

Sahvelo has not verified a New York provision compelling a holder to pay a voluntary administrator, and does not state one. What is verified is the gate in front of it, and it is where families actually stall: anyone ahead of you in the order of priority must renounce before you may serve, so the obstacle is more often a relative who has not signed than an institution that will not pay.^{Source: NY SCPA § 1301 (cross-references § 1303) (opens in a new tab)•}
North Carolina

Yes: a person indebted to the decedent, or holding their tangible personal property, shall pay or deliver it on being presented a certified copy of the filed affidavit. Two conditions run through both sections and either one closes the route — thirty days must have passed since the death, and no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1 — collection of property by affidavit, intestate and testate (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

Yes. The holder is discharged and released as if they had dealt with a personal representative and is not required to inquire into the truth of any statement in it. North Dakota is unusual in binding a transfer agent of a limited liability company as well as of a corporation.^{Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-23-02 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-23-01 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Ohio

Sahvelo has not verified an Ohio provision compelling a holder to pay, and does not state one; the order itself directs delivery, and that is what an institution acts on. Ohio's second route exists for the case where the estate is smaller than the funeral bill — a summary release that reimburses whoever paid for the funeral, capped at the lesser of five thousand dollars or the expenses themselves, with a wider version for a surviving spouse measured against the support allowance, which is $40,000.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.031 — summary release from administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 2106.13 — allowance for support (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

Yes, and the section reaches past the bank in the same terms: a transfer agent of a security is bound by it, and the public official having cognizance over the registered title of any personal property shall change the registered ownership on the same affidavit. The protection runs by criminal penalty rather than by a bond — knowingly signing a false affidavit carries a fine of up to three thousand dollars or six months, with restitution to the rightful beneficiary.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

The affidavit is the instrument the statute directs at holders of the estate's personal property, and Sahvelo has read the sections creating it, the affiant's fiduciary duties and the two-year summary review — and not a provision compelling a depository to pay or discharging one that does. What is established, and matters more to a buyer's lender than to a bank, is that property the affiant transfers stays subject to the decedent's creditors for two years after filing.^{Source: ORS 114.515 — simple estate affidavit; who may file; fee (opens in a new tab)•Source: ORS 114.545, 114.547, 114.550 and 114.555 — the affiant as fiduciary, transfers, and summary review (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

Yes, and the institution is released as if it had paid a personal representative — it is not required to see to how the money is then applied. The exposure moves to the person who collected, who is answerable to anyone prejudiced by an improper distribution. Collecting under this section is not the same thing as being entitled to keep it.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 — dispositions independent of letters, and the ceilings on each (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

What the appointment buys is the power to receive payment of any debt scheduled in the statement, and to sell any chattel received. The duties then come in a fixed order, funeral and last-sickness expenses first.^{Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

Yes: on the countersigned affidavit the holder shall make payment of the indebtedness or deliver the property. Note who else may be entitled ahead of the family — the definition of successor includes a person who remitted payment for reasonable funeral expenses.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

Yes: the holder shall make payment of the indebtedness or deliver the property on the affidavit, and a transfer agent of a security shall change the registered ownership on the corporation's books.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

The letters are letters, so a bank deals with a personal representative in the ordinary way rather than with an affidavit it must accept. Two features are worth telling a branch about: the representative has posted a corporate-surety bond in the amount of the property unless every adult heir consented in writing, and no creditor may file a claim in this proceeding at all. Sahvelo has read the Act and not a Tennessee provision discharging a payer specifically.^{Source: Tennessee House Civil Justice Amendment No. 1 to HB0337 (113th General Assembly) — The Small Estate Probate Act, enacted as Public Chapter 297, effective 28 April 2023 (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

Sahvelo has not verified a Texas provision compelling a holder to pay on the affidavit, and does not state one. Two conditions decide whether you can present it at all: 30 days must have elapsed since the death, and no petition for the appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted. A relative who filed for administration in the first weeks, before anyone understood how small the estate was, has closed this route until that petition is disposed of.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §205.001(1)–(2) — the waiting period, and the competing-petition bar (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

Yes, and Utah backs it with a penalty no other state here carries: a holder who refuses can be made to pay up to three times the value of the property, plus costs and attorney's fees. The affidavit certifies four statutory things plus one the form does not lead with, that the transfer will not prejudice the creditors.^{Source: Utah Code § 75-3-1202 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Tax Commission — TC-569C, Survivorship Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

The bank is shown real letters, so the ordinary rules apply rather than an affidavit statute's protective clause. What runs against the fiduciary instead is a fourteen-day objection window before the appointment is approved, and a sixty-day deadline to confirm or correct the inventory.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1901 — commencement of small estate (opens in a new tab)•Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1902 — letters of administration in a small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

Watch the verb, because it is the whole difference. On the affidavit route the holder shall pay or deliver. Below $35,000 the holder may pay, so the bank is permitted to release the money and is not compelled to, the answer at the counter may simply be no, and the response to that is the affidavit route rather than an argument. Either way the money is not the collector's: the designated successor has a fiduciary duty to safeguard and promptly pay or deliver it to the other successors.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

For a bank, Sahvelo has not verified a compulsion and does not state one. For the holders alongside it, it has: a governmental agency that issues certificates of ownership or license registration shall issue a new certificate on the affidavit and proof of death, and a transfer agent of a security shall change the registered ownership on the same proof. One administrative step is easy to miss — a copy of the affidavit, including the decedent's social security number, has to be mailed to the Department of Social and Health Services, office of financial recovery.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010(3)–(5) — securities, certificates of ownership, and no tax release (opens in a new tab)•Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

Which affidavit gets there first can decide it. A successor nominated as executor under the will waits thirty days; everybody else waits sixty and must swear that no nominated executor has already filed one.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

Accepting the money is accepting a job. By taking the property you assume a duty to apply it to the decedent's obligations in the priority order of section 859.25 and to distribute any balance to the people the governing instrument names.^{Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.03 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wis. Stat. § 859.25 — priority of payment of claims and allowances (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

Yes, on the certified copy, and the holder is discharged as if they had dealt with a personal representative and need not inquire into the truth of any statement. A refusal can be compelled in an action on proof of right.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-202 — effect of affidavit; refusal to pay or deliver (opens in a new tab)•Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•}

Sahvelo has read all fifty states at their own sources for this. Each answer below cites what it rests on, and a state whose rule has moved since it was read says so beside the answer.

Questions people ask about this

Does this work the same at a credit union?

The procedure is broadly the same and the ownership categories work the same way. Deposit insurance at a federally insured credit union comes from the NCUA rather than the FDIC. Sahvelo has not yet verified whether the NCUA's treatment of a deceased owner matches the FDIC's six-month rule, and would rather flag that than assume it.
The only asset is a small bank account. Do we really need probate?

Often not. Most states have a small-estate procedure that lets a successor collect modest assets with an affidavit instead of a full administration, and the threshold and waiting period are set by state law. Sahvelo publishes those thresholds for vehicle transfers today; the general small-estate procedure is a separate topic not yet published.
The bank will not tell me anything about the account.

That is usually correct rather than obstructive. Until you have authority — as a joint owner, a named beneficiary, a successor trustee, or an appointed executor — the bank owes its duty of confidentiality to the account holder. Establishing authority is the unlock, not persistence.
A Social Security payment arrived after the death. Can we keep it?

No. A benefit paid for the month of death has to be returned, and the bank is the mechanism for returning it. Contact the bank rather than withdrawing it first.^{Source 3}
Will the bank freeze the account?

Banks do not use the word the way families do. On learning of a death a bank stops cards and standing payments on a sole-name account and restricts withdrawals until somebody with authority appears — which is what a family experiences as a freeze. A joint account is not frozen: the surviving owner keeps using it. An account with a named beneficiary is not frozen either, though the bank may hold it briefly while it verifies the death. Nothing is confiscated in any of these cases, and no bank is entitled to keep the money.
What should I take to the bank?

A certified copy of the death certificate — not a photocopy — along with your own photo identification and the account number if you have it. Beyond that it depends entirely on how the account was held: a joint owner needs nothing else, a named beneficiary usually needs only to complete the bank's claim form, and a sole-name account needs either letters from the court or a completed small-estate affidavit. Ask for the estates or deceased-account department rather than a teller; branches vary enormously in how often they see this.
Who owns the money now?

Immediately on death, ownership follows how the account was held rather than what the will says. A joint account with survivorship belongs to the surviving owner. A payable-on-death account belongs to the named beneficiary. A sole-name account belongs to the estate, and the will then decides who eventually receives it. This is why a will leaving everything to one child does not stop a joint account passing to another — the account never entered the estate for the will to reach.

Official links you'll need

Every link goes directly to the issuing agency or the official tool, and opens in a new tab.

Read the FDIC's rule on the death of an account owner (opens in a new tab)

Federal guidance Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation fdic.gov
Calculate your deposit insurance coverage (FDIC EDIE) (opens in a new tab)

Official tool Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation edie.fdic.gov

The FDIC's own estimator. Worth running before the six-month grace period ends.
Check credit union share insurance (NCUA) (opens in a new tab)

Federal guidance National Credit Union Administration ncua.gov

Where this sits in the process

Before this

These produce something this topic needs.

Death certificateseach institution sets what it will accept

Social Securitythe returned benefit payment goes back through the bank
The first daysthis can wait; it does not get harder in three weeks
Beneficiary designationsa payable-on-death instruction is why some accounts skip all of this
New Jersey inheritance taxwhy a New Jersey account can stay frozen after everything else is settled, and which form releases it
Claiming as a beneficiarythe orientation for somebody named on the account rather than handling the estate
Adding your name to an accountwhat each arrangement was while the account holder was alive, and why that decides this

Sources

Deposit insurance is federal. Everything about how a particular bank handles a deceased customer is that bank's own procedure, and this page says so rather than inventing a standard one.

FDIC — Death of an Account Owner (Deposit Insurance guide, 12 C.F.R. §330.3(j)) (opens in a new tab)

The six-month grace period, its purpose, and the two situations where it does not apply.

fdic.gov Checked 2026-08-12
FDIC — Death of an Account Owner (Example 26) (opens in a new tab)

The FDIC's worked example of coverage falling after the grace period ends.

fdic.gov Checked 2026-08-12
SSA Publication No. 05-10008 — Survivors Benefits (opens in a new tab)

Why a benefit payment arriving after the death has to be returned.

ssa.gov Checked 2026-08-12

Sources last reviewed 2026-08-12. Where a source is marked pending re-verification, the page says so wherever the claim appears.

Bank accounts after a death

Short answer

Paying the funeral, and the bills that keep arriving

Being named executor is not the same as having authority

The six-month deposit-insurance window

Not sure which of these is yours?

Money that arrives after the death

What to do now, and what can wait

How this works at each bank

First: how was the account held?

The procedure, at each institution

Gather what every bank will ask for

Ask for the estate or deceased-customer department, not the branch

Notify first; close later

Deal with the payments going out, not just the money sitting there

Ask about deposit insurance before the six months are up

What to ask for by name

What your state decides about a dead person's account

Whether you can reach the account without a court appointment

How much the no-appointment route covers, and what counts toward it

What you hand the bank

Whether the bank has to release it, and what protects the bank

Questions people ask about this

Does this work the same at a credit union?

The only asset is a small bank account. Do we really need probate?

The bank will not tell me anything about the account.

A Social Security payment arrived after the death. Can we keep it?

Will the bank freeze the account?

What should I take to the bank?

Who owns the money now?

Official links you'll need

Read the FDIC's rule on the death of an account owner (opens in a new tab)

Calculate your deposit insurance coverage (FDIC EDIE) (opens in a new tab)

Check credit union share insurance (NCUA) (opens in a new tab)

Where this sits in the process

Before this

Related

Sources

Tell us what’s missing

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