Being an executor

It is an administrative job with a fiduciary duty attached, which is an unusual combination: mostly paperwork, with real personal exposure if you distribute money to the wrong people or in the wrong order.

Mostly the same everywhere

Sources: 9 primary sources
States verified: 50

Short answer

Gather, secure, notify creditors, pay what is genuinely owed in the order the law sets, file the returns, distribute, account, close. The word carrying the weight is fiduciary: you act for the estate rather than for yourself.

You do not inherit the debts by taking the job, but you can become personally liable for a short list of mistakes — distributing before the claim window closes is the expensive one. Open an estate account and never mix estate money with your own, even briefly. You can also decline, and before appointment is the cheapest moment to do it.^{Source 2Source 5}

Verified where marked — Arizona and Florida:

A.R.S. §14-3108 (Probate, testacy and appointment proceedings; limitations) (opens in a new tab) checked 2026-08-12
Fla. Stat. §733.702 (Limitations on presentation of claims) (opens in a new tab) checked 2026-08-12

Jump to what you need

What am I personally on the hook for
Beneficiaries keep asking when they get paid
I do not want to do this
How do I actually get appointed
The debts are bigger than the estate
Do I get paid for this
What to do first, in order

What the job actually is

Gather what the person owned, secure it, tell the creditors, pay what is genuinely owed in the order the law requires, file the tax returns, and give what is left to the people entitled. Then account for all of it and close.

The word that carries the weight is fiduciary. You act for the estate and its beneficiaries rather than for yourself, and the standard is not "I did my best" but "I acted with the care a prudent person would use with someone else's property".

Executor, administrator, personal representative

The names differ by state and by whether there was a will. An executor is named in a will; an administrator is appointed where there is none. Several states call both a personal representative. The duties are effectively the same.

Where the personal exposure comes from

You do not inherit the deceased's debts by taking the job. You can, however, become personally responsible for a short and specific list of mistakes.

Distributing to beneficiaries before creditors and taxes are settled, and then finding there is not enough left.
Paying creditors out of the statutory order of priority, so a lower-priority claim is paid and a higher one is not.
Failing to file the deceased's final tax return, or the estate's return where one is due.
Mixing estate money with your own, which is the single fastest way to turn an honest administration into a dispute.
Self-dealing: buying estate property yourself, or favoring your own share.

A frequent expensive error is distributing early. A grieving family asks for their share, the executor is decent about it, and a creditor appears afterwards. Wait until the claim window has closed.

^{Source 5}

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Sahvelo gives information drawn from statutes, agency guidance and official forms. It is not legal advice for your particular situation. Terms & disclaimer.

You can say no

Being named in a will does not obligate you. You can decline formally before you are appointed, and the court moves to the alternate named in the will or appoints someone under the statutory order.

Declining is worth serious thought where the estate is insolvent, where the family is in open conflict, where you live far away, or where a business has to be run while it is sold. Once appointed, resigning is possible but messier, and you remain accountable for what happened while you served.

A professional fiduciary or a bank trust department can serve instead, for a fee paid by the estate. For a complicated estate with a divided family, that fee is frequently the cheapest thing the estate buys.

The order of the work

Roughly chronological. The one rule that matters more than the order is the last phase: do not distribute until the claim window has closed.

Before you are appointed

Week 1 to 3

Secure the property

Lock the house, take custody of vehicles and valuables, make sure insurance on the house and cars stays in force, and arrange for pets and perishables. You can do this before any court appointment.

Insurance lapsing on an empty house is a loss the estate absorbs and the beneficiaries feel.
10 days in Florida, 30 in California

Find the will and deposit it if your state requires it

Two of the four states Sahvelo has read for this put a deadline on whoever holds the will, and it runs whether or not anyone has been appointed.^{Source 3Source 4}

Do after: secure
Decide whether to serve

Look at the size, the debts, the family and the geography before accepting. This is the cheapest moment to decline.

Do after: find the will

Getting authority

Week 2 to 8

Apply to the court, or use the small-estate route

If the estate qualifies for a simplified procedure, you may not need appointment at all. If it does not, you petition the probate court and receive letters — the document every bank will ask for.^{Source 1}

Do after: decide
Get a tax identification number for the estate

The estate is a separate taxpayer once it has income. The number is free and takes minutes online, and every bank will ask for it before opening an estate account.
- Apply for an EIN with the IRS (opens in a new tab)
Do after: petition
Open an estate bank account

Every dollar in and out goes through it. Do not use your own account for estate money, even briefly, and even for convenience.

Do after: ein

Commingling is the fact pattern that turns a routine administration into a beneficiary lawsuit.

Gathering and notifying

Month 1 to 4

Inventory what the estate owns

Assets, values as at the date of death, and debts. Several states require the inventory to be filed with the court and served on interested parties.

Do after: estate account
Notify creditors and start the claim window

Known creditors are usually notified directly; unknown ones by publication. The window this opens is the floor on how long the estate takes.^{Source 5}

Do after: inventory
April 15 following the year of death

File the final tax return, and the estate's if one is due

The final individual return is due on the ordinary date for the year of death. An estate that earns income during administration files its own return as well.

Do after: inventory

Paying and closing

Month 4 onward

Pay valid claims in the statutory order

The order is set by state law and typically puts administration expenses and funeral costs ahead of general unsecured debt. Paying out of order is one of the ways an executor becomes personally liable.

Do after: notify creditors
Hard to undo

Distribute what is left

Only after the claim window has closed and taxes are settled. Get a signed receipt from every beneficiary for what they received.

Do after: pay claims

Money distributed is money you may have to ask for back, and asking a grieving sibling to return an inheritance is the worst conversation in this job.
File the final accounting and close the estate

A statement of everything that came in, everything that went out, and what each beneficiary received. Approval by the court or by consent of the beneficiaries is what discharges you.

Do after: distribute

Discharge is what ends your exposure. An estate left informally open never quite closes.

What differs by state

The role is the same everywhere. How you are appointed, whether a hearing is needed and how creditor exposure ends are not.

Whether you need to be appointed, and how

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

Often not at all, and Alabama decides it on one question asked before any other: has the estate been probated, or will it be. Where the answer is no, the next of kin acts on an affidavit and nobody is appointed. Where it is yes, the executor or administrator signs. Above the affidavit sits summary distribution, a verified petition to the judge of probate for the county of domicile, filed without a bond.^{Source: Alabama Administrative Code, Revenue chapter 810-5-75 — rule 810-5-75-.09, transfer of title for a vehicle from a deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-692 — petition for summary distribution (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Often not. The Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property, form P-110, is sworn before a notary or a court clerk and handed to whoever holds the property, and the Court System says in terms that there is no case: asked whether a court case is needed, the answer is no. Where an appointment is needed, informal probate is the ordinary route and usually holds no hearings at all. It closes off three years after the death.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — Informal probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

Informal appointment by the registrar on a complete application, usually without a hearing.^{Source 1}
Arkansas

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Supreme Court Form 23 is sworn "for the purpose of dispensing with administration of this estate", and the distributees take without an order of the court or any other proceeding. For the car there is a lighter route again, an eleven-line affidavit with no ceiling, no waiting period and no notary, signed by the sole heirs at law.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•Source: Arkansas DFA — Affidavit of Inheritance of a Motor Vehicle (form 10-306) (opens in a new tab)•}
California

Petition to the superior court, with a hearing, followed by letters testamentary or of administration.^{Source 3}
Colorado

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Section 15-12-1201 puts the duty on the holder rather than the permission on the family: ten or more days after the death, anyone indebted to the decedent or holding their personal property shall pay or deliver it on the affidavit. Ten days is the shortest wait in this comparison.^{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

Either, and the choice is made by what the person owned rather than by what the family prefers. Form PC-212 is filed with the Probate Court, which decrees who takes what and appoints nobody. Solely owned Connecticut real estate closes that route outright whatever it is worth, and a full administration follows instead.^{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

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Section 2306 of title 12 is headed distribution of a decedent's property without a grant of letters, and the list of who may do it is longer than any other state's here, including one entry the heading does not prepare you for: a funeral director licensed in Delaware.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

Petition to the circuit court. Formal administration generally requires an attorney.^{Source 5}
Georgia

Often not at all. Where the estate owes no debts and every heir agrees, a petition for an order declaring no administration necessary avoids appointment entirely. Where an appointment is needed it is letters of administration, petitioned for on standard form GPCSF 3, and the question that decides how heavy the job will be is the same one: a judge may waive bond, reports and statements on two conditions only — every heir consents, and notice is published. Unanimity is the currency in Georgia whichever route the family takes.^{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)•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

Usually none. For personal property up to the ceiling the successor signs an affidavit and no court is involved. For an estate up to a hundred thousand dollars that needs a real administration — because it includes land, for instance — Hawaii does something no other state in this table does: on the verified petition of any interested person, the clerk of the circuit court may be authorized to administer the estate as personal representative, and the order may be made without notice or hearing.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, Hawaii Revised Statutes current compilation (opens in a new tab)•Source: HRS 560:3-1205 — estates of $100,000 or less, clerk of court to administer (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Section 15-3-1201 lets a claiming successor collect on an affidavit thirty days after the death, and the bar is wider than most: no application or petition for the appointment of 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)•Source: Idaho Transportation Department — form ITD 3413, Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

Letters from the circuit court on a petition — and the kind of letters you get is the thing to notice. Illinois grants independent administration by default: unless the will forbids it or an interested person objects, the court shall grant it, and an independent representative then administers with no court orders and no filings. Where there is no will, the job goes down a fixed order of preference starting with the surviving spouse, and every rung of that ladder may nominate somebody else to serve in their place. An administrator must be eighteen, a United States resident, of sound mind, not adjudged disabled, and not a convicted felon.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/28-1, 28-2, 28-4 — independent administration as the default, objection, and termination (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/9-1, 9-3 — who may act as administrator, and the order of preference for letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

Usually not, and the vehicle route is the lightest in this comparison. IC 29-1-8-1(c) moves a certificate of title five days after the death provided no appointment of a personal representative is contemplated, which is a statement about intention rather than the harder test the general route uses. The general affidavit waits forty-five days and requires that no appointment is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Section 633.356 lets a successor collect "without procuring letters of appointment" once forty days have passed, and the Department of Transportation says county treasurers still accept that affidavit for a vehicle. Iowa also publishes three separate vehicle answers depending on whether the estate is in probate at all.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: Iowa DOT — Title Transfer After Death (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. K.S.A. 59-1507b transfers personal property to a successor "without having been granted letters of administration or letters testamentary", and it works whether or not there was a will. What closes it is a petition for an executor or administrator being pending or granted, not the passage of time: Kansas sets no waiting period at all.^{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 application to the District Court, with a queue and a deadline. The court prefers the surviving spouse — who may nominate somebody else rather than simply decline — and then those next entitled to distribution, or whoever the court judges will best manage the estate. The deadline is the part to act on: if nobody entitled applies within sixty days of an intestate death, the court may grant administration to a creditor or to any other person in its discretion. Where the exemption plus preferred claims paid covers what is left, the family can ask instead for an order dispensing with administration and avoid appointment altogether.^{Source: KRS 395.040 — administrator, persons entitled to be appointed, discovery of will (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 395.455 — transfer of assets without administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

Often not, and Louisiana states when in a list rather than by a value test. It is not necessary to open judicially the small succession of a person domiciled in Louisiana who died intestate; of one who died testate leaving no immovable property in Louisiana, if the spouse and everyone who would inherit with or without the will agrees to waive probate of the testament; or of a person domiciled elsewhere who died intestate or whose will has been probated by another state's court.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3431 — small successions; judicial opening unnecessary (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

Often not, and Maine sorts the question by what your relationship to the vehicle is rather than by the size of the estate. It publishes five separate instruction sheets and prints the order of priority on the form: the common-owner and heir statements are valid only where there is no surviving spouse, no surviving joint owner and no personal representative appointed. Where an appointment is needed, the affidavit route under section 3-1201 is the alternative, thirty days after the death.^{Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — form MVT-22, affidavit of surviving spouse or personal representative (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — instruction sheet for owners in common other than spouses (opens in a new tab)•Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

It depends on how the vehicle was titled, and the Motor Vehicle Administration says so before describing any route: the steps depend on how the vehicle was titled and what you plan to do with it. A surviving joint owner applies for a new title before the current registration expires and needs no appointment. Where the vehicle stood in the deceased person's name alone, the Administration sends the family to the Register of Wills for the county where the deceased lived.^{Source: Maryland MVA — VR-151, "You've Inherited a Vehicle" (09-17) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maryland MVA — handling a loved one's vehicle and ID after death (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

Not for a small estate, and the court's own guide is emphatic about what that means. Voluntary administration is opened by filing form MPC 170 with the Probate and Family Court for the county where the person lived, and filing it does not result in an official appointment: the person designated has limited authority by law. For the car, a surviving spouse needs nothing at all, because chapter 90D section 15A deems the couple to have held it jointly all along.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: M.G.L. c.90D §15A — death of a registered owner; presumption of joint ownership in a surviving spouse (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Letters from the probate court, in a formal or an informal proceeding, on a statutory order of priority — and the order puts a surviving spouse who takes under the will above every other beneficiary and a surviving spouse who does not below all of them. After that come the other heirs; after forty-two days of family silence, the nominee of a creditor if the court finds them suitable; and after sixty-three days the public administrator, where nobody applied, or there are no known heirs, or nobody entitled is a United States resident. Anyone entitled can nominate somebody else or renounce in writing, which is how a family settles on one person without a contest. Objections can only be made in a formal proceeding, and a court can depart from the order where the creditors petition on an estate that cannot cover its unsecured debts, or where heirs holding more than half the value object to somebody the will did not name.^{Source: MCL 700.3203 — priority among persons seeking appointment as personal representative (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Where the estate is probated the court appoints someone to act as executor or administrator, and the Division states the consequence in one line: that person may act in place of the deceased, and the transfer takes place on the Minnesota title.^{Source: Minnesota DVS — deceased relative vehicle title transfer, estate subject to probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

Where letters are needed they come from the chancery court of the county in which the person had a fixed place of residence — and where they had none but devised Mississippi land, from the chancery court of the county where the land is. Most small estates avoid it: the successor's affidavit needs no appointment, and a will that passes land can be probated as a muniment of title only, by sworn petition and without an executor.^{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)•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

Three answers, and Missouri is the only state here whose court can simply decline to open an estate. A surviving spouse or unmarried minor child moves one vehicle with no probate order at all. Section 473.097 lets distributees take without awaiting letters. And under section 473.090 the probate division may refuse to grant letters where the estate is no greater than the exempt property and the family allowance, after which the spouse may collect and sue for the personal property as if they had been appointed.^{Source: Missouri Department of Revenue — titling and registration questions (opens in a new tab)•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

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Section 72-3-1101 is drafted as a duty on whoever holds the property rather than a permission for the family: on the affidavit they shall pay or deliver, thirty days after the death, with no appointment 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

Either, and the Department draws the line by what the title says. Where the certificate stands in the deceased's name alone, transfer can occur only if a court-appointed individual assigns the title, unless the estate is inside the affidavit ceiling, in which case it moves without probate to a claiming successor. Where the names are separated by AND or AND/OR rather than OR or With Rights Of Survivorship, that is a bar rather than more paperwork: the survivor cannot obtain title until a county judge decides in probate proceedings that they have the right to it.^{Source: Nebraska DMV — Transfer of Ownership, certificates of title in the decedent's name only (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nebraska DMV — Transfer of Ownership, decedent's motor vehicle (opens in a new tab)•Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Nevada expects a trust or a probate first and treats the affidavit as what is left when there is neither. Where real property or a larger estate closes the affidavit, section 146.070 lets the court set the estate aside without administration, by order, with nobody appointed at all.^{Source: Nevada DMV — Vehicle Title and Ownership (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nevada Revised Statutes s. 146.070 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

Yes, always, and that is what makes New Hampshire different. There is no affidavit route here. RSA 553:32 waives the machinery rather than the appointment: no inventory, no bond, no accounting. Somebody is still appointed and still holds the office. Six circumstances qualify and five turn on the same idea, that whoever inherits is also whoever administers.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

Apply to the Surrogate of the county where the person last lived — an elected county officer, not a judge, which is why most New Jersey estates never see a courtroom. With a will, the Surrogate admits it to probate and issues letters testamentary to whoever it names; until that happens the will has no effect at all and the person it names is a nominee rather than an executor. Without a will, administration goes to the surviving spouse or domestic partner first, then to the remaining heirs or any of them who will accept, and then to any other person who will. New Jersey adds an outside date no other state here has: if the heirs have not claimed the administration within forty days of the death, the court may grant letters to any fit person who applies. It is permissive and rarely used, and a family still arguing at six weeks should know the argument has a deadline.^{Source 7Source 8}
New Mexico

Not where an affidavit fits. Where it does not, the case is filed in the county Probate Court rather than a district court, for thirty dollars, any time between five days and three years after the death. New Mexico's Probate Courts are designed for non-lawyers; where a case has to go to the District Court instead, the Probate Court says so.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

Petition for probate to the Surrogate's Court of the county of domicile, which then issues letters.^{Source 6}
North Carolina

Letters from the clerk of superior court. Where there is a will, letters testamentary go to the executor it names, then to any substitute or successor it names, then to anyone nominated by a person the will gives the power to nominate. Where there is no will, or nobody under the will qualifies, letters of administration go down an order — surviving spouse, devisee, heir, next of kin with closer kinship first, a creditor of the decedent, any person of good character residing in the county who applies, then anyone else of good character — which the clerk may depart from where the best interests of the estate require. Note that a creditor sits above a stranger, which is a reason not to leave the position vacant. An out-of-state person can serve, unlike in Ohio, but only by appointing a resident agent for service of process and filing the appointment with the court — and a resident representative who later moves away must do the same thing.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-4-1, 28A-4-2 — order of persons qualified to serve, and who is disqualified (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

Two answers depending on which route. The affidavit under section 30.1-23-01 needs no appointment: thirty days after the death the holder shall pay or deliver on it. Summary administration under section 30.1-23-03 is the opposite: it happens inside an estate already opened, after the inventory and appraisal, and it is the personal representative who distributes.^{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

Letters from the probate court — and for an intestate estate there is a residency condition that decides many families before anything else does. Administration goes first to the surviving spouse if resident of the state, then to one of the next of kin resident of the state. A child who lives in another state is not lower in the order; they are not in it. Where nobody entitled applies within a reasonable time without sufficient cause, priority is lost and the court appoints some suitable Ohio resident instead — expressly including, if it comes to that, a creditor of the estate. Where there is a will, the court issues letters testamentary to the executor the will names if that person is suitable, competent, accepts, and gives any required bond; failing that, letters of administration with the will annexed go to a suitable devisee or legatee, unless the will says otherwise.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.06 — persons entitled to administer an intestate estate, and loss of priority (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

Not necessarily, and Oklahoma opens summary administration on three conditions of which only the first is about money: an estate worth $300,000 or less, a death more than five years ago, or a decedent who lived in another jurisdiction. An estate of any size qualifies on either of the other two.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

Read the title first: Oregon prints the answer in a box. Y/N or Y/Y in the SURVIVORSHIP box means the title has survivorship and one document does the whole job; N/N or N/Y means it does not, and then whether an appointment is needed turns on whether the estate is being probated.^{Source: Oregon DMV — titling and registering your vehicle, deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

Apply to the Register of Wills of the county where the person last lived — an office, not a judge. If the will names you, letters testamentary are granted to the executor it designates. With no will, the register follows a statutory order: those entitled to the residuary estate, then the surviving spouse, then those entitled under the intestate law with preference by size of share, then principal creditors, then other fit persons. Two things surprise families. The surviving spouse is second, not first. And creditors are in the queue at all — though no letters go to a creditor or other fit person until 30 days after the death, except with the family's consent. Accepting the appointment submits you personally to the jurisdiction of the county's orphans' court division for everything you do in the role.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3155, 3163 — who is entitled to letters, in what order, and what accepting them submits you to (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

Yes, but a light one. Voluntary administration is opened by filing a statement with the probate court on a form the court prescribes, verified by oath, and what comes back is a certification of appointment of voluntary administrator, issued by the clerk only after a probate judge has reviewed it. No hearing is required, though the judge may require one.^{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

Appointment is the rule rather than the exception: to hold the powers and duties of a personal representative a person must be appointed by order of the court, qualify, and be issued letters, and administration is commenced by the issuance of letters. Priority runs through eight classes, and two of them are not family — a creditor forty-five days after the death, and a person suitable to the court on the Department of Revenue's application four months after it.^{Source: S.C. Code §§ 62-3-103, 62-3-203 — appointment and priority (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling. Section 29A-3-1201 is drafted as a duty on the holder: thirty days after the death they shall make payment or deliver on the affidavit, with no application or petition for a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

A petition to the court exercising probate jurisdiction where the person lived, for limited letters — of administration if there was no will, or testamentary if a will governs and distributes differently from intestacy. Forty-five days from the death, unless the court waives that on good cause, and only if nobody has filed for 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

Apply to the probate court for the will to be admitted and letters testamentary issued — or, where the will provides for it or all the distributees agree, an independent administration in which the court largely steps back after the inventory. What independent means is written into the definitions rather than into the appointment: an independent executor is a “personal representative” for the purposes of the code, and the same section says in the next breath that including them there does not subject them to the control of the courts in probate matters, except as expressly provided by law. So the ordinary rules about personal representatives reach you, and the court's supervision of them does not — which is the whole of the difference between the two routes. If the estate owes no unpaid debt other than one secured by a lien on real estate, the will can instead be admitted as a muniment of title and nobody is appointed at all.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§401.001–401.003 — creating an independent administration (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)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§22.001, 22.031 — applicability of definitions, and who counts as a personal representative (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

Frequently not, and Utah answers it with arithmetic rather than a route. Probate is required if the estate includes real property of any value, or if assets other than land and not including cars exceed $100,000. Cars are outside the count, so a family whose largest asset is the vehicle is often outside probate entirely. Where a case is needed, an informal probate may not be filed until 120 hours have passed, and must be filed within three years of the death.^{Source: Utah State Courts — Informal Probate (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah Code § 75-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, vehicles (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

Yes. Vermont's small estate is a probate estate rather than an affidavit: it is commenced by filing eight items at once, including an original death certificate, an inventory, an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and other known debts, and a bond without surety in the amount of the whole estate. 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

Qualification before the clerk of the circuit court, on an oath and a bond — Virginia requires a bond as a matter of course, which several states here do not, and the clerk must be satisfied the person is suitable and competent. Where the will names an executor who serves, they are it. Where it names none, or the named executor refuses, fails to give bond, dies, resigns or is removed, administration with the will annexed goes first to a residual or substantial legatee under the will or their designee — and if that person does not apply within thirty days, to whoever would have been entitled to administer had there been no will. One bar operates on objection rather than automatically: a spouse or parent already barred from all interest in the estate for desertion or abandonment may not serve if any beneficiary objects. Once somebody has qualified, the estate must give written notice of the qualification or probate to the surviving spouse, to every heir at law whether or not there is a will, and to every living ascertained beneficiary — so a disinherited child is told the estate exists and told they may have copies of the inventory and accounts.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-500 — grant of administration with the will annexed (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-508 — written notice of probate and qualification, and entitlement to copies (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

A petition for nonintervention powers, and the court has almost no say in it. Where the estate is solvent — measured across probate AND nonprobate assets — and the will named you, RCW 11.68.011 says the court shall grant them unless the will forbade it. After the grant the estate is administered without going back to court, which is where the cost of probate normally lives. Intestate, letters go to the surviving spouse first, and the spouse may nominate somebody else into their place rather than being displaced down the list.^{Source: RCW 11.68.011 — petition for nonintervention powers (opens in a new tab)•Source: RCW 11.28.120 — persons entitled to letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

Not where there is no probate real property. Section 44-1A-2 allows a small estate to be administered upon affidavit and without the appointment of a personal representative, and the affidavit 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

Often not. Transfer by affidavit under section 867.03 involves no court at all: the affidavit goes to whoever holds the property. Where that will not work, section 867.02 is not discretionary either way: the court shall summarily assign the estate without appointing a personal representative where the figures hold and the estate cannot be summarily settled under section 867.01.^{Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.02 (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

Not where the estate is inside the ceiling, and Wyoming's ceiling is the highest in this comparison. Not earlier than thirty days after the death the holder shall pay or deliver on the affidavit, provided no application for a personal representative is pending or has been 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)•}

What proves you can act, and what it is called here

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

It depends which side of that question you are on. Without probate: the Next of Kin Affidavit, form MVT 5-6, attesting the desire of all the heirs, with a copy of the death certificate. With probate: the executor's or administrator's own authority. One limit reaches both routes and the Department teaches its own title clerks twice: a power of attorney cannot sign for an executor or for a next of kin.^{Source: Alabama Administrative Code, Revenue chapter 810-5-75 — rule 810-5-75-.09, transfer of title for a vehicle from a deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division — form MVT 5-6, Next of Kin Affidavit (2/20) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division — Designated Agent Training Manual (2023) (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

The affidavit itself, where the route fits. Whoever holds the property is required by law to give it to you on it, and form P-110 prints its own authority at the foot of the first page: AS 13.16.680. Where you are appointed instead, the Court System publishes the vehicle question as a four-row chart and names a document the Division's own page does not mention. In an informal probate the personal representative may take every step of the administration without asking the court for approval.^{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)•Source: Alaska Court System — transferring ownership of assets (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — Informal probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

Letters, issued by the registrar on an informal appointment rather than by a judge after a hearing. Arizona's own digital-assets provision is the clearest statement in the corpus of what those letters buy: a fiduciary presenting them to a custodian is entitled to the deceased's records, and the custodian may require the letters plus a certified death certificate before disclosing anything.^{Source 1Source: A.R.S. §14-13107 (Disclosure of content of electronic communications of deceased user) (opens in a new tab)•}
Arkansas

A copy of the affidavit certified by the clerk, and that certification is the distinguishing feature of the Arkansas route. The affidavit goes through the court and comes back stamped, and the certified copy is what a bank, a custodian or a transfer agent is shown.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

Letters testamentary where there was a will, letters of administration where there was not, issued by the superior court after the hearing. California is unusually specific about what a holder may demand alongside them, and about the alternative that avoids them: the affidavit procedure under Probate Code 13100 does the same work for an estate inside the ceiling, and the person presenting it is not a personal representative at all.^{Source 3Source: California Probate Code §13100 (opens in a new tab)•}
Colorado

The affidavit, sworn to four statements, and no court is involved at all. For a vehicle the Division names the two documents its own statute leaves open, and adds that a beneficiary designation form stands in for both. Where the vehicle passes by inheritance the agent may issue a new title on the old certificate if it is available, plus whatever proof the director reasonably requires.^{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)•Source: Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles — title, transfer from a deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•Source: C.R.S. §§ 42-6-114 and 42-6-115 — transfers by bequest, descent or law, and furnishing a statement for a certificate (opens in a new tab)•}
Connecticut

For a vehicle the DMV names five probate documents it will accept as proof that the executor or administrator may assign the title, which is a useful list of what Connecticut actually issues. Under the small-estate route there are no letters at all: the authority is the Probate Court's own decree of who takes what.^{Source: Connecticut DMV — Transfer car ownership (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)•Source: Connecticut Probate Courts — PC-212, Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration (rev. 07/23) (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

The affidavit, attesting to seven things, furnished to whoever holds the money or property. Section 2307 does the work at the counter: the person making payment on it 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 it. Where they refuse anyway, Delaware sends the dispute to the Court of Chancery rather than to a probate registry.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•Source: 12 Del. C. § 2307 — effect of distribution without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

Letters of administration from the circuit court. Florida is one of the few states whose digital-asset provisions spell out what the fiduciary must hand a custodian alongside them, which is a useful check on whether your letters will actually open a door.^{Source 5Source: Fla. Stat. §740.006 (Disclosure of content of electronic communications of deceased user) — The Florida Senate (opens in a new tab)•}
Georgia

Letters of administration, or letters testamentary where there is a will. For an estate that took the no-administration route there are no letters at all — what the family holds is the court's order declaring no administration necessary, together with the heirs' agreement it approved. For a car specifically Georgia does not insist on letters: it will take any of three inheritance documents, including a Year's Support award or a sworn affidavit of inheritance.^{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)•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 Department of Revenue — vehicle inherited or purchased from an estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

For the affidavit route, the affidavit itself plus a death certificate — and anybody who can issue a certificate of ownership must change the registered ownership on presentation of it. Nothing is called letters because nothing was granted. Where the clerk administers, the clerk is the personal representative and the authority is the court's order.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, Hawaii Revised Statutes current compilation (opens in a new tab)•Source: HRS 560:3-1205 — estates of $100,000 or less, clerk of court to administer (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

The affidavit, on one of two forms, and which you use decides what you have to prove. The Affidavit of Inheritance carries an intestacy requirement; form ITD 3413 is drawn from the probate code instead, asks nothing about a will, and identifies the claimant by reference rather than relationship, as the successor defined in Idaho Code 15-1-201(5). It opens with a competence test the other form does not have: 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

Letters of office from the circuit court, and the adjective matters more than the noun. Illinois grants independent administration by default, and an independent representative acts with no court orders and no filings; a supervised representative does not. Read which kind your letters are before assuming what you can do with them.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/28-1, 28-2, 28-4 — independent administration as the default, objection, and termination (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/9-1, 9-3 — who may act as administrator, and the order of preference for letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

State Form 18733, the affidavit for transfer of a certificate of title without administration, and the Bureau prints its authority on the form itself: IC 29-1-8-1(c). It must be duly executed by the distributees of the estate, and a copy of the death certificate goes with it; the form asks for nothing certified. Where no form fits, the Bureau publishes exactly what a judge's order has to say instead.^{Source: Indiana BMV — State Form 18733, affidavit for transfer of title without administration (R10 / 11-24) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•Source: Indiana BMV — Court Order Title Application Checklist (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

The affidavit, made under penalty of perjury, and the holder is leaned on from both sides: receipt of it 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 in a reasonable amount instead.^{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, which the Department of Revenue reissues as TR-83b for a vehicle. The holder is directed rather than permitted: on the affidavit the property shall be transferred. Kansas also has a second affidavit for a will nobody has probated yet, which moves one vehicle. A warning the Department prints for both: a power of attorney dies with the person who gave it.^{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)•Source: Kansas Department of Revenue — form TR-83a, Decedent's Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles — titling a vehicle, frequently asked questions (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

Letters of administration, or letters testamentary on a will, from the District Court. An administration is not permanent: if a will is later produced and proved, the administration ceases and the court may grant probate of the will or letters of administration with the will annexed. On the dispensing route there are no letters — what the family holds is the court's order transferring the assets, and for the small bank withdrawal it is an order the depository must honor on presentation.^{Source: KRS 395.040 — administrator, persons entitled to be appointed, discovery of will (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 395.455 — transfer of assets without administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 391.030 — descent of personal property; exemption for surviving spouse and children (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

The affidavit itself, and Louisiana makes it operative rather than persuasive: a multiple original or certified copy is full and sufficient authority for any bank, warehouseman, depositary or person holding the property to pay or deliver. For the vehicle the Office asks one question before any other, how the succession was settled, and gives three answers with three different documents.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3434 — endorsed copy of affidavit; authority for delivery of property (opens in a new tab)•Source: Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles — frequently asked questions, transferring a vehicle from a deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

A copy of the Probate Court appointment, and on the personal representative's sheet it is the whole of the evidence: three items go in, the title, an application, and the copy of the appointment, with no affidavit at all. Where nobody has been appointed, the substitute is heavier rather than lighter: form MVT-22 signed by the common owner and every immediate heir, notarized, plus a letter from the Probate Court stating that no will of the deceased is being probated.^{Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — instruction sheet for a personal representative (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — instruction sheet for owners in common other than spouses (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — form MVT-22, affidavit of surviving spouse or personal representative (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

A certified copy of the death certificate, or, in Maryland, something families do not expect to exist. The Department of Health notifies the Administration electronically when a death certificate is filed, and the letter that generates, form VR-278 or VR-264P, stands in for the death certificate on a transfer to a surviving owner inside the state. Where a Register of Wills appointment is needed the Administration names that office rather than a court.^{Source: Maryland MVA — handling a loved one's vehicle and ID after death (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maryland MVA — VR-151, "You've Inherited a Vehicle" (09-17) (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

An attested copy of the Statement, and nothing else exists: no certificate of appointment can issue, because no appointment is made. The guide names the consequence directly, and it is the one families meet first: somebody who needs the deceased's medical records may have to be appointed a personal representative instead. For the vehicle the Registry accepts an Affidavit of Surviving Spouse, sworn under the penalties of perjury to one thing, that the will did not deal with the car.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts RMV — Affidavit of Surviving Spouse (TTL103) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts RMV — surviving spouse, heirship and inheritance (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Letters of authority from the probate court, granted in a formal or an informal proceeding. Michigan's digital-asset provision is the one that shows what they are worth in practice: a custodian may require the letters, a certified death certificate and, for some content, a court order finding the disclosure lawful.^{Source: MCL 700.3203 — priority among persons seeking appointment as personal representative (opens in a new tab)•Source: Michigan Compiled Laws 700.1008 — Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, disclosure of other digital assets of deceased user (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Any one of four documents, and they are not equivalent in practice. A certified copy of Letters of Administration, on which every appointed executor must sign the title unless the document says they may act independently. A certified copy of a Probate Court Order setting the property aside to the surviving spouse. A certified copy of a Decree of Partial Distribution specifically awarding the vehicle, which can release the car long before the estate closes. Or a certified copy of the Final Decree of Distribution. Every one must be a certified copy and every one must come from a Minnesota court.^{Source: Minnesota DVS — deceased relative vehicle title transfer, estate subject to probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

Letters testamentary from the chancery court where an administration is opened. On the affidavit route, the affidavit — and the holder who pays on it is discharged as if it had dealt with a personal representative, and need not inquire into the truth of anything in it. On the muniment route, the will as admitted, which settles title and grants no authority to administer anything.^{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)•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 original or a certified copy of Letters of Administration, Letters Testamentary, or a Small Estate Certificate, with the title assigned by the administrator, executor or personal representative. Where nobody is appointed the substitute is a notarized Affidavit to Establish Title to Exempt Property, form 2305, and Missouri's accepted proof of death is remarkably relaxed: a photocopy of a death certificate or of an obituary.^{Source: Missouri Department of Revenue — titling and registration questions (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

The affidavit, and section 72-3-1102 is what makes it work at a counter: whoever acts on it 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 any statement in it. If they refuse anyway, delivery can be compelled in a proceeding brought on proof of right. For vehicles one affidavit can take the title to every vehicle, boat and snowmobile in the estate at once.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1102 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 61-3-222 — surviving spouse or heir, small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

A letter of appointment from the court, attached to the title when it is presented to the County Treasurer. Where the affidavit route fits instead, it is the Affidavit for Transfer of Decedent's Vehicle/Motorboat, which cites section 30-24,125 on its face. The affidavit also carries a power most states leave to a bank's discretion: on presentation the successor may endorse a check payable to the deceased or the estate, and the institution accepting it is discharged from all claims for the amount.^{Source: Nebraska DMV — Transfer of Ownership, certificates of title in the decedent's name only (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nebraska DMV — Affidavit for Transfer of Decedent's Vehicle/Motorboat (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nebraska Revised Statute 30-24,125 (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Form VP-24, sworn before a notary, and Nevada then does something for it that few states do: a governmental agency required to issue certificates of title shall issue a new one on the affidavit, and may not refuse to accept it regardless of the form of the affidavit. Anyone receiving a conforming affidavit is entitled to rely on it and is immune from civil liability for relying in good faith.^{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

The appointment itself. For the family car nothing is needed at all, because New Hampshire does not transfer it to a widow or widower: it deems the couple to have held it jointly all along, so there is nothing to move out of an estate, and the survivor makes the ordinary assignment and warranty of title on the certificate. Where a vehicle passes otherwise than by voluntary transfer, three things go to the department and the new title settles nothing about who was entitled.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 261:17 — joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 261:14 — transfer of interest in vehicle (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 261:16 — involuntary transfers (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

Letters testamentary or of administration from the county Surrogate, an elected county officer rather than a judge. Until the Surrogate admits the will the person it names is a nominee and not an executor, which is why nothing can be done on the strength of the will alone.^{Source 7Source 8}
New Mexico

Letters Testamentary where there was a will, Letters of Administration where there was not, and the court states what they buy: legal authority to transact business on the decedent's behalf. Appointment runs on priority with a consent rule attached: a spouse first, then the children, and anyone who wants the job must have the written consent of everyone with the same or higher priority.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

Letters issued by the Surrogate's Court of the county of domicile after the probate petition. New York's digital-asset rules are explicit that the letters alone are often not enough: a custodian may ask for a certified death certificate and a court order in addition.^{Source 6Source: N.Y. EPTL §13-A-2.2 and §13-A-3.1 (Fiduciary access to digital assets) — New York State Senate (opens in a new tab)•}
North Carolina

Letters testamentary where there is a will and letters of administration where there is not, issued by the clerk of superior court rather than a judge. Where the estate is small enough, an affidavit for collection of personal property replaces them entirely and nobody is appointed.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-4-1, 28A-4-2 — order of persons qualified to serve, and who is disqualified (opens in a new tab)•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

The affidavit, and section 30.1-23-02 makes it usable: whoever acts on it 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. A transfer agent is bound the same way, and North Dakota is unusual in naming limited liability companies alongside corporations. On the vehicle, a title moves on a death for $5 plus whatever documents of authority the law requires.^{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)•Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 39-05-19 — obtaining a certificate of title where ownership is obtained other than by voluntary means (opens in a new tab)•}
Ohio

Letters testamentary or letters of administration from the probate court, and the residency rule inside the appointment decides who can hold them. For the car specifically, the surviving spouse's selection needs no letters at all.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.06 — persons entitled to administer an intestate estate, and loss of priority (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 4505.10 — certificate of title on transfer by operation of law, and the surviving spouse's affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

A petition for summary administration, filed by any person interested in the estate, with the original or a certified copy of the will attached where there was one. The petition itself is where the work is: it must name the administrators, executors, non-petitioning co-nominees, heirs, legatees and devisees so far as known, and give the probable value and character of the property with a legal description of every piece of Oklahoma real estate.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

A copy of the court-issued Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, or another document appointing the personal representative, where the estate is being probated. Where it is not, the substitute is a notarized Inheritance Affidavit completed by each heir, or, if a simple estate affidavit was filed with the county, a copy of that court-filed affidavit or a Simple Estate Certification completed by the affiant. Where there is survivorship, proof of death alone is enough, and Oregon accepts it in unusually wide forms: an original, a certified copy, a regular photocopy of the death certificate, or court documents indicating the death.^{Source: Oregon DMV — titling and registering your vehicle, deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

Letters testamentary or of administration, granted by the Register of Wills of the county rather than by a judge. Short certificates of those letters are what institutions actually ask for, and Pennsylvania's small-estate route under section 3101 moves several categories of asset with no letters at all.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3155, 3163 — who is entitled to letters, in what order, and what accepting them submits you to (opens in a new tab)•Source: 75 Pa.C.S. 1114 — transfer of a vehicle by operation of law, and the surviving spouse route that needs no letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

The certification of appointment, for five dollars, on top of a thirty dollar filing fee. For a vehicle where nobody has been appointed there is a separate document and it is not an attachment to anything: the Sole Heir Affidavit is headed Affidavit and Assignment of Title, and the affidavit IS the assignment.^{Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: Rhode Island DMV — affidavit and assignment of title, sole heir affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

Letters, issued on qualification, and the DMV names the certificate of appointment as the first of three things it wants for a vehicle. Anyone with priority may nominate somebody else into their place, and the nominee takes the same priority, except that a person the testator named outranks a nominee. Objections are formal only.^{Source: S.C. Code §§ 62-3-103, 62-3-203 — appointment and priority (opens in a new tab)•Source: South Carolina DMV — inheriting a vehicle (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

The affidavit, sworn to five things rather than the usual four. A transfer agent of a security is bound in the same way a debtor is and shall change the registered ownership on the corporation's books on presentation. For a vehicle the application goes to the county treasurer, and where the vehicle passes by operation of law the statute asks for satisfactory proof and says the burden is yours.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: SDCL § 32-3-6 — ownership passing by operation of law, burden of proof (opens in a new tab)•Source: SDCL § 32-3-18 — application for certificate, contents, fee (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

Limited letters, with the petition attached to and made part of them — so the authority is readable on its face and confined to the itemized property. The form says in terms that it gives no authority over real estate at all. What it does authorize is practical: collecting and preserving the assets, removing personal property from a place the person rented, and canceling insurance the death has made pointless.^{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)•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

Letters testamentary from the probate court, or nothing at all. Where the will is admitted as a muniment of title nobody is appointed and the order itself is the authority; where the administration is independent, the letters carry authority the court does not then supervise.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§401.001–401.003 — creating an independent administration (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

Letters Testamentary where there is a will, Letters of Administration where there is not, signed by the court after an informal application with no hearing, and a certified copy is what third parties are shown. Where no case is opened the substitute is not filed anywhere: the successor completes the affidavit, signs it before a notary, and hands it to the bank or to the Division, and there is a separate affidavit for up to four vehicles.^{Source: Utah State Courts — Informal Probate (opens in a new tab)•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

Real letters of administration, admitted under section 902 where there was a will and section 903 where there was not. They come with a limit most letters do not carry: they are effective for one year from issuance. Vermont's Department then reads the ownership code off the title and hands back a document list, and where there is no probate it wants a letter from an officer of the court.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1902 — letters of administration in a small estate (opens in a new tab)•Source: Vermont DMV — form VT-021, death informational bulletin (05/2018) (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

A certificate of qualification from the clerk of the circuit court, issued on an oath and, as a matter of course in Virginia, a bond. The small-estate affidavit is the alternative, and it is what a holder may act on where no one has qualified.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-500 — grant of administration with the will annexed (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

Letters testamentary or of administration, and then the document that matters more: the order granting nonintervention powers. With it the estate is administered without returning to court, which is where the cost of probate normally lives.^{Source: RCW 11.68.011 — petition for nonintervention powers (opens in a new tab)•Source: RCW 11.28.120 — persons entitled to letters of administration (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 too where there was one in due and proper form. For the vehicle West Virginia publishes four answers and states one refusal that catches families: it will not accept a copy of the will.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•Source: West Virginia DMV — Titles, when a registrant dies (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

The affidavit, and for a vehicle the Department's own form Form MV2300, which cites its authority on its face: sections 342.14(3), 342.14(3m), 342.17(4)(b) and 867.03. Where the affidavit describes real property, a certified copy or duplicate original is recorded with the register of deeds in every county where the land sits.^{Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin DMV — form MV2300, statement of transfer of vehicles to or by a surviving family member, domestic partner or heir (7/2024) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.03 (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

A certified copy of the FILED affidavit, and the two-step catches people. The affidavit is filed with the county clerk first; the certified copy is what a holder is then shown, and only then is it honored. Section 2-1-202 discharges whoever acts on it as if they had dealt with a personal representative. For a vehicle the statute does the work directly rather than leaving it to the motor vehicle office: the county clerk transfers the title on it.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•Source: W.S. § 2-1-202 — effect of affidavit; refusal to pay or deliver (opens in a new tab)•}

What you are personally on the hook for

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

One person swears for everybody, and that is the exposure. The affidavit is signed by the next of kin attesting the desire of all the heirs, and the signer then completes the assignment on the certificate as the seller on behalf of the estate. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Alabama and does not assert one. What is verified runs the other way and protects the family: the surviving spouse's exempt property, $7,500 and naming automobiles by name, has priority over all claims against the estate.^{Source: Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division — form MVT 5-6, Next of Kin Affidavit (2/20) (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-8-111 — exempt property (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Signing the affidavit settles nothing about ownership. The successor is accountable for what they receive to any personal representative later appointed and to anyone with a superior right, and the form prints the section that says so, AS 13.16.685. You cannot keep the property: it goes to the beneficiaries under the will or to the heirs, and you may be held accountable if it does not. Where you are appointed, the first clock is the inventory, three months from appointment. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Alaska and does not assert one.^{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)•Source: Alaska Court System — Small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

Informal proceedings are generally barred more than 2 years after death, which also limits how late an estate can be opened.^{Source 2}
Arkansas

What you swear to is what you carry. The affidavit states that there are no unpaid claims or demands against the decedent or the estate, and that the Department of Human Services either furnished no state or federal benefits or has already been reimbursed in accordance with state and federal law. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Arkansas and does not assert one.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

Set by the Probate Code's claim provisions; Sahvelo has not yet verified California's outer bar to Tier 1 and does not state one.^{Source 3}
Colorado

The count you swear to is the exposure, and Colorado makes it unusually hard to get right: the ceiling is twice the surviving spouse's exempt property figure, adjusted by the consumer price index for the calendar year before the year of death, and no figure appears anywhere in the section that uses it. Swearing to a number you have not derived correctly is the risk. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Colorado and does not assert one.^{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

Connecticut's small-estate route is a debts-first mechanism rather than a distribution one: what is there goes to funeral expenses, the costs of administering the estate and last-illness claims before anything reaches a beneficiary. A separate duty catches families who assume a small estate has none. An estate tax return is required for every Connecticut resident who dies, within six months, even where no tax is owed, and where nobody was appointed it falls on whoever holds the property. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Connecticut and does not assert one.^{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 DRS — Form CT-706/709 Line Instructions (Rev. 06/26): the estate and gift tax schedule (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

Two of the seven sworn statements have to be true before you sign, not after: all known debts of the decedent must already be paid or provided for, and the surviving spouse's allowance must have been paid, provided for, waived or expired. What remains open has no date on it: the distributees are answerable to any person having a prior right and accountable to any intestate distributee or to any personal representative thereafter appointed. Thereafter appointed, so the exposure runs into the future rather than only to people already known. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Delaware and does not assert one.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•Source: 12 Del. C. § 2307 — effect of distribution without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

Claims arising before death are barred 2 years after the date of death, whatever notice was given.^{Source 5}
Georgia

It turns on whether bond was waived, and therefore on whether the heirs agreed. Without unanimous consent and published notice the personal representative posts a bond the court deems necessary and files reports and statements. With them, the administration is unsupervised and the exposure is the representative's own. On the no-administration route the exposure is different in kind: the petition is sworn to the estate owing no debts, or to every creditor having consented or been served, so a debt that surfaces afterwards surfaces against people who swore there were none. Sahvelo has read the standard forms and their statutory citations, and not Georgia's provisions on a representative's liability.^{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)•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

Real, and it lands on the person who collected rather than on the institution that paid. The holder who pays on the affidavit is discharged as if it had dealt with a personal representative; the successor is not — anybody who takes property this way is answerable and accountable for it to a personal representative of the estate or to anybody with a superior right. And the window is long: 18 months from the death where no notice to creditors was published, which the affidavit route never does.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1202 — effect of the affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: HRS 560:3-803 — limitations on presentation of claims (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

You warrant the title you pass on. The affidavit is attached to and made part of the title application, and the claimant agrees to warrant and defend that title and to save harmless whoever relies on it. The count you swear to is of the estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Idaho and does not assert one.^{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

It genuinely ends, and Illinois is the clearest state here on the point. Publish once a week for three weeks and mail the known creditors, and a claim not filed by the date in the notice is barred — that date being at least six months from the first publication or three months from the mailing, whichever falls later. Behind that sits an absolute bar: all claims that could have been barred are barred 2 years after the death, whether or not letters of office were ever issued. Two exceptions worth holding: the bar does not reach a claim to the extent the estate is covered by liability insurance, and it never applied to the spouse's or child's award or to administration expenses. A representative who gives the notices in good faith is not personally liable to a creditor afterwards.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/18-3, 18-12 — notice to creditors by publication and mail, and the six-month and two-year bars (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/15-1 — spouse's award (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

The general route puts a duty on you before you present anything: the affiant must already have notified each distributee named in the affidavit of the intention to present it. The vehicle shortcut drops that, which is why it is the lighter document and the riskier one for a family that does not all agree. Two clocks then run against you rather than the estate: 45 days to apply for the title, and the same clock again from the day a judge's order is stamped. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Indiana and does not assert one.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•Source: Indiana BMV — Titles: Buying & Selling a Vehicle (opens in a new tab)•Source: Indiana BMV — Court Order Title Application Checklist (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

Several of the twelve sworn items are undertakings rather than statements of fact, and they are the exposure: that Medicaid reimbursement will be paid to the extent of the funds received, that taxes will be, and that creditors will be. The vehicle affidavit adds one more, in exchange for having no ceiling at all: an agreement to indemnify the creditors up to the value of the car. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Iowa and does not assert one.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: Iowa Code § 321.47(2)(a) — transfers by operation of law, affidavit of the persons entitled (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

The transfer is deemed to have been made to a personal representative, and the successor's receipt is a full discharge to whoever hands the property over. Your exposure is on the other side of that. On the will affidavit the signer guarantees title to every later purchaser, and nothing in the verified text puts an end date on that guarantee. The affidavit also states that all unpaid debts, claims and taxes have been or will be paid. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Kansas and does not assert one.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Kansas Department of Revenue — form TR-83a, Decedent's Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

Longer than in a state with an administration, and that is the trade. Creditor claims are barred six months after a personal representative is appointed — but 2 years after the death where none was appointed, which is the dispensing case. Claims of the United States and of Kentucky are outside the bar altogether, and a mortgage stays enforceable against its security whatever the calendar says. A representative who distributes before that window closes is the person creditors look to.^{Source: KRS 396.011 — presentation of claims against an estate, time limitations and exceptions (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 395.040 — administrator, persons entitled to be appointed, discovery of will (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

Signing is accepting. One of the nine sworn statements is an affirmation that by signing, an heir has accepted the succession of the deceased, and the affiants swear under penalty of perjury that the affidavit is true, correct and complete. Whoever pays out on it is completely protected in exchange: no creditor, heir, legatee or succession representative has any right or cause of action against them. Where immovable property is described, a successor left out has two years from the recording to assert an interest against a third person who acquired by onerous title. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Louisiana and does not assert one.^{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

The form itself is where Maine puts the risk, and it does it by asking a question rather than by warning you. Under the heir statement it asks whether there are other persons living who had the same family relation to the deceased, which exists to find the people who have not signed. Where there is no appointment, every immediate heir must sign the transfer, so a survivor cannot proceed on their own share alone. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Maine and does not assert one.^{Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — form MVT-22, affidavit of surviving spouse or personal representative (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles — instruction sheet for owners in common other than spouses (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

Maryland is unusually direct about the boundary of its own advice, and it is worth reading as a warning rather than a disclaimer: the law requires certain steps to protect the rights of heirs, and if you are unsure of your legal standing it says to speak with an attorney or the Register of Wills. The practical exposure it does name is the license: return or destroy the deceased's driver's license or identification card as soon as possible, to prevent identity fraud. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Maryland and does not assert one.^{Source: Maryland MVA — handling a loved one's vehicle and ID after death (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maryland MVA — VR-151, "You've Inherited a Vehicle" (09-17) (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

It is a job with a payment order attached. The voluntary personal representative must first pay the necessary expenses of the funeral, the last sickness and the administration, may not charge a fee for the work, then pays debts in the order section 3-805 sets, and distributes any balance. They are liable as a personal representative for their own wrongs in the administration, and remain answerable and accountable to any personal representative later appointed. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Massachusetts and does not assert one.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

4 months from the published notice, or three years from the death if nobody ever published one. A creditor the representative knows gets a separate notice and at least twenty-eight days from when the representative first learned of them. What makes Michigan demanding is that knowing is defined as a search: the representative must investigate two years of the deceased's records and the mail arriving after the death, and a creditor reasonably ascertainable from that is a known creditor. What makes it survivable is that the statute protects an honest judgment in either direction — give notice in good faith and nobody is liable for having given it; fail to give it in good faith and liability, if any, is on the estate rather than on the representative personally. The bar itself is unusually wide: it runs against the estate, the representative, the heirs and devisees, and non-probate transferees, so the joint account taker and the payable-on-death beneficiary are protected by it too.^{Source: MCL 700.3803 — limitations on presentation of claims against a decedent's estate (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3801 — notice to creditors, the duty to investigate, and good-faith protection (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Read your own appointment before assuming one signature will do: where the letters do not say the representatives may act independently, all of them must sign. Where the final decree names people who are not taking the vehicle, each of them must assign their ownership before it can be titled to the others. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Minnesota and does not assert one.^{Source: Minnesota DVS — deceased relative vehicle title transfer, estate subject to probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

On the affidavit route it is personal and open-ended: the successor must acknowledge an obligation to distribute to anybody with a superior right, and nothing read here ends that obligation. On the muniment route the exposure is front-loaded instead — the petition cannot be granted until every known debt and tax has actually been paid, which is a harder condition than any threshold. Sahvelo has read the 2020 Act and not Mississippi's general creditor-claims provisions, because the state publishes no host for its Code.^{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)•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)•Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History — listing of 2025 regular session enrolled general acts (opens in a new tab)•}
Missouri

Missouri asks for a bond, which no other small-estate route in this comparison does. The affidavit requires a bond of not less than the value of the personal property, approved by the judge or clerk, conditioned on paying the decedent's debts including debts to the State of Missouri, the funeral and burial expenses, and complying with future orders of the court. The court may dispense with it where it finds it unnecessary. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Missouri and does not assert one.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

The same section that protects the holder leaves you exposed, and it does not put a date on it: a person to whom payment, delivery, transfer or issuance is made is answerable and accountable for the property to any personal representative of the estate or to any other person having a superior right. The affidavit moves the property and settles nothing about who was entitled to it. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Montana and does not assert one.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1102 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

The perjury warning is on the face of the document: the successors acknowledge that a false statement may subject them to penalties under section 28-915. Two practical exposures sit beside it. Any unreleased lien on the title transfers to the new title. And the title must be issued in the successor's name and cannot be issued to the purchaser, so the car has to land with you before it can go anywhere else. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Nebraska and does not assert one.^{Source: Nebraska DMV — Affidavit for Transfer of Decedent's Vehicle/Motorboat (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)•Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Getting it wrong does not undo the transfer, it moves the risk onto you. An affidavit that does not meet the requirements, or that contains statements which are not entirely true, leaves any money or property you received subject to all the debts of the decedent. Failing to give the fourteen days' notice to everyone with an equal or superior right leaves what you received held in trust for them. And filing a false affidavit is a felony in Nevada, which the form says on its face. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Nevada and does not assert one.^{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

The exposure is a window rather than a liability, and it closes at both ends. The affidavit of administration may not be filed less than six months after the appointment and no more than one year after it, and it must state that to the best of your knowledge and belief there are no outstanding debts or obligations attributable to the estate. Miss the year and the court chooses the consequence: a notice of default, a show cause order, or full administration of the estate instead. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for New Hampshire and does not assert one.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

Nine months from the date of death, and read what it does rather than what it sounds like. Creditors must present a sworn claim in writing within nine months of the death — running from the death itself, not from a notice or from your appointment, so it is already running before anyone is appointed. What arrives at the end is a discharge for you personally in respect of assets you have already paid out on lawful claims, devises or distributive shares. On the face of the section it does not extinguish the debt and it says nothing about assets still in your hands. So it is the point at which distributing becomes safe for the executor, which is not the same as the point at which the estate stops owing anybody.^{Source 9}
New Mexico

The guide draws the money line in both directions in two sentences. The personal representative may not use estate funds for their own benefit, and is entitled to fair compensation for time spent, under section 45-3-719, so long as a written record of tasks and time is kept. Administration costs come out of the estate. Two structural points bound the job: the case must stay open at least three months before it can close, and the closing is a sworn statement that the duties are complete. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for New Mexico and does not assert one.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

Set by SCPA; Sahvelo has not yet verified New York's outer bar to Tier 1 and does not state one.^{Source 6}
North Carolina

3 months from the first publication of the notice, which must itself name a day at least that far out — or ninety days from a personal notice where that falls later, in which case the letter must tell that creditor their own deadline. The notice runs once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper qualified to publish legal advertisements. What makes the bar unusually strong is its reach: a claim not presented in time is forever barred against the estate, the personal representative, the collector, the heirs and the devisees, so a beneficiary who has already been paid is protected by the same bar. Three things sit outside it: contingent claims on a warranty given when real estate was conveyed, claims of the United States, and North Carolina tax claims.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-14-1, 28A-19-3 — notice to creditors and the limitation on presenting claims (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

The affidavit moves the property and settles nothing: the person who receives it is answerable and accountable to any personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a superior right, with no date attached. In a summary administration the exposure is different and sharper, because the representative distributes without giving notice to creditors at all and then files a verified closing statement saying the estate did not exceed the allowances and costs. Two thirty-day clocks also run on the vehicle itself, and missing them is a class B misdemeanor rather than a fee. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for North Dakota and does not assert one.^{Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-23-02 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.D. Cent. Code §§ 30.1-23-03 and 30.1-23-04 — small estates, summary administrative procedure and closing (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.D. Cent. Code § 39-05-17 — transfer of title, endorsement, delivery, penalty (opens in a new tab)•}
Ohio

It ends sooner and harder than anywhere else in this comparison. Every claim must be presented within 6 months of the death, expressly whether or not the estate is released from administration and whether or not anyone is appointed in that period — and a claim outside it is forever barred as to all parties, including devisees, legatees and distributees, with no payment permitted and no action maintainable. Presentation is flexible in a way that softens the edge: a writing to the executor, to the attorney named as their counsel in the probate records, or to the probate court with the case number, and any writing actually received in time by the executor or that attorney counts regardless of whom it was addressed to. The executor must allow or reject within thirty days of presentation, though missing that does not disable them from deciding later.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2117.06 — presentation of creditor claims and the six-month bar (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

Oklahoma asks the petitioner to certify diligence rather than merely knowledge, and that is the exposure: the petition must name all known creditors with their last known addresses, and the petitioner must state that they exercised due diligence in determining the identities, addresses and claims of the decedent's creditors. It also asks whether any application for a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Oklahoma and does not assert one.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

Where there is no survivorship and no probate, the affidavit is completed by each heir, so the route depends on everyone signing rather than on one person swearing for the rest. Where every owner has died, the requirement splits: proof of death for all of them, and estate documents only for the one who died most recently. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Oregon and does not assert one.^{Source: Oregon DMV — titling and registering your vehicle, deceased owner (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

Never, on a date — and that is the answer rather than a gap. Pennsylvania has no nonclaim period triggered by the advertisement. Death does not stop the ordinary statute of limitations on a debt; it only guarantees that a claim which would otherwise expire in the first year survives until one year after the death. What the one-year mark actually protects is you. Once a year has passed from your first complete advertisement, you may distribute at your own risk and are not liable to a claimant whose claim you did not know about — but a claim you did know about, or one that surfaces after the year and before you actually hand anything over, is still yours. Secured debt is untouched throughout. If you suspect a claim is out there, do not wait and hope: you may serve a written demand requiring written notice of the claim within sixty days or within a year of the first advertisement, whichever is later, and silence then costs the claimant both the claim's protection and the right to notice of your account. Still advertise in both places immediately after appointment, and keep the proofs — they are what dates every one of these clocks.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3162 — advertisement of the grant of letters, in both required publications (opens in a new tab)•Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3532 — distribution at the personal representative's own risk, the one-year marks, and the 60-day demand on a suspected claimant (opens in a new tab)•Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3383, 3384, 3385 — limitations run through the death, what tolls them, and when a purchase from the heirs becomes unassailable (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

The sole heir affidavit asks the heirs to swear to something absolute and easily got wrong: that there are no liens or encumbrances on the vehicle at all. Not released, not consented to, not paid off last week. None. The heirs then assign and warrant title to the buyer, so they are warranting the title they are passing, and every heir signs and states their relationship. Under the voluntary administration the duties come in an order, funeral and last-sickness expenses first. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Rhode Island and does not assert one.^{Source: Rhode Island DMV — affidavit and assignment of title, sole heir affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

Two ninety-day clocks and a one-year bar. Within ninety days of appointment the representative must prepare an inventory and appraisement of the probate property with a fair market value and any encumbrance for each item, file the original with the court, and mail it to anybody who demanded notice. A second ninety days runs from a demand by an interested person for a list of the NON-probate property, which somebody else starts. Creditors are barred one year after the death, and the bar reaches the estate, the representative, the heirs, the devisees and non-probate transferees. The representative is not liable to any creditor or successor for giving or failing to give notice.^{Source: S.C. Code § 62-3-706 — inventory and appraisement (opens in a new tab)•Source: S.C. Code §§ 62-3-801, 62-3-803 — notice to creditors and the claim bar (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

The fifth sworn statement is a bar rather than a formality, and no amount of waiting fixes it: where the decedent incurred any indebtedness to the Department of Social Services for medical assistance for nursing home or other institutional care, the affidavit cannot truthfully be sworn at all, whatever the estate is worth. Iowa offers the same fact as an alternative, no debt owed or the debt will be paid; South Dakota gives no second limb. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for South Dakota and does not assert one.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

A bond, by default, and Tennessee is unusual in insisting on it: whatever the will says about waiving bond, the petitioner posts one payable to the clerk with a corporate surety, in the amount of the property administered. It is waived only where the petitioners are the sole heirs or sole beneficiaries, or every adult heir and beneficiary consents in writing. The representative and the surety stay on the hook until the first anniversary of the letters unless the court discharges them earlier on a tax receipt. Creditors, unusually, are not the risk: none may be notified and none may file a claim in this proceeding.^{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

There is no outer bar in the sense other states use. A claim may be presented at any time before the estate is closed, provided suit on it is not already barred by the general statutes of limitation — so publication discharges a duty and extinguishes nothing. Only one cut-off is yours to trigger: permissive notice to an unsecured creditor bars the claim 121 days after receipt, and the notice has to carry a statement that a claim may be presented by only one of the prescribed methods or the bar does not work. What does not help you, if you are an independent executor — which is most Texas executors — is rejecting a claim or ignoring it. The supervised-administration claim rules do not apply to you, so a claim is not barred because the creditor failed to sue within 90 days of your rejection, nor because you took no action on it at all. Presenting a claim to you does not toll the creditor's limitation period either, which is the protection that actually runs in the background. Publishing, waiting and distributing closes nothing.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§403.051, 403.055, 403.057, 403.058 — why the supervised claim rules do not apply (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §355.001 — presentment of a claim at any time before the estate is closed (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §308.054 — permissive notice to an unsecured creditor and the 121-day bar (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§308.051, 308.053 — required notice to creditors (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

Utah arms the person presenting the affidavit unusually well and asks something unusual in return. 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 itself certifies four statutory things plus one the form does not lead with: that the transfer will not prejudice the creditors. Two Utah timing points sit behind that. A creditor may be appointed once forty-five days have passed. And publishing notice to creditors is optional, so the clock a family elsewhere relies on may never have started. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Utah and does not assert one.^{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)•Source: Utah State Courts — Informal Probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

Two obligations attach and both have clocks. The inventory filed with the petition is provisional and must be confirmed, corrected or supplemented within sixty days of the letters issuing. And the authority itself expires: one year from issuance, extendable only on your motion and only for good cause shown, so an estate that drifts can find its fiduciary out of authority. Where the estate turns out to have exceeded the ceiling at the date of death, it is the fiduciary who must petition to move it onto the ordinary rules. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Vermont and does not assert one.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1902 — letters of administration in a small estate (opens in a new tab)•Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1901 — commencement of small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

It does not end on a date — Virginia moves the risk instead of extinguishing it. Six months after the representative qualifies, and once the accounts and the debts and demands have been reported to the clerk, the court may order creditors to show cause against distribution; the order is published once a week for two weeks at the applicant's expense, and after the day named the court may authorize distribution, with or without a refunding bond. What the distribution does not do is close the exposure. Every legatee or distributee who receives anything may be sued within five years and made to refund a due proportion of any claim enforceable against the estate — expressly including claims that were never presented at all. So a Virginia beneficiary receives their share subject to a five-year clawback, and the refunding bond is what makes it collectable. Compare Ohio, which bars every claim six months after the death whether or not an estate was ever opened, and Pennsylvania, which never bars a creditor on a date but protects the executor who distributes rather than the beneficiary who receives.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-556 — show cause against distribution, and the five-year liability of legatees to refund (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

Two years from the death, unless the personal representative earns something shorter. A creditor personally served is barred thirty days later, or four months from first publication if that is later; a creditor who could not reasonably have been found gets four months from publication. But a creditor who WAS reasonably ascertainable and was not served personally gets twenty-four months, and so does everyone if no notice was given at all. Publishing without searching does not buy the short bar.^{Source: RCW 11.40.051 — time limitations for presentation of claims (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

West Virginia sets two waiting periods for the same affidavit and the difference is a race rather than a formality. A successor nominated as executor under the will waits thirty days; everybody else waits sixty and must additionally swear that no nominated executor has already filed one. The Legal Heir Affidavit then asks the other heirs to sign away their claim on the same page, and there is room for only two of them. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for West Virginia and does not assert one.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•Source: West Virginia DMV — form DMV-185-TR, Legal Heir Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

Wisconsin states the duty positively where most states state an exposure, and the difference matters. By accepting 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. That order puts costs of administration first, then funeral and burial, then provision for the family, then the last illness, and ordinary creditors last. A surviving spouse signing the vehicle form certifies something sharper still: that they shall be personally liable for the debts and charges of the decedent to the extent of the value of the vehicles. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Wisconsin and does not assert one.^{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)•Source: Wisconsin DMV — form MV2300, statement of transfer of vehicles to or by a surviving family member, domestic partner or heir (7/2024) (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

Wyoming asks for facts rather than a conclusion, and that is where the exposure sits: the affidavit must state the distributees' relationship, the legal basis on which they claim entitlement, any intervening estates or other parties who may have a claim, and that there are no other distributees entitled to succeed in any jurisdiction. What the section does NOT contain is the limb most states write in, making the recipient answerable to a later personal representative. Sahvelo does not read that silence as protection: the rest of the Wyoming Probate Code has not been read, and the affidavit still requires those sworn statements. Sahvelo has not verified a creditor bar date for Wyoming and does not assert one.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•Source: W.S. § 2-1-202 — effect of affidavit; refusal to pay or deliver (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. Executor compensation is covered on the final accounting page, where the fee is examined; bond requirements and inventory deadlines vary further and are not yet covered.

Questions people ask about this

Do I get paid for this?

Usually yes. Most states allow reasonable compensation from the estate, set either as a percentage or as what the court finds reasonable. Family executors often waive it, and the fee is taxable income where it is taken. The specific formula differs by state and Sahvelo has not yet verified the four here.
Beneficiaries keep asking when they get their money.

The honest answer is that you cannot safely distribute until the creditor window has closed and taxes are settled, and that distributing early exposes you personally. Saying so early and in writing prevents most of the friction, because the delay looks arbitrary until someone explains it.
The debts are larger than the estate.

Stop and get advice before paying anything. An insolvent estate has a statutory payment order, and paying the wrong creditor first can make you personally liable for the one you should have paid. Do not pay anything out of your own money.
There are two of us named. Do we both have to sign everything?

Usually yes unless the will says otherwise, which is workable when you agree and difficult when you do not. If you already know you disagree, raise it before appointment rather than after.
How long will this take?

For a simple estate with a simplified procedure, weeks to a few months. For a full administration, commonly six to twelve months, and longer with real property to sell, a business to wind up, or a dispute. The creditor window sets the floor and the family sets the ceiling.

Official links you'll need

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

Apply for an estate EIN with the IRS (opens in a new tab)

Federal application Internal Revenue Service irs.gov
Read IRS Publication 559, for survivors and personal representatives (opens in a new tab)

Official guidance Internal Revenue Service irs.gov
Read Arizona's informal appointment statute (A.R.S. §14-3301) (opens in a new tab)

Statute Arizona State Legislature azleg.gov
Read Florida's claim limitation (Fla. Stat. §733.702) (opens in a new tab)

Statute The Florida Senate flsenate.gov
Open California Courts' probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)

Court self-help California Courts selfhelp.courts.ca.gov

Where this sits in the process

Before this

These produce something this topic needs.

The willthe will names you and has to be deposited first
Do I need probate?you may not need appointment at all
Death certificatesrequired for the petition and for every institution afterwards

This makes possible

Finishing this unblocks these.

Bank accountsletters of appointment are what release a sole-name account
Taxesfiling the final return is the executor's job
Debts and creditorsnotifying creditors and paying in order is the executor's job

Small estate proceduresthe route that avoids most of this
Vehicle title transferone of the transfers you will be asked to sign
The final accountingwhere the executor's own fee is set out, and where it is examined
Clearing a homeclearing before the inventory destroys the record the accounting depends on
Selling the house while the estate is openwhether the appointment carries the power to sell the house, or a separate order does
Claiming as a beneficiarythe other job, for anybody who is a named beneficiary as well as the executor

Sources

The state rules are quoted from statute. The federal tax obligations come from the IRS's own publication for personal representatives.

A.R.S. §14-3301 (Informal probate or appointment proceedings; application; contents) (opens in a new tab)

Arizona: informal appointment by the registrar.

azleg.gov Checked 2026-08-12
A.R.S. §14-3108 (Probate, testacy and appointment proceedings; limitations) (opens in a new tab)

Arizona: the two-year bar.

azleg.gov Checked 2026-08-12
California Probate Code §8200 (Delivery of will to court clerk) (opens in a new tab)

California: the will-delivery duty that runs before appointment.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-12
Fla. Stat. §732.901 (Production of wills) (opens in a new tab)

Florida: the ten-day deposit rule.

flsenate.gov Checked 2026-08-12
Fla. Stat. §733.702 (Limitations on presentation of claims) (opens in a new tab)

Florida: the outer bar on claims against the estate.

flsenate.gov Checked 2026-08-12
N.Y. SCPA §1401 (Petition for probate) (opens in a new tab)

New York: how probate is commenced.

nysenate.gov Checked 2026-08-12
N.J.S.A. 3B:10-2 (To whom letters of administration granted) (opens in a new tab)

New Jersey: the order of priority, and the forty-day clock after which an outsider may apply.

lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-19
N.J.S.A. 3B:3-18 (Necessity to probate will to transfer property or nominate executor) (opens in a new tab)

New Jersey: why a found will does nothing until the Surrogate admits it.

lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-19
N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4 (Limitation of time to present claims of creditors) (opens in a new tab)

New Jersey: nine months from the death, and what the discharge actually covers.

lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-20

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

Short answer

What the job actually is

Executor, administrator, personal representative

Where the personal exposure comes from

Not sure which of these is yours?

You can say no

The order of the work

Before you are appointed

Secure the property

Find the will and deposit it if your state requires it

Decide whether to serve

Getting authority

Apply to the court, or use the small-estate route

Get a tax identification number for the estate

Open an estate bank account

Gathering and notifying

Inventory what the estate owns

Notify creditors and start the claim window

File the final tax return, and the estate's if one is due

Paying and closing

Pay valid claims in the statutory order

Distribute what is left

File the final accounting and close the estate

What differs by state

Whether you need to be appointed, and how

What proves you can act, and what it is called here

What you are personally on the hook for

Questions people ask about this

Do I get paid for this?

Beneficiaries keep asking when they get their money.

The debts are larger than the estate.

There are two of us named. Do we both have to sign everything?

How long will this take?

Official links you'll need

Apply for an estate EIN with the IRS (opens in a new tab)

Read IRS Publication 559, for survivors and personal representatives (opens in a new tab)

Read Arizona's informal appointment statute (A.R.S. §14-3301) (opens in a new tab)

Read Florida's claim limitation (Fla. Stat. §733.702) (opens in a new tab)

Open California Courts' probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)

Where this sits in the process

Before this

This makes possible

Related

Sources