Small estate procedures

Most states provide a simplified route for a modest estate, and nothing makes anybody mention it. In most of the 50 states Sahvelo has read for this, that route is a sworn form handed to the institution rather than a court process at all — and where it is a court process instead, that is worth knowing before you start.

Set by your state

Sources: 15 primary sources
States verified: 50

Short answer

In most of the 50 states Sahvelo has read for this, the simplified route is a sworn affidavit handed to the institution rather than a court process. Where the state’s statute protects an institution that relies on a valid affidavit, that protection is what lets a bank act without a court order. Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania are among the exceptions: their simplified routes run through a court.

Measure the threshold against what is left after everything that skips probate on its own — beneficiary accounts, joint property, trust assets. The affidavit is sworn, so what it states is made under oath and carries whatever penalty the state attaches to that. It also usually cannot reach real property.^{Source 3Source 5}

Verified where marked — Arizona and California:

A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab) checked 2026-08-07
Judicial Council of California — Probate Code section 890 adjusted amounts (§§13100, 13101) (opens in a new tab) checked 2026-08-11

Jump to what you need

Are we under the ceiling
There is a house in the estate
How long do we have to wait
Who is allowed to sign it
How the affidavit actually works
Someone in the family disputes it

How the affidavit route works

Instead of a court appointing someone with authority over the estate, the person entitled to the property swears a statement: that the estate is under the threshold, that they are entitled, that the waiting period has passed, and that no administration is pending. They present it to whoever holds the asset, and the holder releases it.

Where a state’s statute protects an institution that relies in good faith on a valid affidavit, that protection is the mechanism: it moves the risk off the bank so the bank does not need a court order.

The affidavit is sworn, so it is made under oath and the state attaches its own penalty to a false statement in one. The person who swore it is also exposed to the people who should have inherited.

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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.

What the shortcut cannot reach

Real property, in most states but not all. California has a separate petition for it, and Ohio is the exception that proves the rule — its release from administration directs the transfer of real property as well as personal. Everywhere else Sahvelo has read, the personal-property route leaves the house to be dealt with separately.
An estate over the threshold, even slightly. There is no partial use of the shortcut.
A contested estate. If someone disputes entitlement, the affidavit is the wrong instrument and the dispute goes to court.
Anything where an administration is already open. The routes are alternatives, not supplements.

The threshold is measured against what is left after everything that skips probate on its own. Subtract beneficiary-designated accounts, jointly held property and trust assets first, and many estates that look far too large turn out to qualify.

The procedure, by state

Thirteen states, and two underlying models. Most put a sworn form in the hands of the person entitled and protect whoever pays on it; Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania run their simplified route through a court instead. Underneath that, what the ceiling is measured against varies more than the ceiling does — several states exclude real estate from the count, and New Jersey pointedly does not.

What you file, and where

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

A verified petition for summary distribution, filed in the office of the judge of probate for the county where the person was domiciled at death. No bond is filed with it, and a self-proved will goes in with it. The petition has to allege eleven things, and the two people do not expect are at the end: that all funeral expenses have been paid or arrangements made out of the estate, and that all claims against the estate have been paid or arranged.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-691 — definitions, Revised Alabama Small Estates Act (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-692 — petition for summary distribution (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Two routes, and they are different products. The one that avoids court entirely is the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property, form P-110, signed under oath and handed to whoever holds the asset — it is filed with nobody. The other, confusingly also called a small estate, is a lighter way to CLOSE an informal probate you have already opened, ending on a Sworn Statement of Personal Representative Closing Small Estate.^{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

An affidavit for collection of personal property, presented directly to whoever holds the asset. No court filing for the affidavit itself.^{Source 1}
Arkansas

Form 23, the Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee, sworn “for the purpose of dispensing with administration”. Unlike most affidavit states, this one is filed with and certified by the clerk rather than handed straight to a bank.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

An affidavit under Probate Code §13100 presented to the asset holder, or a petition under §13150 filed with the superior court where real property is involved.^{Source 4Source 7}
Colorado

An affidavit presented to whoever holds the property — a bank, a safe deposit box, anyone owing the decedent money. The duty is on the holder, who “shall pay or deliver” on being presented it.^{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

Form PC-212, the Affidavit in Lieu of Probate of Will/Administration, filed with the Probate Court — which then decrees who takes what. It is a debts-first mechanism rather than a distribution one: the assets go to funeral expenses, the costs of administering the estate and last-illness claims before anything reaches a beneficiary.^{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

An affidavit under § 2306, distributing the property without any grant of letters.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

A petition for summary administration filed with the circuit court in the county where the decedent resided. Florida's other short route, disposition without administration, is not a small-estate procedure at all — it is a no-administration one, and it is covered under whether probate is needed.^{Source 8}
Georgia

A petition to the probate court for an order declaring no administration necessary, with the heirs' signed division agreement attached to it. Intestate estates only — a will closes this door in Georgia, which is the opposite of Kentucky. The agreement is the substance and the petition is the wrapper, and its drafting matters more than the form does: the legal description in the agreement has to identify the property well enough to pass good title, so a loose description of the house produces an order a title examiner will not accept. Service is where the time goes: interested parties in Georgia at least thirty days before the petition can be granted, and anybody whose address is unknown by publication once a week for four weeks in the county's legal organ.^{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

An affidavit handed to whoever holds the property, together with a death certificate. No court, no filing, no fee — the statute makes it a duty on the holder rather than a request from the family, and the affidavit states only three things: that the estate is under the ceiling, that nobody has applied to be personal representative in Hawaii, and who the successor is and how they are related. Anything with a registration behind it moves too: on presentation of a compliant affidavit, whoever can issue a certificate of ownership must change the registered ownership and issue a new one. That is what transfers a car title or a stock certificate without an order.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, Hawaii Revised Statutes current compilation (opens in a new tab)•Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — who may make the affidavit, and the department of human services priority (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

An affidavit presented to whoever holds the property, with no court involved. The section binds the holder: thirty days after the death, a person indebted to the decedent or holding tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action shall pay or deliver it on being presented the affidavit. For a vehicle the Transportation Department publishes it as a one-page form, ITD 3413, attached to and made part of the title application.^{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

A small estate affidavit, sworn under penalty of perjury, with no court involved at any point. The form is not a court form or an agency form — it is printed in the statute itself, 755 ILCS 5/25-1, and a bank or transfer agent given one in substantially that form shall pay, deliver or transfer. Where the affidavit is being used for a vehicle, the Secretary of State supplies the version to use.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•Source: 625 ILCS 5/3-114(a)-(d-5) — transfer of a vehicle title by operation of law (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

An affidavit under IC 29-1-8-1, presented to whoever holds the property, who must then pay or deliver. Six statements are required. A vehicle or watercraft has its own shortcut inside the same section and it is a materially different instrument: two of the six statements instead of all six, five days instead of forty-five, and a bar phrased as no appointment being contemplated rather than none pending or granted. Contemplated is a statement about intention, and it is the softer test; the Bureau's own form asks for the harder one, and at a counter the form is what will be accepted.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

An affidavit under § 633.356, presented to whoever holds the property. County treasurers accept it for a vehicle as well, so a family does not need a separate instrument for the car.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

An affidavit showing entitlement, presented to whoever holds the property — no letters, no court. The Judicial Council publishes the form, and the Department of Revenue reissues it as TR-83b for a vehicle. The holder is directed rather than permitted: on the affidavit the property “shall be transferred”.^{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 for an order dispensing with administration — there is no affidavit a family hands to a bank. Kentucky's probate court is the District Court, the same court that hears small claims, so the clerk's office is the right place to ask rather than a specialist division. A will does not close the route: the court may dispense with administration in a testate estate without the surviving spouse renouncing the will. Where nothing at all will reach a personal representative the court can order that no letters of administration issue and that the will be probated only. One much smaller provision does move money before any of that: a surviving spouse may get an order from the same judge to withdraw up to $2,500 from a bank, which the bank must honor on presentation.^{Source: KRS 395.455 — transfer of assets without administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 395.450 — jurisdiction to dispense with 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

An affidavit, and in Louisiana it is authority in itself rather than evidence of authority — a multiple original or certified copy is “full and sufficient authority” for any bank, depositary or person holding the property to hand it over. Louisiana calls the whole thing a small succession.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3432 — affidavit for small succession; contents (opens in a new tab)•Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3434 — endorsed copy of affidavit; authority for delivery of property (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

An affidavit under section 3-1201 of title 18-C, presented to the holder. The section opens with a duty rather than a permission: on presentation the holder shall make payment or deliver. A transfer agent of a security is bound the same way and must change the registered ownership on the corporation's books.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

A small estate opened with the Register of Wills for the county where the person was domiciled. It is an administrative process rather than a court one, with fewer requirements than a regular estate, and the original will is filed with the same office whether or not it is offered for probate.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

Voluntary administration, opened by filing form MPC 170, the Voluntary Administration Statement, with the Probate and Family Court for the county where the person lived, together with the original will if there was one and a certified copy of the death certificate. The fee is itemized as a hundred dollars for the filing and a fifteen dollar surcharge to assign a docket number, and it includes one attested copy of the Statement; further copies are twenty dollars each. What does not arrive is an appointment. The court's own guide prints the warning twice: filing the Statement does not result in an official appointment, no certificate of appointment can issue, and only an attested copy of the Statement is given to the voluntary personal representative.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Two, and neither needs a lawyer. A sworn statement presented directly to whoever holds the money, on which the institution shall pay — the state court administrative office publishes a standard form for it. Or an order of the probate court distributing the estate, which is the route to use where the funeral bill is unpaid, because the court can direct the property to pay it or reimburse whoever did before anything reaches the family.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982 — court order distributing a small estate, and the heir's 63-day liability (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

An affidavit and a certified death record, presented to whoever holds the property. The section directs rather than requests, and it names three holders: a person indebted to the decedent, a person having possession of tangible personal property, and a safe deposit company — so the box is inside this route rather than behind a court order. On a vehicle it is more explicit still: the motor vehicle registrar shall issue a new certificate of title in the name of the successor on presentation of the affidavit.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

An affidavit of the successor, presented to whoever owes the money or holds the property — not filed at a court. On presentation, the holder must pay or deliver. Mississippi has a second instrument for land, and it is a different thing entirely: where there is a will, it may be admitted to probate as a muniment of title only, by sworn petition, without administration and without appointing 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

An affidavit filed with the probate division, plus a bond, which no other small-estate route in this corpus requires as standard. The bond must be not less than the value of the personal property, approved by the judge or clerk, and conditioned on paying the decedent's debts — including debts to the State of Missouri — the funeral and burial expenses, and future orders of the court. The court may dispense with it where it finds it unnecessary. What makes the affidavit usable afterwards is the clerk's certificate annexed to it, showing who is entitled to the described property.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

An affidavit under section 72-3-1101, presented to whoever holds the property. It is drafted as a duty on them rather than a permission for the family, and section 72-3-1102 then discharges them completely: they are released as if they had dealt with a personal representative and are not required to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit. That last clause is what lets a bank or a county treasurer act on it without investigating anybody.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1102 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

An affidavit under section 30-24,125, presented to whoever holds the property, who must then pay or deliver. For a vehicle or motorboat the Department publishes its own version, the Affidavit for Transfer of Decedent's Vehicle/Motorboat, which cites the same section. The affidavit also carries a power most states leave to a bank's discretion: on presentation the successor may endorse or negotiate a check, draft or other negotiable instrument payable to the person who died or to their estate, and the institution accepting it is discharged from all claims for the amount.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (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

Two, and which one you are in is decided by whether there is real property. The affidavit under NRS 146.080 is form VP-24, sworn before a notary and handed to whoever holds the property, and it is closed outright if the person left any Nevada real property, interest, mortgage or lien. Where it will not reach, section 146.070 sets the estate aside by order of the court, without administration and without anybody being appointed.^{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)•Source: Nevada Revised Statutes s. 146.070 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

Nothing, and that is the New Hampshire answer. There is no affidavit route here. What RSA 553:32 offers is waiver of administration, and the heading says exactly what is waived: an administration with no inventory, no bond and no accounting. Somebody is still appointed and still holds the office. It ends on an affidavit of administration filed with, and approved by, the probate court.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

An affidavit, but not one handed across a counter: it is executed before the Surrogate of the county where the person lived, and it is filed and recorded there. There are two, split by who survives. An affidavit by a surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner under N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3; and, where none of those survive, an affidavit by one heir under 3B:10-4 — which also needs the written consent of the remaining heirs.^{Source 14Source 15}
New Mexico

An Affidavit of Successor in Interest, signed by the person entitled to receive the property and notarized, and then presented rather than filed. The court's guide names the recipients directly, which most states leave generic: banks, to collect the money, and other institutions such as the Motor Vehicle Division, to change title to the vehicles. The forms are not centrally published; the guide sends you to your local Probate Court for them.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

A voluntary administration filing with the Surrogate's Court, which issues a certificate to the voluntary administrator.^{Source 13}
North Carolina

An affidavit for collection of property, sworn and then filed with the clerk of superior court in the county where the person was domiciled. North Carolina wrote it twice so that a will would not close the route: one section for an intestate estate and a near-identical one for a testate estate, the second of which also lets the person named as executor in the will swear it. The clerk indexes the affidavit in the index to estates and mails a copy to everyone it names as entitled.^{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

Two instruments, and they are not alternatives so much as different stages. The affidavit under section 30.1-23-01 is presented to the holder, who must then pay or deliver, and section 30.1-23-02 discharges them for doing so. Summary administration under section 30.1-23-03 happens inside an estate that has already been opened, after the inventory and appraisal, and lets the personal representative distribute immediately without giving notice to creditors, closing on a verified statement.^{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 § 30.1-23-02 — 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)•}
Ohio

An application to the probate court for an order relieving the estate from administration — not an affidavit presented to an institution. The court gives notice to the surviving spouse and heirs as it directs, plus publication in a county newspaper unless waived or found unnecessary, and then makes an order. A narrower summary release from administration exists for the estate that cannot cover its own funeral.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.031 — summary release from administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

Two different things, and which one you need is decided by the money. The § 393 affidavit is presented to whoever holds the property and binds them — pay or deliver, on being presented an affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor. Summary administration under § 245 is a petition to the court, and what it asks for is heavier than a small-estate affidavit anywhere else: the names, ages and last-known addresses of every heir, legatee and devisee, the legal description of all Oklahoma real property, and the names and addresses of all known creditors with a statement that the petitioner exercised due diligence to identify them.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

A simple estate affidavit, filed with the clerk of the probate court in a county where a personal representative could have been appointed. Not handed to a bank: it is a court filing with a fee under ORS 21.145, and the affidavit becomes part of the probate record. The name is worth getting right, because Oregon changed it — the statutes have said "simple estate affidavit" since 2019, and a search for the small estate affidavit turns up county forms that predate the change. One way this route ends rather than bends: if the estate turns out to be over the limits, the affiant may not amend, their authority is terminated, and they must file notice with the court that the estate is not subject to these sections. Finding a forgotten account can close the route instead of extending it.^{Source: ORS 114.515 — simple estate affidavit; who may file; fee (opens in a new tab)•Source: ORS 114.510 — simple estate criteria (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

A petition to the orphans' court division of the county where the person was domiciled, brought by any party in interest, producing a decree of distribution. It is not an affidavit handed to a bank. What you get is stronger than an affidavit: the decree is sufficient authority for transfer agents, registrars and others holding estate property to recognize the people named in it, and it has the same effect as a decree of distribution after a full accounting by a personal representative.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 — settlement of small estates on petition, and the one-year revocation window (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

A statement filed with the probate court on a form the court prescribes, verified by oath or affirmation, opening a voluntary administration. What comes back is a certification of appointment of voluntary administrator, issued by the clerk only after a probate judge has reviewed it. Thirty dollars to file and five dollars for the certification. No hearing is required, though the judge may require one. Where there is a will, the original is filed with the statement.^{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

An affidavit under section 62-3-1201, and it is a court document rather than a private one. It must be approved and countersigned by the probate judge of the county of domicile, and only on the judge's satisfaction that the successor is entitled to payment or delivery, and then filed in that court.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

An affidavit under section 29A-3-1201, presented to whoever holds the property, who must then make payment or deliver. Five things are sworn rather than the usual four, and the extra one is a bar rather than a formality. A transfer agent of a security is bound in the same way a debtor is.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

Limited letters — of administration, or testamentary where a will governs — issued by the court exercising probate jurisdiction where the person lived. Not an affidavit handed to a bank, and not general authority: the letters are restricted to the property itemized in the petition, and a copy of that petition is attached to and made part of them. The petition is sworn and detailed, listing each item, its value, and every creditor by name and amount. A bond payable to the clerk with a corporate surety is required whatever the will says, in the amount of the property administered, and is waived only where the petitioners are the sole heirs or beneficiaries, or every adult heir and beneficiary consents in writing. Two things surprise people: no notice to creditors is published and a creditor may not file a claim at all, and the letters must stay open until the first anniversary of their issue unless the court discharges the representative earlier.^{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 General Assembly, bill history for HB0337 (113th General Assembly) (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

A small estate affidavit filed with the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction and venue of the estate, sworn by two disinterested witnesses and by every distributee with legal capacity, and then approved by the judge. It is a court filing, not a form handed to a bank.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

An affidavit under section 75-3-1201, and the Judiciary is emphatic about what it is not: it is not filed with the court. The successor completes it, signs it in front of a notary, and gives it to the third party holding the property. For vehicles the third party is the state, and there is a separate affidavit for up to four boats, motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers. Two versions of that vehicle affidavit exist and they differ: the courts' form has a line for a duly authorized agent, the Division directs families to its own TC-569C.^{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

A petition, not an affidavit, and it opens a real probate estate. Section 1901 of title 14 asks for eight items at once: the petition, a list of interested persons, the filing fee, an original death certificate, an inventory, an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and other known debts, a bond without surety in the amount of the whole estate, and the will if there is one. 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

Two instruments, and the smaller one is not an instrument at all. Above thirty-five thousand dollars, an affidavit made by all of the known successors, on a form the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia prepares — presented with it, the holder shall pay. At or below thirty-five thousand dollars for a single asset, nothing: the holder may simply pay a successor, with no affidavit and no form. Note the verbs, because they decide what a family can insist on — shall on the affidavit route, may on the informal one.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

No filing at all. Washington's is an affidavit handed to whoever holds the property — a bank, a transfer agent, a licensing agency — rather than a petition to a court. Nothing is lodged, though a copy including the decedent's social security number must be posted to the Department of Social and Health Services, office of financial recovery.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: RCW 11.62.010(3)–(5) — securities, certificates of ownership, and no tax release (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

An affidavit of small estate under section 44-1A-2, and it is not handed across a counter. It 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, made upon oath and under penalty of perjury. Where there was a will, the original is attached and recorded with it, provided it is in due and proper form for probate in the state.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

Transfer by affidavit under section 867.03, and there is no court in it: the affidavit is given to whoever holds the property. Where that will not work there is a second route and it is not discretionary. Under section 867.02 the court shall summarily assign the estate without appointing a personal representative, and an estate already under way, or a summary settlement already commenced, may be moved onto it at any time it is found to qualify.^{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

An affidavit under section 2-1-201, and Wyoming adds a step most states leave out. It is a two-step that catches people: the affidavit is filed with the county clerk first, and what a holder is shown afterwards is a certified copy of the filed affidavit. Section 2-1-202 then discharges the holder as if they had dealt with a personal representative.^{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)•}

The ceiling

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

There is no figure in the statute. The small estate amount is the homestead allowance, the exempt property and the family allowance added together, then moved by an index the State Treasurer republishes every three years, rounded to the nearest twenty-five dollars, and applied to exemptions claimed on or after the April 1 following the adjustment. Sahvelo states the components and the mechanism and not a derived number, because a figure that was right in one cycle is worse than none in the next. Ask the judge of probate for the county, or the State Treasurer, for the amount current when the exemption is claimed.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-691 — definitions, Revised Alabama Small Estates Act (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-8-116 — adjustments to exemption values (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Two ceilings that must both hold, not one, and together they come to $150,000. Alaska registered vehicles get twice the room that everything else does, each measured after subtracting debts and liens, so a family can be inside one test and outside the other. The court's own “small estate” is not a figure at all: it is an estate the homestead allowance, family allowance, exempt property, probate costs, funeral costs and last-illness medical costs together exceed.^{Source: Alaska Court System — form P-110, affidavit for collection of personal property of decedent (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles — deceased owner, small estate affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

$200,000 of personal property, less liens and encumbrances.^{Source 3}
Arkansas

$100,000, less encumbrances — and what is left out matters as much as the figure: the homestead and the statutory allowances for a surviving spouse or minor children are excluded from the count.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

$208,850 for a death on or after 1 April 2025; earlier deaths use the figure in force then.^{Source 5}
Colorado

Not a number in the statute. Colorado sets the ceiling at twice the exempt-property figure in § 15-11-403, indexed for the year before the death — so the operative amount depends on when the person died and must be read from the current adjustment rather than from the section itself.^{Source: C.R.S. §§ 15-12-1201, 15-11-403 and 15-10-112 — collection of personal property by affidavit, exempt property, and the cost of living adjustment (opens in a new tab)•}
Connecticut

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

$50,000 of estate assets.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

$75,000 in the estate subject to administration, less exempt property — or no ceiling at all once the person has been dead more than two years.^{Source 9Source 10}
Georgia

There is none, and asking what Georgia's limit is gets no useful answer. The test is debts and consent. Every branch of the petition's debt paragraph begins "The estate of decedent owes no debts"; the alternatives do not raise a ceiling, they name who has to be served or has consented — a mortgage holder does not disqualify the estate, it adds a party. The other half is unanimity among the heirs. So a large estate with no debts and agreeing heirs qualifies, and a small one with a single heir who will not sign does not, however small it is.^{Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

$100,000, measured as the gross value of the estate in Hawaii — and a registered vehicle is outside the calculation altogether, transferable by this route regardless of value. Both measurements cut against the family compared with some states: gross means before debts, so a loan does not bring an estate under the line, and in this State means Hawaii property only. Mississippi is the mirror image on both counts, counting the estate wherever located but net of liens.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — the $100,000 ceiling and the motor-vehicle exception (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

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

$150,000 of tangible and intangible personal property — and the way it is counted matters more than the figure. Motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State are excluded from the count entirely, so the car does not push an estate over. And where the affidavit is used only to retitle the vehicles, the statute says it may be used without consideration of the value of the personal estate at all: no ceiling. This is new law rather than old — the current figures come from an amendment effective 15 August 2025.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

$100,000 of gross probate estate for a death after 30 June 2022, counted less liens, encumbrances and reasonable funeral expenses, and measured wherever the property is located. The Bureau restates the same figure on State Form 18733.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

$50,000 gross value of personal property that would otherwise pass by will or intestacy — and the test is generous in one direction: it is met if the estate is at that figure or has been at any time since the death.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

$75,000 of assets subject to probate. The figure changed recently and older guidance is wrong: it rose on 1 July 2023 from a substantially lower one, so anything naming the earlier number predates the change.^{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

There is no ceiling, and this is the one row in this table where the shape of the answer differs rather than the figure. Kentucky compares two amounts instead of testing one: administration is dispensed with where the surviving spouse's or children's exemption, alone or together with any preferred claims they have paid, equals or exceeds what is left to distribute. The exemption is $30,000 of personal property or money under KRS 391.030; the preferred claims are the ones listed in KRS 396.095, in that order, and funeral expenses are among them. So a larger estate can qualify where most of its value has already gone to those claims, and a smaller one can fail where nothing has. Asking what the limit is gets no useful answer here; asking what is left after the exemption and the funeral does.^{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

$200,000 gross value at the date of death — gross, not net of debts. For someone domiciled outside Louisiana with property in the state the ancillary figure is half that. And after twenty years from the death there is no ceiling at all.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3421 — small successions defined (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

$40,000 is the base and the base is not the operative number: it is adjusted for inflation under section 1-108 and was itself amended in 2025. Maine anticipated being out of date and legislated for it, which no other state here does: a county probate court must publish the current adjusted value on its publicly accessible website every year. Ask for that figure rather than swearing to the one printed in the statute.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

$50,000 of gross probate assets, or a hundred thousand dollars where the surviving spouse is the sole heir or legatee. Gross value, so a mortgage does not reduce it.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

$25,000, and the parenthesis in the statute is doing more work than the figure: the value of a car is excluded from the count, so a family whose only substantial asset is the vehicle is inside the route whatever it is worth. Two states nearby answer the same question the other way, which is why it is not safe to assume: Illinois excludes vehicles by statute and North Carolina counts them at value. The Massachusetts ceiling is also measured late: it is applied as of the date of filing rather than the date of death, so an estate that has grown since the death can be pushed out of the route by its own growth.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

$50,000 is the figure printed in the statute, and it is not the operative one. Michigan multiplies its thresholds by a cost-of-living factor for the calendar year in which the person died, published each January by the department of treasury and rounded to the nearest thousand. For a death in 2026 the ceiling is $53,000. The year that governs is the year of death, not the year of the application, so an estate opened now for someone who died in 2025 uses the 2025 figure. The court-order route measures its ceiling after the funeral expenses are paid.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•Source: Michigan Department of Treasury — Estates and Protected Individuals Code cost-of-living adjustments, certified 30 January 2026 (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.1210 — cost-of-living adjustment of the dollar amounts in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982 — court order distributing a small estate, and the heir's 63-day liability (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

$75,000 for the entire probate estate, determined as at the date of death, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances — and including specifically the contents of a safe deposit box. Wherever located is not limited to Minnesota.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

$75,000 for the affidavit, and the two qualifications on that figure matter more than the figure. It is the value of the entire probate estate WHEREVER LOCATED, so out-of-state property counts. And it is counted EXCLUDING ALL LIENS AND ENCUMBRANCES, so a mortgaged asset counts for less — the opposite of Oregon, where the whole interest counts without reduction for debt, and of Hawaii, which counts gross value but only in-state. The muniment-of-title route for land borrows the same figure and measures it differently again: the Mississippi probate estate excluding any interest in real property and excluding exempt property.^{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

$40,000 of the entire estate, less liens, debt and encumbrances, and property held as a tenant by the entirety or a joint tenant is expressly excluded from the count. There is a second threshold inside it: above fifteen thousand dollars the clerk must publish a notice to creditors once a week for two consecutive weeks, or claims are forever barred, so the cheap quiet version of this route stops at that figure.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

$100,000 of probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, wherever located. Probate estate, so anything passing outside probate is outside the count; wherever located, so out-of-state property is inside it. The ceiling was last raised in 2023. Unclaimed property held by the Department of Revenue has its own much lower rule that ignores the size of the estate entirely.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

$100,000 of all the personal property in the estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Wherever located, so out-of-state property is inside the figure; less liens, so a financed car counts at its equity. The Department states the exclusion its own way on the vehicle page: personal property does not include ownership in real estate.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nebraska DMV — Transfer of Ownership, certificates of title in the decedent's name only (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Two figures for the affidavit rather than one: $150,000 where the claimant is the surviving spouse, and twenty-five thousand dollars for anybody else. The count is of the decedent's property in Nevada, and it leaves out two things: amounts due for service in the Armed Forces, and the value of any motor vehicle registered to the decedent. The car being outside the count is what makes this route fit most families. The court set-aside uses $150,000 whoever asks.^{Source: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 146.080 — estates not exceeding certain amounts, affidavit showing right to assets (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nevada Revised Statutes s. 146.070 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

There is none. Nothing in section 553:32 turns on the value of the estate, which makes New Hampshire the only state in this comparison whose simplified route has no ceiling to be over. What it turns on instead is alignment between who inherits and who administers.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

$50,000 where a spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner survives; $20,000 where the heirs are anybody else. The base is what makes New Jersey different: the ceiling is measured on the total value of the real and personal assets of the estate, so a house is counted. Most affidavit routes in this comparison exclude real estate from the count, and a New Jersey family with a house will usually be outside both figures because of it. On the spousal route a slice of the estate — the first ten thousand dollars — is also free from the intestate's debts.^{Source 14Source 15}
New Mexico

$50,000 of total estate, and then a second condition that decides more cases than the figure does: the estate must not include any real property at all, land, a house or a farm, with no floor on its value.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

$50,000 of personal property, excluding property set off for a surviving spouse or children under 21.^{Source 12}
North Carolina

$20,000 of personal property, less liens and encumbrances — and up to thirty thousand dollars where the affiant is the surviving spouse and sole heir, reduced by any year's allowance already paid to them. The car counts: the affidavit expressly reaches the title and license of a vehicle registered in the dead person's name, so its value goes inside the ceiling rather than outside it as in Illinois and Ohio.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1 — collection of property by affidavit, intestate and testate (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1(c), (d) — what the affidavit transfers, and clearing the decedent's rented premises (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

$100,000 for the affidavit, counting the estate subject to distribution or succession, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Summary administration has no dollar ceiling at all. It asks whether the estate exceeds the homestead, exempt property, the family allowance, the costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, added together. Everything on that side is either kept by the family regardless or paid before any creditor, so the real question is whether a creditor would receive anything, and a large estate with a large mortgage and a long final illness can qualify where a smaller debt-free one does not.^{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

$35,000 of assets, or one hundred thousand dollars where the surviving spouse takes the whole estate — by a will naming them, or on intestacy where the intestacy rules and the support allowance give them everything. Where the assets are not all cash or readily valued securities, an appraiser chosen by the applicant and approved by the court values them, and that valuation goes in the application.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

$50,000 for the affidavit, and read the two qualifications in the same sentence: the count is of property located in Oklahoma rather than wherever located, and liens and encumbrances come off before the ceiling is applied. Summary administration goes to $300,000 — and its other two doors have nothing to do with value at all. A death more than five years ago, or a person who lived in another jurisdiction, qualifies an estate of any size.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

Two ceilings, tested separately, and both must hold: $75,000 of the estate's fair market value attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes, and not more than two hundred thousand dollars attributable to real property and manufactured homes combined. Adding them into a single figure — which is how this is usually summarized — gets the common case backwards: an estate of a hundred thousand dollars in cash and no land is out, while an estate of seventy-five thousand in cash plus a two-hundred-thousand-dollar house is in. Value is measured at the date of death, or — where the death was more than a year ago — within 45 days of filing, and liens do not help: the whole interest is counted "without reduction for liens or other debts", so a house worth two hundred thousand with a mortgage on it counts as two hundred thousand.^{Source: ORS 114.510 — simple estate criteria (opens in a new tab)•Source: ORS 114.510(2) — how and when a simple estate is valued (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

$50,000 gross — measured on personal property only. Real estate is excluded from the count, and so is any property already payable without letters under the dispositions-independent-of-letters section. The family exemption is counted in rather than out. And the statute removes the usual disqualifier in terms: the court's authority to distribute personal property is not restricted because the deceased owned real estate, regardless of what it is worth.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 — settlement of small estates on petition, and the one-year revocation window (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

$15,000, and the count is the part people misread: it is taken exclusive of tangible personal property, the category a car, a boat and the contents of a house belong to. So the family's most visible assets are the ones that do not push the estate over the line. The same figure and the same exclusion apply where there is a will.^{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

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

$100,000 of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, so a financed vehicle counts at its equity and out-of-state property counts in full. The ceiling was last raised in 2022.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

$50,000, counting personal property only, and the exclusions decide more cases than the figure does. Property held as tenants by the entirety or jointly with right of survivorship does not count, and neither does anything payable to a named beneficiary rather than to the estate — so a joint account with a surviving co-owner is outside the arithmetic entirely. A house never counts, because it is not personal property. Anything a search reports as twenty-five thousand dollars is the 1997 limit, superseded in 2023.^{Source: Tennessee House Civil Justice Amendment No. 1 to HB0337 (113th General Assembly) — The Small Estate Probate Act, enacted as Public Chapter 297, effective 28 April 2023 (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

$75,000 of estate assets on the date of the affidavit, excluding homestead and exempt property — and the known liabilities, excluding those secured by homestead and exempt property, must be less than the assets. Work out what the exclusion covers before deciding you are over the ceiling, because it is wider than the word “exempt” suggests. Exempt property is a defined list: home furnishings including family heirlooms, provisions, wearing apparel, tools and equipment of a trade, two firearms, athletic and sporting equipment, household pets, and a car for each family member who holds a driver's license — capped in aggregate at $100,000 for a family, measured net of any liens. A house, a car each and the contents can therefore sit almost entirely outside the ceiling.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Property Code §§42.001–42.002 — the exempt personal property list and its caps (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

$100,000 for the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Utah then does something with that figure no other state here does: vehicles are taken out of the count, and the statute separately obliges the Motor Vehicle Division to transfer up to four of them on the affidavit. The Judiciary's own summary of the conditions adds one the statute does not contain, that there be no real property.^{Source: Utah Code § 75-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, vehicles (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Courts — Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

$45,000 of fair market value, and the estate must consist entirely of personal property, though a time-share estate is expressly allowed inside it. Getting the figure wrong is not a cliff: where it emerges that the estate exceeded it at the date of death, the fiduciary petitions the court to move the estate onto the ordinary rules, and the court grants that on finding the value and that the fees are paid.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1901 — commencement of small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

$75,000 on the affidavit route, measured on the decedent's entire personal probate estate as of the date of death wherever located. $35,000 on the no-affidavit route, and measured differently — on a single small asset rather than on the estate — so an estate of three separate thirty-thousand-dollar accounts may be inside the informal route for each of them while being outside the affidavit route altogether.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

One hundred thousand dollars of the estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances — and, crucially in a community property state, NOT counting the surviving spouse's community half of those assets. A married couple's estate can be well over the ceiling and still qualify.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

$50,000 of personal probate estate as of the date of death, wherever located, and the affidavit has to carry a description or itemization of the assets with an estimate of value where it is known or ascertainable.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

$50,000, and Wisconsin measures it twice, differently, in two adjacent sections. The affidavit counts gross value of property subject to administration in this state, so debts do not reduce it. Summary assignment counts the same figure less the debts for which any property in the estate is security, so a mortgaged house or a financed car is counted at its equity there and at its full value here. The same figure decides opposite outcomes depending on which section a family is under.^{Source: Wisconsin DMV — transfer a vehicle to an heir (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.02 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

$400,000, the highest ceiling in this comparison, counting the entire estate located in Wyoming and subject to administration, testate or intestate, less liens and encumbrances. Located in Wyoming is the phrase that distinguishes it: most states here count the estate wherever located, so out-of-state property falls outside the Wyoming figure.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•}

How long you have to wait

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

Thirty days, twice, and the clocks do not start together. Notice of the filing is published once in a county newspaper, or posted at the courthouse for a week where there is no such newspaper, and the Alabama Medicaid Agency is separately notified. The court may not act until thirty days have run since the publication and thirty days since the Agency received its notice.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-692 — petition for summary distribution (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Thirty days from the death for the collection affidavit. The small-estate closing has no waiting period of its own; what gates it is the inventory, which the personal representative has three months from appointment to prepare.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — Small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

30 days from the date of death.^{Source 2}
Arkansas

Forty-five days from the death, and the affidavit has to swear that they have elapsed.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

40 days from the date of death.^{Source 4}
Colorado

Ten days from the death, which is among the shortest waits of any state here.^{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 sets no waiting period. What it sets is a condition about what the person owned, which is why the route is closed to some families on day one and open to others immediately.^{Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 — settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

Delaware sets no waiting period in the section; the gate is the value and who is asking.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

No waiting period stated for summary administration.^{Source 8}
Georgia

No waiting period after the death. What Georgia has instead is a service clock before the order: interested parties in Georgia must be served at least thirty days before the petition can be granted, a creditor who has not consented must be served too, and anybody whose current address is unknown is served by publication once a week for four weeks. In practice that is the timetable — not a wait imposed on the family, but the notice the court owes everybody else.^{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

None. The section imposes no period after the death, which makes Hawaii the fastest route in this table — most states make a family wait thirty or forty-five days. The only timing condition is negative: no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted in Hawaii.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit, Hawaii Revised Statutes current compilation (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

Thirty days from the death.^{Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

No waiting period appears in the section. What gates the affidavit is a condition rather than a clock: it may be used only while no letters of office are outstanding and no petition for letters is contemplated or pending, in Illinois or anywhere else. So the route is open from the day the facts can be sworn truthfully and closes the moment somebody decides to open an estate — which is the reverse of the usual worry about being too early.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

Forty-five days for the general route and five days for a vehicle or watercraft, which is the shortest vehicle wait in this comparison.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

Forty days from the death.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

None. Kansas gates the route on value and on no appointment being pending, not on time since the death.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Kansas Judicial Council — Small Estates Affidavit under K.S.A. 59-1507b, published as KDOR form TR-83b (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

None in the route's own sections. KRS 395.450 gives the District Court the jurisdiction and KRS 395.455 sets the test, and neither imposes a period after the death before an application may be made — so the answer to "how long do we wait" is that Kentucky makes you wait for an arithmetic rather than a calendar. What has to be settled first is what the preferred claims came to, because the test compares them with what is left, and the funeral bill is usually the largest of them.^{Source: KRS 395.455 — transfer of assets without administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: KRS 395.450 — jurisdiction to dispense with administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

None before signing, but thirty days' notice must go to any heir who will not sign the affidavit.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3432 — affidavit for small succession; contents (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

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

None stated. The route is decided by the value and by who inherits rather than by time since the death.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

Thirty days or more from the death, and then nothing at the far end: the time limitations of section 3-108 do not apply to voluntary administration, so a family whose relative died years ago may still file. The court's own worked example is a death in 2005 and a filing in 2012.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Twenty-eight days from the death for the sworn-statement route, and the statement has to say so. The court-order route carries no waiting period of its own; what it requires instead is evidence about the funeral expenses. Both are closed if an application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted anywhere.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982 — court order distributing a small estate, and the heir's 63-day liability (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Thirty days from the death.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

Thirty days from the death for the affidavit, and the section states nothing else — the affidavit itself has to say that the thirty days have elapsed, and that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. The muniment-of-title route for land imposes no waiting period; what it imposes instead is that every known debt and tax has actually been paid first, which usually takes longer.^{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

Thirty days from the death, and no application for letters, for administration, or for refusal of letters may be pending or have been granted.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

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

Thirty days from the death, and Nebraska is the only state in this comparison that names a fallback document for a family still waiting on the certificate: the thirty days are shown by a certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate, or, where that is delayed, by an abstract of death as defined in section 71-601.01, attached to the affidavit.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Forty days for the affidavit, which is the longest wait in this comparison, and it is proved by a certified copy of the death certificate attached to it. A separate fourteen days runs inside that: written notice by personal service or certified mail must go to every person whose right to succeed is equal or superior to the affiant's, and fourteen days must have elapsed since it was served or mailed. The court set-aside has its own clock: proceedings must not begin until at least thirty days after the death.^{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)•Source: Nevada Revised Statutes s. 146.070 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

Six months, and it is a floor rather than a ceiling: the affidavit of administration may not be filed less than six months after the appointment, so the estate cannot be closed early. The other end is a hard limit at one year, and missing it has consequences the court chooses, up to requiring full administration instead.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

None. Neither section imposes a waiting period, which puts New Jersey with Pennsylvania rather than with the states that make a family wait thirty or sixty days. What can close the route is not time but people: on the lower route, one heir who will not consent.^{Source 14Source 15}
New Mexico

Thirty days since the death, and no probate filed. The separate route for a surviving spouse's residence waits six months instead.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

No waiting period stated.^{Source 13}
North Carolina

Thirty days from the date of death, for both the intestate and the testate version. The other condition is not a clock: the affiant must swear that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction, so the route closes the moment anyone opens an estate anywhere.^{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

Thirty days from the death for the affidavit, with no appointment pending or granted in any jurisdiction. Summary administration has no waiting period of its own; what gates it is the inventory and appraisal, so the clock is however long that takes.^{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

None. What Ohio has instead of a waiting period is a deadline pointing the other way: creditor claims are barred 6 months after the death whether or not the estate was ever released from administration, so the release does not start a clock and does not stop one.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 2117.06 — presentation of creditor claims and the six-month bar (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

Ten days from the death for the affidavit, the shortest in this comparison alongside Colorado's. Sahvelo has not verified a waiting period for summary administration and does not state one.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

30 days after the death before the affidavit may be filed. What runs afterwards matters more: a claiming successor who has not been paid may petition the probate court for summary review within two years of the filing, and property the affiant transferred stays subject to the decedent's creditors for that whole period.^{Source: ORS 114.515 — simple estate affidavit; who may file; fee (opens in a new tab)•Source: ORS 114.545, 114.547, 114.550 and 114.555 — the affiant as fiduciary, transfers, and summary review (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

None stated. The court may direct distribution whether or not letters have been issued or a will probated. The clock that does exist runs after the decree rather than before the petition: for one year, any party in interest may petition to revoke the decree because an improper distribution has been ordered, and if the court so finds it shall revoke and direct restitution as equity and justice require.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 — settlement of small estates on petition, and the one-year revocation window (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

Thirty days from the death, provided no petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration has been filed with the probate court of the city or town where the person lived. That second condition works like a deadline in practice: another family member's filing closes the route whatever the calendar says.^{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

Thirty days from the death, with no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

Thirty days from the death, with no application or petition for the appointment of 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

Forty-five days from the death, evidenced by a copy of the death certificate — and only if nobody has filed for appointment of a personal representative in that period, because somebody opening a full administration in those six weeks closes this door. The wait is not absolute: on good cause shown the court may waive it. The longer clock is at the other end, where the letters must remain open and active until their first anniversary unless the court discharges the representative and the surety sooner.^{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

30 days from the date of death, and no petition to appoint a personal representative may be pending or already granted.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §205.001(1)–(2) — the waiting period, and the competing-petition bar (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

30 days, with no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative pending or granted in any jurisdiction.^{Source: Utah State Tax Commission — TC-569C, Survivorship Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Courts — Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

None before filing, which is unusual here. What runs afterwards is a fourteen-day objection window: an interested party who does not consent in writing is given notice of the petition and the pending appointment, and if nobody objects the appointment and any will are approved without further notice or hearing. The inventory filed with the petition is provisional and must be confirmed, corrected or supplemented within sixty days of the letters issuing, and the letters themselves expire after one year.^{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

Sixty days from the death, on both routes. Both also close as soon as an application for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. The affidavit route has one further precondition the informal route does not: the will, if there is one, must already have been probated.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

Forty days from the death before the affidavit may be used, and ten days after written notice to every other successor before the claiming one may collect. The two run together, so the practical earliest is forty days from death provided the notices went out in the first month.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

Two periods for the same affidavit, which no other state here does. A successor nominated as personal representative or executor under the will waits thirty days. Everybody else waits sixty, and must additionally swear that no nominated executor has already filed one. The nominated person gets a month's head start, and it closes an option for the rest of the family by the passage of time rather than by anybody's decision.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

None before the affidavit, with two exceptions that both run thirty days. A holder who receives the affidavit from a person named in the will to act as personal representative may not transfer anything for thirty days after receiving it. And where the affidavit describes an interest in or lien on real property, the heirs must be given a copy and notice of the intention to record at least thirty days before it goes to the register of deeds. There is also a step nobody at the counter mentions: where the person who died, or their spouse, ever received long-term care or medical assistance, notice goes to the Department of Health Services by certified mail, return receipt requested, and the proof of delivery is attached to the affidavit.^{Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.03 (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

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

Who may use it

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

The petitioner, who must name everybody with an interest: their own name, address, age, capacity and relationship, and the same for every person entitled under the laws of descent and distribution and every person entitled under any will filed with the petition. Capacity is defined rather than left open, and it means whether the person is 19 or older and of sound mind. One definition excludes a whole class of family before any of that: the route is closed where the person was survived by a minor child who is not the surviving spouse's child.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-691 — definitions, Revised Alabama Small Estates Act (opens in a new tab)•Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-692 — petition for summary distribution (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

Any person with a right to the property other than a creditor — Alaska calls them a successor, and form P-110 asks them to state the basis on which they claim to be one rather than tick a category. The successor is accountable to anyone with a superior right.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•Source: Alaska Court System — form P-110, affidavit for collection of personal property of decedent (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

A person claiming as successor to the decedent's personal property, on the statutory conditions.^{Source 1}
Arkansas

A distributee, and only where no petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

The successor of the decedent as defined by Probate Code §13006 — broadly, the beneficiary under a will or the heir under intestacy.^{Source 6}
Colorado

A person claiming to be a successor of the decedent, or someone acting on a successor's behalf.^{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

Ranked rather than open. The surviving spouse first; if there is none, any of the decedent's next of kin; and if there is no next of kin, or the spouse and next of kin refuse, any person the court deems to have a sufficient interest.^{Source: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 45a-273 — settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Delaware

An unusually long list: the spouse, a grandparent, a lineal descendant of a grandparent, the personal representative or guardian or trustee of any of those, the trustee of a trust the decedent created, the named executor — and a funeral director licensed in Delaware, which no other state read here puts on this side of the transaction.^{Source: 12 Del. C. § 2306 — distribution of a decedent's property without grant of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Florida

Not established, and no class is asserted. What Sahvelo has verified is where the petition goes rather than who may bring it: the circuit court for the county where the person resided at death, or, for a non-resident, where the property is located.^{Source 8}
Georgia

The heirs at law, and all of them: this route is built on unanimity rather than on one person's standing, and every heir's original signature has to be on the agreement, attested by a notary or the probate court clerk. Establishing who the heirs are is treated as the hard part — the petition must carry facts letting the court rule out any other heir of the same or closer degree. An heir who is a minor or cannot act needs a guardian or a guardian ad litem. An heir who outlived the decedent and has since died does not drop out: their estate consents through its personal representative, or is represented by a guardian ad litem.^{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

The claimed successor or successors, saying how they are related. Hawaii adds a party most states have no equivalent for, and a family should know about it before preparing anything: the Department of Human Services may make the same affidavit where it has a public-assistance or medical-assistance claim against the estate, and its affidavit takes priority over any other claim presented this way. A parent who received Medicaid-funded care may mean the State arrives at the same counter first. The institution that pays is discharged as if it had paid an executor and need not inquire into the truth of the affidavit; the person who collected, though, stays answerable to a personal representative or to anybody with a superior right.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1201 — who may make the affidavit, and the department of human services priority (opens in a new tab)•Source: HRS 560:3-1202 — effect of the affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

A claiming successor, defined by reference to Idaho Code § 15-1-201(5) rather than by a list of relatives — and the section allows something no other route in this corpus does: a trust created by the will can itself be the claiming successor. There is a second claimant the statute does not lead with. For the recovery of medical assistance the department of health and welfare is deemed a successor to the estate and may present the same affidavit, after giving notice by post to any known heir, successor or creditor. Anyone with a priority claim then has sixty days from that notice to demand payment of priority estate expenses.^{Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

Anyone who can swear the statutory form truthfully, and Illinois does not ask whether there is a will — the section reaches personal estate passing by intestacy or under a will alike, which is the opposite of Texas. What it asks instead is that you take on the estate's debts personally. The affiant lists every known unpaid debt, sorts it into seven statutory classes, promises to pay them in that order before anything reaches an heir, and signs a paragraph the statute requires to be set in bold at not less than 14-point type indemnifying every creditor, heir, legatee and institution that relies on the affidavit, with legal costs to whoever recovers. A non-resident affiant also submits to the jurisdiction of the Illinois courts. This is a real choice, not a formality, and it should be made after the debts are known.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1(b), (d), (f) — the statutory affidavit form, the indemnity, and jurisdiction over a non-resident affiant (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

A distributee, or somebody acting on their behalf, who is entitled to take on each distributee's behalf. Indiana adds a duty no other state here imposes: the affiant must already have notified each distributee named in the affidavit of the intention to present it. The vehicle shortcut drops that requirement along with three others, and asks instead that the affidavit be duly executed by the distributees of the estate.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

A successor as the section defines one. An office that unreasonably refuses a properly made affidavit pays the successor's attorney fees, which is unusual and worth knowing if a bank stalls.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

A person claiming to be a successor of the decedent, whether or not there was a will — the statute covers testate and intestate estates alike. No petition for an executor or administrator may be pending.^{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

The surviving spouse; if there is none, the surviving children; or a person the surviving spouse designates. Kentucky also opens the route to somebody who is not family at all, which most states in this table do not. A preferred creditor may have the assets transferred to them where the spouse or children have waived the exemption in their favor after that creditor paid preferred claims worth as much as the distributable assets, or where there is no spouse and no children and another person has paid those claims or is legally entitled to payment. In practice that is often the person who paid for the funeral.^{Source: KRS 395.455 — transfer of assets without administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

At least two people, and the surviving spouse must be one of them where there is one. With no surviving spouse, at least two heirs; with a single heir, that heir plus a second person with actual knowledge of the facts. A sole heir cannot sign alone.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3432 — affidavit for small succession; contents (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

A person claiming to be the successor of the decedent, or somebody making the affidavit on their behalf. The section defines the route by what the claimant swears rather than by a ranked list of relatives, which is why the Bureau of Motor Vehicles publishes its own priority order separately.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (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

Whoever opens the estate with the Register, and the doubled ceiling turns on one relationship: a surviving spouse who is the sole heir or legatee. Where anybody else takes a share, the ordinary figure applies.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

An interested person as defined by section 1-201(24), who need not live in Massachusetts, need not have priority, and need not have been nominated in the will. More than one may serve. What they take on is a job rather than a windfall: 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, and remain answerable and accountable to any personal representative later appointed.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

A person claiming to be the decedent's successor, on the sworn statement — and they must name every other person entitled to a share and the portion each takes, so the form is not a way to collect quietly. On the court-order route the property goes to the surviving spouse, or if there is no spouse to the heirs. The price of that one is personal: other than a surviving spouse who qualifies for allowances, or the decedent's minor children, an heir who receives property under the order is responsible for sixty-three days for the deceased's unsatisfied debts, up to the value of what they took.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982 — court order distributing a small estate, and the heir's 63-day liability (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

A person claiming to be the successor of the decedent, and no court decides who that is before the affidavit is presented. A state or county agency with a medical assistance claim may present the same affidavit. What collecting does not do is settle who keeps the money: the claiming successor, or the agency, must disburse the proceeds to anyone with a superior claim under the exempt-property or the priority-of-claims section.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

A ladder, and only one rung is open at a time: the spouse; if there is no surviving spouse, any child; if neither, any grandchild; and if none of those, either parent or any sibling. A child cannot use it while a spouse survives, which is stricter than most states here. A minor or incapacitated successor may be represented by a guardian, conservator, custodian or attorney-in-fact, who must receive the property for that person's sole use and benefit. The holder who pays is discharged as if it had dealt with a personal representative and need not inquire into the truth of the affidavit; a refusal is compelled in chancery court. For the muniment-of-title route the signatures are different: the personal representative if one is serving anywhere, and otherwise the spouse together with the devisees of the Mississippi real property.^{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 person designated as personal representative under the will, where a will has been presented for probate; otherwise any distributee entitled to receive the property, at any time after the thirty days. Missouri has a separate door where the estate is smaller than the family's own entitlements: the court may refuse letters altogether where the estate is no greater than the exempt property and the family allowance, and the surviving spouse may then collect and sue for the personal property as if they had been appointed and qualified.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.090 — refusal of letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

A person claiming to be the successor of the decedent, or somebody acting on their behalf. What the claimant gets is a remedy and an exposure in the same statute: a holder who refuses can be compelled in a proceeding brought on proof of right, and the claimant remains answerable and accountable for the property to any personal representative or to anyone with a superior right.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1102 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

A claiming successor, and the third sworn statement asks for a reason rather than a category: the successor's relationship to the person who died, or, if there is no relationship, the basis of the claim. Somebody who is not family states why they are entitled instead of being turned away. 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.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nebraska DMV — Affidavit for Transfer of Decedent's Vehicle/Motorboat (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

For the affidavit, a person entitled by law to succeed to the property, and the affiant must be entitled to full payment personally or acting with the written authority of every other successor with an interest. Getting it wrong does not undo the transfer, it moves the risk: an affidavit that does not meet the requirements, or that contains statements which are not entirely true, leaves the property the affiant received subject to all the debts of the decedent, and a failure to give the fourteen days' notice leaves it held in trust for the other successors. Filing a false affidavit is a felony in Nevada and the form says so. The court set-aside is different in kind: where the estate is inside the ceiling and there is a surviving spouse or a minor child, the court must set the estate aside for them, and must do it without payment of creditors except as it finds necessary to prevent a manifest injustice.^{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)•Source: Nevada Revised Statutes s. 146.070 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

Six circumstances qualify and five are variations on one idea: the sole beneficiary under the will serving as administrator, or all the beneficiaries serving as co-administrators, or an appropriate person serving with their assent; and the same three where there is no will, with heirs in place of beneficiaries and a surviving spouse expressly included. A trust that is the sole beneficiary counts. The sixth circumstance is open: whenever, in the discretion of the court, it determines it is appropriate.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

Intestate estates only — both sections speak of the estate of an intestate throughout, so a will sends the family to the Surrogate for a different appointment. On the higher route the surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner acts alone. On the lower one, any heir may act, but only with the written consent of the remaining heirs, and the affidavit must name the residences and relationships of all of them. What the affiant takes on is not nominal: they acquire all the rights, powers and duties of an administrator, may be sued, and may be required to account.^{Source 14Source 15}
New Mexico

The person entitled to receive the decedent's property, and New Mexico is unusually open about what that means: the Motor Vehicle Division states in terms that a claiming successor need not be related to the person who died. Where the route is the spouse's residence affidavit, only the surviving spouse can use it, and only where the residence was community property or the will left the decedent's interest to them.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Mexico MVD — Vehicle Procedures Manual, chapter 8 section F: deceased owner, no will or unprobated will, claiming successor (opens in a new tab)•Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

Competent adult distributees in a statutory order of priority: surviving spouse, then children or grandchildren, then parents, then siblings, and outward.^{Source 13}
North Carolina

On the intestate side, the public administrator or an heir or creditor of the decedent who is not disqualified. On the testate side the list is wider: the public administrator, the person named or designated as executor in the will, a devisee, an heir, or a creditor. A surviving spouse who is the sole heir gets the higher ceiling. Because a creditor may swear it, this is not only a family route — someone owed money by the estate can use it to reach the assets.^{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

A person claiming to be the successor of the decedent, for the affidavit. Summary administration is not the family's to use at all: it is the personal representative who disburses, distributes and files the closing statement, and who must send a copy of that statement to every distributee.^{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

Any interested party may apply for release from administration. Summary release is narrower and is defined by who paid for the funeral: a person other than the surviving spouse who has paid or is obligated in writing to pay the funeral and burial expenses, where the estate is worth less than the lesser of five thousand dollars or that bill — or the surviving spouse, on a larger arithmetic built round the support allowance. For the spouse route Ohio defines surviving spouse narrowly: one who is left with no minor children, or with minor children all of whom are children of both. A blended family is outside it.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.031 — summary release from administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

For the affidavit, a claiming successor, or somebody acting on their behalf, and the affidavit sets out each successor's proportion. It also asks for something most states do not: that all taxes and debts of the estate have been paid, otherwise provided for, or barred by limitations. Signing it falsely is a crime carrying a fine of up to three thousand dollars or six months, with restitution to the rightful beneficiary. For summary administration, any person interested in the estate may petition.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

One or more of the claiming successors; or, where there is a will, whoever it names as personal representative. Oregon adds a party most states do not: where the person received public assistance or medical assistance that may be recovered from the estate, the Director of Human Services, the Director of the Oregon Health Authority or an approved attorney may file. Two disqualifications reach everyone else — a person who would be disqualified from acting as a personal representative under ORS 113.095, and anyone convicted of a felony in Oregon or elsewhere. Whoever files is a fiduciary with a general duty to administer, preserve, settle and distribute the estate, may not mix its property with their own, and can be removed and surcharged by a court that finds they did not.^{Source: ORS 114.515 — simple estate affidavit; who may file; fee (opens in a new tab)•Source: ORS 114.545, 114.547, 114.550 and 114.555 — the affiant as fiduciary, transfers, and summary review (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

Any party in interest may petition, and the route is open whether or not there is a will — the section applies to anyone dying domiciled in the Commonwealth. But it is discretionary, not an entitlement: the court acts in its discretion, with or without appraisement, and with such notice as it directs. That is different from an affidavit route where meeting the conditions ends the matter.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 — settlement of small estates on petition, and the one-year revocation window (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

A long list rather than a rank: the surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, or any interested party. Two conditions attach to all of them, and the second catches out-of-state families: the affiant must be of full age and legal capacity, and must be a resident of Rhode Island. Where there is a will the named executor goes first, then any alternate, then that same list. What the appointment buys is the power to collect the scheduled assets and to sell any chattel received.^{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

A person claiming to be the successor of the decedent, and South Carolina's definition is wider than the word “successor” suggests: successor includes a person who remitted payment for reasonable funeral expenses. So somebody outside the family may be entitled to present the affidavit. Under the DMV's version of the route the vehicle can then be titled only in the name of the person the court appointed or approved.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: South Carolina DMV — inheriting a vehicle (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

A person claiming to be the successor of the decedent, and then only if one further statement is true: that the decedent incurred no indebtedness to the Department of Social Services for medical assistance for nursing home or other institutional care. That is a bar rather than a priority. Where such a debt exists the affidavit cannot truthfully be sworn at all, whatever the estate is worth. Iowa asks the same question and offers a second limb, that the debt will be paid out of what is received. South Dakota gives no second limb.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

Where there is no will, one or more of the competent adult heirs. Where there is one, it depends on whether the will changes anything: if it distributes differently from intestacy and the family wants the will to govern, the person it names as personal representative files — either for probate of the will as a muniment of title together with limited letters testamentary, or by filing the original will with the attesting witnesses' affidavits, which the clerk records and which counts as probate for this chapter. A holographic will is provided for, on the affidavits of two disinterested people attesting to the handwriting.^{Source: Tennessee House Civil Justice Amendment No. 1 to HB0337 (113th General Assembly) — The Small Estate Probate Act, enacted as Public Chapter 297, effective 28 April 2023 (opens in a new tab)•}
Texas

The distributees of someone who died intestate. Texas closes this route to a family holding a will in the opening clause of the section — if there is a will, the routes are muniment of title or administration, not this.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.001–205.003 — the small estate affidavit and its conditions (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§257.001, 257.102, 257.103 — probate of a will as a muniment of title (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

The decedent's successor, who signs before a notary. On the Judiciary's Affidavit for Transfer of Title to Motor Vehicles the signer chooses between two capacities, and the second is the useful one for a family with help: successor, or duly authorized agent of a named successor. Utah arms that person unusually well. A holder who refuses the affidavit can be made to pay up to three times the value of the property, plus costs and attorney's fees.^{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)•Source: Utah Code § 75-3-1202 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

Whoever petitions to be the fiduciary, and the appointment follows the ordinary rules: the will is admitted and letters issue under section 902 where there is one, under section 903 where there is not. The people who matter to the outcome are the interested persons, because the route runs on their silence. One written objection inside fourteen days turns it into a proceeding with a hearing.^{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

On the affidavit route, all of the known successors must sign — not one claiming successor, and not a majority — and they name one of themselves to receive the asset. One relative who will not sign closes it. On the informal route the holder may pay any successor. Either way the person who takes the money is not taking it for themselves alone: the designated successor has a fiduciary duty to safeguard it and promptly pay or deliver it to the other successors, which is a real duty rather than a formality, and the affidavit form makes them swear to it.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-602 — payment or delivery of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less without affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

A successor as the chapter defines one, who must be either personally entitled to the whole of what is claimed or acting with the written authority of all the other successors. Two conditions defeat more Washington families than the ceiling does: no application for a personal representative may be pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and all the decedent's debts including funeral and burial expenses must have been paid or provided for.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

The authorized successor, and which of the two waiting periods applies depends on whether that person is the one the will nominated. The affidavit also has to state whether there was any known will at all, or that the person died intestate with no known will, so the question cannot be left open.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

Four categories, and the list is closed: an heir of the decedent, the trustee of a revocable trust the decedent created, a person named in the will to act as personal representative, and whoever was the decedent's guardian at the time of the death. Signing is taking on a job rather than collecting a windfall. By accepting the property the affiant assumes a duty to apply it to the payment of obligations in the priority order section 859.25 sets and to distribute any balance to the people the governing instrument names. That order puts the costs of administration first, then funeral and burial, then provision for the family, and ordinary creditors last.^{Source: Wis. Stat. § 867.03 — transfer by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.03 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Wis. Stat. § 859.25 — priority of payment of claims and allowances (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

The distributee or distributees, or their attorney, and Wyoming asks them for facts rather than a conclusion: their relationship to the person who died, 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 under probate proceedings in any jurisdiction. Where an appointment has been sought outside Wyoming, the affidavit must also name the representative and the court. What the section does not contain is the limb most states write in: nothing here makes the recipient answerable to a later personal representative. Sahvelo does not read that silence as protection.^{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)•}

Does it reach a house?

The answer in 50 states

Alabama

No, and the bar is in the definition rather than in the procedure. An estate for this purpose means all the personal property of a decedent who owns no real property at the time of death for which title does not pass by operation of law. Owning any real property closes the route whatever the estate is worth.^{Source: Code of Alabama 1975, § 43-2-691 — definitions, Revised Alabama Small Estates Act (opens in a new tab)•}
Alaska

No, and the bar is absolute rather than proportionate: the decedent must have owned no real property “no matter how small the value”. The one exception is real property that passed automatically anyway — by tenancy by the entirety or a transfer-on-death deed — which does not count against the route.^{Source: Alaska Court System — collecting personal property without a court case (opens in a new tab)•}
Arizona

The personal-property affidavit does not. Arizona has a separate real-property affidavit procedure Sahvelo has not yet verified.^{Source 1}
Arkansas

The count excludes the homestead, so a homestead does not push an estate over the line. That is a rule about the arithmetic rather than authority to transfer the house on the affidavit.^{Source: Arkansas Judiciary — Form 23, Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate by Distributee (opens in a new tab)•}
California

Yes, by a separate petition under §13150 rather than by the affidavit.^{Source 7}
Colorado

No. The section reaches personal property — funds on deposit, safe deposit box contents, tangible property, and instruments evidencing a debt or stock.^{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

No. Solely owned real estate in Connecticut closes the route outright, whatever it is worth and whatever the personal property comes to. This defeats more families than the dollar ceiling does.^{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

No. The section distributes a decedent's property without letters and its protection runs to whoever hands it over; the person who receives it stays answerable to anybody with a prior right.^{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

Summary administration can reach real property, which is one reason it runs through the court rather than by affidavit.^{Source 8}
Georgia

Yes, and it is one of the reasons to use this route rather than around it. The petition has a paragraph for the decedent's real property calling for a complete legal description and street address, and the heirs' attached agreement divides it. The condition attached to that is the one to take seriously before signing anything: the agreement's legal description must identify the property sufficiently to pass good title. Where a mortgage or other security deed is outstanding, the estate can still use the route — the holder is either a consenting signatory or a served party.^{Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•Source: Georgia Probate Court Standard Form GPCSF 9 — petition for order declaring no administration necessary, Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia, effective July 2021 (opens in a new tab)•}
Hawaii

Not by affidavit — that route is confined to personal property, tangible and intangible. Hawaii has a second route at the same figure that does reach land, and it is unusual enough to name: on the verified petition of any interested person, the clerk of the circuit court where the person lived may be authorized to administer an estate of a hundred thousand dollars or less, as personal representative. That is a real administration, so it can deal with a house; the order may be made without notice or hearing at the court's discretion; and no fees are allowed the clerk beyond a narrow statutory exception. The ceiling binds the clerk rather than the family: no clerk may act for an estate worth more than that.^{Source: HRS 560:3-1205 — estates of $100,000 or less, clerk of court to administer (opens in a new tab)•}
Idaho

Sahvelo has not verified that the Idaho affidavit reaches real property and does not assert that it does. What § 15-3-1201 names is personal property: tangible personal property, an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, and a debt owed to the decedent. Note that the ceiling is nonetheless measured on the whole probate estate wherever located, so a house is counted against the figure even where the affidavit cannot move it.^{Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Illinois

It does not reach it, and the section says so by its own terms rather than by omission: the affidavit transfers personal property, and the ceiling is stated on tangible and intangible personal property. What moves an Illinois house is one of two things. If the owner recorded a transfer on death instrument before they died, the house never enters the estate at all — it passes to the named beneficiary, and the beneficiary tidies the record afterwards with a notice of death affidavit at the recorder, which the Act says is not a condition of the transfer. If they did not, the house goes through an administration, and Illinois is stricter here than most of this comparison: the representative takes possession and pays the taxes and the mortgage, but may sell or mortgage the property only by leave of court, and only where it is necessary for the proper administration. Where the house is not sold, the representative must record a notice of probate in the county before being discharged — and if nobody did, an heir may record one instead, which is the fix for a title that still looks unfinished years later.^{Source: 755 ILCS 5/25-1 — payment or delivery of a small estate upon affidavit, as amended by P.A. 104-346 (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 27/10, 20, 40, 45, 95 — what a transfer on death instrument reaches, and how it must be made (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 27/65, 70, 75 — effect at the owner's death, joint owners, and the notice of death affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: 755 ILCS 5/20-1, 20-4, 20-24 — possession of a decedent's real estate, sale by leave of court, and the notice of probate (opens in a new tab)•}
Indiana

No. The section reaches personal property and an instrument evidencing a debt, an obligation, a stock or a chose in action, and the vehicle subsection reaches a certificate of title. Land is outside all of it.^{Source: Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 — small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit; vehicle or watercraft (opens in a new tab)•}
Iowa

Broadly no: the route requires that there be no real property. For deaths before 1 January 2025 a narrow exception exists where real property passes to joint tenants with full rights of survivorship who are exempt from inheritance tax.^{Source: Iowa Code § 633.356 — distribution of property by affidavit, very small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
Kansas

No. The section reaches personal property transferable to the estate, and the transfer is treated as if it had been made to a personal representative — which is what protects the holder who acts on it.^{Source: Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1507b — transfer of certain personal property to successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Kentucky

It does not need to. Kentucky real estate does not wait for an order: under KRS 391.010 it "shall descend" at death to the people the statute names, which is why the route above, measured against an exemption of personal property and money, is silent about land. The order dispensing with administration neither transfers a house nor is needed to. What the family is left with is an evidence problem rather than a transfer problem — a buyer or a lender will want to see who inherited and that the estate's debts were dealt with, and that is what a title examination is for. One thing changed recently enough to catch anybody relying on an older summary: from 15 July 2026 a surviving spouse takes the entirety where every descendant is a descendant of them both, and the half share now applies only where the children are not all shared.^{Source: KRS 391.010 — descent of real estate (effective 15 July 2026) (opens in a new tab)•}
Louisiana

Only on one of the three routes. The testate small succession that skips court requires that there be no immovable property in Louisiana at all, plus unanimous agreement to waive probate of the will from everyone who would take under it and everyone who would take without it.^{Source: La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3431 — small successions; judicial opening unnecessary (opens in a new tab)•}
Maine

No. What the section reaches is personal property and an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action. Real estate is not in the list and no subsection adds it.^{Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Maryland

Sahvelo has not verified how Maryland's small estate treats real property and does not state a rule. What is verified is that the count is of gross PROBATE assets, so property that passes outside probate is outside the figure either way, and that no fee is due on a small estate however it is valued inside the spouse's band.^{Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Small Estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: Maryland Register of Wills — Probate and other fees (opens in a new tab)•}
Massachusetts

No. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, so any real estate closes the route however small its value and whatever the rest of the estate comes to. The route's powers match that boundary: the voluntary personal representative may sell any chattel received and assign a chose in action to convert it to cash, and nothing in the section reaches land.^{Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, voluntary administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Massachusetts Probate and Family Court — MUPC Estate Administration Procedural Guide, Voluntary Administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Michigan

Michigan's two routes split on exactly this, and the one families are pointed at is the wrong one for a house. The sworn statement requires the affiant to swear that the estate does not include real property — any real property, of any value — so somebody who owned so much as a share in a parcel is outside it. The court-order route is not confined that way: it directs that the property be turned over, and since 1 January 2024 the section tells the court how to value a mortgaged house inside the count, deducting the debt from the value of the real property up to a ceiling that is itself indexed. A house worth two hundred and ninety thousand dollars carrying a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar mortgage counts as forty thousand dollars of estate. One more thing worth knowing at the counter: where an estate qualifies for either route, nobody other than the court may require you to use one rather than the other, so an institution cannot insist on a judge's order because it prefers one.^{Source: MCL 700.3983 — transferring a small estate by sworn statement (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982(4), (5) — the choice of procedure, and valuing a mortgaged house inside the small-estate ceiling (opens in a new tab)•Source: MCL 700.3982 — court order distributing a small estate, and the heir's 63-day liability (opens in a new tab)•Source: Michigan Department of Treasury — Estates and Protected Individuals Code cost-of-living adjustments, certified 30 January 2026 (opens in a new tab)•}
Minnesota

Sahvelo has not verified that the Minnesota affidavit reaches real property and does not assert that it does. What § 524.3-1201 names is personal property, safe deposit contents and registered securities — a transfer agent must change the registered ownership on the same affidavit. The ceiling is measured on the entire probate estate, so a house counts against the figure whether or not this route can move it.^{Source: Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Mississippi

Only where there is a will. The affidavit reaches tangible personal property and instruments and no land. A testate estate can pass title to Mississippi realty by having the will admitted as a muniment of title, on two conditions: the Mississippi probate estate — counted without the real property and without exempt property — is under the small-estate figure, and all known debts including estate and income taxes have been paid. Not provided for, not consented to: paid. Probating a will this way settles title and nothing else, and leaves anybody's right to seek a formal administration or contest the will intact. An intestate estate has no equivalent route to land here.^{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

Sahvelo has not verified that the Missouri affidavit reaches real property and does not assert that it does. The bond it requires is set by reference to the value of the personal property, and the itemized description the affidavit must carry is of the property of the decedent as the section defines it. Ask the probate division of the county before assuming a house can be moved this way.^{Source: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.097 — small estate, distribution of assets without letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Montana

No. The section reaches tangible personal property and an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, and nothing in it or in section 72-3-1102 extends to land.^{Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1101 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 72-3-1102 — effect of affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nebraska

No. The duty in section 30-24,125 runs on tangible personal property and on an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, and land appears nowhere in it.^{Source: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-24,125 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Nevada

Not the affidavit, and the bar is stated first rather than last: the route is open only where the person left no real property, nor interest therein, nor mortgage or lien thereon, in Nevada. The court set-aside is not limited that way. It operates on all or part of the estate by order of the court, and the petition describes all the property in it.^{Source: Nev. Rev. Stat. § 146.080 — estates not exceeding certain amounts, affidavit showing right to assets (opens in a new tab)•Source: Nevada Revised Statutes s. 146.070 (opens in a new tab)•}
New Hampshire

It does not exclude one, which sets New Hampshire apart from every affidavit state here. Real estate closes the route in Alabama, Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia. In New Hampshire it is disclosed instead: the affidavit of administration must list all real estate owned by the decedent at the time of death, including the location, book and page.^{Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. § 553:32 — waiver of administration (opens in a new tab)•}
New Jersey

It is counted, and that is usually what ends the route rather than what it delivers. The threshold measures real and personal assets together, so an owned home is inside the count and a New Jersey family with a house will normally exceed both figures. Where a family is genuinely inside the limit, the spousal section says the survivor is entitled absolutely to all the real and personal assets without administration — and the affidavit is recorded in the Surrogate's office, which is the point at which a title company will want to see it.^{Source 14Source 15}
New Mexico

The general affidavit does not reach it at all: any real property closes that route. But New Mexico then provides separately for the one piece of real property that matters most. A surviving spouse can move the primary residence without probate on an Affidavit of Surviving Spouse filed with the county clerk for the county where it sits, six months after the death, provided no probate has been filed, the residence is the ONLY item requiring transfer, the couple held it as community property or the will left it to the spouse, and the assessed value for property tax purposes does not exceed five hundred thousand dollars. Read the third condition twice: one bank account in the deceased's sole name takes a family out of this route.^{Source: New Mexico Courts — Probate self-help guide (opens in a new tab)•}
New York

No. Voluntary administration reaches personal property only.^{Source 12}
North Carolina

It does not transfer it, and it does not need to. Title to a North Carolina house vests in the heirs at the moment of death, or in the devisees under a probated will relating back to the same moment — the personal representative never owns it. What the affidavit still requires is disclosure: it must describe every tract of real property the person owned at death, so the land goes in front of the clerk of superior court even though the affidavit does not move it. Owning it and being able to sell it are different questions. The land remains available for the estate's debts, and a personal representative who wants to sell it must bring a special proceeding before the clerk unless the will gave a power of sale. And the heirs' own dealings are conditional: a sale by them before the estate advertises for creditors is void as against creditors and personal representatives, and one during an open administration is void unless the representative joins — but two years after the death with no advertisement ever published, the heirs' sales are good.^{Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1 — collection of property by affidavit, intestate and testate (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-15-1, 28A-15-2, 28A-15-3 — title and possession of a decedent's property, and selling real estate for debts (opens in a new tab)•Source: N.C.G.S. 28A-17-12 — sale, lease or mortgage of real property by heirs or devisees (opens in a new tab)•}
North Dakota

The affidavit does not: it reaches tangible personal property and an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, and the section is unusual in naming limited liability companies alongside corporations for a transfer agent. Summary administration is not limited that way, because it operates on the estate rather than on a category of property.^{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

It reaches the house, which is the single biggest difference between Ohio and the rest of this comparison. The order relieving an estate from administration directs delivery of personal property and transfer of real property to the people entitled to it, and has the same effect as an administration in freeing real property. Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas all confine their equivalent route to personal estate and leave a family holding a house with a separate problem. Ohio also lets an owner deal with it in advance, by recording a transfer on death designation affidavit with the county recorder — a married owner signs that together with their spouse.^{Source: Ohio R.C. 2113.03 — release of an estate from administration (opens in a new tab)•Source: Ohio R.C. 5302.22 — transfer on death designation affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Oklahoma

The affidavit does not: § 393 reaches tangible personal property, a debt owed to the decedent, and instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, chose in action or stock brand. Summary administration does. Its petition must set out the legal description of all real property the decedent owned in Oklahoma, which is the clearest signal that the house belongs in the court route rather than the counter one.^{Source: 58 O.S. § 393 — payment of debts to a decedent or possessing successor, affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: 58 O.S. § 245 — filing of petition for summary administration (opens in a new tab)•}
Oregon

Yes, and that is the main reason to know Oregon's route exists. The house has its own ceiling rather than being excluded, and the affiant transfers it by recording a bargain and sale deed in the county where the land sits. Selling it before distributing takes agreement: every heir or devisee who would succeed to the interest has to join in the conveyance. The catch is the one to say out loud to a buyer's lender as well as to a family. Property conveyed this way stays subject to the decedent's liens and encumbrances, and to the rights of the decedent's creditors, until two years after the affidavit was filed.^{Source: ORS 114.545, 114.547, 114.550 and 114.555 — the affiant as fiduciary, transfers, and summary review (opens in a new tab)•Source: ORS 114.510 — simple estate criteria (opens in a new tab)•}
Pennsylvania

No — and that is the point of it rather than a limitation. Real estate is excluded from what the section reaches and from the $50,000 count alike, so the house neither passes under the decree nor disqualifies the family from using it. A Pennsylvania family with a valuable house and modest savings can still be inside this route. What moves the house is nothing: under 20 Pa.C.S. 301(b) legal title passed to the heirs or devisees at the moment of death, before any petition and whether or not anyone is ever appointed. The deed still reading in the dead person's name does not mean title is stuck — it means the public record has not caught up. Where that gap has to be closed, because a buyer or a lender wants to see it closed, the route is a petition under section 3546 in the orphans' court: available once a year has passed with no letters granted, it puts title in the petitioner free of the decedent's debts that are not liens of record, and the order is recorded with the recorder of deeds.^{Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3102 — settlement of small estates on petition, and the one-year revocation window (opens in a new tab)•Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 301 — legal title to real estate passes at death to the heirs or devisees; personal estate passes to the personal representative (opens in a new tab)•Source: 20 Pa.C.S. 3546 — petition to determine title to a decedent's real estate after a year with no letters (opens in a new tab)•}
Rhode Island

No. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, so real estate closes the route outright, whatever it is worth and whatever the rest of the estate comes to.^{Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — voluntary informal administration of small estates (opens in a new tab)•}
South Carolina

No. The section reaches tangible personal property and the debts owed to the decedent, and the count it uses is of the probate estate rather than of the land. Where real property is in the estate, the route is the summary procedure inside an opened estate instead.^{Source: S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-3-1201 to 62-3-1203 — collection of personal property by affidavit, and small estates (opens in a new tab)•Source: S.C. Code § 62-3-1203 — small estates, summary administrative procedure (opens in a new tab)•}
South Dakota

No. The section reaches tangible personal property and an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, and nothing in it extends to land.^{Source: SDCL § 29A-3-1201 — collection of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Tennessee

No, and Tennessee is the only state in this table that says so on the document itself. The statutory form the clerk issues carries the sentence: there is no real property at issue, and the limited letter gives the personal representative no authority to handle any real estate matter of the deceased person. An estate with a house needs a different route. What the same form does authorize is unusually practical and worth knowing: collecting and preserving the assets, removing personal property from a place the person rented, and canceling insurance policies the death has made pointless. Clearing a rented apartment is expressly inside it.^{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

Only the homestead, and only where the homestead is the only real property in the estate. The affidavit must then be recorded in the deed records of a county where the homestead is located. One other parcel anywhere and the affidavit will not carry the real property at all. What covers the rest is not this chapter. It is either a recorded affidavit of heirship — which is evidence rather than a transfer, and becomes prima facie evidence only after five years on record, and never defeats an omitted heir — or a judicial proceeding to declare heirship, which has no deadline and produces a judgment rather than a presumption.^{Source: Texas Estates Code §§205.006–205.007 — homestead title under the affidavit, and who is liable (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§203.001–203.002 — recorded statement of facts as prima facie evidence of heirship (opens in a new tab)•Source: Texas Estates Code §§202.002, 202.0025, 202.004 — proceeding to declare heirship, and its absence of a deadline (opens in a new tab)•}
Utah

No, and the Judiciary says so in terms: a small estate affidavit cannot be used to transfer title to real property like land or a house. Real property of any value forces probate in Utah, with no floor on that limb at all.^{Source: Utah State Courts — Informal Probate (opens in a new tab)•Source: Utah State Courts — Small Estate Affidavit (opens in a new tab)•}
Vermont

No. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, so any real estate closes the route, and the only thing that looks like an exception is not one: a time-share estate is admitted by name.^{Source: 14 V.S.A. § 1901 — commencement of small estate (opens in a new tab)•}
Virginia

Neither small-estate route reaches it — both are measured on personal probate estate and neither purports to move land. What moves a Virginia house depends on whether the owner did anything while alive. Since 2013 Virginia has had a transfer on death deed: recorded before the death in the circuit court land records for the county where the property lies, exempt from recordation tax where there is no consideration, and — for a jointly owned home — executed by all the joint owners. Recorded, it passes the house at the death and keeps it out of the estate; signed and never recorded, it does nothing at all. Two defaults inside it catch families: two named beneficiaries take equal undivided shares with no right of survivorship, and the beneficiary takes subject to every mortgage and lien on the property at the death. Where no such deed was made, the house is still reachable for the estate's debts — but only after the personal estate has been exhausted, which is the reverse of the rule in North Carolina and Ohio.^{Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-624, 64.2-628 — the transfer on death deed and its requirements (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-632 — effect of a transfer on death deed at the transferor's death (opens in a new tab)•Source: Va. Code § 64.2-532 — real estate of a decedent as assets for the payment of debts (opens in a new tab)•}
Washington

No. The affidavit reaches personal property only — the section is about debts and personal property, and the securities and certificate-of-ownership provisions that make it powerful are also personal-property provisions. A house needs a different route.^{Source: RCW 11.62.010 — disposition of personal property by affidavit (opens in a new tab)•Source: RCW 11.62.010(3)–(5) — securities, certificates of ownership, and no tax release (opens in a new tab)•}
West Virginia

No, and West Virginia states the condition at the front of the section rather than in the list: the route is open to a decedent who died without owning any probate real property, or without owning any interest in probate real property.^{Source: W. Va. Code § 44-1A-2 — administration of a small estate upon affidavit and without appointment (opens in a new tab)•}
Wisconsin

Yes, which sets Wisconsin apart from almost every other state here, and the conditions are three. A person named in the will as personal representative may not take real property this way at all unless they are also an heir, a trustee of the decedent's revocable trust, or the decedent's former guardian. The heirs must be sent a copy of the affidavit and notice of the intention to record it at least thirty days beforehand. And a certified copy or duplicate original is recorded with the register of deeds in each county in the state where the real property is located, which is not necessarily the county of the death.^{Source: Wisconsin Statutes s. 867.03 (opens in a new tab)•}
Wyoming

No. The section reaches tangible personal property and an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action. What it does add, which most affidavit statutes leave to the motor vehicle office, is the vehicle: on the filed affidavit the county clerk transfers the title.^{Source: W.S. § 2-1-201 — payment of indebtedness and delivery of tangible personal property (opens in a new tab)•}

Sahvelo has read all fifty states at their own sources for this. Each answer below cites what it rests on, and a state whose rule has moved since it was read says so beside the answer. Thresholds change and several are indexed, so check the reviewed date above before relying on a figure.

Questions people ask about this

We are a few thousand dollars over the threshold.

Then the route is not available, and it does not round. Before concluding that, re-check what you counted: assets with a named beneficiary, jointly held property and trust assets should not be in the total at all, and removing them is what usually brings an estate back under.
The bank will not accept the affidavit.

Ask for the estate or deceased-customer department rather than the branch, and ask specifically which statutory requirement they believe is unmet. Institutions are protected by statute for relying on a valid affidavit, and a refusal is usually a form or a signature they need rather than a legal objection.
Does using the shortcut mean the debts disappear?

No. Creditors of the estate still have whatever claim they had, and in some states the person who collects under an affidavit is answerable to them up to the value received. Collecting a small estate and distributing it before dealing with known debts is the mistake to avoid.
Do we need one affidavit per bank?

Usually yes in practice. An institution generally wants its own executed original, and some have their own form on top of the statutory one. Ask each what it needs, and prepare for the affidavit to be a repeated errand rather than a single filing.

Official links you'll need

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

Read Arizona's affidavit statute (A.R.S. §14-3971) (opens in a new tab)

Statute Arizona State Legislature azleg.gov
Read California's affidavit statute (Prob. Code §13100) (opens in a new tab)

Statute California Legislative Information leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Read California's real property petition (Prob. Code §13150) (opens in a new tab)

Statute California Legislative Information leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Read Florida's disposition without administration (Fla. Stat. §735.301) (opens in a new tab)

Statute The Florida Senate flsenate.gov
Open New York Courts' small estate DIY program (opens in a new tab)

Court self-help New York State Unified Court System nycourts.gov

Where this sits in the process

Before this

These produce something this topic needs.

Do I need probate?work out what is actually left before measuring it against a threshold
Death certificatesan institution will usually want a certified copy with the affidavit

This makes possible

Finishing this unblocks these.

Bank accountsthe affidavit is what releases a sole-name account

Vehicle title transfervehicles have their own affidavit routes in several states
Debts and creditorscollecting under an affidavit does not extinguish creditor claims
Claiming as a beneficiarythe assets this route never has to reach, because somebody was named on them

Sources

Each state's figures and conditions are quoted from the statute that sets them.

A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)

Arizona: the affidavit procedure and its conditions.

azleg.gov Checked 2026-08-07
A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)

Arizona: the waiting period.

azleg.gov Checked 2026-08-07
A.R.S. §14-3971 (opens in a new tab)

Arizona: the ceiling.

azleg.gov Checked 2026-08-07
California Probate Code §13100 (opens in a new tab)

California: the §13100 affidavit and the 40-day condition.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-08
Judicial Council of California — Probate Code section 890 adjusted amounts (§§13100, 13101) (opens in a new tab)

California: the indexed ceiling.

courts.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-11
California Probate Code §13006(b) (opens in a new tab)

California: who counts as a successor.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-08
California Probate Code §13150 (Petition to determine succession to real property) (opens in a new tab)

California: the separate real-property petition.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov Checked 2026-08-12
Fla. Stat. §735.201 (Summary administration) (opens in a new tab)

Florida: summary administration.

flsenate.gov Checked 2026-08-09
Fla. Stat. §735.201(2) (Summary administration; nature of proceedings) (opens in a new tab)

Florida: the ceiling.

flsenate.gov Checked 2026-08-11
Fla. Stat. §735.201(2) (Summary administration; two-year alternative) (opens in a new tab)

Florida: the two-year alternative.

flsenate.gov Checked 2026-08-11
Fla. Stat. §735.301 (Disposition without administration) (opens in a new tab)

Florida: disposition without administration.

flsenate.gov Checked 2026-08-12
NY SCPA Article 13 (opens in a new tab)

New York: the small-estate definition.

nysenate.gov Checked 2026-08-07
NY SCPA § 1301 (cross-references § 1303) (opens in a new tab)

New York: the priority order for voluntary administrator.

nysenate.gov Checked 2026-08-07
N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3 (When spouse, partner in a civil union, or domestic partner entitled to assets without administration) (opens in a new tab)

New Jersey: the surviving spouse or partner's affidavit before the Surrogate, and what the threshold counts.

lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-19
N.J.S.A. 3B:10-4 (When heirs entitled to assets without administration) (opens in a new tab)

New Jersey: the heirs' route, and the consent that decides whether it is usable.

lis.njleg.state.nj.us Checked 2026-08-19

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

Small estate procedures

Short answer

How the affidavit route works

Not sure which of these is yours?

What the shortcut cannot reach

The procedure, by state

What you file, and where

The ceiling

How long you have to wait

Who may use it

Does it reach a house?

Questions people ask about this

We are a few thousand dollars over the threshold.

The bank will not accept the affidavit.

Does using the shortcut mean the debts disappear?

Do we need one affidavit per bank?

Official links you'll need

Read Arizona's affidavit statute (A.R.S. §14-3971) (opens in a new tab)

Read California's affidavit statute (Prob. Code §13100) (opens in a new tab)

Read California's real property petition (Prob. Code §13150) (opens in a new tab)

Read Florida's disposition without administration (Fla. Stat. §735.301) (opens in a new tab)

Open New York Courts' small estate DIY program (opens in a new tab)

Where this sits in the process

Before this

This makes possible

Related

Sources

Tell us what’s missing

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