Small Estate Affidavit

The SMALL ESTATE AFFIDAVIT route for personal property under the statutory threshold, available 40 days after death without probate. The threshold is adjusted periodically;

Official Judicial Council page for form DE-300, the list of adjusted dollar amounts under Probate Code section 890 that section 13101(f) requires to be attached to an affidavit for a decedent dying on or after April 1,…

Text of the affidavit's required contents: the decedent's name, date and place of death, the statement that at least 40 days have elapsed with a certified death certificate attached, that no California administration is…

The petition to determine succession to real property of small value, California's short route for a modest home. Check the current limit.

The affidavit procedure for real property of small value, distinct from the section 13150 petition. Check the current limits before opening a full probate.

Official Judicial Council page for form DE-305, the affidavit under Probate Code section 13200 for real property of small value, with the page's own statement of the value limit and the form's effective date.

Definition: the successor of the decedent is the sole beneficiary or all beneficiaries who succeed to the item under the will (a trust counts as a beneficiary), or, without a will, the person or persons who take under…

Text listing what is excluded from the estate and its value for the small estate procedures: joint tenancy property, life and other interests terminating at death, property passing to the surviving spouse under section…

Reasonable proof of identity of each affiant must be given to the holder, satisfied if the affiant is personally known and signs in the holder's presence, by a statement from a person personally known to the holder, or…

The official Connecticut Probate Courts form (rev. 07/23) for the small-estates procedure under section 45a-273: its instructions state that the procedure may be used only if the decedent had no solely owned real estate…

A small-estate settlement is available where the decedent's solely owned personal property does not exceed FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS and there is no solely owned Connecticut real property.

The spouse's intestate share: the entire estate with no issue or parent; $100,000 plus three quarters of the balance where a parent but no issue survives;

Connecticut companion to the small-estates procedure: where a decedent is owed medical, insurance or health benefits or other intangible personal property not exceeding one thousand dollars, the probate judge may name…

Connecticut limit on the small-estates sections: 45a-273 and 45a-274 apply only to estates for which no will is presented for probate and no application for administration is filed within thirty days after death.

The payment order in a Connecticut estate: funeral expenses first, then expenses of settling the estate, then the classes the section lists.

The Probate Court ascertains heirs and distributees and orders distribution. The procedural end of the administration.

After the spouse's share, the residue goes equally to the decedent's children and the representatives of deceased children, with the section governing when a child inherits from or through a parent.

The order after issue: parents, then siblings and their representatives, then next of kin, with the section's own stopping point. Check where the line ends before assuming a distant relative takes.

Delaware small-estate statute: the spouse, a grandparent or lineal descendant of a grandparent of the decedent, their representatives or fiduciaries, the trustee of the decedent's trust, a licensed funeral director, or…

What passes by intestacy, including a partial intestacy where the will does not dispose of everything. The reason a residuary clause matters.

The spouse's intestate share, which in Delaware turns on whether there are surviving issue and whether they are also the spouse's, and gives the spouse a LIFE ESTATE IN REAL ESTATE in some configurations rather than an…

The order of succession after the spouse: issue, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their issue, then the section's remaining classes. Check where the line stops.

Delaware rule on the affidavit's effect: a person paying, delivering, transferring or issuing property under a section 2306 affidavit is released as if dealing with the personal representative and need not see to the…

Delaware spousal allowance: the surviving spouse may receive up to $7,500 in cash from the estate as a debt of the estate in the order of preference of section 2105, on written demand to the Register of Wills and the…

Ranks who may serve as personal representative and excludes minors, adjudicated incapacitated persons, certain felons, nonresident aliens, judges and court employees, and nonresidents who fail to file the required…

District of Columbia text: a person eligible for appointment as personal representative under § 20-303 may file a verified petition for small estate administration containing, beyond the § 20-304 information, a…

District of Columbia text: if the Court finds the petition accurate it appoints a personal representative, directs payment of allowable funeral expenses and any family allowance, directs any necessary sale, and, if…

District of Columbia text: a small estate personal representative need not be represented by an attorney, give bond or receive a commission, and where notice was required distributes after 30 days from publication on…

District of Columbia text: except where inconsistent with the small estate subchapter, all other provisions of Title 20 apply to small estates.

District of Columbia threshold: property of a decedent subject to administration in the District valued at $80,000 or less may be administered as a small estate under the subchapter, the figure having been raised by…

District of Columbia text: after-discovered property must be reported immediately by verified supplemental petition, and the section states the consequences by value, still printed with the historical $15,000 figure, so…

Rule 5.425 read out of The Florida Bar's edition of the Florida Probate Rules: no administration is required for an intestate decedent who left only exempt personal property and nonexempt personal property not exceeding…

The spouse's intestate share: the entire estate where there is no surviving descendant, or where all descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendant; otherwise one half.

Florida text allowing a petition for summary administration to be filed by any beneficiary or person nominated as personal representative, requiring it to be signed and verified by the surviving spouse and the…

Florida text stating that administration is not required for an intestate decedent who left only exempt personal property and nonexempt personal property not exceeding $20,000 plus preferred funeral expenses and the…

Florida text allowing summary administration of a resident or nonresident decedent's estate where, in a testate estate, the will does not direct administration under chapter 733, and the value of the estate subject to…

Florida text requiring the will to be proved and admitted on filing, requiring the petitioner to search for known or reasonably ascertainable creditors, serve them and provide for payment before the order, allowing the…

Rule 5.420 read out of The Florida Bar's edition of the Florida Probate Rules: an interested person may request disposition of a decedent's personal property without administration by a signed application stating the…

Rule 5.530 read out of The Florida Bar's edition of the Florida Probate Rules: the verified petition for summary administration must state each petitioner's interest and address, the decedent's name, last address,…

The order of succession after the spouse: descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then the section's remaining classes including the grandparent split. Check where the line stops.

Florida text allowing the petition for summary administration to be filed at any stage of an estate's administration if the estate would qualify at that time. Read it with section 735.201.

Maryland text: any person entitled to administration under § 5-104 may file a petition for small estate administration containing, beyond the § 5-201 and 5-202 information, a statement of diligent search for property…

Official Maryland Register of Wills form RW1103, the Petition for Administration used to open a small estate ($50,000 or less, or $100,000 where the spouse is the sole heir or legatee) with Schedule B, as well as a…

Maryland text: if the register finds the petition accurate, the register directs the petitioner to serve as personal representative and issues letters, directs immediate payment of allowable funeral expenses and family…

Letters in administrative or judicial probate are granted in a fixed order of priority, beginning with the personal representative named in a will admitted to probate, then the surviving spouse and children of an…

Maryland threshold for small estate administration: property subject to administration in Maryland valued at $50,000 or less at death may be administered under §§ 5-602 through 5-607, the estate may convert to small…

Maryland text: unless excused by the will or waived by all interested persons, a small estate personal representative gives bond if the estate is worth $10,000 or more after funeral expenses and allowances, may not be…

Maryland text: property discovered after the petition must be reported immediately by supplemental petition, and if it raises the value above $50,000 (or above $100,000 where everything passes to the spouse) the estate…

Maryland text on the register's fees for small estate services, the fee for extra certificates of letters, and the exemption where the surviving spouse is the sole heir or legatee and the property is $100,000 or less.

Maryland text: except where inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the small estate subtitle, all other provisions of the estates of decedents law apply to a small estate.

Maryland text: where the decedent's only property is not more than two motor vehicles, or a boat appraised at $5,000 or less, and the surviving spouse is the only heir or legatee, no administration is required and the…

Massachusetts summary administration rule: if the estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed family allowances, exempt property, administration costs, funeral expenses and last-illness expenses, the personal…

Massachusetts voluntary administration statute: where a domiciliary dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property, which may include one motor vehicle plus other personal property not exceeding $25,000…

What passes by intestacy, including a partial intestacy where the will does not dispose of everything. The reason a residuary clause matters.

The spouse's intestate share: the ENTIRE estate where no descendant or parent survives, or where all the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendant;

The order of succession after the spouse: descendants, then parents, then descendants of parents, then grandparents and their descendants. Check where the section stops before assuming a distant relative takes.

Massachusetts rule on the affidavit's effect: a person paying, delivering, transferring or issuing personal property under section 3-1201 is discharged and released as if dealing with a personal representative and need…

The order in which claims are paid when the estate cannot pay everything. Use it when advising on an insolvent estate; do not let a personal representative pay a sympathetic creditor first.

Where the total value of an intestate's real and personal assets will not exceed $50,000, the surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner, on executing an affidavit before the Surrogate of the county where…

Where the intestate leaves no surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner and the real and personal assets will not exceed $20,000, one heir who has obtained the written consent of the remaining heirs and…

Without a will the surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner takes the entire estate when no descendant or parent survives, or when all surviving descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no…

A bank, association, corporation or person that pays or delivers assets to the person executing an affidavit under 3B:10-3 or 3B:10-4, on presentation of a copy marked a true copy by the surrogate or the clerk of the…

New Jersey text on who takes the part of an intestate estate that does not pass to the surviving spouse or partner under 3B:5-3, or the whole estate where there is none: descendants by representation, then parents, then…

New Jersey text setting the order in which a personal representative pays claims when the estate cannot pay all of them: reasonable funeral expenses first, then administration costs, debts to the Office of the Public…

Unless the Director of the Division of Taxation consents in writing, a bank, savings institution, credit union, safe deposit or trust company, or other institution or person may not deliver or transfer securities,…

Definition: a small estate is the estate of a domiciliary or non-domiciliary who dies leaving personal property with a gross value of $50,000 or less, exclusive of property set off under EPTL 5-3.1(a), and a voluntary…

Text on who may act: in intestacy the right goes first to the surviving adult spouse, then to a competent adult child, grandchild, parent, sibling, niece or nephew, aunt or uncle, then to a guardian, committee or…

The voluntary administrator is answerable and accountable to creditors, distributees, will beneficiaries and any later fiduciary as a fiduciary under the act, and a person who wilfully makes a false affidavit to obtain…

Text on payment of bank deposits, insurance and similar debts without administration: a debtor may pay the surviving spouse up to $30,000 forthwith on the spouse's affidavit, may pay up to $15,000 not less than thirty…

Procedure: no waiting period after death, no bond, qualification by filing with the clerk of the court of the decedent's domicile an affidavit in the form provided by the Official Forms appended to the act plus a…

Reasonable funeral expenses, subject to administration expenses, are preferred to all debts and paid from the first money received, and the fiduciary must pay debts diligently in this order: debts preferred under…

Intestacy text: a spouse who survives with issue takes fifty thousand dollars and one-half of the residue, a spouse with no issue takes the whole, and the section then lists the shares of issue, parents, issue of…

Article 13 does not apply to any interest in real property in New York, but a decedent's ownership of real property does not prevent using the article for the personal property. Read with § 1301's threshold.

Delivery by the voluntary administrator of the court's short form certificate, the administrator's receipt and surrender of any evidentiary document is a complete release and discharge for a payment of money or delivery…

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard probate form for an application under R.C. 2113.031 for summary release from administration: it takes the decedent's date of death and domicile and a choice between the…

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard probate form for an application under R.C. 2113.03 to relieve an estate from administration: it takes the decedent's date of death and domicile, whether a will was admitted, a…

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard probate form listing the character and value of the assets of an estate to be relieved from administration, including automobiles distributed to a surviving spouse under R.C.

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard probate entry by which the court finds that the application satisfies R.C.

RELEASE FROM ADMINISTRATION, Ohio's small-estate route: the probate court may release an estate from administration where the assets fall under the statutory thresholds, which are higher where a surviving spouse is the…

Ohio text on summary release from administration: it defines financial institution, funeral and burial expenses and surviving spouse, and allows an application where the estate's assets do not exceed the lesser of five…

The Supreme Court of Ohio's standard probate entry by which the court, on the application under R.C.

Ohio's intestacy scheme. The spouse's share depends on whether the surviving children are also the spouse's: the whole estate where they are, and a first-dollar amount plus a fraction where one or more are not, on the…

Ohio text allowing an employer to pay wages or personal earnings of a deceased employee not exceeding five thousand dollars to the surviving spouse, adult children or parents, in that order, without letters testamentary…

The statutory allowance for support for the surviving spouse and minor children, taken ahead of general distribution. Mention it to a family asking what they get regardless of the will.

The spouse's intestate share depends on who else survives: the whole estate with no issue or parent;

The order of succession after the spouse: issue, then parents, then brothers and sisters or their issue, then grandparents, then uncles and aunts and their children and grandchildren.

After a domiciliary's death, and whether or not a personal representative has been appointed, an employer may pay wages, salary or employee benefits up to $10,000 to the spouse, any child, parent or sibling in that…

Pennsylvania text allowing the spouse of a decedent domiciled in Pennsylvania, or failing a spouse the children or then the parents who were members of the decedent's household, to retain or claim real or personal…

Regulation text: all estate property subject to administration by the personal representative, whether or not administered, is subject to the claim, including life insurance payable to the estate;

Regulation text: the Department's estate recovery claim has priority under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3392(3) to the extent it covers services rendered within 6 months before death and otherwise is paid under § 3392(6);

Texas text entitling the distributees of an intestate decedent to the estate without appointment of a personal representative, to the extent assets excluding homestead and exempt property exceed known liabilities, if 30…

Intestate descent where there is no surviving spouse: to the children and their descendants, then the parents, then siblings, on the section's own ladder. Use it to show a client what happens without the will.

TEXAS IS A COMMUNITY PROPERTY STATE and intestacy splits accordingly. Of the SEPARATE estate, where there are children the spouse takes ONE THIRD OF THE PERSONAL ESTATE and a LIFE ESTATE IN ONE THIRD OF THE LAND, with…

Of the COMMUNITY estate, the deceased spouse's half passes entirely to the surviving spouse where there are no children, or where all the surviving children are also the spouse's.

Texas text requiring the distributees to provide a clerk-certified copy of the affidavit to each person who owes money to the estate, has custody of estate property, or acts as registrar, fiduciary or transfer agent for…

Texas text requiring the affidavit to be sworn to by two disinterested witnesses, each distributee with legal capacity and, where warranted, the guardian or next of kin of a minor or incapacitated distributee, to show…

Texas text requiring the judge to examine the affidavit and allowing approval if it conforms to the chapter. Read it with sections 205.001 and 205.002.

Texas text requiring an approved affidavit to be maintained as a local government record, or recorded by the county clerk in a Small Estates book with an index by decedent's name and any land involved.

Texas text stating that a person who pays, delivers or transfers under the affidavit is released as if it had paid a personal representative and need not see to the application or inquire into the truth of the…

Texas text stating that a reference in the chapter to homestead or exempt property means only property that would be eligible to be set aside under section 353.051 if the estate were being administered.

Official Virginia circuit court form CC-1685, the Small Estate Affidavit prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary that § 64.2-601 now requires: the successors swear to the decedent's name and date of death,…

Virginia definitions for the Small Estate Act: a small asset is any indebtedness owed to or asset belonging or distributable to the decedent, other than real property, valued at no more than $75,000 on the date of death…

Virginia text of the small estate affidavit: a person holding a small asset must pay or deliver it to the designated successor on an affidavit made by all known successors stating that the entire personal probate estate…

Virginia text allowing a holder of a small asset valued at $35,000 or less to pay or deliver it to any successor without an affidavit, provided 60 days have passed since death and no personal representative has been…

Virginia text allowing, 30 days after death where no personal representative has been sought, a holder of a small asset to pay the licensed funeral service establishment, at a successor's request, up to the amount given…

Virginia text: a person who pays or delivers a small asset under § 64.2-601 or 64.2-602 is discharged and released as if dealing with the personal representative, need not see to the application of the asset or inquire…

A surviving spouse and minor children may take a family allowance of up to $30,000 in a lump sum, or $2,500 a month for a year, ahead of nearly all estate claims.

The surviving spouse, or the minor children if there is no spouse, take up to $25,000 in household goods, cars and personal effects ahead of most creditors.

A surviving spouse of a decedent domiciled in the Commonwealth takes a $25,000 homestead allowance; with no spouse, the decedent's minor children divide it.

Virginia text stating that the Small Estate Act remedies are in addition to, and not in exclusion of, other remedies provided by law, so qualification for administration or other collection routes remain open.