Did the bank ask for a small estate affidavit? Learn if the estate qualifies in your state.
Small Estate Affidavit: What It Is, the Dollar Limits and the Waiting Periods
Choose your state in the free check below, then answer its questions about the estate to place it against the recorded limit and waiting period. The sections after it tell you what counts toward the limit, what a house needs, and the steps in order.
Quick answer
A small estate affidavit lets you, as an heir, collect a person's property without a probate case when the estate is under the state's limit and a waiting period has passed. Limits in the statutes we read: California $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (40 days), Arizona $200,000 of personal property (30 days), Illinois $150,000 excluding vehicles, Texas $75,000 for estates without a will (30 days, with a judge's approval) and New York $50,000 under its simplified procedure. Real estate usually needs a separate step, such as California's affidavit for real property up to $69,625 after six months.
Free tool
Choose your state, a personal property band, whether real property is in the estate and the time since death to learn whether the band sits under the recorded small-estate limit, whether the wait is met, and the real-property and short-procedure rules, each with its source.
By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
Three things you can do before you go back to the bank.
1
Find the date of death and count from it
The waiting period runs from the date of death, and the steps section below lists the days for each state this guide read. Order certified copies of the death certificate now, since California requires one attached to the affidavit.
2
Check whether a probate case is already open
Call the probate clerk in the county where the person lived and ask. California, Arizona, Illinois and Texas each require that no case is pending before the affidavit can be used.
3
List what the person owned, and who holds each item
Bank, brokerage, an employer owing a final paycheck, a vehicle, a house. The affidavit goes to each holder, a house usually takes a separate step, and the free check linked above places the personal property against your state's recorded limit.
What a small estate affidavit does
The affidavit is a sworn statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that you are entitled to a particular item of the person's property and that the estate qualifies. You hand it to whoever holds the property, such as the bank or the brokerage. California's version lets a successor collect money owed to the person, receive tangible personal property and have securities and similar property transferred (Probate Code section 13100).
Statutes tell the holder to act on it. Arizona says a person holding the property shall pay or deliver it on being presented an affidavit that meets the statute (A.R.S. 14-3971), and Illinois protects a holder that relies in good faith on an affidavit substantially in the statutory form (755 ILCS 5/25-1). The affidavit does not erase debts: Illinois makes the person signing it responsible for paying valid claims before distributing to heirs.
Learn more. Tap a topic to open it.
Learn the limit and the wait in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, New York and Florida.
Each figure is from the statute or court page under Sources; the state chart has the limit recorded for every state.
California: $208,850, after 40 days
Section 13100 sets the limit at $166,250 as adjusted every three years under section 890. The courts list $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, $184,500 for deaths from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2025, and $166,250 before that. The next adjustment is scheduled for April 1, 2028.
Arizona: $200,000 of personal property, after 30 days
Valued at death, less liens and encumbrances, with no personal representative appointed or application pending (A.R.S. 14-3971, subsection B). Real property has its own affidavit (below).
Illinois: $150,000, vehicles excluded
The personal estate passing by will or without one must not exceed $150,000, not counting motor vehicles registered with the Secretary of State, and no letters of office can be outstanding (755 ILCS 5/25-1).
Texas: $75,000, estates without a will, after 30 days
Estate assets, excluding the homestead and exempt property, must not exceed $75,000; the affidavit is filed with the court clerk and must be approved by the judge (Estates Code section 205.001).
New York: $50,000, through the Surrogate's Court
Article 13 of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act defines a small estate as one with a gross value of $50,000 or less (section 1301). It is a simplified court procedure rather than a private affidavit.
Florida: summary administration up to $150,000
Florida's main shortcut is a short court procedure, summary administration, available when the estate, less exempt property, is not over $150,000 or the person has been dead more than two years (section 735.201, raised from $75,000 effective July 1, 2026). Estates of only exempt property plus property worth no more than funeral and last-illness costs can use disposition without administration (section 735.301).
Learn what each state counts toward the limit and what passes outside it.
States measure the estate differently, which changes who qualifies. California uses the gross value, so debts and mortgages are not subtracted. It leaves out property that passes some other way: joint tenancy property, property in a revocable trust, accounts with a surviving co-owner or payable-on-death beneficiary, property passing to a surviving spouse, and registered vehicles, boats and mobile homes (Probate Code section 13050). Arizona instead values personal property less liens and encumbrances, and Texas excludes the homestead and exempt property.
Two estates of the same size can land on opposite sides of the line depending on how the property was titled.
Learn the separate routes for a house in California and Arizona, with their limits.
California offers two routes. An affidavit for real property, filed with the superior court no sooner than six months after the death, covers real property worth up to $69,625 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025 (section 13200 and the courts' adjusted limits); each signer's signature must be notarized and an inventory and appraisal attached. A court petition for the person's primary residence is available 40 days after the death when the home is worth up to $750,000 (section 13151), a limit set by Assembly Bill 2016 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025.
Arizona allows an affidavit of succession to real property in the state no sooner than six months after the death when the real property, less liens and encumbrances, is worth no more than $300,000 at its assessed full cash value. It is filed with the court, the normal filing fee applies unless waived, and a certified copy is recorded in the county where the property sits (A.R.S. 14-3971, subsections E and F).
Learn the steps you take in order, from the waiting period to presenting the affidavit.
1
The statutory waiting period runs
40 days in California, 30 days in Arizona and Texas, six months for real property in California and Arizona.
2
No probate case can be open
California, Arizona, Illinois and Texas each require that no probate case is pending or open, with narrow exceptions such as a California executor's written consent.
3
The estate is valued under the state's rules
Each statute sets what is counted, what is left out and the date of the valuation.
4
The affidavit is completed and signed
Illinois prints the affidavit form in the statute (755 ILCS 5/25-1), and California requires a certified copy of the death certificate to be attached (Probate Code section 13101).
5
The affidavit is presented or filed
It goes to each holder of the property in California, Arizona and Illinois (personal property), and to the court where the statute requires a filing (Texas, and the real property affidavits).
Learn the fees an affidavit can carry, and the perjury warning the statutes print.
A personal-property affidavit presented directly to a bank has no court filing fee in the statutes above; the costs are certified death certificates and a notary where one is used, which California caps at $15 per signature (Government Code section 8211). Court-filed versions carry court fees: Arizona applies its normal filing fee to the real property affidavit, and Florida's clerk fee for summary administration is up to $340 for estates of $1,000 or more (section 28.2401).
Signing a false affidavit is perjury. Arizona, California and Illinois all put that warning in the statute or the form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
This guide covers California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, New York and Florida. For any other state, choose it in the free check above, or open the probate state chart, which lists the limit recorded for every state with its statute; several states adjust their figures over time.
It depends on the state. California uses gross value with no subtraction for debts or mortgages. Arizona values personal property less liens and encumbrances.
Not in California, which excludes registered vehicles (Probate Code section 13050), or in Illinois, which excludes vehicles registered with the Secretary of State. Arizona's motor vehicle division transfers a title on the affidavit after the usual fees.
California's affidavit procedure applies whether or not there is a will (Probate Code section 13100), and so does Arizona's (A.R.S. 14-3971). The Texas small estate affidavit in Estates Code section 205.001 is only for estates without a will.
Usually through a separate procedure. California has an affidavit for real property up to $69,625 after six months and a court petition for a primary residence up to $750,000. Arizona has a real property affidavit up to $300,000 after six months.
Arizona's statute says the holder shall pay or deliver on a proper affidavit, and Illinois protects holders that rely on one in good faith. If a holder still refuses, the remaining route is usually a court procedure.
40 days after the death in California, 30 days in Arizona and Texas, and six months for real property affidavits in California and Arizona.
Yes. Illinois says the person signing the affidavit must pay valid claims before distributing anything to heirs, and Arizona requires a statement that funeral and last-illness expenses have been paid.
Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.
Ready for the numbers in your state? The tool is free.