Skip to content
Estate Affidavit Guide

We're sorry for your loss. Take this one step at a time.

Collect a loved one's bank account or car — without probate.

If the estate is small, your state lets family do this with a sworn affidavit. The state publishes the form; what nobody explains is what to do when the bank pushes back — this does.

Start with your state

Your state

Which state was your family member a resident of?

60-second check

Does the estate qualify as "small" under your state's law?

Every state sets its own statutory dollar ceiling for the small estate affidavit. Pick your state and enter a rough total for the accounts and property you're trying to collect — not the whole estate, just what's changing hands outside real property already covered by a will or deed.

Real estate title (a house or land) is usually handled separately — see the affidavit of heirship guide, which has no dollar cap. This check runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent or saved. Informational, not legal advice and not a determination of eligibility; compare your own facts against your state's statute.

Your state kit

$37 one time

  • Eligibility check against your state's dollar limit
  • Walkthrough of your state's actual form, line by line
  • What to say when a bank, DMV, or title company pushes back
  • Your state's waiting period and timeline
Find my state's kit

Secure checkout by Stripe · instant download · no subscription

Rejected because of the kit? Full refund. If a bank, DMV, title company, or court clerk rejects your filing for a reason traceable to following the kit, email us the reason within 30 days. Changed your mind? You have 7 days. Refund policy

Last reviewed

October 6, 2026

Every claim cited

to your state's statute

How it works

  1. Check your state's limit. Two questions, about a minute.
  2. Fill in the official form with the plain-English walkthrough, then sign before a notary wherever you are.
  3. Hand it to the bank, DMV, or clerk. It all works by mail, phone, and email, so you don't need to be near the courthouse.

A small estate affidavit lets an heir collect a decedent's bank accounts, vehicles, and personal property without opening full probate, as long as the total falls under your state's statutory dollar ceiling. An affidavit of heirship does the same job for real property title, with no dollar cap. Each state publishes its own version. Our state-specific kit is the step-by-step playbook around it — the eligibility check, the annotated form walkthrough, and the exact script for when a bank or clerk asks for more than the law requires, written so you can read it back yourself over the phone with no one local to hand it to. $37 per state, ready the moment you need it. We're researchers, not attorneys, which is why you're not paying attorney rates for it.

Which one do you need?

Small Estate Affidavit

For a bank account, vehicle, or other personal property — capped by your state's statutory dollar ceiling. This is the one most people need first. Settling a house too? You may need the Affidavit of Heirship as well.

$37 per state

Affidavit of Heirship

For establishing who inherited real property — a house or land — when there's no will and no probate. No dollar cap. Often needed alongside the small estate affidavit, not instead of it.

$37 per state

Settling both a bank account and a house left by the same person? Each instrument is its own kit, so you buy exactly what your situation needs.

Why trust this over a random search result

We don't have customer reviews to show you yet — this is a new site, and we'd rather tell you that plainly than fake them. What you can check yourself: every statutory figure on this site links directly to the state's own probate code text, not our summary of it. If a claim doesn't match what your state actually publishes, tell us and we fix it within five business days. That's a check no testimonial can give you.

What this is — and what it isn't

Frequently asked questions

What does a kit cost and what does it include?
A single-state digital kit is $37, one time, for either the Small Estate Affidavit or the Affidavit of Heirship (the one exception is the narrower Ohio survivorship affidavit for real estate, at $19 — the price is always shown before checkout). Each kit includes a plain-English eligibility check against your state's statutory line, an annotated walkthrough of your state's actual form (or, where a state doesn't publish one, the exact statutory requirements a compliant affidavit must meet), the presentation playbook for what to do when a bank, DMV, or title company pushes back, and the statutory waiting-period timeline.
What if the bank refuses the affidavit?
This is the single most common real obstacle, and the one thing the free state form never covers. Banks sometimes ask for more than the statute requires, or staff incorrectly insist you need formal probate "Letters." The kit includes a specific script and escalation path for this — what to say, what to cite, and when to ask for a supervisor — because a facially valid affidavit is something a bank can rely on without investigating further, but getting the first person you talk to to accept that is a real, common friction point.
How much money does this typically unlock?
Most families are unlocking a modest bank account, not a fortune — typically a few thousand dollars up to around $15,000, well under most states' statutory ceilings ($50,000–$208,000+ depending on the state). The statutory cap defines whether the process applies to you, not how much is usually at stake. Weighed against a $37 kit versus a $1,500–4,200+ attorney retainer for the same modest amount, the math is straightforward for most families.
How long does the whole process take?
Most states require a waiting period after death before you can file — commonly 30–45 days, ranging from 10 days to 6 months depending on the state. After that, most families complete the small estate affidavit process in another few weeks. Full probate, by contrast, commonly takes well over a year. The kit sets the exact waiting period for your state up front so you're not guessing.
What is a small estate affidavit?
A small estate affidavit is a sworn statement, provided for directly in state law, that lets an heir collect a decedent's bank accounts, vehicles, and other personal property without opening full probate — as long as the total value falls under your state's statutory dollar ceiling. It's signed under penalty of perjury and presented directly to the bank, DMV, or other asset holder, or in some states filed with the court clerk first.
What is an affidavit of heirship, and how is it different?
An affidavit of heirship is used to establish who the legal heirs are, most often to clear title to real property (a house or land) left by someone who died without a will and without probate. Unlike the small estate affidavit, it has no statutory dollar cap — it's about proving who inherited, not how much the estate is worth. In some states, notably Texas, it works alongside the small estate affidavit as a separate mechanism, since the small estate affidavit generally doesn't cover real property.
Does my estate actually qualify?
We don't decide that for you — that would cross into legal advice we're not licensed to give. What we do is show you your state's exact statutory dollar ceiling and the requirements the statute lists, so you can compare your own facts against it. Our free eligibility check below gives you a quick read; your state's guide has the full statutory citation.
Why not just hire a probate attorney?
You can, and for a complex or contested estate you probably should. But for a straightforward small estate — one bank account, one car, no disputes — the work is following a statutory process the state already wrote out, not drafting anything from scratch. Attorneys commonly charge $1,500–4,200+ to open even simple probate. Our kit is $37 and includes the bank-presentation playbook most attorneys handle for you but rarely write down for you to keep.
What if it doesn't work — is there a refund?
Yes. If a bank, DMV, title company, or court clerk rejects your affidavit for a reason traceable to following the kit, we issue a full refund within one business day of hearing the stated rejection reason — see our full refund policy for the details and the standard 7-day no-questions window that also applies.
Is this legal advice?
No. Estate Affidavit Guide is an informational publisher, not a law firm. We are not attorneys and we do not practice law. We do not customize the kit based on your specific situation and we do not tell you whether your estate qualifies. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Not ready to buy yet?

5 short emails over the following weeks — the eligibility math, the bank/DMV/clerk presentation moment, and when to call an attorney instead. Then we stop. No ongoing newsletter, no sales list. Unsubscribe anytime.

Email only — we never ask for estate value, family details, or anything else, and we never sell your address. Privacy policy.

Or explore the map

States in green have a live guide — click one to open it. Gold states are in progress. Gray states don't currently offer this mechanism.

Alabama — view guide Arizona — view guide California — view guide Colorado — view guide Florida — view guide Georgia — view guide Hawaii — view guide Iowa — view guide Indiana — view guide Kansas — view guide Louisiana — view guide Maine — view guide Michigan — view guide Minnesota — view guide Missouri — view guide Mississippi — view guide North Carolina — view guide New Jersey — view guide New Mexico — view guide Ohio — view guide Oklahoma — view guide Pennsylvania — view guide Tennessee — view guide Texas — view guide Virginia — view guide Washington — view guide Wisconsin — view guide

Browse every state guide

Every claim on this site cites a state statute or a recognized source — see our full citation list and editorial process →. Also: About the author → · For professionals →