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Estate Affidavit Guide

Minnesota Decree of Descent

If a bank told you an account is frozen and didn't explain what that actually means, you're not stuck, and you're not the only one this has happened to. A probate attorney would typically charge $1,500–$4,200+ to walk you through exactly what Minnesota law already lets you do yourself. This kit is $37, one-time, and covers the same ground — the eligibility rule, the official form, and what to say if a bank or clerk pushes back.

Minnesota's decree of descent — the Minnesota Judicial Branch's "determination of descent," petition form PRO1402, under Minn. Stat. §§ 525.31-525.313 — lets an heir or devisee ask the district court to assign a decedent's real or personal property when the person has been dead more than three years and nothing was ever probated. There is no dollar cap, no personal representative, and a will that was never probated can be filed with the petition. The court holds a hearing after mailed and published notice and will not enter the decree until a Medical Assistance clearance is on file. This is informational only, written by researchers, not attorneys.

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Why timing matters: Minnesota closes ordinary probate three years after death (Minn. Stat. § 524.3-108) and leaves descent proceedings open — but the delay has a price: ordinary creditor claims are long barred while Medical Assistance claims are not (§ 524.3-803(a)(3)), so the county's Medical Assistance clearance, due within 15 working days of the application, is a step the court cannot skip.

Minnesota's Decree of Descent — no dollar cap

Minnesota's Decree of Descent has no dollar ceiling — eligibility instead turns on the specific conditions Minn. Stat. §§ 525.31-525.313 sets out. There's no total to add up before you know whether it applies. Decree of Descent is filed with the court, not handed directly to a bank or DMV. Minnesota publishes an official fill-in form: The Minnesota Judicial Branch publishes a three-item packet: PRO1401 (21-page instructions, 6/21), PRO1402 (Petition for Determination of Descent, 10 pages, Rev 6/21), and PRO1403 (Affidavit of Service). The court calls the proceeding a "determination of descent"; the statute and most searchers say "decree of descent." The instructions' step 6 refers to the affidavit of mailing as "PRO1402" — that is the petition's own number; the packet lists the affidavit as PRO1403. The court's PDFs refuse automated downloads, so use the forms page in an ordinary browser. .

How to file, step by step

  1. 1

    Confirm the three conditions the court lists

    More than three years have passed since the death; the decedent left real or personal property; and the estate has not already gone through probate in Minnesota or in any other state. The petition states each of these under penalty of perjury.

  2. 2

    Gather the facts the petition asks for

    Birth and death dates and places; the decedent's address and county at death; a diligent search for any will; the names, addresses and relationships of every spouse, child, heir, devisee and other interested person; an estimate of assets and debts; and the original will if there is one.

  3. 3

    Complete the court's PRO1402 and its attachments

    PRO1402 is a 10-page petition. Attachment A lists Minnesota real estate (legal description, assessor value and fair market value) and Attachment B lists personal property. Do not list non-probate property such as joint-tenancy real estate or accounts with beneficiaries. The court's PRO1401 instructions walk through each numbered item. View source →

  4. 4

    Sign under penalty of perjury and, if needed, complete the lost-will statement

    If the original will is not available, the court's instructions call for a Statement of Contents of Lost, Destroyed, or Otherwise Unavailable Will (PRO1206).

  5. 5

    File the petition, the will, and death certificates with the court

    File with the district court in the county where the decedent lived (or, for a nonresident, where Minnesota property sits). The filing fee is due when you file; the court's published base fee for the first paper filed in an estate matter is $310, plus any county law library fee.

  6. 6

    Mail and publish notice of the hearing

    After the court schedules the hearing and issues a Notice and Order for Hearing, mail it to each interested person at least 14 days before the hearing and file an affidavit of service for each (PRO1403). Publish it once a week for two consecutive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county, the second publication at least ten days before the hearing, at your cost, and file the affidavit of publication.

  7. 7

    Notify the Commissioner of Human Services and get the county clearance

    Mail a Notice to Commissioner of Human Services Regarding Possible Claims (PRO905) and a copy of the hearing notice to the Special Recovery Unit/Estate Notice at the address the court's instructions give; file the PRO903 affidavit of service (not the notice). Apply to your county agency for the Medical Assistance clearance certificate (DHS-6165A) and file it with the court. The county has 15 working days to issue it.

  8. 8

    Attend the hearing

    Be ready to discuss the petition, including whether there is a Medical Assistance claim, and bring copies of everything filed in the notice and clearance steps.

  9. 9

    Get the decree and certified copies

    After the hearing, and once the clearance and any claim are in order, the court enters the decree of descent. Order certified copies from court administration (there is a charge for each) for banks, the motor vehicle division, and the county recorder.

What it actually looks like

Sample pages from the kit

Real pages from the Minnesota kit PDF. Click any page to enlarge.

Print-friendly, readable on a phone or tablet, and designed to be taken to the bank or clerk. Every operational claim cites the actual statute or official publication.

How this compares

Yes — Minnesota's own form is free (that's the Free state form column below). The $37 is for everything the free form leaves you to work out alone: the eligibility check, the filing sequence, and what to do when a bank, DMV, or clerk pushes back.

This kit Probate attorney Free state form Doing nothing
Cost $37 $1,500–4,200+ $0 Eventually full probate, if the estate is never settled
Time to filed Same week to prepare; court approval timing varies by county 2–6 weeks If you can decode it alone Not until you act
Bank/DMV/clerk pushback script Yes Sometimes No n/a
Statute citations Yes n/a n/a n/a
Delivery time Instant download After consult + retainer Instant n/a

Attorney costs reflect typical Minnesota probate-attorney retainers for this kind of filing.

The most-searched sticking point

What to do when a bank, DMV, or clerk pushes back

A court-filed process mostly slows or stalls on specific steps — a clearance, complete notice, a complete list of interested persons, an institution's follow-up request — not on a teller's unfamiliarity. The kit's Section 5 gives you what the statute or the court's instructions say about each of these:

  • County Medical Assistance clearance is slow, or shows a claim
  • Court continues or rejects the petition because an interested person or a notice step is missing
  • Bank, motor vehicle division or title company asks for more than the decree

Each one has a specific script and statutory citation behind it — not just "you're right, they're wrong," but exactly what to say and what document to hand over. That's in the kit.

If a bank, DMV, title company, or court clerk rejects your filing for a reason traceable to following this kit, you get a full refund.

Email the stated rejection reason to support@estateaffidavitguide.com within 30 days of purchase and we refund the full purchase price within one business day. No phone tag, no forms, no fight. Not covered: an estate that turns out to be over the dollar limit, a dispute among heirs, or a missing document unrelated to the filing itself. Changed your mind for any other reason? You have 7 days, no questions asked. Full refund policy.

Avoid these

5 common reasons filings get rejected

Three years have not yet passed since death
The statute applies when a person "has been dead for more than three years." The petition itself states that the death was more than three years ago. Within the first three years, ordinary probate is the process; § 524.3-108 closes ordinary probate and testacy proceedings only after year three, and exempts proceedings to determine descent. — Minn. Stat. §§ 525.31, 524.3-108; PRO1402 ¶ 3
A will was probated, or a personal representative was appointed, anywhere
The petition must state that no will has been probated and no proceedings had in Minnesota, and that there is no personal representative appointed in Minnesota or elsewhere whose appointment has not been terminated. The court describes the process as for an estate that has not already gone through probate in Minnesota or in any other state. — Minn. Stat. §§ 525.31, 525.311(3); PRO1402 ¶ 7; PRO1401
The Medical Assistance clearance is not on file, or a claim is unresolved
The court may not enter the decree until the petitioner has filed the county agency's clearance for Medical Assistance claims and any claim has been paid, settled, or otherwise finally disposed of — unless the estate was previously probated in Minnesota and the property was omitted. — Minn. Stat. §§ 525.312, 525.313(a), (i)
Notice, publication or the list of interested persons is incomplete
Notice must be mailed at least 14 days before the hearing and published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a legal newspaper, the last publication at least ten days before the hearing, with proof filed. The petition must list every spouse, child, heir, devisee and other interested person. The court's form warns that omitting interested persons may delay the case. — Minn. Stat. §§ 525.312, 524.1-401; PRO1402 ¶¶ 10, 12
A will exists but was not filed with the petition
If the decedent left a will that has not been probated, the will or an authenticated copy must be filed with the petition and the petition must pray for its probate. The court's instructions call for the original will if available; if not, a statement of the contents of the lost, destroyed, or unavailable will (PRO1206). — Minn. Stat. § 525.311(5); PRO1401 Steps 3 and 5

Before you present the Minnesota Decree of Descent

Most rejected-on-the-first-try filings are a front-line-staff problem, not an eligibility problem. This free one-pager has what to bring and what to say the first time you hand it to a bank, DMV, or clerk — emailed now. We'll also send a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks (why most pushback is unfamiliarity not law, the exact citation to point to, when to call an attorney) — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.

Email only — we never ask for estate value, family details, or account numbers, and never sell your address.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is a decree of descent the same thing as a determination of descent?
Yes, for this process. The statute (Minn. Stat. §§ 525.31-525.313) and most attorneys call the court's order a "decree of descent"; the Minnesota Judicial Branch's forms call the proceeding a "determination of descent" and the petition PRO1402. Do not confuse either with the "decree of descent of omitted property" in § 524.3-413, which is a different remedy for property left out of an earlier probate.
Why does the decedent have to have been dead more than three years?
Because of how Minnesota's time limits are built. Minn. Stat. § 524.3-108 says ordinary probate and testacy proceedings generally cannot be started more than three years after death, but that the limit "do[es] not apply to ... proceedings to determine descent." Section 525.31 supplies the descent proceeding for a person who has been dead more than three years.
What if the person died less than three years ago?
Then this process is not available. Ordinary probate is the path within the first three years; the small estate affidavit covers personal property only, and only for a probate estate of $75,000 or less. Neither this guide nor the affidavit guide covers a house when the death was recent and the estate is not tiny.
Is there a dollar limit?
No. Section 525.31 contains no dollar cap and applies to real or personal property, or any interest in it.
Does it work if the person left a will?
Yes. If the will was never probated, the will (or an authenticated copy) is filed with the petition and the petition asks the court to probate it; the court then assigns the property as the will provides. Without a will, the court assigns it under Minnesota's intestacy rules (Minn. Stat. §§ 525.311(5), 525.312).
What does it cost?
The court's published base fee for the first paper filed in an estate matter is $310, plus any county law library fee. You also pay for newspaper publication (once a week for two consecutive weeks) and per-copy charges for certified copies of the decree. A personal representative is not appointed, so there are no representative fees. No attorney-cost figure was sourced.
Why is a Medical Assistance clearance required?
Minn. Stat. § 524.3-803(a)(3) bars ordinary pre-death creditor claims one year after death but expressly does not bar Medical Assistance claims under § 256B.15. Section 525.313 therefore requires a county-agency clearance before the court may enter the decree. The county has 15 working days to issue it. If it shows a claim, the claim becomes a claim against the property that is the subject of the petition, and the decree cannot enter until it is paid, settled, or otherwise finally disposed of.
Can heirs sell the property before the claim is resolved?
Section 525.313(e) allows an heir, devisee, successor or assign to apply for a partial decree of descent to facilitate a good-faith sale of their interest free and clear of any Medical Assistance claim, with the net sale proceeds substituted for the property, held by the petitioner, used to pay the claim, then distributed under the decree.
Do I need a lawyer?
The court publishes the forms and 21-page instructions for self-represented filers, and the instructions repeatedly say court staff cannot give legal advice and suggest talking to an attorney when facts are unclear. The tradeoff: the petition must list every interested person and eliminate all others under penalty of perjury, notice and publication steps must be exact, and a Medical Assistance claim can add a negotiation. This guide does not tell you which side of that line your estate is on.
What do I do with the decree once I have it?
The court's instructions say certified copies may be needed to present to banks and other financial institutions to close accounts, to transfer title to estate real estate, and to the motor vehicle division to transfer a vehicle. For real estate they add that you may have to take additional steps with the county recorder's office and that court staff cannot answer real estate questions.
Which Minnesota mechanism applies to my situation?
As a rule of thumb: personal property (bank accounts, vehicles, securities) in a probate estate worth $75,000 or less, with at least 30 days since death and no personal representative applied for, points to the Small Estate Affidavit (Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201) — presented directly to the bank or other holder, no court filing. A decedent who has been dead more than three years, with real or personal property and no probate ever held, points instead to the Decree of Descent (Minn. Stat. § 525.31) — a court petition with notice, publication, a hearing and a Medical Assistance clearance, with no dollar cap. The two do not fork on a single fact: one is a dollar-and-asset line, the other a time-and-court line, and an estate can be eligible for both (a long-dead person with a bank account) or neither (a house within three years of death is ordinary probate). This is informational only, not legal advice or a determination of which mechanism applies to your estate.
Does Minnesota call this a 'small estate affidavit' like most other states?
Yes, for the personal-property mechanism — the statute is Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201, "Collection of personal property by affidavit," and searchers also use "affidavit for collection of personal property" and "affidavit of collection." The court-supervised route for an estate dead more than three years is a "decree of descent" in the statute and a "determination of descent" on the court's forms.

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Primary sources

State sources

Every claim here cites the actual statute or an official publication — see them
  • Statute: Minn. Stat. §§ 525.31-525.313 . The primary source behind every requirement, cap, and deadline described above.
  • Official form: Official Decree of Descent form The Minnesota Judicial Branch publishes a three-item packet: PRO1401 (21-page instructions, 6/21), PRO1402 (Petition for Determination of Descent, 10 pages, Rev 6/21), and PRO1403 (Affidavit of Service). The court calls the proceeding a "determination of descent"; the statute and most searchers say "decree of descent." The instructions' step 6 refers to the affidavit of mailing as "PRO1402" — that is the petition's own number; the packet lists the affidavit as PRO1403. The court's PDFs refuse automated downloads, so use the forms page in an ordinary browser.
  • State self-help resource: Minnesota District Court, Probate Division