The $49 county packet: your affidavit completed, with the filing instructions for your county

The court's form is free and always will be. What the packet adds is everything around it that takes a first-timer two weeks to work out: which version your county accepts, how to answer each line from your inventory, where it goes and what it costs there, the four big banks' own affidavits filled in to match, and a dated plan from the waiting period to distribution.

What's in it

• Your state's official small estate affidavit, completed from your answers, ready to sign in front of a notary (and witnesses where the state requires them).
• County instructions: the office, the fee, the local cover sheet or checklist where the county has one, e-filing notes.
• The Bank of America, Chase, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo estate affidavits, pre-filled to match.
• A cover letter for each holder citing the statute and the liability clause.
• A dated plan: waiting period end, signing, filing or presentation, collection, debts, distribution.
• The inventory worksheet that proves the estate is under the limit — the document banks most often ask for and nobody prepares.

What it isn't

Legal advice, or a substitute for probate when the estate needs it. The checker on every page says which; if the estate doesn't qualify, the packet isn't offered and the attorney option is.

Reserve it

Reservations are free. You're charged $49 when your county's packet is ready and you choose to receive it. Start with the six questions — the reserve button appears when the estate qualifies.