Small estate affidavit limits by state: dollar limit, waiting period, statute
One row per state: the limit the estate must stay under, how many days after death the affidavit can be used, whether it works with a will, whether it's filed with a court or handed to the bank, and the statute. Click the state for the full procedure and county offices.
| State | Limit | Wait (days) | With a will | Goes to | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $100,000 | 30 | Yes | Holder | A.R.S. §14-3971 |
| California | $208,850 | 40 | Yes | Holder | Cal. Prob. Code §§13100–13116 |
| Colorado | $82,000 | 10 | Yes | Holder | C.R.S. §15-12-1201 |
| Florida | Expenses test | — | Yes | Court | Fla. Stat. §735.301 |
| Illinois | $150,000 | — | Yes | Holder | 755 ILCS 5/25-1 |
| Indiana | $100,000 | 45 | Yes | Holder | Ind. Code §29-1-8-1 |
| Michigan | $30,000 | 28 | Yes | Holder | MCL 700.3983 |
| Missouri | $40,000 | 30 | Yes | Court | RSMo §473.097 |
| New York | $50,000 | — | Yes | Court | N.Y. SCPA §§1301–1312 |
| Texas | $75,000 | 30 | No | Court | Tex. Estates Code §§205.001–205.009 |
| Washington | $100,000 | 40 | Yes | Holder | RCW 11.62 |
States being added
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Each is added with the same fields once its statute and court instructions have been read; the dataset's verified_against_official_page column says which rows have been re-checked line by line.
How to read the limit
Limits are tested against property in the person's sole name that has no beneficiary — not against everything the person owned. Several states adjust the figure for inflation each year (California every three years, Colorado and Michigan annually), so the number in the statute and the number on this year's form can differ; the form wins. Florida has no dollar limit: the test is whether the property exceeds the funeral and last-60-days medical bills.