Small estate affidavit limits by state
Updated Oct 10, 2026
Short answer
Heirs can often collect a small estate without full probate, up to a dollar limit in state law. In the site data checked on October 10, 2026, Wyoming is highest at $400,000 and Rhode Island is lowest at $15,000. $50,000 is the most common cap (12 states). $100,000 is next (10 states). Florida's small estate affidavit is $20,000 for an intestate estate of personal property (Fla. Stat. 735.304). This is general information, not legal advice.
Court fees for a larger estate are on the probate cost calculator.
How to read the limit
The dollar is the one limit stored for that state. The state page says whether it counts personal property only, or the whole probate estate less liens. Yes means that procedure can cover real estate. No means it cannot. Not confirmed means the file does not say.
California shows why one number is not the whole rule. The personal-property affidavit is $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and it does not transfer real estate. A separate affidavit for real property of small value is $69,625 for those deaths.
Waiting days count from the death. 0 means the file records no wait (Hawaii and Kansas). Not recorded means that field is empty.
Florida's $20,000 affidavit
Fla. Stat. 735.304 is Florida's small estate affidavit. It applies when the person died without a will and left only personal property. Nonexempt personal property can be up to $20,000, plus preferred funeral expenses and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last 60 days of the last illness. The person must have been dead for more than 1 year, and no administration may be pending. An heir asks by affidavit. The table row is that $20,000, and it does not cover real estate. The statute history is section 10 of chapter 2026-57, which raised the cap from $10,000. The act took effect July 1, 2026. The table's wait cell is empty.
Fla. Stat. 735.301 is a separate path with no dollar cap. It applies when the decedent left exempt personal property, plus nonexempt personal property worth no more than those funeral and medical costs.
Summary administration is the next step up. It is available when the Florida estate subject to administration, less property exempt from creditor claims, does not exceed $150,000, or when the person has been dead for more than 2 years (Fla. Stat. 735.201). Chapter 2026-57 replaced $75,000 with $150,000. That change took effect July 1, 2026.
The site marks an estate as under the small estate limit only when a dollar limit is stored and the value is at or under it. For $60,000 of personal property and no real estate, that test passes in Wyoming (limit $400,000, wait 30 days) and in California (limit $208,850, wait 40 days). It fails in Rhode Island: the cap is $15,000, personal property only, after 30 days. It fails in Florida because $60,000 is over the $20,000 affidavit limit.
States with no fixed dollar limit
Georgia has no dollar cap on a petition for an order declaring that no administration is necessary. The statewide form (GPCSF 9, effective July 2021) is for a person who died without a will, and the order can cover real property. Georgia has no probate cost page on this site yet.
New Hampshire and Vermont have no confirmed affidavit dollar amount in the file. That is a gap in the research, so the table says Not confirmed. Neither state has a probate cost page yet.
Caps that changed
Wyoming raised its affidavit cap from $200,000 to $400,000 effective July 1, 2025 (W.S. 2-1-201). The affidavit moves personal property. It is available no earlier than 30 days after death, and the whole Wyoming estate, less liens and encumbrances, must be at or under $400,000.
California's $208,850 figure is for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. Deaths on or after April 1, 2022, and before April 1, 2025, use $184,500. The next scheduled adjustment is April 1, 2028.
The limits, highest first
Forty-seven states and DC have a dollar limit below. A name with no link has no probate cost page. No fixed limit means the recorded procedure has no dollar cap.
| State | Limit | Real estate | Wait (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | $400,000 | No | 30 |
| California | $208,850 | No | 40 |
| Arizona | $200,000 | No | 30 |
| Louisiana | $200,000 | Yes | Not recorded |
| Illinois | $150,000 | No | Not recorded |
| Arkansas | $100,000 | Yes | 45 |
| Hawaii | $100,000 | No | 0 |
| Idaho | $100,000 | No | 30 |
| Indiana | $100,000 | No | 45 |
| Montana | $100,000 | No | 30 |
| Nebraska | $100,000 | Yes | 30 |
| North Dakota | $100,000 | No | 30 |
| South Dakota | $100,000 | No | 30 |
| Utah | $100,000 | No | 30 |
| Washington | $100,000 | No | 40 |
| Colorado | $88,000 | No | 10 |
| District of Columbia | $80,000 | Not confirmed | Not recorded |
| Kansas | $75,000 | No | 0 |
| Minnesota | $75,000 | No | 30 |
| Mississippi | $75,000 | No | 30 |
| Oregon | $75,000 | Yes | 30 |
| Texas | $75,000 | Yes | 30 |
| Virginia | $75,000 | No | 60 |
| Michigan | $53,000 | No | 28 |
| Maine | $52,500 | No | 30 |
| Alaska | $50,000 | No | 30 |
| Delaware | $50,000 | No | 30 |
| Iowa | $50,000 | No | 40 |
| Maryland | $50,000 | Yes | Not recorded |
| New Jersey | $50,000 | Not confirmed | Not recorded |
| New Mexico | $50,000 | No | 30 |
| New York | $50,000 | No | Not recorded |
| Oklahoma | $50,000 | No | 10 |
| Pennsylvania | $50,000 | No | Not recorded |
| Tennessee | $50,000 | No | 45 |
| West Virginia | $50,000 | No | 30 |
| Wisconsin | $50,000 | Yes | Not recorded |
| Alabama | $47,000 | No | Not recorded |
| South Carolina | $45,000 | No | 30 |
| Connecticut | $40,000 | No | Not recorded |
| Missouri | $40,000 | Yes | 30 |
| Ohio | $35,000 | Yes | Not recorded |
| Kentucky | $30,000 | No | Not recorded |
| Massachusetts | $25,000 | No | 30 |
| Nevada | $25,000 | No | 40 |
| Florida | $20,000 | No | Not recorded |
| North Carolina | $20,000 | No | 30 |
| Rhode Island | $15,000 | No | 30 |
| Georgia | No fixed limit | Yes | Not recorded |
| New Hampshire | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not recorded |
| Vermont | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not recorded |
What to check before you file
- The cap often leaves out liens, a homestead, or an account that already names a beneficiary.
- A house can force a different procedure even when the cash is under the limit. Read the real estate column, then the state page.
- For the court fee above the limit, use the probate cost calculator.
Sources
- www.wyoleg.gov/2025/Enroll/SF0104.pdf
- courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/probate-code-890-adjusted-amounts.pdf
- www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/735.304
- www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/735.301
- www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/735.201
- laws.flrules.org/2026/57
- web.archive.org/web/20260809132814/https://webserver.rilegislature.gov//Statutes/TITLE33/33-24/33-24-1.HTM
- rockdalecoprobatecourt.gov/uploads/files/57/petition-for-order-declaring-no-administration-necessary-form-9.pdf
General information from official sources, not legal or tax advice.