How we verify state law

The process

1. We read the statute, not a summary

For each state we locate the actual code section, on the state legislature’s own site wherever one exists, and read the operative text. Law-firm blog posts and form-download sites are not acceptable sources for a dollar figure or a waiting period. They are frequently years out of date, and they copy each other.

2. A second pass tries to prove the first one wrong

Every state’s findings then go to an independent check whose explicit job is to refutethem. That check re-derives the threshold and the waiting period from primary sources without relying on the first pass’s citations, and specifically tests four things that are the usual failure modes:

• Does the cited section actually exist and say this? A plausible-looking but wrong citation is the single most common error in legal content.
• Is this the current figure? Several states amended their thresholds between 2023 and 2026, and a number index them to inflation and republish annually.
• Gross or net, and net of what? A correct number with the wrong basis is a wrong answer. Whether liens, homestead, exempt property or non-probate assets come out of the calculation changes who qualifies.
• Is the real-property claim precise? Conflating the personal-property affidavit with a separate small-value real-property procedure is endemic in free content.

3. Disagreements are resolved before publication

Where the two passes disagree, or where the checking pass could not reach primary text, the state does not go live with a confident number. It either stays unpublished or publishes with the uncertainty stated openly on the page.

4. Every page carries its date and its sources

Each state page shows the date we last verified it, lists the statute sections it relies on, and links out to the sources. If a figure on our site disagrees with what a court clerk tells you, the clerk is right and we want to hear about it, support@getkinclaim.com.

What this process does not do

We want to be straight about the limits, because overclaiming here would be its own kind of harm.

• It is not legal advice. We publish what the statute says. We do not assess how it applies to your particular facts, and we cannot. Two families with identical account balances can have genuinely different answers.
• It is not continuous. Verification happens on a cycle, not the moment a legislature acts. A state that amends its threshold in the weeks after we check will be briefly out of date, which is why the date is on every page and why we tell you to confirm before you sign.
• It does not cover local practice. Statutes are statewide; counties differ in what their register of wills or probate clerk asks for in practice. Where we know of a local requirement we say so, but we cannot know every county.
• It does not extend to case law. We read statutes. Where a court has interpreted a provision in a way that changes its practical effect, a statute-only reading can miss it.

If you find an error

Tell us and we will fix it, publicly and quickly. Send the state, the page, and if you have it the source that contradicts us, to support@getkinclaim.com. We would much rather correct a figure than defend one.

See also our legal disclaimer, our terms of service, and the state rules index.