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Affidavit for Collection or Transfer of Personal Property …Verified against the statute July 29, 2026

California Small Estate Affidavit

California lets the next of kin collect a deceased person’s property without opening probate when the estate is worth $208,850 or less and 40 days have passed since the death. Here is exactly how it works, and how to use it.

Check if you qualifyHow to use it

California at a glance

Estate value limit
$208,850
Gross value, adjusted periodically
Wait after death
40 days
Before the affidavit can be presented
File with a court?
No
Present it directly to the bank or agency
Covers real property?
No
Real property needs the court
Notary required?
No
No notarization required
Who can sign
The "successor of the decedent" as defined in…
Per the statute

Is your estate under the $208,850 limit?

Enter a rough total of what they owned in their own name alone. Leave out jointly-held accounts and anything with a named beneficiary. Those don’t count.

Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere.

The $208,850 limit, and what actually counts

Gross fair market value of all of the decedent's real and personal property located in California, measured at date of death, without deducting liens, encumbrances or debts, but excluding the categories in Prob. Code § 13050 (joint tenancy property; life estates and other interests terminating at death; community/quasi-community property passing to a surviving spouse under § 13500; property in a revocable living trust; POD/TOD and multiple-party account sums passing to survivors or named beneficiaries; registered/titled vehicles, vessels, manufactured/mobile homes, commercial coaches, truck campers and floating homes; unpaid Armed Forces compensation; and up to $20,875 of unpaid salary/compensation including unused vacation). Note the cap counts real property toward the total even though the affidavit itself cannot transfer real property.

This figure is adjusted periodically rather than fixed in the statute, so always check the current amount before you sign. The figure above is the one in force as of July 29, 2026.

What doesn't count toward the limit

This is where most people wrongly rule themselves out. In California, these are left out of the calculation:

  • Jointly-held property with right of survivorship
  • Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts
  • Property already held in a trust
  • Liens and encumbrances on estate property
  • Vehicles, where separately excluded
  • Real property

The 40-day waiting period

Counted in calendar days from the date of death.

Who can sign the affidavit

The "successor of the decedent" as defined in Prob. Code § 13006, i.e., if the decedent left a will, the beneficiary who succeeded to the particular item of property under that will; if intestate, the heir(s) entitled under Prob. Code §§ 6401–6402. Under § 13051 the affidavit may instead be executed by the guardian or conservator of the estate of a successor, the trustee of a trust to which the property passes, a custodian under the UTMA, or the personal representative of a deceased successor's estate. If more than one person succeeds to the property, all such successors must join in and sign the affidavit (§ 13101(b) requires the statements be modified accordingly); a single heir cannot collect on behalf of co-heirs without their signatures. Each signer must declare under penalty of perjury that no other person has a superior right to the interest claimed.

Check whether your state requires the will to be filed with the court before the affidavit is used.

Can it transfer a house or land in California?

Real property does not pass under this affidavit.

How to use a small estate affidavit in California

  1. 1

    Confirm you're under the limit and past the wait

    Add up the property that passes through the estate and check it against the $208,850 ceiling. Gross fair market value of all of the decedent's real and personal property located in California, measured at date of death, without deducting liens, encumbrances or debts, but excluding the categories in Prob. Code § 13050 (joint tenancy property; life estates and other interests terminating at death; community/quasi-community property passing to a surviving spouse under § 13500; property in a revocable living trust; POD/TOD and multiple-party account sums passing to survivors or named beneficiaries; registered/titled vehicles, vessels, manufactured/mobile homes, commercial coaches, truck campers and floating homes; unpaid Armed Forces compensation; and up to $20,875 of unpaid salary/compensation including unused vacation). Note the cap counts real property toward the total even though the affidavit itself cannot transfer real property.

  2. 2

    Gather the documents

    You'll need certified copies of the death certificate: order at least three, since institutions often keep one: plus account numbers, the vehicle title or VIN, and the names and addresses of every heir.

  3. 3

    Complete the affidavit

    Fill in Affidavit for Collection or Transfer of Personal Property ("Small Estate Affidavit"), Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13100–13116, listing the decedent, the heirs and their relationships, the assets and their values, and the known debts.

  4. 4

    Present it to whoever holds the property

    Present the signed, notarized affidavit with a certified death certificate and your photo ID. The statute requires the holder to release the property and protects them for doing so.

Where to take the signed affidavit

The bank

Present the signed, notarized affidavit with a certified death certificate and your photo ID. The statute requires the holder to release the property and protects them for doing so.

The DMV

Ask your state's motor vehicle agency which affidavit it uses to transfer a title after death, most publish a dedicated form.

The employer

Final wages and accrued leave can usually be claimed with the same affidavit. Ask their payroll department what they need, most have a standard process.

Debts and your personal liability

In most states, collecting property under a small estate affidavit makes you responsible for applying it to the decedent's debts in the order the statute sets out before distributing anything to heirs.

When you can’t use it

California takes the affidavit route off the table when:

  • Gross value of the decedent's California real and personal property (after § 13050 exclusions) exceeds $208,850 for deaths on/after April 1, 2025 (or $184,500 / $166,250 for earlier death-date tiers), the cap is keyed to date of death, not the date the affidavit is signed
  • Fewer than 40 days have elapsed since the date of death (§ 13100(a))
  • A probate proceeding for the decedent's estate is pending or has been conducted in California, unless the appointed personal representative gives written consent and a copy of the Letters is attached (§ 13101(a)(4))
  • The asset sought is real property. § 13115 flatly bars this chapter for realty; a different instrument is required
  • Another person has a right to the interest superior to the affiant's (§ 13101(a)(9))
  • Not all persons who succeeded to the property have signed the affidavit
  • Assets excluded by § 13050 (vehicles/vessels, trust assets, joint tenancy, POD/TOD accounts, spousal community property) cannot be collected via this affidavit, each has its own separate track
  • The affiant is a creditor, funeral home, or other non-successor, only a § 13006 successor (or § 13051 fiduciary) may use it

If any of those apply, a probate attorney is the right call. A typical small-estate proceeding runs $1,000–$3,000 plus the court’s fee.

California small estate affidavit FAQ

Statute and sources

Last verified July 29, 2026. No amendments identified in the last three years.

  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13100 (affidavit procedure; 40 days; gross value cap)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13101 (required contents; declaration under penalty of perjury)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13050 (property excluded from gross-value computation)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13051 (who may act for a successor)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13006 (definition of "successor of the decedent")
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13105 (holder's duty to pay/deliver/transfer; attorney's fees for unreasonable refusal)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13106 (discharge/safe harbor; no duty to inquire)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13109 (transferee personal liability for decedent's unsecured debts)
  • Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13110–13111 (liability to other successors; restitution if administration later opened)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13115 (chapter may not be used to obtain real property)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 890 (triennial CPI adjustment of Division 8 dollar amounts; Judicial Council publication)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 13200 (affidavit re real property of small value)
  • Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13150–13154 (petition to determine succession to real property)
  • Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13600–13601 (affidavit for decedent's unpaid salary/wages)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 11700 (petition to determine persons entitled to distribution, within open administration)
  • Cal. Prob. Code § 8200 (custodian's duty to lodge will within 30 days)
  • Cal. Veh. Code §§ 5910, 9916 (vehicle/vessel transfer without probate)
  • Stats. 2024, ch. 331 (AB 2016)

Kinclaim is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. We provide self-help software and statutory forms.