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Small Estates Affidavit. "Transfer of certain personal pro…Verified against the statute July 29, 2026

Kansas Small Estate Affidavit

Kansas lets the next of kin collect a deceased person’s property without opening probate when the estate is worth $75,000 or less. Here is exactly how it works, and how to use it.

Check if you qualifyHow to use it

Kansas at a glance

Estate value limit
$75,000
Gross value
Wait after death
None
The affidavit can be used immediately
File with a court?
No
Present it directly to the bank or agency
Covers real property?
No
Real property needs the court
Notary required?
Yes
Sign in front of a notary
Who can sign
A "successor," defined by K
Per the statute

Is your estate under the $75,000 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.

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The $75,000 limit, and what actually counts

Gross value of "the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate". K.S.A. 59-1507b(a). Only probate assets count; non-probate assets (joint tenancy with right of survivorship, POD/TOD accounts, beneficiary-designated life insurance and retirement accounts, trust assets, TOD real estate deeds under K.S.A. 59-3501) are excluded from the computation. Note the affidavit itself reaches only personal property, but the statutory $75,000 test is measured against the whole probate estate, so probate-subject real property counts toward the cap and can disqualify an estate that otherwise holds little personal property. Statute is silent on whether liens/encumbrances are deducted. Not net of debts by its terms.

What doesn't count toward the limit

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

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

Who can sign the affidavit

A "successor," defined by K.S.A. 59-1507b(c) (added by L. 2024, ch. 35, § 2) as a person: (1) entitled to the property by will or by intestate succession; or (2) nominated as a personal representative under the decedent's will. As amended in 2024, subsection (a) permits transfer to "a person claiming to be a successor," or in a manner as directed by the successor. The Judicial Council form adds that the affiant must swear he or she "has the right to succeed to the personal property of the decedent," is over 18 years of age, and is legally competent in all respects. Multiple successors may sign; the form provides for the affiant either to request apportionment among the beneficiaries/heirs or to agree to receive and then distribute the property among them.

Either. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) applies 'whether testate or intestate' on its face, and the Judicial Council form has check boxes for testate (with a will) and intestate (without a will). The will need not be admitted to probate, and no letters testamentary are required. However: (1) KDOR Form TR-83b instructs in bold that the affiant must 'Attach a copy of the decedent's will' to the affidavit where the decedent died testate; institutions commonly ask for the same with the Judicial Council form so they can verify the affiant is a beneficiary. (2) K.S.A. 59-618a independently obliges any person having custody of a will to file it with the district court, and provides that a will (or copy) filed within six months after the testator's death may be admitted to probate after that six-month period, the corollary being that a will not filed within six months faces a serious bar to later probate. Effective July 1, 2023, the 59-618a affidavit must state whether the filer is submitting the original will or a copy. So a testate Kansas family using the 59-1507b affidavit should still file the will with the district court within six months to protect the record, even though filing is not a precondition of the affidavit itself.

The affidavit must be signed in front of a notary. Most banks and UPS Stores have a notary; many charge under $15.

Can it transfer a house or land in Kansas?

Real property cannot pass under K.S.A. 59-1507b. The statute reaches only 'personal property of whatever nature.' There is no Kansas companion small-value real-property affidavit, no Kansas analogue to Cal. Prob. Code 13200. Kansas Legal Services states flatly that land and homes cannot be transferred this way even if of very low value, because of title-marketability problems. The Kansas route for real property with no administration is a court proceeding: petition for determination of descent, K.S.A. 59-2250 / 59-2251. It is available only when (a) the decedent has been dead more than six months; (b) no will has been filed under K.S.A. 59-618a within six months after death; (c) no petition for probate of a will has been filed in Kansas; and (d) no petition for administration has been filed and no administration has been had without a determination of descent. Venue is the district court of the decedent's county of residence or any county where the property is situated. There is no dollar cap on a determination of descent. Under 59-2251 the court fixes a hearing (notice under K.S.A. 59-2209 where title to real estate is being assigned; otherwise K.S.A. 59-2208 or waiver) and, upon proof, enters a decree of descent assigning the property to the persons entitled at the time of death under the intestate succession law in effect on the date of death or under a valid settlement agreement. The decree is what title examiners want; the certified decree is recorded with the register of deeds. Case annotation to 59-2251 (Snedeger v. Schrader): a descent decree 'does not create title; merely declares who acquired decedent's title.' Second real-property route: K.S.A. 59-2287 refusal to grant letters, where the real and personal estate does not exceed $75,000 and the estate is not subject to (or the parties waive) K.S.A. 59-403 allowances; an heir, devisee, legatee, creditor or other interested person petitions and posts bond of at least the value of the estate, conditioned on paying debts in order of preference and distributing the balance. That section expressly provides that real estate sold in accordance with it 'shall be deemed to have marketable title as ordered by the court, and no creditor, heir or other person shall be deemed to have an interest after passage of six months following the date of death.' Its $75,000 cap was also set by L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 11. Third route, planning-side only: a transfer-on-death real estate deed executed and recorded during life under K.S.A. 59-3501 et seq. bypasses all of the above.

How to use a small estate affidavit in Kansas

  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 $75,000 ceiling. Gross value of "the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate". K.S.A. 59-1507b(a). Only probate assets count; non-probate assets (joint tenancy with right of survivorship, POD/TOD accounts, beneficiary-designated life insurance and retirement accounts, trust assets, TOD real estate deeds under K.S.A. 59-3501) are excluded from the computation. Note the affidavit itself reaches only personal property, but the statutory $75,000 test is measured against the whole probate estate, so probate-subject real property counts toward the cap and can disqualify an estate that otherwise holds little personal property. Statute is silent on whether liens/encumbrances are deducted. Not net of debts by its terms.

  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 Small Estates Affidavit. "Transfer of certain personal property to successor; discharge and release; affidavit," K.S.A. 59-1507b (Kansas Judicial Council form: "Small Estates Affidavit. Transferring Certain Personal Property in Estates Under $75,000 Pursuant to K.S.A. 59-1507b"), listing the decedent, the heirs and their relationships, the assets and their values, and the known debts.

  4. 4

    Sign it in front of a notary

    Sign in front of a notary public. Banks, credit unions and shipping stores all offer notarization, usually for a small fee.

  5. 5

    Present it to whoever holds the property

    K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) is mandatory as to the holder: personal property transferable to the decedent's estate 'Shall be transferred to a person claiming to be a successor of the decedent, or in a manner as directed by the successor,' upon being furnished a conforming affidavit. The holder is not given discretion to insist on letters. The 2024 amendment (SB 379, L. 2024, ch. 35, sec. 2) strengthened this in two ways that matter operationally: the holder need only be furnished an affidavit from 'a person claiming to be a successor', the institution is not made the judge of whether the claim is ultimately correct, and the property may be paid 'in a manner as directed by the successor,' which lets the successor direct payment to a third party or split payment among heirs without the institution second-guessing the routing. Safe harbor, K.S.A. 59-1507b(b): 'Transfer of such personal property to the successor or successors shall be deemed to be a transfer to the personal representative of the decedent, and the receipt of the successor or successors shall constitute a full discharge and release from any further claim for such transfer to the same extent as if the transfer had been made to an executor or administrator of the decedent's estate.' That is a complete discharge: the bank, employer, insurer or county treasurer that pays on a facially conforming affidavit is protected exactly as if it had paid a court-appointed executor, and any dispute among heirs shifts to the affiant. Sufficiency standard: 'The affidavit required herein shall be deemed sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council': substantial, not literal, compliance, so an institution should not reject a Judicial Council-modeled affidavit over cosmetic deviations, and conversely an institution's proprietary in-house affidavit is acceptable if it captures the same substance. There is no statutory requirement that the institution wait any period, and none that it verify heirship independently. Practical friction to warn consumers about: large national banks and brokerages routinely apply internal estate-settlement policies that exceed the statute (demanding letters testamentary above internal dollar thresholds, imposing waiting periods, or requiring their own forms); the statutory answer is to point the institution to 59-1507b(a) and (b), but there is no statutory penalty or fee-shifting provision to compel a recalcitrant holder short of suit.

Where to take the signed affidavit

The bank

K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) is mandatory as to the holder: personal property transferable to the decedent's estate 'Shall be transferred to a person claiming to be a successor of the decedent, or in a manner as directed by the successor,' upon being furnished a conforming affidavit. The holder is not given discretion to insist on letters. The 2024 amendment (SB 379, L. 2024, ch. 35, sec. 2) strengthened this in two ways that matter operationally: the holder need only be furnished an affidavit from 'a person claiming to be a successor', the institution is not made the judge of whether the claim is ultimately correct, and the property may be paid 'in a manner as directed by the successor,' which lets the successor direct payment to a third party or split payment among heirs without the institution second-guessing the routing. Safe harbor, K.S.A. 59-1507b(b): 'Transfer of such personal property to the successor or successors shall be deemed to be a transfer to the personal representative of the decedent, and the receipt of the successor or successors shall constitute a full discharge and release from any further claim for such transfer to the same extent as if the transfer had been made to an executor or administrator of the decedent's estate.' That is a complete discharge: the bank, employer, insurer or county treasurer that pays on a facially conforming affidavit is protected exactly as if it had paid a court-appointed executor, and any dispute among heirs shifts to the affiant. Sufficiency standard: 'The affidavit required herein shall be deemed sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council': substantial, not literal, compliance, so an institution should not reject a Judicial Council-modeled affidavit over cosmetic deviations, and conversely an institution's proprietary in-house affidavit is acceptable if it captures the same substance. There is no statutory requirement that the institution wait any period, and none that it verify heirship independently. Practical friction to warn consumers about: large national banks and brokerages routinely apply internal estate-settlement policies that exceed the statute (demanding letters testamentary above internal dollar thresholds, imposing waiting periods, or requiring their own forms); the statutory answer is to point the institution to 59-1507b(a) and (b), but there is no statutory penalty or fee-shifting provision to compel a recalcitrant holder short of suit.

The DMV

Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles, filed with the local county treasurer's motor vehicle office, not with KDOR directly and not with any court. Two alternative forms: (a) Form TR-83b, 'Claim of Heir and/or Beneficiary Affidavit,' current revision TR-83b www (Revised 09/23), captioned '(Estate of No More than $75,000)': the $75,000 caption tracks the 2023 increase, so the threshold is the same $75,000 as K.S.A. 59-1507b, not a separate limit; and (b) Form TR-83a, 'Decedent's Affidavit,' the alternative decedent's-title route. Authority: K.S.A. 8-135. TR-83b paragraphs mirror the Judicial Council affidavit almost word for word (death date, testate/intestate, estate not exceeding $75,000, certified death certificate attached, no executor/administrator petition pending or granted, all unpaid debts and estate/inheritance taxes paid or to be paid, heir/beneficiary table, vehicle VIN and odometer certification, affiant's sole and exclusive right to succeed, over 18 and competent), directs that a copy of the decedent's will be attached where testate, and provides a separate 'Claim of Heir Affidavit' if there are more vehicles than the three VIN blocks allow. Submit with Form TR-128 (Lienholder Consent to Transfer Ownership) where a lien exists, plus a copy of the current registration or verification of ownership; if the lien is paid, use the assignment portion of TR-128 and attach the lien release. Title fee plus any other applicable fees and taxes apply. Trustees instead use Form TR-81 (Certificate of Trust). Executors and administrators may apply for an original title through the same process. Important practice note: the Judicial Council 59-1507b affidavit is expressly accepted in place of TR-83b, so a single properly completed KSJC affidavit listing the vehicles can serve both the bank and the county treasurer. Caution on the TR-83b criminal warning: it cites K.S.A. 21-3711 and 21-3710, which were repealed in the 2011 Kansas criminal code recodification and are now K.S.A. 21-5824 (making false information) and K.S.A. 21-5823 (forgery), the form text is stale on the citation but the conduct remains a severity level 8 nonperson felony.

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

K.S.A. 59-1507b imposes no creditor-notice, publication, or claims-bar procedure: there is no notice to creditors, no 30-day or four-month claims window, and no bond. The debt obligation is carried entirely by the sworn statement in paragraph 3 of the Judicial Council form and TR-83b: the affiant swears that 'all unpaid debts, claims or demands against the decedent or the decedent's estate and all estate and inheritance taxes due, if any, on the property transfers involved have been or will be paid.' The words 'or will be paid' make this a forward-looking undertaking, not merely a representation of present fact, the affiant is personally assuming responsibility to see the decedent's debts satisfied out of the collected assets. Kansas has no state estate or inheritance tax currently, but the form's language still covers federal estate tax and any other applicable death taxes. Affiant exposure is threefold: (1) criminal, the TR-83b warning states that falsifying information on a required document is a severity level 8 nonperson felony (now K.S.A. 21-5824), as is forgery (now K.S.A. 21-5823); (2) civil: an omitted or shorted heir or an unpaid creditor can pursue the affiant directly, and can petition for administration or a determination of descent, since nothing in 59-1507b bars later probate; (3) restitution, because 59-1507b(b) makes the transfer 'deemed to be a transfer to the personal representative of the decedent,' the collecting successor is treated as holding in a representative capacity and can be required to account for and turn over what was collected. There is no statutory safe harbor for the affiant (the safe harbor in subsection (b) protects the paying institution, not the collector). Note also that K.S.A. 59-2287, the court-based alternative, does require a bond of not less than the value of the estate conditioned on paying debts in order of preference, a useful contrast when a family has known creditors and wants finality.

When you can’t use it

Kansas takes the affidavit route off the table when:

  • Total probate estate exceeds $75,000 in value (K.S.A. 59-1507b(a))
  • Decedent was not a resident of Kansas, the statute opens "When a resident of the state dies"; no nonresident analogue appears in 59-1507b
  • A petition for appointment of an executor or administrator of the decedent's estate is pending or has been granted (Judicial Council form ¶ 2 / TR-83b ¶ 2)
  • The asset sought is real property. 59-1507b reaches only "personal property of whatever nature"; land and homes cannot be transferred by this affidavit regardless of value
  • Unpaid debts, claims or demands against the decedent or the estate, or estate/inheritance taxes on the transfers, that have not been and will not be paid (form ¶ 3)
  • Affiant is not a successor as defined in 59-1507b(c), is under 18, or is not legally competent
  • No certified copy of the death certificate available to attach (required by the Judicial Council form ¶ 1)
  • Disputed heirship, a contested or missing will, or unknown/minor heirs, practically forces formal administration or a K.S.A. 59-2250 determination of descent, since no court adjudicates the affidavit

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.

Kansas small estate affidavit FAQ

Statute and sources

Last verified July 29, 2026. (1) 2023 HB 2130, L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 7, raised the K.S.A. 59-1507b small estates affidavit threshold from $40,000 to $75,000. Effective July 1, 2023. The same act, at sec. 11, raised the K.S.A. 59-2287 refusal-of-letters ceiling to $75,000, and at sec. 6 amended K.S.A. 59-618a to require the filer to state whether the original will or a copy is being filed, both also effective July 1, 2023. (2) 2024 SB 379, L. 2024, ch. 35, sec. 2, amended K.S.A. 59-1507b to permit transfer to 'a person claiming to be a successor' (rather than to a 'successor' as an established fact) and 'in a manner as directed by the successor,' and added new subsection (c) defining 'successor' as a person entitled to the property by will or by intestate succession, or nominated as a personal representative under the decedent's will. Approved April 12, 2024; effective on publication in the statute book, July 1, 2024. The same act made other Kansas Probate Code changes, including extending the creditor notice period from 10 to 30 days after filing a petition for administration or probate of a will. The dollar threshold was not changed in 2024 and remains $75,000. (3) Forms refreshed to match: Kansas Judicial Council Small Estates Affidavit revised 12/2023; KDOR Form TR-83b revised 09/23, now captioned 'Estate of No More than $75,000.' (4) NO 2025 or 2026 amendment to K.S.A. 59-1507b was found: the statutory history line at the Office of Revisor of Statutes, checked July 2026, terminates at L. 2024, ch. 35, sec. 2. As of 2026-07-29 the operative figure is $75,000.

  • K.S.A. 59-1507b (small estates affidavit; $75,000; personal property only)
  • K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) (threshold, resident decedent, testate or intestate, no letters required)
  • K.S.A. 59-1507b(b) (transfer deemed made to personal representative; receipt is full discharge and release; affidavit sufficient if in substantial compliance with Judicial Council form)
  • K.S.A. 59-1507b(c) (definition of "successor")
  • L. 2023, ch. 77, § 7 (HB 2130) (raised 59-1507b from $40,000 to $75,000, eff. July 1, 2023)
  • L. 2024, ch. 35, § 2 (SB 379) (added successor definition; "person claiming to be a successor"; eff. July 1, 2024)
  • K.S.A. 59-1507a (separate procedure: SSA/VA/retirement/annuity benefits up to $10,000, 180 days after death)
  • K.S.A. 59-2250 (proceedings to determine descent; more than six months after death)
  • K.S.A. 59-2251 (decree of descent)
  • K.S.A. 59-2287 (refusal to grant letters of administration; $75,000 real and personal estate)
  • K.S.A. 59-618a (filing of will within six months of death)
  • K.S.A. 8-135 (motor vehicle title transfer; KDOR Forms TR-83a / TR-83b)
  • K.S.A. 59-3201 et seq. (Simplified Estates Act)
  • K.S.A. 59-3501 et seq. (transfer-on-death deed for real estate)

What we're less sure about

  • No waiting period exists in K.S.A. 59-1507b, which is unusual enough that users and even bank staff may assume a 30-day rule applies. Verified against the full statutory text; still, individual institutions impose their own holds as a matter of internal policy, so product copy should distinguish legal requirement from institutional practice.
  • The statute says 'total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate' without specifying gross versus net of liens or encumbrances. No Kansas case interpreting the phrase was located in this research. Conservative guidance is to use gross probate value.
  • K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) opens 'When a resident of the state dies' and no nonresident provision was found. Whether a Kansas bank must honor the affidavit for a non-Kansas decedent with a Kansas account is unresolved on the text; the safest reading is that the device is limited to Kansas-resident decedents.
  • The Judicial Council form carries a full notarial jurat; the KDOR TR-83b (Rev. 09/23) recites 'first being duly sworn' but its signature block as published shows only Signature(s), Hand Printed Name and Date with no visible notary acknowledgment block. Whether a given county treasurer requires notarization of TR-83b may vary. Recommend always notarizing.
  • Kansas Legal Services still publishes a stale $40,000 figure for the vehicle 'Claim of Heir or Beneficiary Affidavit'; the current TR-83b form itself states $75,000. Do not source the threshold from the legal-aid page.
  • TR-83b's criminal warning cites K.S.A. 21-3711 and 21-3710, repealed in the 2011 criminal code recodification (now K.S.A. 21-5824 and 21-5823). Cite the current sections in any consumer-facing warning.
  • Commercial 'Kansas Affidavit of Heirship' products and the assertions attached to them (two disinterested witnesses; recording attaches title; ten years of record ripens marketable title) have no Kansas statutory basis located in this research and appear to be imported Texas/Oklahoma practice. Local title-company practice may nonetheless vary by county and by underwriter; a Kansas real estate attorney or title examiner should be consulted before any representation that heirs can convey without a decree of descent.
  • District court filing fees for a K.S.A. 59-2250 determination of descent were not verified to a current published schedule in this research; confirm with the clerk of the district court in the venue county before quoting a figure.
  • No Kansas appellate authority was located addressing an institution's refusal to honor a conforming 59-1507b affidavit, so the practical remedy against a recalcitrant bank is unclear beyond ordinary suit.

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