California Small Estate Affidavit PDF: $208,850 Cap and Filing

The California small estate affidavit lets an heir collect a deceased person’s personal property — bank accounts, brokerage holdings, unpaid wages, and similar assets — without opening probate, provided the estate is worth $208,850 or less and at least 40 days have passed since the date of death.¹² The $208,850 cap applies to deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and adjusts every three years. There is no court filing for personal property: you sign a sworn declaration, attach a certified death certificate, and hand it to whoever is holding the assets. In exchange, you take on personal liability for the decedent’s unpaid debts up to the value of what you collect.

Who Can Use It

Three conditions must all be met before you can present the affidavit:

The gross value of the decedent’s California real and personal property (after the exclusions listed below) is $208,850 or less for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. The next threshold adjustment takes effect April 1, 2028.³
At least 40 days have passed since the date of death.¹
No probate proceeding is pending or has been completed in California. If a personal representative has already been appointed, that representative must give written consent.⁴

The cap covers everything in the California estate, including any real estate, even though the affidavit itself only transfers personal property. If the decedent owned a $300,000 house and a $15,000 checking account, you cannot use the affidavit for the account, because the estate as a whole exceeds the limit.

Only a Successor Can Sign

The person signing must be a “successor of the decedent.” If there is a will, the successor is whoever the will names to receive the specific property being collected. If there is no will, it is whoever inherits under California’s intestate succession rules, starting with a surviving spouse and children.⁵

When more than one person inherits the same property, all of them must participate. Three siblings who each inherit a third of a bank account cannot send one sibling to the bank alone.

What Counts Toward the $208,850 Cap

Several categories of property are excluded from the calculation entirely. Estates that look too large at first often turn out to qualify once you strip out the excluded assets. The main exclusions:

Property held in joint tenancy, which passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.
Assets in a revocable living trust.
Bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary or pay-on-death designation.
Registered vehicles, vessels, and manufactured homes, which have their own transfer procedures.
Compensation owed to the decedent for military service.
Up to $16,625 in unpaid wages from employment, also adjusted every three years.⁶

Life insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary also stay outside the estate, since they never become the decedent’s property. Add all of this up, and an estate that appears substantial can fall well under the threshold once joint accounts, beneficiary designations, and vehicles come out of the calculation.

What the Affidavit Must Say

California does not publish a single mandatory statewide form. Banks and brokerages often have their own versions, and local court self-help centers provide templates. Call the institution holding the property first and ask whether they require a specific form.⁷ Whatever form you use, it must be signed under penalty of perjury and must contain all of the following:⁴

The decedent’s name, date of death, and place of death.
A statement that at least 40 days have passed since the death, referencing the attached certified death certificate.
A statement that no probate proceeding is pending or has been conducted in California, or that the personal representative consents.
A statement that the estate value does not exceed $208,850 (for deaths on or after April 1, 2025).
A description of the specific property being collected, with account numbers or other identifying details.
The name of the successor and confirmation that the signer is the successor or is authorized to act on the successor’s behalf.
A statement that no one else has a superior right to the property.
A request that the property be transferred to the signer.
A perjury declaration affirming the truth of everything in the affidavit under California law.

Attach a certified copy of the death certificate. If you are claiming under the will, attach a copy of the will as well.

Notarization and Certified Copies

The statute does not require notarization. Most banks and nearly every brokerage will require it anyway. Get it notarized before you go in, and save yourself a return trip.⁷

Order more certified death certificates than you think you need. Each holder keeps its own affidavit and attached certificate, so multiple accounts at multiple institutions mean multiple originals. Certified copies typically cost $10 to $30 each from the county recorder or vital records office.

Presenting It and Collecting the Property

You hand the completed affidavit, with the certified death certificate attached, directly to whoever holds the property: bank, credit union, brokerage, employer, or other entity. There is no court filing. The institution is required to pay or transfer the property to you, and once it does, it is discharged from further liability. It can rely in good faith on the statements in your affidavit and has no duty to investigate whether they are true.⁸

Vehicles

Registered vehicles use a different track. File Form REG 5 (Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate) with the California DMV, along with a death certificate, to transfer the title. Do not include the vehicle in the small estate affidavit or in the value calculation.⁹

Federal Tax Refunds

To claim a federal income tax refund the decedent was owed, file IRS Form 1310 (Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer) alongside the small estate affidavit. Check box C if you are not a surviving spouse or court-appointed representative, complete Part II with the requested information about the will and any personal representative, and confirm that you will distribute the refund under California law.¹⁰

U.S. Savings Bonds

Treasury savings bonds follow a federal process. The Treasury classifies estates settled under a state small estate affidavit as settlements under “special provisions of state law,” which sends you down a different path than the simpler process for truly non-administered estates under $100,000. Contact TreasuryDirect for current instructions before assuming either route applies.¹¹

The Debt You Take On

Signing the affidavit makes you personally liable for the decedent’s unsecured debts. A creditor can sue you directly, using the same tools it could have used against the decedent.¹²

Your exposure is capped at the fair market value of what you received, minus any liens on that property. Collect $50,000 from a bank account and the decedent’s $80,000 credit card balance is your problem up to $50,000, not the full $80,000. You can also raise any defense the decedent could have raised, including the statute of limitations. Before signing, get a clear picture of what the decedent owed.

If a Bank Refuses to Honor the Affidavit

Sometimes an institution balks at a valid affidavit. Start by asking for a manager or the institution’s legal department.⁷ If that fails, you can sue to compel the transfer. If the court finds the refusal unreasonable, the institution pays your attorney’s fees on top of releasing the property.¹³

Most refusals come down to a missing element or a formatting problem rather than bad faith. Before escalating, confirm that every required statement is in the affidavit and that the attached death certificate is a certified original, not a photocopy.

Real Estate Is a Different Process

The affidavit described here transfers personal property only. California has a separate small-estate process for real property, but the requirements are tighter: the real property cannot exceed $69,625 in gross value (for deaths on or after April 1, 2025), you must wait six months instead of 40 days, and the affidavit is filed with the superior court rather than handed to a private institution. It also requires a professional appraisal by a court-appointed probate referee, and all funeral expenses, last-illness costs, and unsecured debts must be paid before filing.¹⁴¹⁵ If a house or land is in the estate, that is the process to look at, not this one.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 13100 – Affidavit Procedure for Collection or Transfer of Personal Property
2
Judicial Council of California. Form DE-300 – Maximum Values for Small Estate Set-Aside and Disposition of Estate Without Administration
3
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 890
4
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 13101
5
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 13006
6
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 13050
7
Judicial Branch of California. Small Estate Affidavit to Transfer Personal Property
8
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 13106
9
California DMV. Title Transfers and Changes
10
Internal Revenue Service. Form 1310 – Statement of Person Claiming Refund Due a Deceased Taxpayer
11
TreasuryDirect. Death of a Savings Bond Owner
12
California Legislative Information. California Code PROB 13109
13
California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 13105
14
Judicial Branch of California. Check If You Can Use a Simple Process to Transfer Property
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California Legislative Information. California Code Probate Code 13200