If everything the person owned outside of real estate adds up to less than $184,500, you can often collect it with a sworn affidavit instead of a court case. No filing, no hearing, no statutory fee.
The threshold is inflation-adjusted, and the arithmetic behind it trips people up more than the form itself does.
Bank accounts with no beneficiary named. Uncashed checks. A brokerage account held in the decedent's own name. Personal property sitting in a storage unit. You present a signed and notarized affidavit to whoever is holding the asset, along with a certified death certificate, and they release it to the successor. Real property runs on a different track, so do not try to move a house on this affidavit.
How to count to $184,500
Count what was in the decedent's name alone with no beneficiary attached, valued as of the date of death. Leave out anything with a payable-on-death designation, anything in joint tenancy, anything already in a trust, and the retirement accounts and life insurance that name a living person. What remains is your number.
You cannot split the estate to fit
Adding up only the assets you want to collect and ignoring the rest is fraud on the institution you hand the affidavit to. The affidavit is sworn under penalty of perjury and it asks about the whole estate. I have declined to prepare one exactly twice, and both times the family was startled that I would.
There is a required waiting period after the date of death before the affidavit can be used. Banks know the rule and will check the date. Show up early and you will be sent away, which costs you a trip to a branch that probably has one person who handles estates and is out on Tuesdays.
“Half of my small estate work is not legal work at all. It is calling a bank's estate unit on speaker while a widow sits in my office, because the branch teller told her something wrong and she needed a witness. Bring me the letter they sent you. The letter is usually the problem.”
Delia Vasquez-HartWhen the affidavit is refused
Institutions can and do refuse. Some large banks have internal policies stricter than the statute, some want their own form, and some simply want a court order because their legal department prefers one. You have options short of a full probate, including escalating past the branch, but occasionally the practical answer is that a $30,000 account forces a court filing. That is an unsatisfying sentence and it is true.
Liability that comes with collecting
Whoever signs the affidavit and takes the money is responsible to the decedent's unpaid creditors up to the value received, and responsible to any other rightful successors. Collecting your mother's account and spending it before her final medical bills are settled is how a simple matter becomes a demand letter.
Questions we get asked
Is $184,500 still the number?
It is the threshold as adjusted, and it moves periodically with inflation. Check the current figure before relying on a number you read a year ago, including this one.
Do I need a lawyer to do this?
Often no. If it is one bank account and one successor, the form and a notary may be all you need. Call before paying anyone a percentage of the asset to fill in a form.
What if several people are entitled to inherit?
All of the successors typically need to join the affidavit or consent. One sibling cannot quietly collect and sort it out later, though people try.
Does a car use the same process?
Vehicles have their own DMV transfer procedure that is usually simpler than the affidavit. Ask the DMV before assuming the car counts against your threshold in the way you expect.
Make a one-page list of every account in the decedent's sole name with its date-of-death balance, and email it over. Fifteen minutes with that list tells you whether you are filing an affidavit or opening a case.