If someone leaves a small estate on their death, it could be challenging to transfer assets to heirs or family members. Even with modern, more streamlined probate rules, the cost could consume a significant part of the estate.
Fortunately, almost every state has some sort of specialized mechanism to deal with a small estate. Arizona, for instance, has long allowed the person (or people) entitled to receive a decedent’s estate to fill out a simple affidavit to collect any personal property. The bank (or Motor Vehicle Division, or stock brokerage, or landlord) may then deliver the asset to the signer. It’s important to note that the asset holder is not required to honor the affidavit. But they are permitted to rely on it.
At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we only know Arizona law. But we do know that other states have similar mechanisms — though the details are varied. One useful site for small estate rules by state lists 51 variations. We don’t guarantee that they get it right, but their list is comprehensive.
What are Arizona’s small estate rules?
Like many other states, Arizona allows for collection of personal property by a simple affidavit. But the key question has been: “what is ‘small'”?
Back in 1954, the Arizona legislature had decided that an estate of $500 or less was so small that it could be collected by an affidavit filed with the probate court. But a 1974 rewrite of the Probate Code removed the requirement of any court filing, and increased the threshold amount to $5,000. By the 1980s, the figure had mushroomed to $30,000, then to $50,000 in 1998.
In 2013 the legislature decided that an estate of $75,000 was a “small” estate. And since then, any otherwise probateable estate up to that value was a candidate for an affidavit, which is widely available online at sites like the one maintained by the Maricopa County courts. Cars, bank accounts, brokerage accounts — all are regular subjects of the affidavit.
What about real estate?
Meanwhile, starting in 1983, the legislature decided that smaller pieces of real estate should be subject to special rules, too. But rather than just requiring an affidavit, they created a simplified probate process. And remember that the entire Arizona probate code reflected a vastly simplified process after 1974, so this kind of “probate” was even simpler.
The new “Affidavit of Succession to Real Estate” still required a probate filing. But it didn’t require all the notice elements, and particularly didn’t require publication of any notice to the decedent’s creditors. But it required a six-month wait (from the date of death). And they only made it available for real property with a net value of $15,000 or less.
Like the estate size subject to the personal property affidavit, the real property proceeding has also seen increased dollar amounts over the years. So today an estate of up to $100,000 in net real estate value and/or $75,000 in personal property is transferrable without a formal probate proceeding.
What’s changing?
That was a long, history-dense explanation of how we got to where we are today. But the Arizona legislature has dramatically increased the dollar amounts subject to personal property and real estate affidavits. The Governor has already signed the bill, and we’re just waiting for its effective date.
When will that be? We don’t know. Arizona rules say that new laws become effective 90 days after the legislature adjourns. We just don’t know when that might be.
Before the current legislative session began, its leaders set a calendar. That calendar set last week as the last opportunity for substantive consideration of regular bills. It predicted adjournment on April 26, 2025, so that the new small estate rates would become effective late in July. But no one really believes they will be done in a week.
In past sessions, the legislature has adjourned between mid-June and late July. So that means the new figures are likely to become effective in September or even October.
And what are those numbers? This is the buried lede. Once the new law actually becomes effective, a small estate in Arizona will be personal property of up to $200,000 in value, and a small real estate interest will be up to $300,000.
We’ll remember to mention when it actually becomes effective. But when it does, it will apply to all affidavits after that date — not to deaths after that date. So you could be in the position of delaying administration of a decedent’s estate until it becomes, well, small.
2 Responses
Can a small estate affidavit be used to cash a check made to the deceased? I have talked to the bank, and they want me to setup an estate account.
This is very, very state specific. In Arizona, at least, the banks are not required to accept the affidavit. So you might try a different bank, or the same bank on a different day or at a different branch. Good luck.