Told to bring a “small estate affidavit”?
When a bank, DMV, or court clerk says those words after someone close to you has died, two questions matter: does this estate actually qualify in your state, and what exactly do the papers need to say? The first answer is free— a clear yes or no, grounded in your state’s statute, with the dollar limit that applies to your date of death and any waiting period. If the estate qualifies, the completed affidavit packet — the affidavit itself, a step-by-step cover sheet, a per-asset checklist, and a short script for the counter — is a flat $79.
Check eligibility — free →See a real sample packet →Small-estate rules by state →
Does the estate qualify? Check free
A few plain questions — no email, no payment. If the facts don’t fit a small-estate procedure, we say so honestly and point you to the right official resource instead. Verified statute data currently covers 12 states.
EstateClaim is an automated document-preparation tool — not a law firm, not legal advice. It prepares papers from your own answers; for advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed probate attorney.
How it works
1. Check eligibility
State, date of death, rough value, what’s in the estate. You get the procedure that fits — with its statute citation and the dollar limit for your date of death — or an honest no, free.
2. Answer the details
After the $79 payment, you answer the questions the affidavit needs: names, the county, each account and vehicle, the family. Your progress saves as you go.
3. Review, sign, present
Your completed packet arrives as a private page and a PDF. Read it, fix anything by editing your answers, then follow the cover sheet step by step.
What’s in the $79 packet
The completed affidavit
Your state’s procedure, with every statutory element filled from your answers — names, dates, amounts, the statute citations an institution’s legal department can check. Anywhere a fact wasn’t collected, the document carries an explicit blank with a note on what belongs there — never a guess.
A step-by-step cover sheet
Your state’s actual mechanics, in order: any waiting period and the date yours is satisfied, who signs, what gets notarized, what to attach, and whether the papers go to a court clerk or straight to the institution.
A per-asset checklist
For each account, vehicle, or asset you list: which agency or department handles it, what documents to bring, and any form that agency requires.
A script for the counter
Many tellers have never seen a small-estate affidavit. A short, calm script explains what you’re presenting and which statute authorizes it — plus, for estates without a will, a who-receives-what table computed from your state’s intestacy law.
A real packet for a California estate
Generated for a realistic (fictional) buyer: Karen, 58, in Sacramento, California — her mother died on 2026-05-20 leaving a will naming Karen sole beneficiary; a ~$9,000 credit-union checking account, a 2014 Honda Civic, and about $1,500 of household items. No surviving spouse, no family disagreement. It uses California’s Affidavit (or Declaration) for Collection or Transfer of Personal Property (Probate Code §§ 13100–13101) under Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13100–13101. This is the same pipeline that prepares every paid packet.
DECLARATION FOR COLLECTION OR TRANSFER OF PERSONAL PROPERTY California Probate Code Sections 13100–13101 I, Karen Mitchell, declare as follows: 1. DECLARANT IDENTITY
Why it’s shaped this way
- Grounded in your state’s real statute. Every dollar limit, waiting period, citation, and form name comes from a dataset verified against the official statute text, covering 12 states today. Where a state adjusts its limit by date of death, we apply the figure for yourdate — and if we haven’t verified a state, we say so instead of guessing.
- An honest no is free.Contested estates, estates over the limit, and states we haven’t verified all get a clear, kind explanation and a pointer to the right official resource — never a sales pitch.
- Nothing is invented.Every name, amount, form, and agency in your packet is checked against your answers and the statute record before delivery. If a packet can’t pass that check, it isn’t delivered — and you aren’t charged for nothing: the refund is automatic.
- You stay in control. You review every page, can edit your answers and regenerate before printing, and you present the papers yourself. EstateClaim never contacts an institution, never files anything, and never signs anything.
Common questions
Will the bank actually accept it?
No one can honestly promise that — institutions apply their own review, and we never claim otherwise. What we can do is make acceptance as likely as the law allows: papers that match the statute’s requirements word for word, citations the branch’s legal team can verify, the documents the checklist says to bring, and a script for the counter. If a packet is rejected for a reason attributable to us, we fix it or refund it — and we follow up once, a couple of weeks after delivery, to ask how it went.
What if family members disagree?
Then a small-estate affidavit is the wrong tool — in every state, the process assumes everyone entitled agrees. Our free check asks about this directly and, if there’s a dispute, tells you so at no charge and suggests talking to a probate attorney; your county bar association can refer you.
What’s the refund policy?
If our pipeline can’t produce a packet that passes its own quality checks, the refund is automatic. If our logs show you never opened your packet after delivery, you can refund yourself from the packet page within 30 days. And if an institution rejects the packet for a reason attributable to us, we fix it or refund it. Details in the FAQ and Terms.
Your data
The estate and family facts you enter are used only to determine eligibility and prepare your papers. See our privacy policy.
Support
Reply to the delivery email and a person-readable record lands with us — or use the feedback button on any page.