Letter asking for the balance on the date of death in Alaska

A short letter that asks a bank or other holder for the value of the person's accounts on the date of death. Banks usually want this before the estate is settled.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

What to expect

A bank may ask for a certified death certificate and proof that you are allowed to ask. The bank decides what it will release and when.

Bank accounts after a death in Alaska

A joint account with a right of survivorship passes automatically to the surviving owner, and an account with a named beneficiary passes to the beneficiary, without probate. An account in the person's name alone is probate property; a successor can collect it with the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property if the estate qualifies, and the bank must pay on a proper affidavit and is then released.

Law: AS 13.16.680, 13.16.685

Source: Official page

Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Bank accounts in the person's name alone
Counts

Bank accounts in the person's name alone count toward the $50,000 personal property limit.

Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1)(B)

Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
Left out

A joint account with right of survivorship, or an account with a named beneficiary, passes automatically and is not counted.

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Alaska

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Alaska

Certified death certificates are available from the Health Analytics and Vital Records Section, P.O. Box 110675, Juneau, AK 99811-0675. The CDC directory lists the fee as $30.00 per copy; check the current fee with the office.

Where to get it
Alaska Department of Health, Health Analytics and Vital Records Section
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Alaska

Tangible personal property, such as furnishings and belongings, usually passes automatically to a surviving spouse because spouses are assumed to hold it as tenants by the entirety, so nothing needs to be done to transfer it; real estate held by spouses as tenants by the entirety also passes automatically. In a probate, the spouse is entitled to the homestead allowance, family allowance and exempt property, which can make an estate qualify for the small estate procedure. With no will, the spouse inherits everything if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's.

Law: AS 13.16.690; AS 13.12.102

Source: Alaska Court System self-help

Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (court form P-110)

A sworn statement you give to a bank, business or person holding the person's property, so they pay or deliver it to you. It is not filed with the court.

Limit

Up to $50,000 Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Personal property other than vehicles: $50,000 or less after liens. Vehicles subject to Alaska registration (cars, motorcycles, trucks, trailers, and manufactured homes not permanently attached to land): $100,000 or less in total after liens. The person must not have owned any real estate, unless it passed automatically to someone else.

What counts

The entire estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances, may consist only of: vehicles that must be registered in Alaska worth $100,000 or less in total, and other personal property worth $50,000 or less. The estate cannot include any real estate, unless it passed automatically to someone else (tenancy by the entirety or a transfer on death deed). Nonprobate property, such as a joint bank account, is not counted.

Waiting period

At least 30 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

A 'successor': anyone other than a creditor who is entitled to the person's property under the will or Alaska inheritance law, for example a beneficiary named in the will or an heir if there is no will. The court self-help page also lists the personal representative named in the will. No probate case or petition to appoint a personal representative can be pending or granted anywhere.

Court or where to file

Not filed with the court. You give a copy to each person or business holding the property.

Notary

Sign under oath before a notary or a court clerk. Notary services are free at all Alaska court locations.

Papers to attach
  • Copy of the death certificate (the holder may ask to see it)
  • For a vehicle: DMV Form 827 (or a similar notarized statement with the VIN) and Form V1 Vehicle Transaction Application
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
  2. Make sure no probate case has been started and the person had no real estate that needs probate.
  3. Add up the vehicles and the other personal property separately, minus liens; vehicles must total $100,000 or less and other property $50,000 or less.
  4. Fill in form P-110 and sign it under oath before a notary or court clerk.
  5. Give a copy to each holder of the property, with a death certificate if asked.
  6. Give the property to the people entitled to it under the will or inheritance law; you cannot keep property that belongs to others.
Fee

There is no court filing fee because the affidavit is not filed with the court. DMV charges title fees for a vehicle (see its fee calculator).

Debts and responsibility

The person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable for it to any personal representative later appointed and to anyone with a superior right. If a personal representative is appointed later, the property must be given to the personal representative.

What the bank or holder must do

A person or business shown a proper affidavit must pay or deliver the property, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. The holder is discharged and released as if it had dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check the statements. If the holder refuses, the property can be recovered in a court proceeding.

Law: AS 13.16.680, 13.16.685; AS 13.06.050(48)

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in Alaska

If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person left no descendants or parents, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. Otherwise the spouse gets $200,000 plus three-fourths of the rest (no descendants but a parent survives), $150,000 plus one-half (the spouse has other descendants), or $100,000 plus one-half (the person has descendants who are not the spouse's). The rest goes to descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents' families. Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act stock has its own rule.

Law: AS 13.12.102, 13.12.103

Source: Official page

Good to know in Alaska

  • Alaska's small estate affidavit has two separate caps: vehicles up to $100,000 in total and other personal property up to $50,000, both after liens, and the person must have owned no real estate needing probate.
  • Since July 1, 2026, Alaska vehicle and boat owners can get a transfer on death title naming beneficiaries.
  • Notary services are free at all Alaska court locations, which can be used to sign the affidavit.

Changes in 2024–2026

SB 104 (34th Legislature; became law without the governor's signature as chapter 12, SLA 2026), effective July 1, 2026: allows transfer on death titles for vehicles and boats. No change to the small estate affidavit limits.

Related pages

Free help in Alaska

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.