Small estate checker for Alaska
Enter the date of death and what the person owned. The page adds what the state counts and compares it with the limit for that date. It does not decide anything.
The limits this checker uses
These come from the state's law as we checked it. The checker picks the row that matches the date of death you enter.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of Decedent (court form P-110)
30 days after the death.
Also in Alaska (not tested here)
These procedures have their own rules, so the checker does not test them. See the state page.
- Small estate informal probate (summary administrative procedure)
What counts toward the limit in Alaska
Look at the person's entire estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances. It may contain only vehicles (total $100,000 or less) and other personal property (total $50,000 or less). Add these up separately. Any real estate that did not pass automatically to someone else means the affidavit cannot be used. Nonprobate property that passes automatically to someone else is not counted.
Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1)
In this state the total is counted after subtracting liens.
| Kind of property | How it is treated | Details |
|---|---|---|
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. |
Cars and other vehicles | Left out up to $100,000 | Vehicles that must be registered in Alaska (cars, motorcycles, trucks, trailers, and manufactured homes not permanently attached to land) have their own limit of $100,000 total after liens, separate from the $50,000 limit. If the vehicles total more than $100,000, the affidavit cannot be used. Vehicles with a transfer on death title or an 'OR' co-owner pass outside probate. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1)(A) |
Boats and mobile or manufactured homes | Counts | Manufactured homes not attached to land count with vehicles (under $100,000). Boats, snowmachines, ATVs and other untitled vehicles are not 'vehicles' here and count toward the $50,000 personal property limit. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1) |
Real estate in Alaska | Counts | If the person owned any real estate, of any value, that did not pass automatically to someone else, the affidavit cannot be used. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1) |
Main home (primary residence) | Counts | A home in the person's name that did not pass automatically (by tenancy by the entirety or a transfer on death deed) means the affidavit cannot be used. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1) |
Real estate in another state | Counts | The rule covers the entire estate 'wherever located', so real estate in another state that needs probate also means the affidavit cannot be used. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1) |
Unpaid wages owed to the person | Counts | Money owed to the person, such as unpaid wages and uncashed checks, is personal property and counts toward the $50,000. Law: AS 13.16.680(a) |
Military pay owed to the person | Not clear | The small estate statute does not mention military pay owed to the person. Law: AS 13.16.680 |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to a named person | Left out | Life insurance and retirement benefits with a named beneficiary are nonprobate property and are not counted. |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to the estate | Counts | Benefits payable to the person's estate are probate personal property and count. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)(1)(B) |
Property in a living trust | Not clear | The court's small estate pages do not mention property held in a living trust. Law: AS 13.16.680 |
Property owned jointly with right of survivorship | Left out | Property held with someone else with a right of survivorship, or by spouses as tenants by the entirety, passes automatically and is not counted. |
Property going to a surviving spouse | Left out | Tangible personal property usually passes automatically to a surviving spouse because spouses are assumed to hold it as tenants by the entirety, and real estate held that way also passes automatically. Other probate property inherited by the spouse still counts. |
Stocks, bonds and brokerage accounts | Counts | Stocks in the person's name count toward the $50,000; a transfer agent must re-register them on the affidavit. Law: AS 13.16.680(a)-(b) |
Furniture, jewelry and other belongings | Counts | Cash, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, furnishings, jewelry, artwork, tools and equipment count toward the $50,000 after liens. |
Source: Official page
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
- Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
- Make sure no probate case has been started and the person had no real estate that needs probate.
- 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.
- Fill in form P-110 and sign it under oath before a notary or court clerk.
- Give a copy to each holder of the property, with a death certificate if asked.
- 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
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
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
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.
- Alaska Court System Self-Help Center
- Alaska Legal Services Corporation
- Alaska Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service
- Alaska Court System: Collecting Personal Property without a Court Case
- Alaska Court System: Small Estate Informal Probate
- Alaska Court System: Transferring Asset Ownership
- Alaska DMV: Deceased owner
- LawHelp.org
- Legal Services Corporation (LSC) - Find legal aid
- Eldercare Locator · 1-800-677-1116
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (debt collection and mortgage complaints) · (855) 411-2372