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

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 Minnesota

Money in a joint account belongs to the surviving owner, and money in a payable-on-death account belongs to the named payee, without probate. For an account in the person's name alone, the successor can use the small estate affidavit 30 days after the death if the probate estate, minus liens, is $75,000 or less. The bank must pay on a proper affidavit and certified death record and is then released.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.6-204, 524.3-1201, 524.3-1202

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, with no payable-on-death beneficiary, are part of the probate estate and count.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201(a)(1)

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

Money in a joint account belongs to the surviving owner, and money in a payable-on-death account belongs to the named payee, as against the estate. These are left out.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.6-204

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

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.6-204(b)

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Minnesota

Certified death certificates are available from the Minnesota Department of Health or a county vital records office. The CDC directory lists the fee as $13.00 per copy; check the current fee with the office.

Where to get it
Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, or a county vital records office
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Minnesota

A surviving spouse is entitled from the estate to household furniture, furnishings, appliances and personal effects worth up to $15,000 above any security interests, and one automobile regardless of value; if there is no spouse, the children share the same rights. If there is a surviving spouse, the homestead goes to the spouse if there are no descendants, or to the spouse for life and then to the descendants. People who collect by small estate affidavit must turn property over to anyone with these superior rights. An employer must pay up to $10,000 of wages owed to the surviving spouse on request if no personal representative has been appointed.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.2-403; Minn. Stat. 524.2-402; Minn. Stat. 181.58

Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property (small estate affidavit)

A sworn statement you give to a bank, company, safe deposit company or motor vehicle registrar, with a certified death record, so they pay or deliver the person's personal property to you. It is not filed with the court.

Limit

Up to $75,000 (deaths on or after August 1, 2016) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of deathLimit
On or after August 1, 2016
$75,000
On or before July 31, 2016
$50,000

The entire probate estate, minus liens and encumbrances, cannot be worth more than $75,000. The limit was raised from $50,000 to $75,000 by a 2016 law (Laws 2016, chapter 135), in effect since August 1, 2016.

What counts

The value of the entire probate estate on the date of death, wherever located (including real estate and the contents of a safe deposit box), minus liens and encumbrances. Property that passes outside probate, such as joint, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death property, is not part of the probate estate.

Waiting period

At least 30 days must have passed since the death. For the contents of a safe deposit box, 30 days must have passed since an inventory of the box was filed.

Who can use it

A person claiming to be the successor (someone entitled to the property under the will or by inheritance law), or someone acting for the successor. A state or county agency with a medical assistance (Medicaid) claim may also use the affidavit. The affidavit must state that no application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted anywhere.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it to the bank, company, safe deposit company or deputy registrar holding or titling the property.

Notary

It is an affidavit, so it is signed under oath before a notary or other officer.

Papers to attach
  • Certified death record (certified death certificate)
  • The affidavit with the statements the law requires: estate value under $75,000 after liens, 30 days have passed, no personal representative case pending or granted, and the successor is entitled to the property
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
  2. Add up the value of the person's entire probate estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances.
  3. Confirm no probate case to appoint a personal representative has been filed anywhere.
  4. Fill in the affidavit and sign it before a notary.
  5. Give the affidavit and a certified death record to each holder.
  6. Pay or deliver the property to anyone with a better right to it, such as the surviving spouse's exempt property or allowances or priority funeral and medical expenses.
Fee

There is no court filing fee because the affidavit is not filed with the court. The deputy registrar charges its usual title fees for a vehicle.

Debts and responsibility

The person who receives property must pay it to anyone with a superior claim: the surviving spouse's or children's exempt property and allowances, and the priority expenses and claims, such as funeral and last-illness costs. The person who receives property is answerable to any personal representative later appointed or to anyone with a better right.

What the bank or holder must do

On a proper affidavit and certified death record, the holder must pay or deliver the property, a transfer agent must re-register securities, and a motor vehicle registrar must issue a new title. The holder is discharged and released as if it had dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check the truth of the affidavit. If the holder refuses, the successor can bring a court proceeding to recover the property or compel delivery.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201, 524.3-1202

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in Minnesota

If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person had no descendants, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. Otherwise the spouse gets the first $225,000 plus half of the rest, and the person's descendants share the remainder. With no spouse, the estate goes to descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents and their descendants, then next of kin. The homestead has its own rules when there is a surviving spouse.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.2-102, 524.2-103, 524.2-402

Source: Official page

Good to know in Minnesota

  • Minnesota's $75,000 small estate limit counts the entire probate estate 'wherever located', including real estate, minus liens and encumbrances - but the affidavit can collect only personal property.
  • A state or county agency with a Medical Assistance claim may use the same small estate affidavit to collect from the person's property.
  • A safe deposit company may refuse to open a box under the affidavit if it knows of an objection or the key or combination is not available.

Changes in 2024–2026

Laws 2024, chapter 91 and Laws 2025, chapter 38 amended the transfer on death deed law, including rules on joint-tenant beneficiaries who die first, successor beneficiaries and recording of registered property. The small estate affidavit limit ($75,000) and summary closing limit ($150,000) did not change.

Law: Minn. Stat. 507.071

Related pages

Free help in Minnesota

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