A house or land without probate in Minnesota

An owner can sign a transfer on death deed naming beneficiaries for real estate. It is valid only if recorded in the county where the property is before the owner's death, and it can be revoked by a recorded revocation before death.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

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

Real estate (TOD deed)

Yes · Transfer on death deed

An owner can sign a transfer on death deed naming beneficiaries for real estate. It is valid only if recorded in the county where the property is before the owner's death, and it can be revoked by a recorded revocation before death.

Law: Minn. Stat. 507.071

Source: Official page

Does real estate count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Real estate in Minnesota
Counts

Real estate in the person's name counts toward the $75,000, minus mortgages and liens, even though the affidavit cannot transfer it. Real estate with a recorded transfer on death deed or held in joint tenancy is not part of the probate estate.

Law: Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201(a)(1); Minn. Stat. 507.071

Main home (primary residence)
Counts

The person's home counts like other real estate in their name, minus the mortgage.

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

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

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

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.