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

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 Nebraska

Money in a joint account with survivorship or a payable-on-death (POD) account goes to the surviving owner or beneficiary without probate. For an account in the person's name alone, the successor can use the personal property affidavit 30 days after the death if all the person's personal property, minus liens, is $100,000 or less. Each bank needs its own original notarized affidavit.

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. secs. 30-2723, 30-24,125, 30-24,126

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, count.

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 30-24,125(a)(1)

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

Joint accounts with survivorship and payable-on-death accounts go to the surviving owner or beneficiary and are not part of the estate.

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 30-2723

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

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 30-2723

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Nebraska

The DHHS page says you may get a death certificate only for your spouse, parent or child. By mail, send a $16 check or money order made out to Vital Records with a copy of your government-issued photo ID and the details of the death; you can also apply online.

Where to get it
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Vital Records (Lincoln)
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Nebraska

In a probate case, a surviving spouse of a person who lived in Nebraska is entitled to a homestead allowance of $20,000 and exempt property worth up to $12,500 (household furniture, cars, appliances and personal effects) for deaths before January 1, 2027; for deaths on or after January 1, 2027 the amounts are $25,000 and $17,500. The spouse and dependent children can also get a reasonable family allowance during administration. The personal representative may set the family allowance as a lump sum of up to $20,000 ($25,000 for deaths on or after January 1, 2027). A successor who takes real estate through these allowances can use the real property affidavit.

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. secs. 30-2322 to 30-2325, as amended by Laws 2026, LB 838

Affidavit for Transfer of Personal Property without Probate (collection of personal property by affidavit)

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

Limit

Up to $100,000 Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

All of the person's personal property, minus liens, cannot be worth more than $100,000. The limit was raised from $50,000 to $100,000 by a 2022 law (LB 1124).

What counts

The value of all the personal property in the person's estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances. Real estate is not counted toward this limit. Property that passes outside probate (joint, payable-on-death, beneficiary, transfer-on-death and trust property) is not part of the estate.

Waiting period

Thirty days must have passed since the death, as shown by a certified death certificate (or an abstract of death if the certificate is delayed) attached to the affidavit.

Who can use it

A person claiming to be the successor (entitled to the property under the will or Nebraska inheritance law), or someone acting for that person. The affidavit states the successor's relationship to the person or the basis of the claim. The court self-help page says it is not for creditors, and everyone else who inherited an interest in the property must also sign. No personal representative may have been appointed or applied for in any state.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give an original signed affidavit to each holder of the property.

Notary

Sign in front of a notary (or a judge or clerk of the court). Each holder needs its own original, notarized affidavit.

Papers to attach
  • Certified or authenticated copy of the death certificate, or an abstract of death if the certificate is delayed
Steps
  1. Wait until 30 days after the death.
  2. Check that no personal representative has been appointed or applied for.
  3. Fill in form CC 15:40 (or the holder's own form) with the required statements.
  4. Sign it before a notary; make a separate signed and notarized original for each holder.
  5. Give each holder an original affidavit with a certified death certificate attached. Keep a copy in a safe place.
Fee

No court fee; the affidavit is not filed with a court.

Debts and responsibility

Your liability to the person's creditors cannot be more than the value of the property you receive. A creditor cannot recover from you for the person's debt after three years from the death or one year after the property was distributed, whichever is later. You must also answer for the property to a personal representative appointed later or to anyone with a better right. A false statement may be punished as perjury.

What the bank or holder must do

After 30 days the holder must pay or deliver the property on a proper affidavit, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. A holder who does so is released as if it dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check whether the statements are true. A bank that accepts a check payable to the person and endorsed by the successor is discharged. If a holder refuses, the people entitled to the property can bring a court proceeding to make it pay or deliver.

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. secs. 30-24,125, 30-24,126

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in Nebraska

If there is no will, the spouse gets everything if no child, grandchild or other descendant and no parent survives. If a parent survives but no descendants, or if all descendants are also the spouse's, the spouse gets the first $150,000 plus one-half of the rest (the first amount was $100,000 before LB 838, operative July 18, 2026). If some descendants are not the spouse's, the spouse gets one-half. The rest goes to descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents' families, then the next of kin.

Law: Neb. Rev. Stat. secs. 30-2302 (as amended by Laws 2026, LB 838), 30-2303

Source: Official page

Good to know in Nebraska

  • Nebraska has two separate affidavits: one for personal property up to $100,000 minus liens and one for Nebraska real estate up to $100,000 assessed value; real estate does not count toward the personal property limit.
  • Since 2025, an abstract of death can be attached instead of a certified death certificate if the certificate is delayed (LB 85, 2025; Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-24,125(a)(2)).
  • Nebraska Medicaid estate recovery can reach property outside probate, including transfer on death deeds and joint tenancy.

Changes in 2024–2026

LB 1195 (approved April 15, 2024): real property affidavit limit raised from $50,000 to $100,000. LB 1200 (approved April 15, 2024, emergency clause): vehicle provisions of sec. 30-24,125(d), including the DMV waiver after an estate has been closed ten years. LB 85 (approved February 25, 2025): an abstract of death may be used if the death certificate is delayed. Court form CC 15:41 revised 10/2025. Homestead allowance and exempt property rise to $25,000 and $17,500 for deaths on or after January 1, 2027 (secs. 30-2322, 30-2323). LB 838 (approved April 14, 2026; these sections operative July 18, 2026): spouse's intestate first amount raised from $100,000 to $150,000; homestead allowance $25,000, exempt property $17,500 and family allowance lump sum $25,000 for deaths on or after January 1, 2027 (secs. 30-2322, 30-2323, 30-2325); inheritance tax changes.

Law: sec. 30-24,129; sec. 30-24,125(a)(2); sec. 30-2302; sec. 77-2004

Related pages

Free help in Nebraska

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