Letter to a bank or other holder in Utah
A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.
Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)
This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:
Before you send it
Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.
Affidavit for Collecting Personal Property in a Small Estate Proceeding (Utah Code 75-3-1201)
A sworn statement you give to a bank, company or person holding the property, so they pay or deliver it to you. It is not filed with the court. It cannot transfer land or a house.
- Limit
Up to $100,000 Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).
The whole estate that would go through probate, wherever it is, minus liens and encumbrances, cannot be worth more than $100,000.
- What counts
The value of the entire estate subject to administration (probate), wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances. Property that passes outside probate, such as joint or pay-on-death accounts, is left out.
- Waiting period
At least 30 days must have passed since the death.
- Who can use it
A person who claims to be the successor (the person who inherits under the will or under state law), or the successor's authorized agent.
- Court or where to file
Not filed with a court. You give it to the bank or other holder.
- Notary
The successor fills out the form and signs it in front of a notary.
- Papers to attach
- Certified copy of the death certificate (holders usually ask for it)
- The security itself, for a stock transfer
- Steps
- Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
- Check that no one has applied to be personal representative in any state.
- Fill in the affidavit and list the debts, property and stock you are collecting.
- Sign it in front of a notary.
- Give it to the bank, company or person holding the property.
- Fee
No court filing fee, because the affidavit is not filed with the court.
- Debts and responsibility
Anyone who receives property by affidavit must answer for it to any personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a better right.
- What the bank or holder must do
The holder that pays or delivers on the affidavit is released as if it dealt with a personal representative and need not check the truth of the affidavit. A transfer agent must re-register securities when given the affidavit and the security. If a holder refuses, you can bring a court proceeding; the court may make the holder pay damages of up to three times the value of the property, plus court costs and reasonable attorney fees.
Law: Utah Code 75-3-1201, 75-3-1202
Source: Official page
Bank accounts after a death in Utah
Money left in a joint account belongs to the surviving owner, and money in a pay-on-death account belongs to the named payee; the bank may rely on its records. For an account in the person's name alone, the successor can use the small estate affidavit after 30 days if the probate estate is worth no more than $100,000 after liens.
Law: Utah Code 75-6-104, 75-3-1201
Source: Official page
Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Utah
- Bank account (POD)
Yes
Law: Utah Code 75-6-104
Source: Official page
Death certificates in Utah
ID is required to buy a Utah death certificate. Extra copies ordered at the same time are $10 each.
Law: Utah (first copy $35 from July 1, 2026)
- Where to get it
- Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Vital Records and Statistics
- Official page
- Official page
Surviving spouse in Utah
Utah has no separate small estate procedure for a spouse. In a probate case, the surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance of $22,500, exempt property worth up to $15,000 (household furniture, cars, furnishings, appliances, personal effects), and a family allowance; these come before other claims.
Law: Utah Code 75-2-402, 75-2-403
Who inherits with no will in Utah
If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person left no descendants, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's. If the person had a descendant who is not the spouse's, the spouse gets the first $75,000 plus half of the rest. Anything not going to the spouse goes to the descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents and their descendants.
Law: Utah Code 75-2-102, 75-2-103
Source: Official page
Good to know in Utah
- A holder that refuses a proper affidavit can be ordered to pay up to three times the value of the property, plus costs and attorney fees.
- Up to four vehicles or boats can be transferred at the DMV, and they are left out of the $100,000 total on that DMV affidavit.
- Since May 7, 2025, shares of stock in a water company cannot be transferred with a small estate affidavit.
Changes in 2024–2026
Laws of Utah 2025, ch. 123 (effective May 7, 2025) amended Utah Code 75-3-1201 to exclude water company shares from transfer by affidavit; the $100,000 limit and 30-day wait did not change. The optional transfer on death deed form (75-6-416) was revised effective May 1, 2024.
Related pages
Free help in Utah
A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.