Bank accounts after a death in Virginia
Joint accounts with survivorship and payable-on-death accounts go to the surviving owner or beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, the successors can use the small estate affidavit after 60 days if the personal probate estate is $75,000 or less.
Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.
Bank accounts after a death in Virginia
Joint accounts with survivorship and payable-on-death accounts go to the surviving owner or beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, the successors can use the small estate affidavit after 60 days if the personal probate estate is $75,000 or less. A bank may also pay an account of $35,000 or less to any successor after 60 days without an affidavit, but does not have to.
Law: Va. Code 6.2-604; Va. Code 64.2-601, 64.2-602
Source: Official page
Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?
| Kind of property | How it is treated | Details |
|---|---|---|
Bank accounts in the person's name alone | Counts | Accounts in the person's name alone, with no surviving joint owner or payable-on-death beneficiary, count. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600, 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts | Left out | Joint accounts with survivorship and payable-on-death accounts pass outside probate and are not part of the personal probate estate. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1); Va. Code 6.2-604 |
What the bank or holder must do
A person holding a small asset must pay or deliver it to the designated successor on a proper affidavit, and a transfer agent must re-register a security. The holder is then released as if it had dealt with a personal representative and need not check the truth of the affidavit. If the holder refuses, the asset may be recovered or its delivery compelled, and damages recovered, in a court proceeding.
FDIC insurance after a death
After a deposit owner dies, FDIC insurance on the account stays the same for six months, unless the account is restructured. After six months, coverage is based on who actually owns the money.
Law: 12 CFR 330.3(j)
Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Virginia
- Bank account (POD)
Yes
Law: Va. Code sec. 6.2-604 et seq
Source: Official page
Death certificates in Virginia
Certified death certificates are issued by VDH Vital Records (online, by mail or in person) and cost $15.00 each. Only immediate family (mother, father, current spouse, child, brother, sister, grandparents) with valid ID can get a full certified copy; others with a direct and tangible interest can get a Verification of Death. The DMV notes you can also bring a death certificate request to a DMV customer service center.
- Where to get it
- Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records
- Official page
- Official page
Surviving spouse in Virginia
A surviving spouse (and minor children) of a Virginia resident can claim, ahead of the estate's creditors: a family allowance of up to $30,000 as a lump sum (or up to $2,500 a month for one year), exempt property worth up to $25,000 (household furniture, cars, appliances and personal effects), and a homestead allowance of $25,000. These are claimed in the estate.
Small Estate Affidavit (Virginia Small Estate Act), form CC-1685
The people who inherit sign a sworn affidavit and give it to the bank or other holder, which must then pay or deliver the asset to the person they chose (the 'designated successor'). Nothing is filed with a court.
- Limit
Up to $75,000
The person's whole personal probate estate, valued on the date of death, cannot be more than $75,000, and each asset collected this way can be worth no more than $75,000. The limit was raised from $50,000 to $75,000 by 2025 Va. Acts ch. 148.
- What counts
The value of the person's entire personal probate estate on the date of death, wherever located. Real estate and property that passes outside probate (joint, payable-on-death, beneficiary-designated) are not part of it. Each asset collected must also be worth $75,000 or less.
- Waiting period
At least 60 days must have passed since the death.
- Who can use it
All of the known successors (the people entitled under the will or, with no will, under intestacy law) sign the affidavit. They name one or more of themselves as the 'designated successor' to receive the asset on behalf of all. Creditors are not successors. A successor can be represented under Virginia's virtual representation rules.
- Court or where to file
Not filed with a court. You give it to the bank, company or person holding the asset.
- Notary
The affidavit is sworn before a notary public, or a circuit court clerk or deputy clerk.
- Papers to attach
- Form CC-1685 signed and sworn by all known successors
- Description of the asset and the basis of each successor's right to it
- If there is a will: proof that it was probated (the affidavit states the will was duly probated)
- A death certificate, if the holder asks for one
- Steps
- Wait until at least 60 days after the death.
- Make sure no one has applied to be personal representative in any state.
- If there is a will, have it probated with the circuit court clerk.
- Fill in form CC-1685: the asset, every successor's name and address, and the designated successor.
- All known successors sign before a notary or clerk.
- Give the affidavit to the holder; the designated successor then pays or delivers each successor's share promptly.
- Fee
No court filing fee, because the affidavit is not filed with a court. Probating a will has its own clerk's fees.
- Debts and responsibility
The designated successor has a legal (fiduciary) duty to safeguard the asset and promptly pay or deliver it to the other successors. Anyone who receives an asset this way must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later and to any successor with an equal or better right.
- What the bank or holder must do
A person holding a small asset must pay or deliver it to the designated successor on a proper affidavit, and a transfer agent must re-register a security. The holder is then released as if it had dealt with a personal representative and need not check the truth of the affidavit. If the holder refuses, the asset may be recovered or its delivery compelled, and damages recovered, in a court proceeding.
Law: Va. Code secs. 64.2-600, 64.2-601, 64.2-603
Source: Official page
Good to know in Virginia
- Virginia's small estate limit is $75,000 and each asset must also be $75,000 or less.
- A bank may pay an asset of $35,000 or less to a successor after 60 days without any affidavit.
- The affidavit must be on the form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Changes in 2024–2026
2025 Va. Acts ch. 148 raised the small estate limit to $75,000 (from $50,000), set the no-affidavit amount at $35,000, and changed the family allowance ($30,000 lump sum / $2,500 a month), exempt property ($25,000) and homestead allowance ($25,000). 2026 Va. Acts ch. 40 also amended 64.2-601; form CC-1685 was revised 07/26 and requires the affidavit on the court's form. The DMV page still says the small estate limit is $50,000.
Law: HB 100
Letters to a bank
Use the free tools below to ask a bank for the balance on the date of death or to present a signed small estate affidavit.
Related pages
Free help in Virginia
A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.
- Virginia Legal Aid (statewide legal aid finder), 866-LEGLAID · 866-534-5243
- Virginia Courts: circuit court fiduciary forms (CC-1685, CC-1612)
- 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