What to gather for a small estate in Virginia

Pick a procedure and check off what you already have. Download or print the list to take with you.

Papers most holders ask for
Papers for this procedure: Small Estate Affidavit (Virginia Small Estate Act), form CC-1685
Other formats

Your checklist

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
  1. Wait until at least 60 days after the death.
  2. Make sure no one has applied to be personal representative in any state.
  3. If there is a will, have it probated with the circuit court clerk.
  4. Fill in form CC-1685: the asset, every successor's name and address, and the designated successor.
  5. All known successors sign before a notary or clerk.
  6. 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

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

Car or vehicle title after a death in Virginia

If no executor or administrator has been appointed and none is expected, an heir can get a new title by bringing the DMV a certified or notarized death certificate, the title, proof of address and the fees, plus a Certification of Authority to Transfer Virginia Title (VSA 24) (with a copy of the will, if there is one). On VSA 24 the heir certifies that the person's debts are paid (or the sale proceeds will pay them) and lists everyone else with an interest, who must sign their consent. The DMV also accepts a small estate affidavit. A surviving co-owner with right of survivorship ('or' between the names, or 'or survivor') can remove the deceased owner, including online. Sales and use tax is not charged on a vehicle transferred to an heir this way.

Law: Va. Code secs. 46.2-634, 64.2-606(B)

Agency
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
Form
VSA 24 Certification of Authority to Transfer Virginia Title
Fee

DMV title fees apply; see the DMV fee chart.

Source: 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.

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.