Small estate checker for Virginia
Enter the date of death and what the person owned. The page adds what the state counts and compares it with the limit for that date. It does not decide anything.
The limits this checker uses
These come from the state's law as we checked it. The checker picks the row that matches the date of death you enter.
Small Estate Affidavit (Virginia Small Estate Act), form CC-1685
60 days after the death.
Also in Virginia (not tested here)
These procedures have their own rules, so the checker does not test them. See the state page.
- Payment of a small asset worth $35,000 or less without an affidavit
- Payment of funeral expenses from a small asset (funeral home affidavit)
- Real Estate Affidavit (intestate decedent), form CC-1612
What counts toward the limit in Virginia
Add up the value, on the date of death, of everything in the person's personal probate estate, wherever it is. Leave out real estate and anything that passes outside probate (joint accounts, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, beneficiary-designated insurance and retirement accounts, living-trust property). The law does not say whether debts are subtracted.
Law: Va. Code 64.2-600, 64.2-601
| 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 |
Cars and other vehicles | Counts | A vehicle is personal property and counts. It can also be transferred at the DMV without the small estate affidavit. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1), 64.2-606(B) |
Boats and mobile or manufactured homes | Counts | Boats and other personal property count. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600, 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Real estate in Virginia | Left out | Real estate is not counted; the limit is on the personal probate estate, and a small asset excludes real property. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600, 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Main home (primary residence) | Left out | The home (real estate) is not counted. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600 |
Real estate in another state | Left out | Real estate is not counted. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600 |
Unpaid wages owed to the person | Counts | Money owed to the person, such as unpaid wages, counts. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600 |
Military pay owed to the person | Not clear | The Small Estate Act does not mention military pay. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600 |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to a named person | Left out | Insurance and retirement benefits paid to a named beneficiary pass outside probate and are not counted. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to the estate | Counts | Benefits payable to the estate are part of the personal probate estate and count. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Property in a living trust | Left out | Property in a living trust is not part of the personal probate estate. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Property owned jointly with right of survivorship | Left out | Property held jointly with survivorship passes to the surviving owner outside probate. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Property going to a surviving spouse | Counts | Probate personal property counts even if it goes to the spouse under the will or intestacy law. Law: Va. Code 64.2-601(A)(1) |
Stocks, bonds and brokerage accounts | Counts | Stocks and brokerage accounts in the person's name alone, with no transfer-on-death beneficiary, count. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600, 64.2-601(D) |
Furniture, jewelry and other belongings | Counts | Tangible personal property (belongings) counts. Law: Va. Code 64.2-600 |
Source: Official page
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
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
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.
- 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