California Small Estate Affidavit

Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: California lets a small estate be settled with two separate tracks — an affidavit and a court petition, usable 40 days after death, and it is either route, depending on which track you use. Real estate: yes.

The verdicts

What the statute actually says

At least 40 days have passed since the person died. … Legally, you are not required to have the Affidavit notarized. But many institutions will ask you to do so. … 40 days have elapsed since the death of the decedent [Section 13151, real property petition].

— Cal. Prob. Code §§ 13100, 13150-13151

The dollar limit

$208,850 for deaths on/after April 1, 2025 (Cal. Prob. Code §§13100-13101, indexed triennially per §890; was $184,500 for deaths April 2022–March 2025). 40-day wait, personal property. Separately, AB 2016 (2024) allows a simplified §13151 petition for a primary residence up to $750,000 for deaths on/after April 1, 2025.

All 51 limits, compared.

The form

There is an official free form. DE-300 (Maximum Values for Small Estate Set-Aside & Disposition of Estate Without Administration); DE-305 (Affidavit re Real Property of Small Value) referenced — published by the state, free to download. You should not pay anyone for this form.

The waiting period is the part that voids transfers

Using the instrument before its waiting period has run is the most common way one of these fails. A bank can refuse it, and a transfer made on a defective affidavit can be unwound — with the person who signed it personally exposed, because these are sworn statements made under penalty of perjury. Wait the full period and count from the date of death.

What could not be verified

Two separate real-property mechanisms exist: the §13150 court petition (40-day wait, confirmed via leginfo.legislature.ca.gov §13151) and a separate §13200 ‘Affidavit re Real Property of Small Value’ (DE-305) with its own lower threshold — DE-305’s specific waiting period/notarization was not independently fetched this session.

When this route is the wrong one

• The estate is over the limit. Full administration applies, and using the small-estate route anyway does not make it valid.
• There is real estate and this route does not reach it. A house needs the instrument that can actually transfer title.
• Someone disputes it. These procedures assume agreement; a contested estate belongs in front of a judge.
• Debts exceed assets. Paying the wrong creditor first can make you personally liable.

Related: how the process works, step by step · affidavit versus summary administration.

General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Probate and small-estate procedure is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, waiting periods and forms change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. Using the wrong instrument, or using one before its waiting period has run, can make a transfer ineffective and can expose the person who signs the affidavit to personal liability. We are not a law firm and we sell no forms.