Iowa Small Estate Affidavit

Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Iowa lets a small estate be settled with a sworn affidavit, usable 40 days after death, and it is presented straight to the bank or holder — no court filing. Real estate: no — personal property only.

The verdicts

What the statute actually says

When the gross value of the decedent’s personal property that would otherwise be distributed by will or intestate succession is or has been, at any time since the decedent’s death, fifty thousand dollars or less and there is no real property, or for deaths occurring before January 1, 2025, the real property passes to persons exempt from inheritance tax as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship pursuant to chapter 450, and if forty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent, a successor as defined in subsection 2 may, by furnishing an affidavit prepared pursuant to subsection 3 or 8, and without procuring letters of appointment, do any of the following with respect to one or more items of such personal property: a. Receive any item of tangible personal property of the decedent. b. Have any evidence of a debt, obligation, interest, right, security, or chose in action belonging to the decedent transferred. c. Collect the proceeds from any life insurance policy or any other item of property for which a beneficiary has not been designated.

— Iowa Code § 633.356

The dollar limit

Very-small-estate affidavit (Iowa Code §633.356): $50,000; probate assets must be personal property only, with no interest in real estate; 40-day wait. Separately, simplified small-estate administration (Iowa Code §635.1) for gross probate assets ≤$200,000.

All 51 limits, compared.

The form

We did not locate an official free state form. That does not mean none exists — many states publish forms through individual county or probate offices rather than a single statewide page, and several court websites blocked automated access entirely. Ask the probate court or register of wills in the county where the person lived before paying anyone for a 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

Statute requires the affidavit be sworn ‘under penalty of perjury,’ not notarized. A narrow exception allows real property that passes as exempt joint-tenancy survivorship property (only for deaths before Jan. 1, 2025) to coexist with use of this affidavit; otherwise the estate must have no real property at all. No specific statewide form number was identified in the statute text itself; Iowa Judicial Branch self-help forms were not searched 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.