Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
The test, in one sentence
Why “I have a will” is not the answer
The small-estate exits
When probate is required even though it looks avoidable
Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: probate is required when property is titled in the deceased person’s name alone with no beneficiary and no survivor on it — and it is not required for anything that already has a destination. Whether a will exists does not decide it. How the asset is titled decides it.
The test, in one sentence
Ask of each asset: does it already know where to go? A retirement account with a living named beneficiary, a life insurance policy, a payable-on-death bank account, a transfer-on-death deed or security registration, a house held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, anything titled in a funded living trust — each of those passes outside probate on its own terms. What is left over is the probate estate.
Why “I have a will” is not the answer
A will does not avoid probate. A will is the instruction manual the probate court follows. Dying with a will and dying without one both lead to the same courthouse; the difference is whether your instructions or the state’s intestacy statute govern the distribution, and whether you chose the executor or the court appoints an administrator.
The small-estate exits
Every state provides some shortcut for estates below a threshold — an affidavit procedure, a summary administration, or a simplified petition. The thresholds vary enormously, and so does the single most consequential detail: whether real estate can pass that way. In many states a house in sole name disqualifies the estate from the shortcut whatever the dollar figure says; in others real property qualifies only under a cap; in several the statute is silent, which is an open question rather than permission. The thresholds and what each covers are on small estate limits by state.
When probate is required even though it looks avoidable
- A named beneficiary died before the owner and no contingent was named — the asset falls back into the estate.
- The beneficiary designation names “my estate.”
- A living trust was signed but the house was never retitled into it — the most common and most expensive planning failure there is.
- There is real property in a second state, which can require an ancillary proceeding there even if the home state estate avoids one.
- A creditor forces administration, or a claim has to be adjudicated.
What it costs when it is required: probate cost by state and what a probate attorney costs. State detail: Indiana, and Texas, which has an unusual alternative.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes change and a court retains the final say on what is reasonable.
If it is required, two questions follow. Whether you need a lawyer depends less on confidence than on which statutory track the estate lands on: when pro se is realistic, and supervised versus unsupervised administration.
When probate is required, by state (51 of 51 jurisdictions)
Each row is that state’s own quick answer, excerpted from its own detail page. Whether probate is required for a given estate depends on the state’s small-estate shortcut thresholds and what they cover, not simply on whether a will exists.
| State | When probate is required |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Quick answer: in Alabama, an estate can use summary distribution of a small estate when the qualifying value is $47,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Alabama in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Alaska | Quick answer: in Alaska, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Alaska in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Arizona | Quick answer: in Arizona, an estate can use affidavit; separate personal-property and real-property routes when the qualifying value is $200,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Arkansas | Quick answer: in Arkansas, an estate can use affidavit for collection of small estate by distributee when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| California | Quick answer: in California, an estate can use affidavit for collection of personal property when the qualifying value is $208,850 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in California in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Colorado | Quick answer: in Colorado, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $88,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Colorado in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Connecticut | Quick answer: in Connecticut, an estate can use settlement of small estates without probate of will or letters when the qualifying value is $40,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Connecticut in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Delaware | Quick answer: in Delaware, an estate can use distribution without grant of letters when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Delaware in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| District of Columbia | Quick answer: in District of Columbia, an estate can use small estate administration when the qualifying value is $80,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Florida | Quick answer: in Florida, an estate can use summary administration when the qualifying value is $150,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Georgia | Quick answer: in Georgia, an estate can use petition for order declaring no administration necessary when the qualifying conditions are set out in the statute rather than a dollar cap. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Hawaii | Quick answer: in Hawaii, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Idaho | Quick answer: in Idaho, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Illinois | Quick answer: in Illinois, an estate can use small estate affidavit when the qualifying value is $150,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Illinois in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Indiana | Quick answer: in Indiana, an estate can skip administration using a small-estate affidavit when the gross probate estate is $100,000 or less; but that route covers personal property only. A house in the deceased person’s sole name does not pass by affidavit whatever the estate is worth, and that single fact decides most Indiana cases. |
| Iowa | Quick answer: in Iowa, an estate can use administration of small estates when the qualifying value is $200,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Kansas | Quick answer: in Kansas, an estate can use transfer of personal property without administration when the qualifying value is $75,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Kansas in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Kentucky | Quick answer: in Kentucky, an estate can use transfer of assets without administration (surviving-spouse/children exemption route) when the qualifying value is $30,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Louisiana | Quick answer: in Louisiana, an estate can use small succession; affidavit, judicial opening unnecessary when the qualifying value is $200,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way depends on conditions in the statute (below), not a flat yes or no. |
| Maine | Quick answer: in Maine, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $40,000 or less (statutory base; see below). Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Maryland | Quick answer: in Maryland, an estate can use small estate administration when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Massachusetts | Quick answer: in Massachusetts, an estate can use voluntary administration / collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $25,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Massachusetts in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Michigan | Quick answer: in Michigan, an estate can use petition and order for assignment when the qualifying value is $53,000 or less for a death in 2026. The statute’s own base is $50,000; MCL 700.1210 requires that base to be multiplied every year by that year’s cost-of-living adjustment factor (published by the Department of Treasury, rounded to the nearest $1,000). Kent County’s own probate court publishes the resulting current-year figure directly: $53,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 onward. Real property counts toward the ceiling, but only net of any lien or mortgage up to a capped deduction. It is not excluded outright. |
| Minnesota | Quick answer: in Minnesota, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $75,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Mississippi | Quick answer: in Mississippi, an estate can use successor affidavit for collection of personal property when the qualifying value is $75,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Mississippi in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Missouri | Quick answer: in Missouri, an estate can use small estate affidavit when the qualifying value is $40,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Montana | Quick answer: in Montana, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Nebraska | Quick answer: in Nebraska, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Nebraska in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Nevada | Quick answer: in Nevada, an estate can use affidavit showing right to assets; transfer without letters when the qualifying value is $25,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Nevada in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| New Hampshire | Quick answer: in New Hampshire, an estate can use waiver / summary administration – no dollar route when the qualifying conditions are set out in the statute rather than a dollar cap. Whether real property passes that way depends on conditions in the statute (below), not a flat yes or no. |
| New Jersey | Quick answer: in New Jersey, an estate can use surrogate’s affidavit for assets without administration (two tiers by heir) when the qualifying value is $20,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| New Mexico | Quick answer: in New Mexico, an estate can use affidavit for collection of personal property when the qualifying value is less than $50,000 (net of liens and encumbrances), and the estate must not include any real property at all. This is a flat exclusion, not a reduced-value allowance the way some states run it. Real property is excluded from this route entirely: any estate that includes it cannot use the affidavit no matter how small the value. |
| New York | Quick answer: in New York, an estate can use small estate / voluntary administration when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in New York in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| North Carolina | Quick answer: in North Carolina, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $20,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in North Carolina in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| North Dakota | Quick answer: in North Dakota, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Ohio | Quick answer: in Ohio, an estate can use release of estate from administration when the qualifying value is $35,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Oklahoma | Quick answer: in Oklahoma, an estate can use summary administration when the qualifying value is $300,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Oregon | Quick answer: in Oregon, an estate can use small estate affidavit when the qualifying value is $75,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
| Pennsylvania | Quick answer: in Pennsylvania, an estate can use settlement of small estates on petition when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Pennsylvania in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Rhode Island | Quick answer: in Rhode Island, an estate can use small estate / voluntary informal administration when the qualifying value is $15,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Rhode Island in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| South Carolina | Quick answer: in South Carolina, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $45,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in South Carolina in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| South Dakota | Quick answer: in South Dakota, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Tennessee | Quick answer: in Tennessee, an estate can use petition for limited letters of administration/testamentary (renamed from “small estate affidavit” by 2023 Pub. Ch. 297) when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Tennessee in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Texas | Quick answer: not always; and Texas is unusual in how it lets you avoid it. Texas offers muniment of title, a procedure that admits the will to probate to prove title without ever opening an administration: no executor appointed, no inventory of claims process, no ongoing court supervision. It has no dollar cap, which makes it quite different from a small-estate affidavit. |
| Utah | Quick answer: in Utah, an estate can use collection of personal property by affidavit when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| Vermont | Quick answer: in Vermont, an estate can use commencement of small estate when the qualifying value is $45,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Vermont in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Virginia | Quick answer: in Virginia, an estate can use small asset affidavit when the qualifying value is $75,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in Virginia in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Washington | Quick answer: in Washington, an estate can use affidavit for collection of personal property when the qualifying value is $100,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way is not settled in the official text we could read this session; treat that as an open question, not a yes. |
| West Virginia | Quick answer: in West Virginia, an estate can use small estate affidavit when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Real property does NOT pass that way: a house in West Virginia in sole name forces a probate whatever the estate is worth. |
| Wisconsin | Quick answer: in Wisconsin, an estate can use summary settlement / transfer by affidavit when the qualifying value is $50,000 or less. Whether real property passes that way depends on conditions in the statute (below), not a flat yes or no. |
| Wyoming | Quick answer: in Wyoming, an estate can use summary procedure for distribution of small estates when the qualifying value is $400,000 or less. That route DOES reach real property under the statute we read, within its own limits. |
Coverage, stated honestly: all 51 of 51 jurisdictions.