Small Estate Affidavit Thresholds & Procedure in California

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Dollar threshold

The three amounts depend on which property and which procedure is used. For a death on or after April 1, 2025, the Judicial Council's published § 890 table sets $208,850 for §§ 13100–13101, $69,625 for § 13200, and $750,000 for the primary-residence petition in §§ 13151–13152. Section 890 adjusts most Division 8 amounts every three years; the next scheduled adjustment is April 1, 2028. The amount in effect on the date of death controls (§ 890(d)).

The § 13100 test counts the decedent's real and personal property in California, except property excluded under § 13050 and property already included in a § 13151 petition. Thus, a house may count toward the $208,850 limit even though the declaration cannot convey it.

Court filing required?

The personal-property affidavit or declaration is furnished to the holder (§ 13101(a)); no court filing is part of that route. The § 13200(a) real-property affidavit is filed in superior court. The primary-residence chapter (§§ 13150-13158) instead asks the court for an order through a petition under § 13151(a).

Waiting period

Sections 13100 and 13151(a) each require 40 days after death for the personal-property declaration and primary-residence petition. Section 13200(a) requires six months for the separate small-real-property affidavit. These clocks cannot be interchanged.

Real property

The § 13200(a) affidavit covers small California real-property interests and requires an attached inventory and probate-referee appraisal (§ 13200(c)). The § 13151(a) petition is limited to real property that was the decedent's primary residence in California; its $750,000 date window is stated in § 13152(f)(3). A rental property cannot use that primary-residence petition merely because its value is below $750,000.

Signature formalities

For personal property, § 13101(a) permits an affidavit or a declaration under penalty of perjury; the required statement affirms the facts under California perjury law. A certified death certificate and, for deaths from April 1, 2022, the applicable adjusted-amount list must be attached (§ 13101(d), (f)). The separate § 13200(b) real-property affidavit requires a notary acknowledgment for each signer; the § 13152(a) residence petition must be verified.

Protection for the holder

If the §§ 13100–13104 conditions are met, § 13106(a) discharges a holder that pays or transfers property on the affidavit or declaration and permits good-faith reliance without investigating its truth. Under § 13109(a)-(b), the transferee's unsecured-debt exposure is separate and is capped by the transferred property's net fair market value at presentation, subject to the statute's stated offsets.

What trips people up

The printed $166,250 figure in § 13100 is the baseline that § 890 directs the Judicial Council to adjust. The Judicial Council's current table supplies $208,850 for deaths from April 1, 2025. A person using the § 13101 declaration must attach the list applicable to the decedent's death date, not a later table (§ 13101(f)).

A valid will does not bar these routes. Section 13006 defines a successor to include the beneficiaries taking an item under a will and the persons taking it without a will. A personal-property declaration does not itself transfer title to real property, even where that property's value is counted in its eligibility test (§ 13100).

Common questions

Can I use the personal-property declaration while probate is open? Section 13101(a)(4) requires either a statement that no California estate-administration proceeding is or has been conducted, or the personal representative's written consent. If the representative consents, a copy of the consent and letters must be attached (§ 13101(e)).

What property is excluded from the value test? Section 13050(a) excludes specified interests passing outside the estate, including joint-tenancy interests and revocable-trust property. Section 13100 also excludes property included in a § 13151 petition.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Prob. Code § 13100 — “Excluding the property described in Section 13050 and any property included in a petition filed under Section 13151, if the gross value of the decedent’s real and personal property in this state does not exceed one hundred sixty-six thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($166,250), as adjusted periodically in accordance with Section 890, and if 40 days have elapsed since the death of the decedent, the successor of the decedent may, without procuring letters of administration or awaiting probate of the will, do any of the following with respect to one or more particular items of property:” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13100. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 890 — “(a) On April 1, 2022, and at each three-year interval ending on April 1 thereafter, the dollar amounts specified in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 6600) of Part 3 of Division 6 and in Division 8 (commencing with Section 13000) in effect immediately before that date shall be adjusted as provided in subdivision (b).” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=890. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Judicial Council, Probate Code Section 890 Adjusted Amounts (published under § 890(c)) — “The dollar amounts were adjusted on April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2025. ... §§ 13100, 13101 ... $208,850 ... §§ 13151, 13152, 13154 ... $750,000 ... § 13200 ... $69,625” — https://courts.ca.gov/system/files/file/probate-code-890-adjusted-amounts.pdf (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13101(a)(11) — ““The affiant or declarant affirms or declares under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.”” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13101. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13200(b) — “For each person executing the affidavit, the affidavit shall contain a notary public’s certificate of acknowledgment identifying the person.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13200. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13200(h)(2) — “(2) When the decedent dies on or after April 1, 2022, the dollar amount for paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) is the adjusted dollar amount, published in accordance with subdivision (c) of Section 890, in effect on the date of the decedent’s death.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13200. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13150(b)(1) — “(1) The decedent’s personal representative consents in writing to use of the procedure provided by this chapter to determine that real property that was the decedent’s primary residence is property passing to the petitioners.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13150. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13106(a) — “(a) If the requirements of Sections 13100 to 13104, inclusive, are satisfied, receipt by the holder of the decedent’s property of the affidavit or declaration constitutes sufficient acquittance for the payment of money, delivery of property, or changing registered ownership of property pursuant to this chapter and discharges the holder from any further liability with respect to the money or property. The holder may rely in good faith on the statements in the affidavit or declaration and has no duty to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit or declaration.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13106. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13109(a)-(b) — “(a) A transferee is personally liable, to the extent provided in this section for the unsecured debts of the decedent. That debt may be enforced against the transferee in the same manner as it could have been enforced against the decedent if the decedent had not died. In any action based upon the debt, the transferee may assert any defense, cross-complaint, or setoff that would have been available to the decedent if the decedent had not died. Nothing in this section permits enforcement of a claim that is barred under Part 4 (commencing with Section 9000) of Division 7. Section 366.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure applies in an action under this section. (b) The personal liability under subdivision (a) shall not exceed the fair market value of the transferred property at the time the affidavit or declaration is presented under this chapter, less the amount of any liens and encumbrances on the transferred property at that time, and less the amount of any payment made pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13110.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13109. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13006 — ““Successor of the decedent” means: (a) If the decedent died leaving a will, the sole beneficiary or all of the beneficiaries who succeeded to a particular item of property of the decedent under the decedent’s will. For the purposes of this part, a trust is a beneficiary under the decedent’s will if the trust succeeds to the particular item of property under the decedent’s will. (b) If the decedent died without a will, the sole person or all of the persons who succeeded to the particular item of property of the decedent under Sections 6401 and 6402 or, if the law of a sister state or foreign nation governs succession to the particular item of property, under the law of the sister state or foreign nation.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13006. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13151(a) — “(a) If a decedent dies leaving real property that was their primary residence in this state and the gross value of that real property does not exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000), as adjusted periodically in accordance with Section 890, and 40 days have elapsed since the death of the decedent, the successor of the decedent to an interest in that real property, without procuring letters of administration or awaiting the probate of the will, may file a petition in the superior court of the county in which the estate of the decedent may be administered requesting a court order determining that the petitioner has succeeded to that real property.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13151. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13152(f)(3) — “(f)(3) If the decedent dies on or after April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2028, the dollar amount for paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) is seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000).” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13152. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13200(a) — “(a) No sooner than six months from the death of a decedent, a person or persons claiming as successor of the decedent to a particular item of property that is real property may file in the superior court in the county in which the decedent was domiciled at the time of death, or if the decedent was not domiciled in this state at the time of death, then in any county in which real property of the decedent is located, an affidavit in the form prescribed by the Judicial Council pursuant to Section 1001 stating all of the following: (1) The name of the decedent. (2) The date and place of the decedent’s death. ” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13200. (accessed 2026-10-07).
• Cal. Prob. Code § 13050(a) — “(a) For the purposes of this part: (1) Any property or interest or lien thereon that, at the time of the decedent’s death, was held by the decedent as a joint tenant, or in which the decedent had a life or other interest terminable upon the decedent’s death, or that was held by the decedent and passed to the decedent’s surviving spouse pursuant to Section 13500, shall be excluded in determining the property or estate of the decedent or its value. This excluded property shall include, but not be limited to, property in a trust revocable by the decedent during the decedent’s lifetime. (2) A multiple-party account to which the decedent was a party at the time of the decedent’s death shall be excluded in determining the property or estate of the decedent or its value, whether or not all or a portion of the sums on deposit are community property, to the extent that the sums on deposit belong after the death of the decedent to a surviving party, P.O.D. payee, or beneficiary. For the purposes of this paragraph, the terms “multiple-party account,” “party,” “P.O.D. payee,” and “beneficiary” are defined in Article 2 (commencing with Section 5120) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 5.” — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&sectionNum=13050. (accessed 2026-10-07).