Alabama route screening
No threshold was established from a primary source in this review. The procedure may be structural, indexed, locally published, or unavailable in the accepted source record; this page does not infer a dollar figure.
Alabama allows summary distribution where the decedent owned no real property and the estate value does not exceed the "small estate amount" — a CPI-indexed sum of the homestead, exempt-property, and family allowances (Ala. Code § 43-2-691), adjusted every three years under § 43-8-116. Petition may proceed at least 30 days after publication of notice of its filing. Because the operative indexed figure is an administrative publication not sourced here, the threshold is published as UNKNOWN with its mechanism captured.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: No threshold figure is published, so there is no current numeric figure or superseding figure to report. The reason and the next primary-source lane are stated below.
Threshold source status: No accepted primary-source quotation sets a numeric threshold for this page.
Why no figure is published: Alabama’s "small estate amount" is not a fixed statutory figure: Ala. Code § 43-2-691(7) defines it as the CPI-adjusted sum of the homestead allowance (§ 43-8-110), exempt property (§ 43-8-111), and family allowance (§§ 43-8-112/113), with the dollar amounts adjusted every three years by the State Treasurer under § 43-8-116 and published administratively. The current operative figure is an Administrative Office of Courts / Treasurer publication that was not machine-harvested this session, so no single number is asserted.
Next primary-source lane: Ala. Code § 43-8-116 (CPI adjustment) and the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts / State Treasurer published adjusted amounts; base amounts at §§ 43-8-110, 43-8-111.
The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.
This reviewed route is limited to personal probate property. A house or other real property is not transferred through this screen, even when the personal-property total is below the stated limit. Open the deed and the receiving court’s real-property instructions before assuming the simplified procedure resolves the whole estate.
The statute excludes categories of exempt property that this worksheet cannot classify from a dollar entry alone. A result near the limit remains provisional until those exemptions are identified from the actual property and family facts.
The reviewed route requires 30 days after death before the affidavit or petition can be used. That is a minimum timing condition, not a promise that the institution or court completes the transfer on that day.
Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.
Probate is heard in the county Probate Court. Filing fees for the grant of letters are a $45.00 statewide figure (§ 12-19-90) but § 12-19-90(d) expressly preserves local fee laws, so individual counties may add charges.
Alabama publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit. The summary-distribution petition is filed with the Probate Court of the county of residence, and each probate court issues its own form, so the county court is the place to obtain it.
If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Probate Court or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
Alabama eligibility map
The Alabama threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.
| Question | Recorded Alabama answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Summary distribution of small estate (Ala. Code §§ 43-2-690 to 43-2-692) | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | No numeric ceiling verified | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; 180 days; Claims must be presented within six months after the grant of letters, OR within five months from the date of first publication of notice, whichever is the later to occur; claims not so presented and filed are forever barred (Ala. Code § 43-2-350). The six-month period runs from the grant of letters (appointment), so the modelled figure is 180 days from the grant, extended when the publication-based five-month period ends later. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | $45 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the Probate Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Ala. Code § 43-2-848(a) allows reasonable compensation subject to a ceiling of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s possession and control PLUS two and one-half percent (2.5%) of all disbursements. The ceiling therefore applies to receipts and disbursements, not to the whole estate value. Extraordinary services may be allowed additionally (§ 43-2-848(b)), and a will or written agreement can vary the amount (§ 43-2-848(c)–(d)). The relevant base is money received and paid out during administration. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Eligibility inputs
A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.
| Input | Registry record |
|---|---|
| Threshold | No numeric ceiling verified |
| Property scope | personal probate property only |
| Value basis | gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
| Required extra facts | None listed in the registry |
Case-file context
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Alabama descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
The statewide statutory fee for a grant of letters of administration is $45.00 (Ala. Code § 12-19-90(a)(2)), including three certified copies and final settlement when not more than 10 pages. Ala. Code § 12-19-90(d) preserves county/local fee laws for judges of probate, so a particular county may add local charges on top of the statewide figure.
$45 is the recorded statewide amount.
Ala. Code § 43-2-848(a) allows reasonable compensation subject to a ceiling of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s possession and control PLUS two and one-half percent (2.5%) of all disbursements. The ceiling therefore applies to receipts and disbursements, not to the whole estate value. Extraordinary services may be allowed additionally (§ 43-2-848(b)), and a will or written agreement can vary the amount (§ 43-2-848(c)–(d)).
Ala. Code § 43-2-848(a) allows reasonable compensation subject to a ceiling of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s possession and control PLUS two and one-half percent (2.5%) of all disbursements. The ceiling therefore applies to receipts and disbursements, not to the whole estate value. Extraordinary services may be allowed additionally (§ 43-2-848(b)), and a will or written agreement can vary the amount (§ 43-2-848(c)–(d)). The relevant base is money received and paid out during administration.
180 days; Claims must be presented within six months after the grant of letters, OR within five months from the date of first publication of notice, whichever is the later to occur; claims not so presented and filed are forever barred (Ala. Code § 43-2-350). The six-month period runs from the grant of letters (appointment), so the modelled figure is 180 days from the grant, extended when the publication-based five-month period ends later.
Court-material note: Probate is heard in the county Probate Court. Filing fees for the grant of letters are a $45.00 statewide figure (§ 12-19-90) but § 12-19-90(d) expressly preserves local fee laws, so individual counties may add charges. Alabama publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit. The summary-distribution petition is filed with the Probate Court of the county of residence, and each probate court issues its own form, so the county court is the place to obtain it.
This registry does not establish a numeric Alabama ceiling from an accepted primary source. The safe next step is to follow the reason and source lane on this page, then ask the Probate Court for the current rule rather than importing a neighboring state\'s amount.
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Probate is heard in the county Probate Court. Filing fees for the grant of letters are a $45.00 statewide figure (§ 12-19-90) but § 12-19-90(d) expressly preserves local fee laws, so individual counties may add charges.
Alabama publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit. The summary-distribution petition is filed with the Probate Court of the county of residence, and each probate court issues its own form, so the county court is the place to obtain it.
Source trail
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: At least 30 days have elapsed since the notice of the filing of the petition was published as provided in subsection
What this means: Fetched via the ALISON GraphQL Section-by-displayId endpoint (returns clean JSON). Establishes the 30-day post-publication waiting period for summary distribution.