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Alabama timeline

Alabama probate timeline: the 30-day wait and creditor deadlines

The simplified route starts 30 days after death.

That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Alabama they are set out below against the event each one runs from.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

The one date this page can source

The summary distribution of small estate (ala. code §§ 43-2-690 to 43-2-692) route requires 30 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.

At least 30 days have elapsed since the notice of the filing of the petition was published as provided in subsectionAla. Code § 43-2-692 — Alabama Legislature (Code of Alabama 1975); (Acts 1975, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 145, §3; Act 2009-399, p. 724, §1; Act 2025-431,.

Creditor deadlines

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.

within six months after the grant of letters, or within five months from the date of the first publication of notice, whichever is the later to occurAla. Code § 43-2-350 — Alabama Legislature (Code of Alabama 1975); Acts 1989, No. 89-811, p. 1618, §3.).

Do not distribute property, and do not pay non-priority debts, until the claim position is settled. Distributing early is the mistake that most often becomes personal.

The Alabama creditor period is left unstated here for the same reason, and the risk of guessing it is higher

Alabama’s claim provisions are in Title 43, Chapter 2. They could not be read on the date below: the state’s code site returns a script-driven application shell, and the two third-party mirrors tried returned HTTP 403 and HTTP 410 respectively — one refusing automated access, the other reporting the document permanently gone.

A creditor deadline is the single most consequential figure on this site to get wrong, because it is the only one where acting on a stale number destroys a right rather than costing money. A fee quoted too low is corrected at the counter. A claim presented after the bar is gone.

The states whose text this site could read show how wide the spread is, and therefore how little a neighbour predicts. Delaware runs eight months from the death and does not require notice to have been published; North Dakota runs three months from publication and mailing together, with a three-year fallback if neither happened; Massachusetts runs one year from the date of death with a service requirement attached; Illinois names no period at all and defers to the date printed on the notice, backstopped at two years. An Alabama figure inferred from any of these would have no better than a one-in-four claim to being right.

Anyone working to an Alabama deadline should take it from the probate court handling the estate, or from counsel reading the current chapter, rather than from any page — including this one — that could not open the statute.

Authority that would settle this: Code of Alabama, tit. 43, ch. 2 (presentation of claims). The access attempt described above was made on 2026-09-17. Nothing is quoted from it, because nothing could be read from it; a figure restated from a secondary summary would look like a sourced answer without being one.

Alabama timeline decision map

What must be established before the Alabama clock matters

The Alabama waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.

QuestionRecorded Alabama answerCarry 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 verifiedUse 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.

Clock ledger

Do not compress the Alabama deadlines into one date

The registry records one Alabama creditor period: 180 days. It runs from the event described in the linked rule, not automatically from the date the estate was opened. Keep that trigger and the citation with the calendar entry.

Case-file context

Keep the Alabama answer with its neighboring conditions

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.

Route context

Alabama offers summary distribution of a small estate (Ala. Code §§ 43-2-690 to 43-2-692) for personal-property-only estates whose value does not exceed a CPI-indexed "small estate amount" (§ 43-2-691), heard in the county Probate Court. The statewide grant-of-letters fee is $45.00, executor compensation is capped at 2.5% of receipts plus 2.5% of disbursements, and creditor claims run six months from the grant of letters (or five months from first publication, whichever is later).

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.

Cost context

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.

Compensation context

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.

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.

No numeric shortcut is available for Alabama

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

Calendar the verified gate, preserve the unresolved questions, and confirm the county filing path before distributing property.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

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

Records used by this Alabama map

The general sequence

The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.

What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Alabama periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.

Use this as a starting point.

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.

Continue in Alabama