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Iowa route screening

Iowa small-estate limit: $200,000

Iowa Code 635.1 permits small-estate administration when the gross value of the probate assets of a decedent subject to Iowa jurisdiction does not exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). The clerk issues letters of appointment to the proposed personal representative; chapter 633 applies except as chapter 635 provides. Section 635.7 measures the cap on the gross value of probate assets and auto-converts the estate to full chapter 633 administration if that value exceeds the 635.1 cap. The count is gross probate assets (real and personal), not net of debts.

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

Threshold evidence and currency

What the reviewed source establishes

Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.

Controlling citation: Iowa Code 635.1 (2026) — Iowa Code 2026, Section 635.1.

Verbatim threshold text from that source:

When the gross value of the probate assets of a decedent subject to the jurisdiction of this state does not exceed two hundred thousand dollars

The Iowa route also has a separate petition and court-form handoff. Read what to open and prepare before filing.

1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

Iowa estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededCourt costs in a decedent's estate (ch. 633 or ch. 635)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensation$0Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the Iowa amount screen counts

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 screen counts the probate estate within the statute’s stated scope, not merely cash accounts. Solely owned real property can therefore affect the amount test. That does not necessarily mean the same simplified procedure transfers the house; counting scope and transfer authority are separate questions.

The reviewed value basis is gross for this route. The tool does not subtract a mortgage or other lien from the amount test unless the cited rule says to do so.

Timing and facts the threshold cannot answer

No waiting-period number is published because it has not been verified to the same primary-source standard as the threshold.

What does not qualify for this route

  • An estate above $200,000 does not qualify for this value-based route, unless the separately described alternate route applies.
  • Property that transfers by survivorship, beneficiary designation, or a funded trust is not probate property for this screen.
  • A pending or completed personal-representative appointment, a will condition, creditor issue, or family-rights condition can disqualify the route even when the amount appears within the reviewed rule.

Move from the screen to the official Iowa path

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.

Iowa probate is handled in the District Court; there is no separate probate court.

Iowa court costs are a statewide statutory percentage (0.2%) rather than a county-set flat fee - unusually uniform across the state.

If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the District Court (Probate) or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.

Questions to resolve before relying on “likely qualifies”

  • 633.31(3)(a) is a percentage of probate-inventory value, so the app must treat the Iowa filing/court cost as value-dependent (tiered/per-value), never as a flat fee.
  • The 633.197 commission base is gross probate-inventory assets excluding non-estate-payable life insurance; do not apply the schedule to a net or all-asset figure.
  • Confirm deed, account title, beneficiary, and trust ownership from the actual records.
  • Confirm whether a will, prior appointment, creditor issue, or family allowance changes the route.
  • Confirm the official form, fee, copy count, and filing method with the receiving court or institution.
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.

Iowa eligibility map

What the Iowa simplified route still requires

The Iowa 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.

QuestionRecorded Iowa answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Administration of small estates (Iowa Code ch. 635)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$200,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; Iowa's general nonclaim bar (Iowa Code 633.410(1)) runs to the later of two separately-triggered deadlines: four months after the date of the second publication of the notice to creditors, or one month after service of notice by ordinary mail to a reasonably ascertainable claimant. Medical-assistance (Medicaid estate-recovery) claims have a separate six-month bar from electronic notice (633.410(2)). Because the operative bar is the later of two triggers and cannot be reduced to one honest day count, it is left unknown and the triggers are itemized in deadlineFramework.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the District Court (Probate) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court. The relevant base is gross probate property.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Eligibility inputs

The Iowa screen is made of these 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.

InputRegistry record
Threshold$200,000
Property scopeprobate property within the rule's stated scope
Value basisgross value for this route
Waiting periodNo waiting-period number verified
Required extra factsNone listed in the registry

Case-file context

Keep the Iowa 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 Iowa descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Cost context

Iowa levies a statewide statutory probate court cost equal to two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) of the value of the probate assets listed in the report and inventory (Iowa Code 633.31(3)(a)), applied to estates administered under chapter 633 or chapter 635. Costs are not charged on non-probate assets (joint-tenancy property, lifetime transfers, life insurance/annuities/IRAs/retirement/TOD/POD payable to non-estate beneficiaries, and out-of-state real estate). Fixed clerk charges also apply (e.g., $15 probate of will without administration).

1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Compensation context

Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court.

Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court. The relevant base is gross probate property.

Deadline context

Iowa's general nonclaim bar (Iowa Code 633.410(1)) runs to the later of two separately-triggered deadlines: four months after the date of the second publication of the notice to creditors, or one month after service of notice by ordinary mail to a reasonably ascertainable claimant. Medical-assistance (Medicaid estate-recovery) claims have a separate six-month bar from electronic notice (633.410(2)). Because the operative bar is the later of two triggers and cannot be reduced to one honest day count, it is left unknown and the triggers are itemized in deadlineFramework.

  • 633.31(3)(a) is a percentage of probate-inventory value, so the app must treat the Iowa filing/court cost as value-dependent (tiered/per-value), never as a flat fee.
  • The 633.197 commission base is gross probate-inventory assets excluding non-estate-payable life insurance; do not apply the schedule to a net or all-asset figure.

Court-material note: Iowa probate is handled in the District Court; there is no separate probate court. Iowa court costs are a statewide statutory percentage (0.2%) rather than a county-set flat fee - unusually uniform across the state.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Iowa amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Iowa ceiling is $200,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $150,000 sits below the Iowa figure and $250,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Iowa counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Iowa ceilingWhat it does not decide
$150,000Below $200,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$250,000Above $200,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Use the calculator for arithmetic, then verify title, timing, and the receiving court's form.

  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

Iowa probate is handled in the District Court; there is no separate probate court.

Iowa court costs are a statewide statutory percentage (0.2%) rather than a county-set flat fee - unusually uniform across the state.

Source trail

Records used by this Iowa map

Controlling source

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

Continue in Iowa