Cost context
The statutory filing fee is $100 for a statement of voluntary administration and $375 for formal or informal probate/appointment.
2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total.
Massachusetts route screening
Massachusetts small-estate limit: $25,000
After 30 days, an interested person may file a voluntary-administration statement when the Massachusetts domiciliary left only personal property and the non-motor-vehicle personal property does not exceed $25,000. A prior petition for appointment disqualifies the route; one motor vehicle may be included outside that $25,000 wording.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Threshold evidence and currency
What the reviewed source establishes
Currency: 2026 session-law supersession remains manual because the publisher exposes no section history.
Controlling citation: G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201 — Publisher edition or amendment label not stated; verified September 15, 2026.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
If a person domiciled in the commonwealth dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value, any interested person
What the Massachusetts 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 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 $25,000. Open the deed and the receiving court’s real-property instructions before assuming the simplified procedure resolves the whole estate.
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
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.
What does not qualify for this route
- An estate above $25,000 does not qualify for this value-based route, unless the separately described alternate route applies.
- Real property is outside this route’s scope; the affidavit or statement does not transfer a house or other real estate.
- Filing before 30 days have elapsed from death fails the reviewed timing condition.
- 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 Massachusetts 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.
- Probate and Family Court forms for wills, estates, and trusts — Massachusetts Court System
- Probate and Family Court locations — Massachusetts Court System
Massachusetts publishes statewide probate forms, a court fee page, and a statewide court-location directory.
If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Probate and Family Court 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”
- 2026 session-law supersession remains manual because the publisher exposes no section history.
- The $25,000 wording excludes or separately treats a motor vehicle; the current asset model has no motor-vehicle flag.
- 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.
Massachusetts sets a low ceiling but does not count the car against it
Massachusetts is not a $100,000 state. Under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201 the route is open where a person domiciled in the Commonwealth dies “leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value.”
The drafting there is easy to misread and worth reading twice. The $25,000 limit applies to the other personal property; a motor vehicle the decedent owned may be included in the estate without being counted toward the ceiling. An estate consisting of a car and $24,000 in a bank account is inside the rule, whatever the car is worth. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, so a single parcel of real estate takes the route away no matter how small the rest of the estate is.
The person who acts is called a voluntary personal representative rather than an executor, and Massachusetts names an unusual class of applicants. Where the decedent was, at death, receiving services from the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Developmental Services or the Division of Medical Assistance, any person that agency designates to act as voluntary personal representative may file. The filing is a sworn or affirmed statement on a form prescribed by the court, made after thirty days from death, and only where no petition for appointment of a personal representative has been filed in the county where the decedent resided.
Source: M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Massachusetts eligibility map
What the Massachusetts simplified route still requires
The Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Voluntary administration / collection of personal property by affidavit | 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 for this route. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $25,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; Section 3-803 states a general one-year-from-death action limit but also contains exceptions and equitable relief; § 3-801 is reserved. It cannot honestly be collapsed into publication, actual-notice, appointment, and outer-limit deadlines as one number. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | 2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total. | Ask the Probate and Family Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying when no compensation contract exists; the statute states no percentage base or extraordinary-services schedule. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Eligibility inputs
The Massachusetts 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.
| Input | Registry record |
|---|---|
| Threshold | $25,000 |
| Property scope | personal probate property only |
| Value basis | gross value for this route |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
| Required extra facts | None listed in the registry |
Case-file context
Keep the Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Compensation context
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying when no compensation contract exists; the statute states no percentage base or extraordinary-services schedule.
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying when no compensation contract exists; the statute states no percentage base or extraordinary-services schedule. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Deadline context
Section 3-803 states a general one-year-from-death action limit but also contains exceptions and equitable relief; § 3-801 is reserved. It cannot honestly be collapsed into publication, actual-notice, appointment, and outer-limit deadlines as one number.
- 2026 session-law supersession remains manual because the publisher exposes no section history.
- The $25,000 wording excludes or separately treats a motor vehicle; the current asset model has no motor-vehicle flag.
Court-material note: Massachusetts publishes statewide probate forms, a court fee page, and a statewide court-location directory.
Arithmetic illustration
See the Massachusetts amount screen without mistaking it for a result
The recorded Massachusetts ceiling is $25,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $18,800 sits below the Massachusetts figure and $31,300 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 Massachusetts counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Massachusetts ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $18,800 | Below $25,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $31,300 | Above $25,000 | Whether 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.
- Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
- Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
- Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
- Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.
Official material
- Probate and Family Court forms for wills, estates, and trustsMassachusetts Court System
- Probate and Family Court filing feesMassachusetts Court System
- Probate and Family Court locationsMassachusetts Court System
Massachusetts publishes statewide probate forms, a court fee page, and a statewide court-location directory.
Source trail
Records used by this Massachusetts map
- G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201Massachusetts General Laws, Voluntary Administration; reviewed August 9, 2026
- G.L. c. 262, § 40Massachusetts General Laws, Probate and Family Court Fees; reviewed August 9, 2026
- G.L. c. 190B, § 3-719Massachusetts General Laws, Personal Representative Compensation; reviewed August 9, 2026
- G.L. c. 190B, § 3-803Massachusetts General Laws, Limitations on Presentation of Claims; reviewed August 9, 2026
Controlling source
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201
Reviewed source note: If a person domiciled in the commonwealth dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value, any interested person