Small-estate route calculator

How the small-estate result is decided

The calculator does not compare your total net worth to a limit. It first sorts each asset by how it transfers, then counts only what the state’s statute says to count, then applies the threshold and the waiting period as separate conditions.

1. Classify by transfer mechanism. Property with an effective right of survivorship, a living named beneficiary, or genuine trust ownership normally passes outside probate and is excluded before any threshold is applied. Property whose ownership you have not confirmed is not guessed at: it is held aside and the result is reported as indeterminate.
2. Apply the statutory scope. 28 of the 50 published states count personal property only, which means solely-owned real property neither counts toward the limit nor transfers under the procedure.
3. Apply the statutory value basis. 23 states measure value after liens and encumbrances; the rest measure gross value. A financed vehicle can decide eligibility on its own depending on which rule applies.
4. Test the threshold and the wait separately. Where a state states both, both must be satisfied. Some states also publish an independent route that ignores value entirely — Florida allows summary administration once the decedent has been dead for more than two years, whatever the estate is worth — so a failed value test does not always end the enquiry. A state that states no universal waiting period is reported as “none stated” rather than as zero days, because silence in a statute is not a stated permission.

Why a result can come back indeterminate

An indeterminate result is a real answer, not a failure. It appears when an asset’s ownership is unconfirmed, when a state measures value after exemptions this tool does not model, or when the controlling figure has not been verified. In each case the missing fact changes the outcome, so producing a confident yes or no would be misleading.

What this tool deliberately does not do

• It does not decide eligibility. It reports how the published scope, value basis, threshold and waiting period apply to what you entered; the court or the receiving institution decides whether the affidavit is accepted.
• It does not confirm title. Survivorship, beneficiary designations and trust ownership are taken as you state them, and an unconfirmed asset is held aside rather than assumed.
• It does not model exemptions, allowances or homestead set-asides that some states subtract before the threshold is tested.
• It does not draft or file the affidavit, and it does not identify which institution will accept it.
• It does not decide who inherits. Intestate succession shares and will construction are outside its scope.
• It does not price attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, appraisals, or property sale costs.
• It does not calculate estate, inheritance, income, or capital-gains tax.
• It does not transfer real property, and it does not advise on deeds or title.
• It does not resolve creditor claims, family allowances, elective shares, or contested proceedings.