Coverage grows by verification, not page count
Small-estate limits and probate costs in 9 states
These 9 jurisdictions have complete primary-source records: a simplified procedure, a court-cost rule, and an executor compensation rule, each quoted from the statute and re-checked against the publishing government body.
The comparison
Filing costs below are the lowest statutory total each state produces when the amount the charge is assessed on is $100,000. In most states that is the estate’s value, but not in all of them: North Carolina assesses personal property plus the proceeds of real property that is sold and excludes real property that is kept, so a $100,000 estate that keeps its house is assessed on far less and pays far less. Use each state’s cost page, or the navigator, to price a real case.
These are court charges only. Publication, bond premiums, certified copies, county surcharges and professional fees are excluded, and no statute prices them.
| State | Simplified procedure | Limit | Counted how | Wait | Court cost at the reference amount | Executor pay | Statewide form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | Summary administration | $150,000 | All probate propertyGross, less exempt property | None stated | $344 | Percentage schedule | No |
| Ohio | Release from administration | $35,000$100,000 with spouse as sole heir | All probate propertyGross value | None stated | Set locally | Percentage schedule | Yes |
| North Carolina | Affidavit for collection of personal property | $20,000$30,000 with spouse as sole heir | Personal property onlyAfter liens | 30 days | $520 | Ceiling, court sets amount | Yes |
| Virginia | Small asset affidavit | $75,000 | Personal property onlyGross value | 60 days | $25 | Reasonable compensation | No |
| Washington | Successor affidavit | $100,000 | All probate propertyAfter liens | 40 days | $290 | Reasonable compensation | No |
| Arizona | Affidavit for collection of personal property | $200,000 | Personal property onlyAfter liens | 30 days | $149 | Reasonable compensation | No |
| Missouri | Small estate affidavit | $40,000 | All probate propertyAfter liens | 30 days | Not publishedStatutory baseline superseded by court rule | Percentage schedule | No |
| Nevada | Set aside without administration | $150,000 | All probate propertyAfter liens | 30 days | $72 | Percentage schedule | Yes |
| Nebraska | Affidavit for collection of personal property | $100,000 | Personal property onlyAfter liens | 30 days | $22 | Reasonable compensation | Yes |
How to read this table
The limit is not the estate’s value
Every state measures a different thing. Some count only personal property and ignore real estate entirely; some count all probate property. Some measure gross value; some subtract liens and encumbrances first. Two estates with identical net worth can land on opposite sides of the same threshold because of how the property is titled.
Personal property only states in this table exclude solely-owned real property from the count, which means a house does not push the estate over the limit — but it also means the affidavit will not transfer the house. That is a separate proceeding.
The waiting period runs from the date of death
Where a state states a waiting period, it is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented until it has run. Two states in this table state no universal waiting period for the route modelled, which is recorded as “none stated” rather than as zero days, because the statute’s silence is not the same as a stated absence.
Court cost is the smallest part of the bill
7 of 9 states publish a computable statutory schedule, so the figures above are exact for the reference estate. What they exclude is usually larger: newspaper publication for creditor notice, a bond premium if no waiver applies, certified copies, recording fees for real property, and any professional help. This site does not estimate those, because no statute sets them.
Executor compensation is a ceiling or a schedule, not a promise
4 of 9 states publish a percentage schedule. The rest apply a reasonable-compensation standard, where a court or a commissioner of accounts decides the amount. Even in schedule states the number is a presumption or a minimum that a court can adjust, and a will can override it. A calculator can tell you what the schedule produces; it cannot tell you what a judge will approve.
A statewide form is not guaranteed
4 of 9 states publish a statewide small-estate form. In the others the affidavit is a county-clerk artifact or is defined by the statute’s own required contents. Each state page states which situation applies rather than linking an arbitrary county’s packet.
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.
Why only 9 states
A state is published when three separate rules have been located in primary sources, quoted verbatim, and confirmed present in the live government text: the simplified-procedure statute, the court-cost statute, and the compensation statute. States where any of the three is set by court rule, by county schedule, or by material this site has not verified are not published, because a partial record invites a reader to assume the missing part is settled.
Coverage expands when sources are verified, not when pages are generated. The source ledger shows every record and its verification status, and the methodology describes what qualifies as a primary source.