Virginia route screening
The entire personal probate estate must not exceed $75,000, and no personal representative application may be pending or granted.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
Where the limit comes from
$75,000 is the limit in Va. Code § 64.2-601 as it read on October 3, 2026; confirm it with the probate court before you file.
Controlling citation: Va. Code § 64.2-601, Code of Virginia, Small Asset Affidavit (Virginia General Assembly; Section history through 2026, c. 40).
1. That the value of the decedent's entire personal probate estate as of the date of the decedent's death, wherever located, does not exceed $75,000; 2. That at least 60 days have elapsed since the decedent's death;
| Procedure | Small asset affidavit |
|---|---|
| What counts | Personal property only; real property is outside this route |
| Value basis | Gross value; liens are not subtracted |
| Waiting period | 60 days after death |
The Virginia caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Virginia overview.
What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.
Va. Code § 64.2-601(A) obliges whoever holds a small asset to pay or deliver it to “the designated successor of the decedent” once shown an affidavit “made by all of the known successors.” One heir cannot sign for the family. The affidavit lists the names and addresses of all successors so far as they are known, and names the single successor designated to receive the asset on behalf of all of them.
The sworn statements are the eligibility test. The decedent’s “entire personal probate estate as of the date of the decedent’s death, wherever located,” does not exceed $75,000; at least 60 days have passed since the death; no application to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted “in any jurisdiction”; and any will “was duly probated.” The claiming successor also states the basis of the entitlement, and the affidavit must be “on a form prepared by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia.”
Collecting makes the designated successor a fiduciary. The affidavit states that this person “shall have a fiduciary duty to safeguard and promptly pay or deliver the small asset as required by the laws of the Commonwealth,” and subsection B lists how that duty is met for a successor who is a minor or incapacitated: payment to a conservator or, failing one, a guardian; to a custodian under the Virginia Uniform Transfers to Minors Act or a custodial trustee; to an adult relative or other person caring for the successor; or by managing it as a separate fund the successor may still draw on.
The same affidavit also reaches securities and uncashed instruments. Subsection D makes a transfer agent re-register a security from the decedent to the designated successor on surrender of any certificates, and subsection E lets the designated successor endorse or negotiate a check, draft or other negotiable instrument payable to the decedent or the estate, with the accepting financial institution discharged for the amount it takes.
Source: Va. Code § 64.2-601 (payment or delivery of small asset by affidavit), as amended through 2026, c. 40, read from the enacting state’s own official publication on 2026-10-13. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Code of Virginia, Small Asset Affidavit
1. That the value of the decedent's entire personal probate estate as of the date of the decedent's death, wherever located, does not exceed $75,000; 2. That at least 60 days have elapsed since the decedent's death;
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Virginia source list · how sources are checked · report a correction