Route context
Virginia permits successors to collect a qualifying personal probate estate by affidavit after 60 days.
The entire personal probate estate must not exceed $75,000, and no personal representative application may be pending or granted.
Virginia timeline
Virginia probate timeline: the 60-day wait and creditor deadlines
The simplified route starts 60 days after death.
That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Virginia they are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
The one date this page can source
The small asset affidavit route requires 60 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.
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;Va. Code § 64.2-601 — Virginia General Assembly; Section history through 2026, c. 40.
Creditor deadlines
Virginia does not run one creditor clock. Separate periods start from separate events, and the date that actually bars a claim is the one the applicable period produces. They are listed here against the event that starts each, because a period attached to the wrong starting event is how a deadline gets missed by weeks.
- From publication of notice to creditors
- Upon qualification the personal representative may publish notice to creditors once a week for two consecutive weeks, and the published notice must require every claim to be presented on or before at least six months from the date of first publication (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(B), (C)(4)).
- From actual notice to a known creditor
- A person the personal representative personally delivers or mails a copy of the notice to must present the claim by the later of the six-month publication date or 90 days after that copy is mailed or delivered (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4)).
How these combine. Virginia does not set a single claim-bar date. Publishing notice is optional; when the personal representative does publish, the notice must state a presentation deadline that is the LATER of at least six months from first publication or, for a person mailed or delivered a copy, 90 days after that copy is sent (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4)). The effect of the deadline is not to extinguish a late claim but to cap the personal representative's and surety's liability for it to the estate assets still on hand when payment is demanded (§ 64.2-508.1(F)). No separate universal nonclaim period runs from appointment or from the date of death.
4. A statement that all persons having a claim against the decedent shall present such claim to the personal representative in the manner specified in this section on or before the later of (i) at least six months from the date of the first publication of the notice or (ii) 90 days after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers a copy of the notice as published to the claimant; andVa. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4) — Virginia General Assembly; Section history through 2026, c. 382.
Publishing notice starts a period after which most claims are barred. Missing a required notice can extend the estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. Confirm the dates that apply to this estate with the Circuit Court before relying on them, because a specific case can carry deadlines these general provisions do not reach.
Virginia timeline decision map
What must be established before the Virginia clock matters
The Virginia waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.
| Question | Recorded Virginia answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Small asset 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? | $75,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 60 days after death; When a Virginia personal representative publishes notice to creditors, claims must be presented by the later of six months from first publication or 90 days after actual notice is mailed to a known disputed claimant (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1). The publication and actual-notice clocks run from different events, so they are stated separately, and Virginia fixes no single nonclaim bar running from death. | 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 Circuit Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Virginia uses a reasonable-compensation standard rather than a fixed statutory percentage. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Clock ledger
Do not compress the Virginia deadlines into one date
The Virginia record names separate triggers. The description beside each trigger is the source-bound statement to carry into the estate calendar; the interaction rule explains which period controls when more than one applies.
| Clock starts with | Recorded period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Publication of notice | Upon qualification the personal representative may publish notice to creditors once a week for two consecutive weeks, and the published notice must require every claim to be presented on or before at least six months from the date of first publication (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(B), (C)(4)). | Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4) |
| Actual notice to a known creditor | A person the personal representative personally delivers or mails a copy of the notice to must present the claim by the later of the six-month publication date or 90 days after that copy is mailed or delivered (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4)). (90 days) | Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4) |
How the periods combine: Virginia does not set a single claim-bar date. Publishing notice is optional; when the personal representative does publish, the notice must state a presentation deadline that is the LATER of at least six months from first publication or, for a person mailed or delivered a copy, 90 days after that copy is sent (Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4)). The effect of the deadline is not to extinguish a late claim but to cap the personal representative's and surety's liability for it to the estate assets still on hand when payment is demanded (§ 64.2-508.1(F)). No separate universal nonclaim period runs from appointment or from the date of death.
Case-file context
Keep the Virginia 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 Virginia 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
Qualifying a personal representative costs nothing at $5,000 or less, then $20, $25, or $30 by estate value. Separately, Virginia levies a state probate tax of 10¢ per $100 of estate value (Va. Code § 58.1-1712), with no tax on estates of $15,000 or less, and a locality may add an optional tax equal to one-third of the state tax (Va. Code § 58.1-3805).
1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.
Compensation context
Virginia uses a reasonable-compensation standard rather than a fixed statutory percentage.
Virginia uses a reasonable-compensation standard rather than a fixed statutory percentage. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Court-material note: The small-asset affidavit is prescribed by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia and is reached through the self-help centre. Virginia's probate tax is two separate charges: a state tax of 10¢ per $100 of estate value (Va. Code § 58.1-1712, none at or below $15,000) and an optional local add-on equal to one-third of the state tax (Va. Code § 58.1-3805). Both are separate from the clerk's appointment fee.
Arithmetic illustration
See the Virginia amount screen without mistaking it for a result
The recorded Virginia ceiling is $75,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $56,300 sits below the Virginia figure and $93,800 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 Virginia counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Virginia ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $56,300 | Below $75,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $93,800 | Above $75,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Calendar the verified gate, preserve the unresolved questions, and confirm the county filing path before distributing property.
- 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 in Virginia, self-help centreSupreme Court of Virginia
The small-asset affidavit is prescribed by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia and is reached through the self-help centre.
Virginia's probate tax is two separate charges: a state tax of 10¢ per $100 of estate value (Va. Code § 58.1-1712, none at or below $15,000) and an optional local add-on equal to one-third of the state tax (Va. Code § 58.1-3805). Both are separate from the clerk's appointment fee.
Source trail
Records used by this Virginia map
- Va. Code § 64.2-601Code of Virginia, Small Asset Affidavit; reviewed August 7, 2026
- Va. Code § 17.1-275(A)(3)Code of Virginia, Clerk Fees; reviewed August 7, 2026
- Va. Code § 64.2-1208(A)Code of Virginia, Fiduciary Compensation; reviewed August 7, 2026
- Va. Code § 58.1-1712Code of Virginia, State Probate Tax; reviewed August 7, 2026
- Va. Code § 58.1-3805Code of Virginia, Optional Local Probate Tax; reviewed August 7, 2026
- Va. Code § 64.2-508.1(C)(4)Code of Virginia, Notice to Creditors for Presentation of Claims; reviewed August 7, 2026
The general sequence
The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.
What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Virginia periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.
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.