California Small Estate Affidavit Template: $208,850 Rule

Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property (California Probate Code §§ 13100–13106)

Small Estate Affidavit or Declaration Under Penalty of Perjury

[Give this to the bank or other holder of the property. Do not file it with the court. This is not a court form. If more than one person signs, change “the affiant or declarant” to “the affiants or declarants” throughout and change the verbs to match (“is” to “are”, “requests” to “request”, “affirms or declares” to “affirm or declare”). Delete this note.]

To: [Holder’s Name: bank, credit union, transfer agent, employer or other holder]
[Holder’s Address]
Re: [Account, Policy or Certificate No.]

1. Decedent

Name: [Decedent’s Full Legal Name, plus any other names on the accounts]
Date of death: [Date]
Place of death: [City, County, State]
Last California address: [Address]

2. Waiting Period

At least 40 days have elapsed since the death of the decedent, as shown in a certified copy of the decedent’s death certificate attached to this affidavit or declaration.

3. Probate Status (Check One)

• [ ] No proceeding is now being or has been conducted in California for administration of the decedent’s estate.

• [ ] The decedent’s personal representative has consented in writing to the payment, transfer, or delivery to the affiant or declarant of the property described in the affidavit or declaration. [Attach the consent and a copy of the court’s letters appointing the personal representative.]

4. Value of the Estate

The current gross fair market value of the decedent’s real and personal property in California, excluding the property described in Section 13050 of the California Probate Code and any property included in a petition filed under Section 13151 of the California Probate Code, does not exceed [check the amount for the date of death]:

• [ ] $208,850 (the decedent died on or after April 1, 2025)

• [ ] $184,500 (the decedent died on or after April 1, 2022, and before April 1, 2025)

• [ ] $166,250 (the decedent died before April 1, 2022)

5. Property to Be Paid, Delivered or Transferred

• [ ] Evidence of ownership is attached: [passbook / statement / stock certificate / title].

6. Successor(s)

7. Capacity (Check One)

• [ ] The affiant or declarant is the successor of the decedent (as defined in Section 13006 of the California Probate Code) to the decedent’s interest in the described property.

• [ ] The affiant or declarant is authorized under Section 13051 of the California Probate Code to act on behalf of the successor of the decedent (as defined in Section 13006 of the California Probate Code) with respect to the decedent’s interest in the described property. The affiant or declarant signs as [guardian / conservator / trustee / custodian named for the beneficiary under the decedent’s will (Uniform Transfers to Minors Act) / personal representative appointed in another state / attorney-in-fact under the successor’s durable power of attorney] for [Name of Successor].

8. No Superior Right

No other person has a superior right to the interest of the decedent in the described property.

9. Request

The affiant or declarant requests that the described property be paid, delivered, or transferred to the affiant or declarant.

Payment or transfer instructions: [Name of each payee, each payee’s share, and the receiving account for any transfer].

10. Real Property

• [ ] The decedent owned no real property in California.

• [ ] The decedent owned real property in California. An inventory and appraisal of that real property by [Name of Probate Referee], a probate referee appointed for [County] County, is attached.

[This affidavit cannot transfer the real property itself (Probate Code § 13115).]

11. Debt Secured by Real Property (Optional)

[Use only if you are collecting a debt owed to the decedent that is secured by a lien on real property, such as a promissory note and deed of trust. Otherwise delete this section.]

The debt is secured by a [deed of trust / mortgage] recorded on [Date] as [Instrument No. [Number] / Book [Number], Page [Number]] in the Official Records of [County] County, California. [This affidavit must carry a notary’s certificate of acknowledgment for each signer and be recorded with the county recorder in that county.]

12. Attachments

• [ ] Certified copy of the decedent’s death certificate (required)

• [ ] Judicial Council form DE-300, Rev. April 28, 2025 (required if the death was on or after April 1, 2022)

• [ ] The personal representative’s written consent and a copy of the court’s letters appointing the personal representative (if the second box in section 3 is checked)

• [ ] Inventory and appraisal of California real property by a probate referee, forms DE-160/DE-161 (if the decedent owned California real property)

• [ ] Evidence of ownership: passbook, statement, stock certificate or title (if available)

• [ ] Copy of photo ID [Many holders ask for a copy. A driver’s license, state ID or passport is reasonable proof of identity only if you sign in front of the holder. If you mail this affidavit, a copy of your ID is not enough; have it notarized (§ 13104).]

13. Declaration

The affiant or declarant affirms or declares under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

___________________________
[Printed Name of Affiant or Declarant]
Signed at [City, State] on [Date]

___________________________
[Printed Name of Co-Successor, if any]
Signed at [City, State] on [Date]

[Add a signature line for each co-successor.]

14. Notary Acknowledgment (If Needed)

[Not required by law. Required only if you use section 11. Strongly advised if you mail this affidavit instead of signing it in front of the holder. If notarized in California, the notary attaches the California all-purpose acknowledgment, which begins with the boxed notice: “A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document” (Civ. Code § 1189).]

15. For the Holder’s Use

Identity of each signer verified by: [ ] personally known [ ] identification document: [type, number, issuing state or country, expiration date].

Holder’s representative: [Name]
Date: [Date]

Before You Sign (Delete This Section)

• Count the estate first. Add up the gross value of everything the decedent owned in California in their own name, including real estate, without subtracting mortgages. Leave out joint-tenancy property, assets in a revocable trust, POD accounts, property passing to a surviving spouse, registered vehicles, numbered vessels and registered mobilehomes, Armed Forces pay, and up to $20,875 of final salary (deaths on or after April 1, 2025) (Probate Code § 13050). Real estate is appraised at its date-of-death value (§ 13052). The sworn statement speaks of the “current” value, so if assets have grown since the death, check that the total is still under the limit.

• Use the right amount. The date of death decides it: $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025. The court’s Self-Help Guide still shows $184,500.

• Every successor to the item signs. Under a will, every beneficiary who inherits that item; without a will, every heir entitled to it (§§ 13006, 13101(b)). If a co-heir refuses, this route will not work for that item. A guardian, conservator, trustee, custodian or the successor’s attorney-in-fact may sign for a successor (§ 13051). A power of attorney signed by the decedent ended at death.

• Not for the house or land (§ 13115). Use DE-305 (all California real property worth $69,625 or less for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, after six months) or a DE-310 petition (the primary residence, worth $750,000 or less for deaths from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2028, after 40 days).

• Vehicles go through DMV form REG 5 instead. The vehicle can be worth any amount, but the form asks you to confirm that 40 days have passed and that the rest of the estate is small.

• You take on the decedent’s debts, up to what you receive. You are personally liable for unsecured debts, including funeral and last-illness expenses, up to the value of what you collect (§ 13109). You are also liable to anyone with a better right to the property. Fraud means three times the value (§§ 13110–13111). Creditors must sue within one year after the death (Code Civ. Proc. § 366.2). Heirs and a later personal representative have three years to sue you, counted from when you present the affidavit or, if later, from when a fraud is discovered.

• No open probate. Do not use this affidavit if a probate case is pending or has been conducted in California, unless the personal representative consents in writing (§ 13108).

• Ask the holder first whether it has its own form or wants the affidavit notarized. A notary may charge up to $15 per signature (Gov. Code § 8211).

• This is not legal advice. Talk to a California probate attorney if anything is unclear.