Small-Estate Affidavit Procedure by US State (2026): 35 of 51 Jurisdictions Verified

Procedure-layer dataset for settling a small estate without full probate in the United States: the instrument used (affidavit, court petition, or both tracks), the waiting period after death, whether the instrument is filed with a court or presented directly to the asset holder, whether it can transfer real estate, and whether a free official state form was verified on a government or official court domain. Coverage is 35 of 51 US jurisdictions. Every row is sourced to a state statute or official court publication with the operative language quoted in the source record, and a confidence column is retained. The 16 jurisdictions that could not be verified are named in the README and are excluded rather than estimated; their absence indicates non-verification, not the absence of a procedure. Candidate form URLs on commercial form-selling hosts were dropped rather than published as official state forms. Compiled by Clear Money Guide. Not legal advice; procedure is state law and changes.