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Small estates in Alabama (2026)

Alabama has no small-estate affidavit. Small estates use Petition for summary distribution of a small estate (Revised Alabama Small Estates Act). Last checked .

Alabama at a glance

Affidavit cap
No affidavit
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Petition for summary distribution of a small estate (Revised Alabama Small Estates Act)

Can you use it?

Enter the date of death and the value. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Not with the affidavit

  • Alabama has no small-estate affidavit. Small estates use Petition for summary distribution of a small estate (Revised Alabama Small Estates Act) — see the Alabama page.

This is a first check, not legal advice. The cap counts only probate property (the state page says what that includes); debts, a pending probate case or an heir's dispute can change the answer. If you are unsure, ask the court's self-help center or a legal aid office.

The rules in Alabama

  • The affidavit. Alabama has no affidavit an heir can hand to a bank without going to court. Small estates go through a short summary-distribution case in the probate court, and the judge's order is what banks and other holders accept.
  • Conditions. Summary distribution requires that: no petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or granted; funeral expenses and all claims are paid or arranged; the decedent owned no real property; and the decedent left no minor child who is not also the surviving spouse's child. The petitioner must publish notice and send notice to the Medicaid Agency. A will can be used only if it is self-proved and is filed with the petition.
  • Who can sign. Anyone entitled to a share of the small estate, or someone authorized to act for them, can file the petition. After homestead, exempt-property and family allowances, the estate goes to the surviving spouse. If there is no spouse, it goes to the heirs named in a self-proved will, or to the intestate heirs.
  • Court filing. File a verified petition with the probate judge in the county where the decedent lived. No bond is required. The petitioner pays newspaper publication costs directly. The official sources checked do not give a statewide filing fee.

Houses, land and vehicles

  • Real estate. The summary procedure is only for people who owned no real property when they died. Land needs regular probate administration unless it passed automatically, for example by survivorship.
  • Vehicles. If no estate is opened, the next of kin can retitle a solely owned vehicle using the Department of Revenue's Next of Kin Affidavit (MVT 5-6) plus a death certificate, filed through a county designated agent.

When the affidavit isn't enough

This is the main no-administration route. The probate court orders distribution without appointing a personal representative, and holders must honor the order. The cap (the 'small estate amount') equals the combined maximum homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance as adjusted by the State Treasurer. The Treasurer's July 1, 2023 amounts are homestead $18,800, family allowance $18,800 and personal property exemption $9,400; its July 1, 2026 amounts ($20,475, $20,475, $10,225) apply to exemptions claimed on or after 2027-04-01. No official source prints a single combined figure. Act 2025-431 took effect 2025-10-01.

Good to know in Alabama

  • The small-estate cap is defined by statute (Ala. Code 43-2-696.02) as the combined homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance. The Treasurer publishes only the three adjusted amounts (2023: $18,800 / $9,400 / $18,800; 2026: $20,475 / $10,225 / $20,475), not a single combined figure.
  • The amounts are indexed by the date the exemption is claimed, not the date of death. The Treasurer says adjusted amounts apply to exemptions claimed on or after April 1 following each July 1 adjustment, so the 2026 amounts apply from 2027-04-01.
  • Act 2025-431 (effective 2025-10-01) rewrote the Small Estates Act. Older guides citing the pre-2025 rules or other dollar figures are out of date.
  • Act 2025-431 numbered the cap section 43-2-698 and the fraud section 43-2-697; the Code of Alabama codifies them as 43-2-696.02 and 43-2-696.01. The probate judge's summary-distribution order is final and conclusive (43-2-693(b)).
  • The petitioner must mail notice to the Alabama Medicaid Agency (Estate Notice Office) by certified mail and file proof with the court. Medicaid has 30 days to file a claim or waiver.
  • Mobile County Probate Court says its staff cannot give legal advice or provide forms.

Official help and forms

Sources

Legal information, not legal advice. Caps and forms change — confirm with the court or the statute before you sign. How we check: methodology.

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