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Alaska Probate Types: Informal, Formal and Small Estates

Alaska sorts its routes by whether anyone disputes the estate and by what the estate holds. One affidavit skips court entirely, and a small estate inside an informal probate can close without notice to creditors.

Compare eligibility, timing, court involvement, and local verification points

How to Compare Alaska Probate Types

One court hears every Alaska estate. Probate is a Superior Court case, filed at a court location in the judicial district where the person who died lived, and the state has four judicial districts. Alaska has no borough or local probate court: its 30 boroughs and census areas only tell a family which court locations serve them. Informal applications are decided by a registrar, and Probate Rule 2(a) makes a standing master in probate the registrar; a superior court judge hears formal proceedings.

The four routes fall into two groups. Three run inside a court case: informal probate and appointment with no hearing in the usual case (AS 13.16.080), formal testacy and appointment proceedings decided after notice and a hearing (AS 13.16.145), and the small-estate closing by sworn statement (AS 13.16.690 and AS 13.16.695, form P-350), which is a type of informal probate. One never reaches a court: the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property under AS 13.16.680 (form P-110), which has two separate caps, $100,000 for registered vehicles and $50,000 for all other personal property, and which any probate real property closes.

Cost does not scale with the estate. Opening a formal or informal estate costs a flat $250 in every judicial district under Alaska R. Admin. 9(b)(2)(A), with no surcharge and no further court fee once the case is open except for copies and certification. The affidavit carries no court fee because it is never filed. Alaska charges no probate tax, and the Court System says Alaska has not collected a state estate tax since 2005.

Simplified Path vs Formal Path at a Glance

Who decides

Tie

Simplified Path: A registrar (a standing master in probate), on an application with no hearing in the usual case

Formal Path: A superior court judge, on a petition, after notice and a hearing

Cost to open

Tie

Simplified Path: $250 in every judicial district

Formal Path: $250 in every judicial district

Earliest start

Simplified Path

Simplified Path: 5 days after death for an Alaska resident; 30 days for most non-residents

Formal Path: After notice at least 14 days before the hearing, which takes longer

Notice before acting

Formal Path

Simplified Path: No hearing notice in the usual case; form P-340 to heirs and devisees within 30 days after appointment

Formal Path: To each interested person at least 14 days before the hearing

Creditor window

Tie

Simplified Path: Four months from first publication, then 60 days to act on each claim

Formal Path: The same four months and 60 days

Earliest closing

Simplified Path

Simplified Path: Six months after the first publication, or at once for a small estate closed by sworn statement

Formal Path: The same six-month floor after first publication

Best fit

Tie

Simplified Path: An agreed family, a will nobody challenges, and one obvious person to appoint

Formal Path: A contested will, competing applicants, or a family that wants a court order

Main Alaska Probate Options

Informal Probate and Informal Appointment

AS 13.16.080

An uncontested estate that needs a personal representative, including one with a home or land

Threshold: No dollar threshold. The ordinary route when everyone agrees who should serve and whether there is a valid will.

Filing Fee: $250, the same in every judicial district (Alaska R. Admin. 9(b)(2)(A))

Timeline: No earlier than six months after the first published notice to creditors, the closing floor the Court System states. Claims are barred four months after first publication, and the personal representative then has 60 days to act on each claim

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement

Formal Testacy and Appointment Proceedings

AS 13.16.145

A contested will, competing applicants for appointment, or a family that wants a court order

Threshold: No dollar threshold. Used where the will or the choice of personal representative is disputed, or other issues are contested.

Filing Fee: $250, the same fee as informal probate

Timeline: Longer than informal probate because of the notice period and hearing, and the same six-month closing floor after first publication applies

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement, and rare without one because the proceeding is contested

Small Estate Closing by Sworn Statement

AS 13.16.690 and AS 13.16.695

A modest estate, with or without a home, that the allowances, funeral and last-illness costs would use up anyway

Threshold: No dollar figure. After the inventory, the estate less liens and debts must not exceed the homestead allowance (up to $27,000), the family allowance, exempt property (up to $10,000), costs of administration, reasonable funeral expenses and reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last illness.

Filing Fee: $250, the informal probate filing fee; the closing statement carries no separate fee

Timeline: Faster than an ordinary estate, because no four-month creditor period has to run before distribution

Real Estate: Yes

Attorney: No statutory requirement

Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property

AS 13.16.680

An estate of accounts, the Permanent Fund Dividend, vehicles and belongings with no home or land in the probate estate

Threshold: Two separate caps, both after subtracting liens and encumbrances: registered vehicles (AS 28.10.011) up to $100,000 in total, and all other personal property up to $50,000. The entire estate, wherever located, must consist only of those, so any real property that would go through probate closes the route.

Filing Fee: $0. It is never filed with the court

Timeline: Usable 30 days after the death

Real Estate: No. Real property passing through probate disqualifies the affidavit at any value

Attorney: No

* Alaska probate court fees are set statewide by the Alaska Supreme Court in Administrative Rule 9, not by statute, so every judicial district and court location charges the same. Opening an estate, formal or informal, costs $250 under Rule 9(b)(2)(A); the Court System fee table lists Probate of Estates at $250 under its Effective 5/1/2023 column. The small-estate closing runs inside an informal probate opened with that $250, and the affidavit carries no court fee because it is never filed. A person who cannot afford the fee can file form TF-920, Request for Exemption from Payment of Fees.

Unfamiliar terms in the comparison? The Alaska probate glossary defines them in plain language.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main Alaska probate types?
Informal probate and appointment (AS 13.16.080), formal testacy and appointment proceedings decided after notice and a hearing (AS 13.16.145), and the small-estate closing by sworn statement (AS 13.16.690 and AS 13.16.695), which runs inside an informal probate. Beside them sits the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property (AS 13.16.680), which never reaches a court and is capped at $100,000 for registered vehicles and $50,000 for all other personal property.
Which court handles probate in Alaska?
The Superior Court. Every Court System probate form is captioned "In the Superior Court for the State of Alaska", and the case is filed at a court location in the judicial district where the person who died lived. Alaska has four judicial districts and no borough or local probate court. A standing master in probate serves as registrar for informal matters (Alaska R. Prob. P. 2(a)), and a superior court judge hears formal proceedings.
What is the difference between informal and formal probate in Alaska?
Whether anyone disagrees. Informal probate is the ordinary route when the family agrees who should serve and whether there is a valid will, and the registrar decides the application without a hearing in the usual case. Formal probate is used when there is disagreement about the will or the personal representative, and it requires notice to interested persons at least 14 days before a hearing. Both cost $250 to open, so the choice turns on whether anything is in dispute, not on price.
How soon can an Alaska probate start?
For an Alaska resident, the court will not appoint a personal representative until 5 days after the death. For a non-resident it waits 30 days, or 5 days if the will says Alaska law applies or the applicant was already appointed in another state. The Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property cannot be used until 30 days after the death.
Is publishing a notice to creditors required in Alaska?
In an ordinary estate, yes. The personal representative publishes form P-341 once a week for three weeks in a row in a newspaper commonly read in the judicial district, and creditors must present claims within four months after the first publication or be barred (AS 13.16.450). The personal representative also mails or delivers notice to creditors known or reasonably findable. A small estate closed by sworn statement under AS 13.16.690 and AS 13.16.695 needs no notice to creditors. Three years from the death is the outer limit the Court System states for claims, including those of a known creditor who was never sent notice.
What happens after creditors present claims in Alaska?
After the four-month period, the personal representative has 60 more days to allow or disallow each claim, and a claim not disallowed within those 60 days is allowed. A claimant whose claim is disallowed must petition the court or sue within 60 days after the notice of disallowance is mailed (AS 13.16.465, form P-345). The estate cannot close until at least six months after the first publication.
Does an Alaska personal representative have to prepare an inventory?
Yes. The inventory is due within three months of appointment (AS 13.16.365). It also decides whether the small-estate closing is available: if the inventory shows the estate, less liens and debts, is within the allowances, administration costs, funeral expenses and last-illness costs, the personal representative may distribute at once and close with form P-350.
Can a will be probated in Alaska after three years?
Only in limited ways. The Court System says an estate is generally opened within three years of the death. After that, the options that remain are a determination of heirs, a limited testacy proceeding, or a personal representative with very limited powers.
Does Alaska have estate tax?
Alaska does not collect one. The Court System says that as of 2005 Alaska no longer collects a state estate tax, and there is no probate tax beyond the flat $250 court fee. A federal estate tax return (Form 706), if required, is due nine months after the death.
How is an Alaska personal representative paid?
By a reasonable fee, with no percentage schedule. Alaska R. Prob. P. 7.1 says a personal representative's fee "shall be reasonable" and lists what the court may consider, including the time and labor required, how involved the estate is, the skill required, the personal liability involved, and whether more than one person or a corporate fiduciary serves.
Does a house always need probate in Alaska?
No. Real property held by spouses as tenants by the entirety passes automatically to the survivor, and property covered by a transfer on death deed recorded before the owner's death passes to the named beneficiaries without probate (AS 13.48.010-13.48.190, form P-150). Any other home or land that has to pass through probate rules out the affidavit and needs an informal or formal probate.

Important: Alaska has no counties, and picking a borough or census area picks a courthouse and nothing else. Every estate is a Superior Court case filed at a court location in the judicial district where the person lived, the $250 fee is the same in all four judicial districts, and no borough runs a probate court. What is local is the court location that takes the filing (several rural locations, such as Nome, Utqiagvik, Kotzebue, Unalakleet and Bethel, accept probate filings by email), the Recorder's Office recording district for a deed, and the newspaper commonly read in the judicial district that prints a notice to creditors.

Legal Authority: AS 13.16.080 (informal probate or appointment), AS 13.16.145 (formal testacy or appointment), AS 13.06.110 (notice), AS 13.16.360 (information to heirs and devisees), AS 13.16.365 (inventory), AS 13.16.450 (notice to creditors), AS 13.16.465 and AS 13.16.475 (presentation and disallowance of claims), AS 13.16.680 and AS 13.16.685 (affidavit for collection of personal property), AS 13.16.690 and AS 13.16.695 (closing a small estate by sworn statement), AS 13.12.401-13.12.405 (allowances and exempt property, as cited in Probate Rule 7(f)), AS 13.48.010-13.48.190 (transfer on death deeds), Alaska R. Prob. P. 2(a) (registrar) and 7.1 (personal representative fee), and Alaska R. Admin. 9(b)(2) (court fees). Statute sections are cited as Alaska Court System forms and self-help pages print or reproduce them.. Last Verified: September 2026.

SourcesOfficial references used for this page

This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for attorney review. Laws and fees may change. Verify current requirements with your local court clerk before filing.

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