Kansas Small Estate Affidavit

Kansas lets a successor collect a dead person's personal property on a signed affidavit, with no court case, no waiting period and no filing fee. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) opens the route when "the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value." Read that sentence twice, because it measures one thing and moves another. The $75,000 test counts the whole probate estate, a house included, while the affidavit itself transfers only "any personal property of whatever nature."

Almost every page that ranks for this question states the rule as personal property of $75,000 or less. That wording tells a Kansas family who owns a home they qualify when they do not. This page describes how the statute reads rather than how it applies to one estate, so confirm your own figures with the district court clerk in the county where the decedent lived, or with a licensed Kansas attorney, before acting on any of it.

The $75,000 Counts the House. The Affidavit Cannot Move It.

Take a Kansas resident who dies owning a $60,000 house in their own name and $30,000 in a checking account, with no beneficiary named on either. Most summaries of this rule say the family qualifies, because the personal property comes to $30,000. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) says otherwise. The measure is the total assets of the estate subject to probate, which is $90,000, so the route is closed.

Now shrink the house to $30,000. The estate is $60,000, under the line, and the affidavit works on the bank account. It still does nothing for the house, because the section transfers personal property and real estate is not personal property. The family needs a second route for the land, and this page lists the four that Kansas offers.

A second Kansas agency states the measure the same way. The Department of Revenue's form TR-83b, which its own forms library lists under the flat title "Claim of Heir Affidavit", prints its heading as "SMALL ESTATES AFFIDAVIT, TRANSFERRING CERTAIN PERSONAL PROPERTY IN ESTATES UNDER $75,000 PURSUANT TO K.S.A. 59-1507b", and its affiant swears the decedent died "leaving a probate estate not exceeding $75,000 in value." A probate estate, not a pile of personal property.

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Every Condition the Section Sets

K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) and (c) impose four conditions and they all have to hold at once. There is no alternative branch, no years-since-death shortcut, and no way to pass by satisfying one condition in place of another.

Condition	The statute's own words	Can it be worked out from the facts?
Kansas residence	"When a resident of the state dies"	Yes, from where the decedent lived at death
The $75,000 measure	"the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value"	Yes, once every probate asset is valued
Who may claim	A "successor": a person entitled to the property by will or by intestate succession, or a person nominated as personal representative under the will	Yes, from the will and the family tree
What may move	"any personal property of whatever nature transferable to the decedent's estate by any entity or person"	Yes, by asset class. Real estate sits outside it

Two further conditions belong to somebody else, and no page can settle either one for you:

Whether the holder accepts your affidavit. K.S.A. 59-1507b(b) makes an affidavit sufficient "if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council." The bank, employer or transfer agent decides whether yours is. Start from the Kansas Judicial Council's own form, "Small Estates Affidavit (02-2024)", rather than a version bought from a form vendor.
Which figure governs a death in mid-2023. The limit was $40,000 until the legislature moved it, and the act that moved it states no transition rule for its dollar amounts. The section below sets out what the act does and does not say.

Who Signs, and Who Receives It

The affidavit never reaches a judge. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) transfers the property "upon such successor furnishing the entity or person with an affidavit showing entitlement thereto", so it goes straight to the bank, the credit union, the employer, the transfer agent or the county treasurer's office holding the item. Nothing is docketed, which is why the K.S.A. 59-104 fee table carries no charge for it.

A will does not close this route. The section opens "When a resident of the state dies, whether testate or intestate", and subsection (c) defines a successor to include a person entitled by will, a person entitled by intestate succession, and a person nominated as personal representative under the decedent's will. All three can sign. Kansas parts company with states that limit their affidavit to estates with no will.

The holder is protected once it pays. Under K.S.A. 59-1507b(b) the transfer counts as a transfer to the personal representative of the decedent, and the successor's receipt is a full discharge and release from any further claim to the same extent as if the property had gone to an executor or administrator.

The Second $75,000 Is a Different Route, Not a Higher Tier

Kansas prints $75,000 twice in its probate code, and the two figures belong to different instruments. K.S.A. 59-2287 lets the district court, in its discretion, refuse to grant letters at all. It has two independent grounds.

Subsection (a)(1) applies when the value of the decedent's real or personal property is no greater than what the law allows as exempt property plus the allowance to the surviving spouse or minor children under K.S.A. 59-403. No dollar figure sits in this ground. The allowance itself is a ceiling: K.S.A. 59-403(b) permits "a reasonable allowance of not more than $75,000 in money or other personal or real property at its appraised value", with the exact amount determined and ordered by the court after taking the condition of the estate into account.

Subsection (a)(2) applies when the real and personal estate does not exceed $75,000, the K.S.A. 59-403 allowances either do not apply or are waived, and an heir, devisee, legatee, creditor or other interested person petitions and gives bond "in the sum of not less than the value of the estate." That bond binds the petitioner to pay the decedent's debts in order of preference so far as the assets allow, and to distribute the balance to whoever is entitled under the law.

	K.S.A. 59-1507b affidavit	K.S.A. 59-2287 refusal of letters
What is measured	Total assets subject to probate	The real and personal estate
Who decides	The bank, employer or other holder	A district judge, in the court's discretion
What comes out of it	A transfer of personal property	An order that no letters issue, then an order terminating the administration
Bond	None	Required on the (a)(2) ground, at not less than the value of the estate
Court fee	None, because no case opens	$48.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1)

Two consequences of the court route are worth knowing before choosing it. Under subsection (a)(2), real estate sold in accordance with the section is deemed to have marketable title as ordered by the court, and no creditor, heir or other person is deemed to have an interest after six months from the date of death. Under subsection (e), a will filed in the proceeding within six months of the death may be admitted to probate after that six-month period runs out.

Why Both Kansas Figures Are $75,000

They moved together in one bill. 2023 House Bill 2130, published as L. 2023, ch. 77 and approved April 24, 2023, raised nine Kansas probate dollar amounts at once. Section 7 struck $40,000 out of K.S.A. 59-1507b and inserted $75,000. Section 11 took K.S.A. 59-2287 from $50,000 to $75,000. Section 1 took the K.S.A. 59-403 allowance from $50,000 to $75,000. The match is a drafting decision inside a single act, not a ladder of tiers within one procedure.

The act says nothing about which deaths its new figures reach. Its only applicability clause covers transfer-on-death deeds filed of record on or after July 1, 2023, and it makes no equivalent statement for any dollar amount. If the death fell near the middle of 2023, ask the district court clerk or a Kansas attorney which limit applies before relying on $75,000. L. 2024, ch. 35, sec. 2 later rewrote K.S.A. 59-1507b into its present (a), (b) and (c) and widened the definition of successor, leaving the number where the 2023 act had put it.

What to Do About the House

Because the affidavit reaches personal property only, Kansas real estate needs one of the following instead.

A determination of descent. K.S.A. 59-2250 lets any person interested in the estate petition the district court once the decedent has been dead more than six months, provided no will was filed under K.S.A. 59-618a within six months of the death, no petition to probate a will has been filed in Kansas, and no petition for administration has been filed or administration has run without a determination of descent. K.S.A. 59-2251 then has the court assign the property to the persons entitled at the time of the decedent's death under the intestate succession law that was in force on the date of death, or under a valid settlement agreement. The docket fee is $49.50 under K.S.A. 59-104(a)(1).
Refusal to grant letters under K.S.A. 59-2287, described above, which produces a court order and, on the (a)(2) ground, marketable title for real estate sold under it.
A transfer-on-death deed, if the decedent recorded one while alive. K.S.A. 59-3501 has allowed an interest in Kansas real estate to be titled in transfer-on-death form since 1997, and the deed transfers ownership at the owner's death. It has to be recorded before the death to work.
Survivorship title or a trust, if the property was put into joint tenancy with right of survivorship or into a trust during life.
An ordinary administration, which is where an estate lands when none of the above fits.

The Narrower $10,000 Affidavit for Benefits

K.S.A. 59-1507a is a smaller and separate affidavit that readers routinely mistake for the $75,000 one. It reaches only a monthly benefit the decedent was entitled to at death under title II of the social security act, a veterans administration program, or a public or private retirement or annuity plan. It caps the payment at $10,000. It cannot be used until 180 days or more after the death. It runs to a fixed list in a stated order of preference: the surviving spouse, then children or the descendants of deceased children, then a parent, then a sibling. The affidavit has to show the date of death, the affiant's relationship to the decedent, that no executor or administrator has qualified or been appointed, and that no relative of a closer degree of kindred exists.

Costs, and the Clock That Runs Whether or Not You File

The affidavit costs nothing at the courthouse. Where a court route is needed and money is short, K.S.A. 59-2215 lets the court remit court costs or any part of them when the total assets of a decedent's estate do not exceed $10,000 in value. K.S.A. 59-2214 taxes costs against the estate unless doing so would be unjust and inequitable, and lets a claimant in a contested demand give security for costs or file a poverty affidavit in place of it.

One Kansas clock runs whether or not anyone opens a case, and it bears on the choice to use an affidavit. K.S.A. 59-2239(1) says no creditor holds any claim against or lien upon the decedent's property, other than a lien existing at the date of death, unless a petition to probate the will or for administration is filed within six months after the death and that creditor exhibits the demand in the manner and time the section prescribes. Do not read it as a reason to wait. Other deadlines run in the same window, and the affidavit route has no waiting period of its own to serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the small estate limit in Kansas?

$75,000, and it measures more than most summaries admit. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) opens the route when the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value. That counts a house that is subject to probate. What the affidavit then transfers is any personal property of whatever nature, which cannot reach real estate at all. So the statute measures the whole probate estate and moves only part of it. The figure was $40,000 until L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 7 raised it.

Does a Kansas small estates affidavit cover real estate?

No. K.S.A. 59-1507b transfers any personal property of whatever nature transferable to the decedent's estate by any entity or person, and Kansas real estate is not personal property. A house still counts toward the $75,000 test if it is subject to probate, so it can close the route without ever being movable by it. Land needs a determination of descent under K.S.A. 59-2250, a refusal of letters under K.S.A. 59-2287, a transfer-on-death deed recorded before the death under K.S.A. 59-3501, survivorship title, a trust, or an ordinary administration.

Can you use a Kansas small estates affidavit if there is a will?

Yes. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) opens with the words when a resident of the state dies, whether testate or intestate, so a will does not close the route. Subsection (c) defines a successor as a person entitled to the property by will or by intestate succession, or a person nominated as personal representative under the decedent's will. All three of those people can sign. Kansas differs from states that restrict their affidavit to intestate estates.

Do you have to wait before using a Kansas small estates affidavit?

No. K.S.A. 59-1507b sets no waiting period, so a successor can furnish the affidavit as soon as the death certificate and the asset figures are in hand. The narrower benefits affidavit is the one with a wait. K.S.A. 59-1507a cannot be used until 180 days or more after the death, and it caps the payment at $10,000. A determination of descent under K.S.A. 59-2250 has its own wait: the decedent must have been dead more than six months.

Where do you file a Kansas small estates affidavit?

Nowhere. K.S.A. 59-1507b(a) transfers the property upon the successor furnishing the entity or person holding it with an affidavit showing entitlement, so it goes to the bank, credit union, employer, transfer agent or county treasurer rather than to a judge. No case is docketed and the K.S.A. 59-104 docket-fee table charges nothing for it. K.S.A. 59-1507b(b) makes the affidavit sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set by the judicial council, which publishes Small Estates Affidavit (02-2024).

What is the difference between a Kansas small estates affidavit and refusal to grant letters?

They are different instruments that happen to share a number. K.S.A. 59-1507b measures the assets subject to probate, moves personal property, and is decided by whoever holds the property. K.S.A. 59-2287 measures the real and personal estate, is decided by a district judge in the court's discretion, produces an order that no letters issue, and on its $75,000 ground requires the petitioner to give bond of not less than the value of the estate. Both figures reached $75,000 in the same 2023 act, which is why they match.

This page describes Kansas law broadly rather than advising on one estate. Confirm every date and dollar figure with the district court clerk in the county where the decedent lived, or with a licensed Kansas attorney, before you act on it.

Sources:

Title: K.S.A. 59-1507b, Transfer of certain personal property to successor; discharge and release; affidavit. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2024, ch. 35, sec. 2; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_015_0007b.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-1507a, Payment of certain benefits to certain relatives; discharge and release; affidavit. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 6; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_015_0007a.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-2287, Refusal to grant letters of administration; order; notice; termination of administration. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 11; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0087.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-403, Allowance to spouse and minor children. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 1; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_004_0003.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-2250, Proceedings to determine descent. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1987, ch. 211, sec. 2; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0050.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-2251, Decree of descent. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2010, ch. 44, sec. 23; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0051.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-2239, Claims against estate; time for filing; when barred. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2004, ch. 73, sec. 2; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0039.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-2214, Taxation of costs and security therefor; poverty affidavit. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1976, ch. 242, sec. 32; January 10, 1977; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0014.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-2215, Remission of court costs in estates under $10,000 in value. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2023, ch. 77, sec. 9; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_022_0015.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-104, Docket fee; authorized only by legislative enactment; poverty affidavit; additional court costs. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 2019, ch. 58, sec. 18; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_001_0004.html
Title: K.S.A. 59-3501, Real estate; transfer-on-death. Publisher: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Publication Date: L. 1997, ch. 176, sec. 1; July 1; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch59/059_035_0001.html
Title: 2023 Kan. Sess. Laws ch. 77 (HB 2130), secs. 1, 6, 7, 9 and 11, raising the Kansas probate code dollar amounts. Publisher: Kansas Secretary of State, Session Laws of Kansas. Publication Date: Approved April 24, 2023; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://sos.ks.gov/publications/sessionlaws/2023/Chapter-77-HB-2130.html
Title: Small Estates Affidavit, K.S.A. 59-1507b, form revision 02-2024. Publisher: Kansas Judicial Council. Publication Date: Not listed; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.kjc.ks.gov/legal-forms/small-estates-affidavit-k-s-a-59-1507b
Title: Form TR-83b, Small Estates Affidavit, Transferring Certain Personal Property in Estates Under $75,000 Pursuant to K.S.A. 59-1507b. Publisher: Kansas Department of Revenue, Division of Vehicles. Publication Date: Not listed; accessed 2026-09-08. URL: https://www.ksrevenue.gov/pdf/tr83b.pdf

It is not legal advice.