Vermont Small Estate Affidavit and the $45,000 Limit

Vermont caps its simplified route at $45,000.00 in fair market value and requires the estate to be personal property only, so a house closes the door. The route is a real probate estate opened on a petition under 14 V.S.A. chapter 81, not a form you hand to a bank.

Based on 14 V.S.A. § 1901

By Settled Estate EditorialPublished: January 15, 2026Updated: May 31, 2026

Does Vermont Have a Small Estate Affidavit?

Yes and no, and the difference decides which paperwork you file. The route most people mean, 14 V.S.A. § 1901, is not an affidavit: it opens a real probate estate in the Probate Division of the Superior Court on a petition, an inventory, a bond and a death certificate, and it reaches only an estate with a fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 that consists entirely of personal property. Vermont does have a true affidavit route, V.R.P.P. Rule 80.3(g), effective January 1, 2026, which costs a flat $50.00 under 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) and qualifies on the character of the assets rather than on any dollar figure. A third simplification, waiver of administration under 14 V.S.A. § 1852, strips the inventory and the bond out of an ordinary estate when one person both inherits everything and serves as the fiduciary, at any estate size.

Do you qualify?

Qualifying threshold: $45,000.00 in fair market value, and the estate must consist entirely of personal property. Both tests come from 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a) and both have to be met; a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only real-property-flavoured asset the route allows.Two Vermont numbers sit close together and do different jobs. The $45,000.00 ceiling decides which PROCEDURE an estate uses. The eight bands in 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a) decide what it PAYS, and the whole small-estate range falls inside the first two of them, so a small estate costs $50.00 at or under $10,000.00 and $110.00 above that. One published divergence is worth knowing before you rely on a borderline figure: the Judiciary booklet describes the route as open where the estate is worth less than $45,000.00 while the statute says not more than $45,000.00. At exactly $45,000.00 the two readings part company and the statute controls.
Waiting period: None before filing. 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a) lists eight things to file and a waiting period is not one of them, so a Vermont small estate can be commenced as soon as the death certificate and the inventory are ready. The waiting happens afterwards. An interested party who has not consented in writing must be given notice and has 14 days from receiving it to object under § 1901(b), and claims that arose before the death are barred four months after the first publication of notice to creditors under § 1203(a)(1), or one year after the death where notice was never given.
Court filing fee: $50.00 where the estate is $10,000.00 or less and $110.00 from $10,000.01 up to the $45,000.00 ceiling. Those are the ordinary entry-fee bands in 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(1) and (2), because § 1901(a)(3) asks a small estate for "the filing fee" and creates no cheaper rate of its own. The amount is identical in all 14 probate districts, and 32 V.S.A. § 1434(b) charges nothing for the documents that open the estate, including the first two certificates of appointment and the letters. The separate affidavit procedure carries its own flat $50.00 charge under § 1434(a)(30). Checks are made out to Vermont Superior Court.
Attorney: Not typically neededNo statutory requirement, and the Judiciary publishes the small-estate forms for people filing without a lawyer. Counsel earns its cost where the estate looks insolvent, where the value sits close enough to $45,000.00 that conversion under § 1901(c) is a live risk, where a will is being questioned, or where an interested person will not consent
Real estate: Not covered by this procedureVermont real estate closes both simplified court routes, which is the single fact that decides most Vermont estates. 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a) requires an estate that consists entirely of personal property, with a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) as the one exception, and waiver of administration under § 1852(a)(3) requires that the decedent owned no real property in the State of Vermont. A $30,000.00 estate with a house in it goes to full administration. Vermont also has NO transfer-on-death deed. What it has is the Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act at 27 V.S.A. chapter 6, a Lady Bird deed recorded during life that leaves the owner free to sell or mortgage without the beneficiary joining, with an optional statutory form at § 660. Read 27 V.S.A. § 654(d) before assuming that deed is tax-free: an executed and recorded enhanced life estate deed IS subject to the Vermont property transfer tax under 32 V.S.A. chapter 231, the opposite of the answer in states that exempt a transfer-on-death deed. Recording goes to the TOWN clerk where the land lies at $15.00 a page under 32 V.S.A. § 1671(a)(6), because Vermont has no county registry of deeds.

Start the Free Probate Assessment

Main Requirements

Fair Market Value of Not More Than $45,000.00

14 V.S.A. § 1901(a) sets the ceiling and § 1901(c) fixes the measuring date by forcing conversion when the value of the estate at the time of death exceeded $45,000.00. Value the probate estate at date-of-death fair market value, the same measure 14 V.S.A. § 1051 uses for the inventory, and leave out anything that passes outside probate.

The Estate Consists Entirely of Personal Property

This is the test people miss. Vermont real property disqualifies the route regardless of value, and a time-share estate as defined by 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only real-property-flavoured asset § 1901(a) permits. Route off the asset test as carefully as off the dollar figure.

A Bond Without Surety in the Amount of the Estate

§ 1901(a)(7) makes the bond part of the opening filing and states its amount as the fair market value of the estate. Without surety means no premium, so this is a paperwork step rather than a cost. The Judiciary form is Small Estate Administration Bond 700-00020PESM.

Every Interested Person Consents, or Gets 14 Days to Object

Written consent from each interested person is the smooth path. Anyone who does not consent must be given notice and may file objections within 14 days of receiving it, and the court approves the appointment and any will without a hearing only if none are filed (§ 1901(b)).

The Estate Still Opens in Court and Still Pays the Band Fee

Vermont chapter 81 is a lighter administration, not an out-of-court shortcut. Letters issue, a fiduciary is appointed, and the entry fee is the ordinary 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a) band amount of $50.00 or $110.00. Anyone describing a Vermont small estate as a bank affidavit is describing another state.

Going Over the Line Later Means Converting, Not Starting Over

If the estate turns out to have been worth more than $45,000.00 at the date of death, § 1901(c) requires the fiduciary to petition to have it administered under the rules for larger estates, and the court grants that petition on finding the excess value and that all applicable fees have been paid. Converting costs the difference in the band fee, not a fresh case.

Available Small-Estate Options

Small Estate, 14 V.S.A. chapter 81 (Petition to Open Small Estate 700-00001SM)

Limit: Fair market value of not more than $45,000.00 AND an estate consisting entirely of personal property, with a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) the only exception
Real Estate: Not included
Timeline: Usually 6 to 12 months, floored by the four-month creditor window that runs from first publication. Letters run for one year and are extendable on motion
Typical Fee: $50.00 at or under $10,000.00 and $110.00 above that, the ordinary 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a) band fee. The bond is without surety, so no premium

Affidavit Procedure, V.R.P.P. Rule 80.3(g)

Limit: No dollar threshold appears in the rule. It reaches an estate consisting solely of one or more assets that may pass under the will or under the law of descent and survivors rights, on an affidavit filed with a death certificate and the will, attesting to notice or consent
Real Estate: Not included
Timeline: Usually 1 to 4 months, since the court may order the asset distributed once satisfied with the facts attested to
Typical Fee: $50.00 flat under 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30). Note the open citation split: the fee statute and the Judiciary fee page both say Rule 80.3(h) while the Supreme Court promulgation order prints the procedure at paragraph (g)

Waiver of Administration, 14 V.S.A. § 1852 (Motion to Waive Administration)

Limit: No dollar limit at any estate size. The moving party must be the sole beneficiary or sole heir, must be the sole fiduciary, and the decedent must have owned no real property in Vermont
Real Estate: Not included
Timeline: Usually 4 to 12 months, closing on an affidavit of administration under 14 V.S.A. § 1854
Typical Fee: No additional court fee. The estate pays only the ordinary banded entry fee, and the waiver order waives or discharges the bond

Full Administration, 14 V.S.A. chapter 80 (Petition to Open Decedent’s Estate)

Limit: No limit and no conditions. 14 V.S.A. § 1851 applies chapter 80 to all estates, testate and intestate, other than small estates administered under chapter 81. This is the route for any estate holding Vermont real property
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: Commonly 12 to 24 months: inventory within 60 days of appointment, notice to creditors, an account within one year of letters and annually until the estate is wholly settled
Typical Fee: $50.00 to $3,250.00 by the value of the estate under the eight bands in 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a), plus $85.00 for an annual account covering a period ending more than one year after the opening

Enhanced Life Estate Deed, 27 V.S.A. chapter 6 (optional form at § 660)

Limit: Planning done during life rather than a route after a death, and Vermont’s answer to the transfer-on-death deed it does not have. The owner records a deed that keeps full control, including the right to sell or mortgage without the beneficiary joining
Real Estate: Can be included
Timeline: The interest vests in the grantee at the death, subject to encumbrances of record, with nothing filed in the Probate Division
Typical Fee: Town clerk recording at $15.00 per page under 32 V.S.A. § 1671(a)(6), plus $15.00 for the property transfer return. 27 V.S.A. § 654(d) subjects the deed to the Vermont property transfer tax under 32 V.S.A. chapter 231

The debts affidavit and the bond are both sworn, and a small estate is not a shield

Two of the eight things 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a) asks for put the fiduciary personally on the line. The affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and other known or reasonably ascertainable debts is sworn, and the bond, though without surety, is still a bond in the full fair market value of the estate. Paying a claim before the four-month window closes without requiring the payee to give adequate security for a refund makes the fiduciary individually liable to any other allowed claimant the payment injures (14 V.S.A. § 1207(b)), and an estate that cannot pay everyone has to go back to the court for an order of dividend under § 1903(a)(1) rather than settling privately. Where the court has excused notice to creditors under § 1201(a), distributed assets remain subject to claims later established. Talk to a Vermont probate attorney where the debts approach the assets, where the value sits near the $45,000.00 line, or where an interested person will not consent.

Step-by-Step Process

Test the Assets as Well as the Money

A Vermont small estate has to clear two separate gates in 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a): a fair market value of not more than $45,000.00, and an estate that consists entirely of personal property. Bank accounts, vehicles, investment accounts and personal belongings count. Vermont real estate disqualifies the route no matter how small the estate is, and a time-share estate under 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only exception written into the section. Anything that passes by survivorship, by beneficiary designation or by a pay-on-death or transfer-on-death account is outside the probate estate and does not count toward the $45,000.00.

Assemble the Eight Filings § 1901(a) Requires

The section is a checklist: a petition to open a probate estate, a list of interested persons, the filing fee, an original death certificate, an inventory of the estate including estimates available at the time of filing, an affidavit of paid and outstanding funeral expenses and other known or reasonably ascertainable debts, a bond without surety in the amount of the fair market value of the estate, and the will if there is one. The Judiciary publishes each piece as a statewide form: Petition to Open Small Estate 700-00001SM, List of Interested Persons for Estates 700-0002E, Inventory Schedule 700-00030, Affidavit of Paid and Outstanding Funeral Expenses and Debts for Small Estate 700-00402, and Small Estate Administration Bond 700-00020PESM.

File in the Probate Division for the County Where the Decedent Lived

The filing goes to the Probate Division of the Superior Court for that county, with a fee of $50.00 at or under $10,000.00 and $110.00 above it. The bond is without surety, so it costs no premium. Ask for extra certifications of appointment when you file: the first two and the letters are free under 32 V.S.A. § 1434(b) and each one after that is $5.00 under § 1434(c), which is cheaper than discovering that four institutions each want their own.

Give Notice and Let the 14-Day Objection Window Run

An interested party who does not consent in writing must be given notice of the petition and of the pending fiduciary appointment, and may file objections within 14 days after receiving it (14 V.S.A. § 1901(b)). If nobody objects, the court approves the appointment and any will offered without further notice or hearing. Written consents from everyone shorten this step to nothing, which is why the list of interested persons is worth getting right the first time.

Confirm the Inventory Within 60 Days of Letters

A small estate files its inventory WITH the petition rather than afterwards, and 14 V.S.A. § 1902(b) then gives the fiduciary 60 days after the issuance of letters to confirm, correct or supplement it. Letters in a small estate run for one year, and the court may extend that on motion for good cause, so an estate that stalls needs a motion rather than silence.

Pay the Debts, Then Close on the Report of Fiduciary

Funeral expenses, expenses of administration and valid debts come before any distribution. A small estate then closes on a sworn statement of the payments made, without a further accounting (14 V.S.A. § 1903), filed as Report of Fiduciary of Small Estate 700-00055. If the money will not stretch, § 1903(a)(1) requires the fiduciary to apply to the court for an order of dividend rather than settling with creditors directly, and paying a claim early without security for a refund exposes the fiduciary personally under § 1207(b).

County Note: A Vermont estate is filed in the Probate Division of the Superior Court for the county where the decedent lived. 4 V.S.A. § 272(a) puts one probate district in each county, designated by the name of the county, and each district elects its own probate judge, so 14 districts serve 14 counties. The court name carries no word County in it, as in the Addison Probate Division, and Vermont has had no county probate court since February 1, 2011, when 2009 Act 154 collapsed 18 districts into 14. A source that lists 18 predates that change. The money does not move with the district: 32 V.S.A. § 1434 sets the entry fee statewide, the forms are the statewide 700-000NN series, and checks are written to Vermont Superior Court. Two costs near an estate genuinely are local. Newspaper publication of the notice to creditors is priced by the newspaper and by no Vermont statute, and land records are municipal, so a deed goes to the town clerk under 24 V.S.A. § 1154(a) rather than to any county office.

FAQ: Vermont Small Estate Options

Does Vermont have a small estate affidavit?

Vermont has two different things people call by that name, and only one of them is an affidavit. The $45,000.00 route in 14 V.S.A. § 1901 is a real probate estate opened on a petition, an inventory, a bond and a death certificate, so it is a simplified administration rather than a form handed to a bank. The genuine affidavit route is V.R.P.P. Rule 80.3(g), effective January 1, 2026, where an interested person pays the small-estate entry fee and files an affidavit with a death certificate and the will, attesting to the matters the rule requires and to notice or consent, and the court may then order the asset distributed. The rule states no dollar threshold at all; do not read the $45,000.00 figure into it.

What is the Vermont small estate limit?

$45,000.00 in fair market value, and the estate has to consist entirely of personal property, both under 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a). A time-share estate as defined by 32 V.S.A. § 3619(a) is the only real-property-flavoured asset allowed inside that ceiling. The figure has stood since July 1, 2019, when 2019 Act 36 rewrote chapter 81 and raised it from $10,000.00, and it is not indexed to inflation. Anything published before mid-2019 states the old number.

How much does a Vermont small estate cost to file?

The same as an ordinary estate of that size: $50.00 where the value is $10,000.00 or less and $110.00 above that up to the ceiling, from the bands in 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(1) and (2). Vermont writes no discount for a small estate. § 1901(a)(3) requires only "the filing fee", and because the whole $45,000.00 range sits inside the first two bands the amount lands on one of those two figures. What the route saves is process, not money: no surety premium on the bond, and no further accounting at the end.

Can a Vermont small estate include a house?

No. 14 V.S.A. § 1901(a) requires an estate that consists entirely of personal property, and waiver of administration under § 1852(a)(3) separately requires that the decedent owned no real property in Vermont, so real estate closes both simplified routes at any value. An estate with Vermont land in it uses full administration. Owners who want the house to skip probate altogether use the Enhanced Life Estate Deed Act at 27 V.S.A. chapter 6 during life, remembering that § 654(d) makes such a deed subject to the Vermont property transfer tax.

What is waiver of administration in Vermont?

It is the other simplification, and it turns on who inherits rather than on how much there is. Under 14 V.S.A. § 1852 the moving party has to be the sole beneficiary under the will or the sole heir on an intestacy, be the sole fiduciary, and the decedent has to have owned no real property in Vermont. The motion is made under oath and can be filed with the petition to open the estate or any time before an accounting is due. Granting it waives the inventory, waives or discharges the bond, and dispenses with further filings except the closing affidavit of administration. There is no dollar cap and no extra court fee.

How long does a Vermont small estate take?

Usually six to twelve months. The floor is the creditor window rather than the paperwork: claims that arose before the death are barred four months after the first publication of notice to creditors under 14 V.S.A. § 1203(a)(1). Letters in a small estate run for one year and the court may extend them on motion for good cause. The 14-day objection window under § 1901(b) sits at the front, and disappears entirely where every interested person has consented in writing.

Official Forms, Sources, and VerificationOfficial references used for this page

§ 1901. Commencement of small estateVermont General Assembly (Vermont Statutes Online). Current official statute text, accessed August 4, 2026.
§ 1902. Letters of administration, small estates, noticeVermont General Assembly (Vermont Statutes Online). Current official statute text, accessed August 4, 2026.
§ 1852. Motion for waiver of administration; orderVermont General Assembly (Vermont Statutes Online). Current official statute text, accessed August 4, 2026.
§ 1434. Probate casesVermont General Assembly (Vermont Statutes Online). Current official statute text, accessed August 4, 2026.
Order Promulgating Emergency Amendment to Rule 80.3(g) of the Vermont Rules of Probate ProcedureVermont Supreme Court, published by the Vermont Judiciary. Promulgated October 6, 2025, effective January 1, 2026, accessed August 4, 2026.
Probate Division FeesVermont Judiciary. Current published fee schedule, accessed August 4, 2026.

Information current as of May 31, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Vermont can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.