Small Estates in Alabama: Summary distribution under the Small Estates Act

Alabama small estate rules at a glance

Can you use it?

You can generally use the Alabama shortcut when all of these are true:

• The probate estate is $47,000 or less (personal property only; the amount equals Alabama's three family allowances combined, for claims from April 2024 through March 2027).
• Timing: the court acts 30 days after notice of the petition is published.
• No one has been appointed, or applied to be appointed, executor or administrator.
• Real estate: no. It is only for someone who owned no real property at death.

Other Alabama rules

• Act 2025-431, effective October 1, 2025, tied the small estate amount to the homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance, so it rises when those are adjusted for inflation.
• If the person received Medicaid, the court waits for Medicaid to respond before ordering distribution.

How the Alabama procedure works

1. Add up the probate estate. List what the person owned in their name alone, with no beneficiary or surviving joint owner, at its value on the date of death.
2. Check the timing. The court acts 30 days after notice of the petition is published.
3. Get the paperwork. Ask the probate court clerk in the county where the person lived for the current form.
4. Sign it under oath, usually before a notary, listing each person entitled to the property and their share.
5. File it. Sworn petition in the county probate court. Once the court accepts it, banks and other holders release the property.
6. Pay debts and distribute. Pay the funeral and valid debts, then distribute under the will or Alabama's intestacy law. If you take more than your share, the other heirs and creditors can come after you for it.

The person's final income tax return is still due by April 15 of the year after the death. See the final tax returns guide, and Form 1310 to claim a refund without an executor.

A car title moves through the state's motor vehicle office, which has its own forms: see how to transfer a car title after death.

If the estate is over the limit

Then the estate goes through probate: the court appoints an executor, who gets letters testamentary (or letters of administration when there is no will) and settles the estate. Alabama's court and forms are in the probate forms by state table. In Alabama, creditors have this long to claim: 6 months after letters testamentary or of administration are granted. See how long probate takes in Alabama.

Use the probate cost calculator to estimate the court, attorney and executor fees.

Alabama taxes on a small estate

Alabama has no estate or inheritance tax, so a small estate owes no state death tax. See Alabama estate tax for the rules heirs still meet, such as income tax on an inherited IRA.

Small estate affidavits in other states

Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

Or compare them all in the 50-state table.

Related guides

• Letters testamentary: how executors get them, by state
• What is probate? How it works, step by step
• How long does probate take? Timeline by state
• Probate cost calculator: fees by state
• Probate court forms by state
• Transfer a car title after death, by state
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies
• Form 1310: claiming a deceased person's tax refund