North Dakota Small Estate Affidavit

The affidavit lane (section 30.1-23-01)

Chapter 30.1-23 holds five sections. Section 30.1-23-01 is the collection by affidavit section. The remaining sections carry the titles stated below, and their full texts were not re-read for this guide. See the Source section.

Section 30.1-23-01 states four matters only. Thirty days after death, a person indebted to the decedent or holding tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action shall pay or deliver to the claiming successor on presentation of an affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor stating: the value of the entire estate subject to distribution or succession under chapters 30.1-01 through 30.1-23, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000; 30 days have elapsed since death; an application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is not pending or has not been granted in any jurisdiction; and the claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery of the property. Subsection 2 states that a transfer agent of any security shall change registered ownership on the books of a corporation or limited liability company to the successor on presentation of the affidavit.

Absences are findings, not gaps. Section 23-01 states no notarization, no oath wording, no death certificate attachment, no prescribed form, no bond, no creditor notice, no filing, no real property exclusion, no will or intestacy entitlement route, and no completed probate bar. Importing any of them from a court form or a court overview fabricates the procedure. The statute test keys to the entire estate subject to distribution under chapters 30.1-01 through 30.1-23. Court guidance wording that says total value of the probated property is a different base wording and stays in the court guidance lane.

The cap, and the stale $50,000 figure

The $100,000 figure was confirmed at primary level on a live official read on November 2, 2026. Section 30.1-23-01(1)(a), as rendered live in the official chapter PDF, states the entire estate test does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars. Subsections 1(b), (c), and (d) and subsection 2 as read live match the text banked from republication. No further subsections of section 23-01 are shown. Section 23-02 begins immediately after.

The official Legislature PDF as crawled in an older text fetch states fifty thousand dollars, but that crawl is 787 days old, dated September 5, 2024. It is a crawler cache, not the current text. A stale crawl never settles a cap. The live rendering governs, subject to the currency limitation stated in the Source section. Every $50,000 surface, including older republication pages and a 2003 form edition, states pre-amendment text. None is a competing current figure.

No bill attribution is stated for the $50,000 to $100,000 change. The amending act remains unidentified. Senate Bill 2057, from 2005, amended section 23-01 from $15,000 to $50,000. That act is the origin of the $50,000 era, not the $100,000 amendment, and it must never be cited for the $100,000 change. The history sentence in this guide stops at Senate Bill 2057. The last step is stated without attribution. No chapter number and no effective date for that step is stated.

The other sections in the chapter, titles only

The chapter index lists five sections. Their full texts were not re-read in the live rendering for this guide, so no claim is made here about their contents beyond their titles and the flag status below. Section 30.1-23-02 is titled Effect of affidavit. Section 30.1-23-03 is titled Small estates, Summary administrative procedure. Section 30.1-23-04 is titled Small estate, Closing by sworn statement of personal representative. Section 30.1-23-05 is not given a title here: the chapter index title for that section differed between two live reads of the official index, and no title is stated on a conflicted read. Each section is a separate instrument in the same chapter. No cap, wait, or channel from one section is carried into another in this guide. The summary administration and safe deposit box procedures are not described here beyond their titles, because their full texts were not re-read and their component figures remain open flags. Do not read this guide as stating that the affidavit lane covers court summary administration or a safe deposit box search.

Form and court guidance lane, kept separate

Court and form guidance adds glosses that have no counterpart in the four statutory statements. The North Dakota Courts overview states that the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of the Decedent is Form 1 in the Supreme Court Informal Administration of an Estate guidebook, requires no court filing, and lists five eligibility requirements. Three of those requirements, a less than $100,000 wording, a no real property condition, and a no probate case started or completed condition plus an entitlement by will or intestate succession route, are court guidance glosses. This guide states them only as the court guidance, in the court words, never as statute. The statute says does not exceed $100,000, not less than $100,000. The boundary matters.

Form SFN 62529, revision June 2025, from the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, Unclaimed Property Division, is an instructions and affidavit form for presenting the affidavit to that Division with claim documentation. Its form section states six sworn items, including does not exceed $100,000 in the statute wording, 30 days, no personal representative application or petition pending or granted in any jurisdiction, and entitlement to sums or instruments. Its preamble miscites the statute as N.D.C.C. 30.1-04. That citation is wrong. Section 30.1-04 is intestate succession. The affidavit statute is section 30.1-23-01. This guide never copies the form citation. Signature before a Notary Public or Authorized Officer is form practice. The statute states no notarization. The form is addressed to unclaimed property claims. Division guidance that a court order case cannot use the form is Division guidance, not statute.

Whether form SFN 2916 is a current Department of Transportation form, a superseded number for Form 1, or a distinct Department of Transportation affidavit was not resolved for this guide. The number is never stated here as the form for the section 23-01 lane. The vehicle lane was not opened at primary level, and no vehicle transfer step, form, or fee is stated here. No death certificate fee figure is stated here, because the official Health and Human Services death records page was not opened and the figures seen rest on form and secondary tier only. The statute sets fee caps, not the fee itself, and this guide does not convert a cap into a fee.

What this guide does not state

No homestead, exempt property, or family allowance dollar figure is stated, because the current texts for those components were not re-read. No transfer on death deed procedure is stated, because that chapter was not opened. No intestate succession distribution rule is stated, because that chapter was not opened. No summary administration formula, closing statement content, or safe deposit box procedure is stated beyond the section titles above, because the full texts were not re-read. No successor definition is quoted, because the definition section was not opened on the official site.

For small estate procedures in other states, see the Small Estate Affidavits by State directory. For the questions each state procedure answers, see Small Estate Affidavit Questions.

Source

Sources: N.D.C.C. section 30.1-23-01, live official chapter PDF rendering, read November 2, 2026, confirming $100,000; North Dakota Century Code chapter 30.1-23 index, official site, five sections listed; Senate Bill 2057, 59th Legislative Assembly, 2005, enrolled text, $15,000 to $50,000; Justia 2025 chapter 30.1-23 and FindLaw section 30.1-23-01, republications agreeing on $100,000, used only as corroboration before the live official read; North Dakota Courts overview page, Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of the Decedent, court guidance; Form SFN 62529, Rev. 6-2025, North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, Unclaimed Property Division. Facts verified 2026-11-02 for section 23-01 only. Open flags: (1) the amending act for the $50,000 to $100,000 change is unidentified, so no bill number, chapter number, or effective date is stated for that change; (2) sections 30.1-23-02 through 30.1-23-05 full texts were not re-read in the live rendering, so only the titles of sections 23-02 through 23-04 are stated, the section 23-05 title is withheld on a conflicted index read, and no content claim is made for them; (3) homestead, exempt property, and family allowance figures and the closing statement effect section were not re-read, so no dollar figure for the summary track is stated; (4) current Form 1 and guidebook edition and SFN 62529 currency were not re-verified at build; (5) the death certificate prescribed fee and ordering details were not verified on the official Health and Human Services page, so no fee figure is stated; (6) the vehicle lane and SFN 2916 status were not opened at primary level, so no vehicle step is stated; (7) the transfer on death deed chapter was not opened; (8) the intestate succession chapter was not opened; (9) no 2024 to 2026 session law currency sweep was completed. Currency limitation for the live read: the 2 page chapter PDF carries no date stamp beyond the North Dakota Century Code header, and currency rests on the rendered figure contradicting the stale crawl, a 2026 site footer, and a Century Code landing page note that 2026 special session changes are reflected. The build re-open remains the final check.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to the North Dakota district court or a lawyer.