Small Estate Affidavit for a Surviving Spouse

No general spouse rule

No sentence in this guide states a general rule for surviving spouses. A spouse rule that applies in one state must never be carried into another state. The four rules below are the only spouse rules verified in the cited sources for this guide. Each rule is stated with its own conditions, its own figure, and its own procedure. Nothing beyond the four rules is stated.

Maryland: the $100,000 sole spouse fork

Maryland has no affidavit lane. The procedure is a court petition to the Register of Wills. The test is $50,000 in fair market value less debts of record secured by the property as of death. Debts payable by insurance to the lienholder are not subtracted. The test rises to $100,000 only when the surviving spouse is the sole legatee or heir. That fork is a conversion posture, stated in the test section before an initial account. A later section states a conversion out rule with different wording. It states conversion out if the value exceeds $50,000, or exceeds $100,000 if all property is transferred to the spouse. The two wordings differ. They are never harmonized in this guide. The family allowance extraction in the research file states $10,000 for a spouse or registered domestic partner plus $5,000 for each unmarried child under 18, with a $15,000 funeral cap. Those allowance figures are flagged for re-opening at build in the research file and are stated here only as an extraction, not as verified statute text. The spouse fork figure of $100,000 is the verified rule. Immediate funeral expenses and family allowances are directed by the Register at the start of the proceeding.

New Jersey: the spouse track

New Jersey runs two intestate only tracks. Both count real and personal property together. Both are executed before the county Surrogate or Superior Court and filed or recorded. The spouse track covers a surviving spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner. The test is $50,000. The spouse is entitled absolutely. The first $10,000 is free from debts. No consent, bond, or wait is stated for the spouse track in the research file. The heirs track covers heirs where no surviving spouse or partner exists. The test is $20,000. Written consent of all remaining heirs is required. A receipt for the benefit of all heirs and creditors is required. No bond is stated. Death date applicability is answered in the research file. Deaths on or after January 19, 2016 take the new figures. The fee section still names pre 2016 thresholds. That fee wording is quoted as the fee section own wording and is never corrected in this guide. No fee figure is stated here. The word heirs is undefined in the research file. No definition is stated here.

Ohio: two spouse only forks

Ohio runs no affidavit lane. It runs two court order tracks. Summary release under section 2113.031 allows a spouse $40,000 in support allowance plus up to $5,000 in funeral and burial expenses. The funeral amount distinguishes prepaid expenses from paid or obligated expenses. A non spouse applicant is limited to the lesser of $5,000 or funeral and burial expenses. No waiting period appears in the summary release section. No creditor notice or publication appears in that section.

Release from administration under section 2113.03 allows $35,000 generally, or $100,000 where the spouse takes all only. The spouse takes all condition is met where the will leaves everything to the spouse, or where intestacy entitles the spouse to all under the cited sections. Court directed notice and newspaper publication apply unless waived or found unnecessary. An appraiser rule and a commissioner rule apply. Both tracks can include real property, with opposite certificate of transfer mechanics. The summary release track requires a certificate application. The release track order may substitute for a certificate.

Surviving spouse is a defined term in Ohio. It excludes a spouse with a non joint minor child. That exclusion must be checked before any Ohio spouse fork is applied. Creditor claims under section 2117.06 run 6 months after death whether or not the estate is released, then are forever barred, subject to an unopened exception section. The $60 fee figure in the research file is secondary only and is never stated in this guide.

Kentucky: the $30,000 selection

Kentucky section 391.030 sets $30,000 in exempt personal property or money apart by the District Court to the spouse or, if none, to surviving children. The selection order for a testate estate is stated in the section. A $2,500 bank withdrawal order applies. The bank shall permit withdrawal on the order, lodged as an endorsed order with the circuit clerk. The $15,000 figure in older sources is dead since July 15, 2020 and is never stated as current.

Kentucky section 395.455 allows the court to order dispensing where the exemption for a spouse or children, alone or together with preferred claims paid, meets or exceeds distributable assets. The procedure is testate and intestate. A will is probated only. A waiver in favor of the payer fork exists. No wait, affidavit procedure, fee, or real property rule appears in the section. Bond sentences were deleted by the 2026 act. Bond status after 2026 is unstated. No statement is made here that no bond applies. The agreement route in section 395.470 requires all beneficiaries to agree in writing. That route is not a spouse only route. No spouse rule is stated for it beyond the agreement of all beneficiaries.

Omitted states

No spouse rule is stated in this guide for any state other than Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Kentucky. That includes states whose research files mention a spouse in passing, states whose summary procedures name a spouse as a filer or notice recipient, and states whose live guides name a spouse in a directory summary. A mention is not a verified spouse rule. The omission is disclosed here so no reader treats the four rules as a national pattern. A reader who needs a spouse rule for another state must use the state guide for that state.

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: research files A413 (Ohio), A430 (New Jersey), A436 (Kentucky), and A444 (Maryland), with live guide grounding for New Jersey as banked in the directory exemplar. No general spouse rule is stated. Open flags are disclosed in the companion notes file. No new data was used.

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 court in the state where the estate is handled or a lawyer.