Probate for Real Estate: Small-Estate Limits by State (2026)

Before letters: who owns the house and who can act

Two things are true at once when someone dies owning a house, and most explanations blur them. Title has already moved. In Texas, the Estates Code says the estate of a person who dies intestate “vests immediately in the person’s heirs at law” (101.001(b)), and that the estate vests “subject to the payment of, and is still liable for” the decedent’s debts (101.051(b)). Authority has not. California Probate Code 8400(a): “A person has no power to administer the estate until the person is appointed personal representative and the appointment becomes effective,” which happens when letters issue. The one carve-out is for an executor named in the will, who may “pay funeral expenses and take necessary measures for the maintenance and preservation of the estate” before the appointment (8400(b)). Virginia is stricter in words: a named executor “shall not exercise the powers of executor until he qualifies as such by taking an oath and giving bond,” except to provide for burial, pay reasonable funeral expenses and preserve the estate from waste (Code of Virginia 64.2-511). Florida is more forgiving after the fact: the personal representative’s powers “relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed, occurring before appointment and beneficial to the estate, the same effect as those occurring after appointment” (Florida Statutes 733.601).

What that means for a house, in our reading of those sections: before letters, someone can protect it (the statutes’ words are “maintenance and preservation” and “preserve the estate from waste”) and pay the funeral bill, but a sale, a lease or a payoff of the estate’s debts is the personal representative’s power, not the heirs’ and not a named executor’s until appointed. Where an heir already holds title, as in Texas, a buyer and a title company will still want the estate’s authority in order, which is why the shortcuts below exist.

Two clocks start at death regardless. In Texas a will may not be admitted to probate “after the fourth anniversary of the testator’s death” except where the applicant was not in default (256.003(a)), and an application for letters must be filed “not later than the fourth anniversary of the decedent’s death” (301.002(a)), with exceptions in 301.002(b). And the creditor clocks in the next section.

The state table: limits, claim periods and sale authority

We tried the official code site of the 15 most populous states by 2020 census count (California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Arizona, Massachusetts) and the District of Columbia. Every cell below was read from the statute text we saved; where the legislature’s site did not load from our network, or the text was not in the page we could read, the cell says not verified rather than guess. Some cells for Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois and Michigan come from an archived copy of the official page (Internet Archive snapshot dated in the CSV), because the live site was not reachable; they are marked in the table notes. Dollar limits are as of October 13, 2026 and several are indexed or amended often.

The pattern, in our reading of the two tables: where the code lets the personal representative sell without a judge (Texas independent executors, California full authority, Washington nonintervention powers, Arizona, the District of Columbia), the creditor clock is the main protection for buyers and heirs; where sale needs the court (Florida without a power of sale in the will, Ohio, New York’s article 19, Texas supervised administration), the buyer relies on a court order, and the process adds a filing, notice and hearing.

What each shortcut actually transfers

“Small estate” is a family of five different procedures, and only some of them can put a house in an heir’s name. The labels below are ours; the citations are the statutes read for the tables above.

The practical split, in our reading: about the only thing a Virginia, New York or District of Columbia affidavit does for a house is clear out the bank account and the car around it. Texas, Arizona, California and Ohio have written a way to the deed itself.

California deserves one more note because the numbers moved. The Judicial Council’s table lists $208,850 for sections 13100 and 13101, $750,000 for 13151, 13152 and 13154, and $69,625 for section 13200 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and says these amounts “will next be adjusted on April 1, 2028.” The same table explains that Assembly Bill 2016 (Stats. 2024, chapter 331) raised the petition ceiling to $750,000, “preempting” the three-year adjustment, and that it was passed “limiting the use of the procedure to the decedent’s primary residence in California.” A rental house or a second home is therefore outside section 13151 and, if worth more than $69,625, outside section 13200 (our reading of the two sections together).

Florida’s limit doubled on July 1, 2026

Until July 1, 2026 the figure in Florida’s summary administration section was $75,000. The current text of section 735.201(2) reads that the estate qualifies if “the value of the entire estate subject to administration in this state, less the value of property exempt from the claims of creditors, does not exceed $150,000 or that the decedent has been dead for more than 2 years.” The history line cites section 7 of chapter 2026-57, and the enrolled act (Committee Substitute for House Bill 1337) shows the figure changed from $75,000 to $150,000 and says “This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.” Because the test is the value of the estate less creditor-exempt property, a protected homestead does not count toward it (our reading of the text; whether a particular house is a protected homestead is a legal question for the court).

Two Florida rules sit next to it. First, the personal representative’s general power to “dispose of an asset” expressly excludes real property (733.612(5)); the real-property power is in 733.613, under which “No title shall pass until the court authorizes or confirms the sale” unless the will gives a power of sale, in which case the representative may sell “without authorization or confirmation of court” (733.613(1), (2)). Second, a beneficiary can be made to wait: no personal representative is required to “surrender possession of any land to any beneficiary until the expiration of 5 months from the granting of letters” (733.801(1)).

Selling without a judge, and selling with one

The most common question from an heir with a house is whether it can be sold now. The answer is a function of who holds authority and what kind of administration is open.

• Independent or unsupervised administration. In Texas, an independent executor has “the same power of sale for the same purposes as a personal representative has in a supervised administration, but without the requirement of court approval” (Estates Code 402.052). Independent administration comes from the will (401.001(a)) or from the agreement of all distributees (401.002(a) for a testate estate, 401.003(a) for an intestate one). California’s Independent Administration of Estates Act lets a representative with authority “administer the estate … without court supervision” (Probate Code 10500(a)), but a representative with only limited authority needs court supervision for the “Sale of real property” (10501(b)(1)). Washington’s nonintervention powers include the power to “sell, exchange, convey, assign” real and personal property without an order (RCW 11.68.090(1)(c), (h)), and the court must grant them in the cases listed in RCW 11.68.011(2), among them when the decedent’s will named the petitioner and the estate is solvent. Arizona lists the power to “Sell, mortgage or lease any real or personal property of the estate” among the representative’s powers (Arizona Revised Statutes 14-3715(23)); Michigan and the District of Columbia list a power to dispose of land by public or private sale, subject to the will and court orders (MCL 700.3715(1)(f); District of Columbia Code 20-741(6)).
• No power of sale, or a supervised estate. Florida requires a court to authorize or confirm the sale unless the will gives the power (733.613). Ohio’s executors proceed under sections 2127.01 to 2127.43 “except where the executor has testamentary power of sale” (2127.01). Virginia’s executor has the power to sell only where “the will devises real estate to be sold” (64.2-521(A)); otherwise title sits with the heirs and devisees. In Texas a supervised representative needs “a court order authorizing the sale” (356.001(a)) unless the will authorizes it (356.002).

Texas is the clearest statutory walk-through of a court sale, and it is a good picture of the steps involved (our reading; the code sets no total duration). A sale may be applied for if it appears necessary or advisable to pay expenses, allowances and claims, or to “dispose of an interest in estate real property if selling the interest is considered in the estate’s best interest” (356.251). The clerk issues a citation to all persons interested in the estate, served by posting (356.253). The court orders the sale if it is satisfied it is necessary or advisable, and the order must specify the property and whether the sale is by public auction or private sale (356.256). A report of the sale is filed; “After the expiration of five days” from that filing the court inquires into how the sale was made and hears evidence (356.552). If the sale is for a fair price, properly made and in conformity with law, the court approves it and authorizes the conveyance (356.556), and the deed “is prima facie evidence that the sale has met all applicable requirements of the law” (356.557).

An heir who sells without any of this takes a risk in some states. In North Carolina, if the general notice to creditors is first published within two years after death, sales of real property by heirs or devisees made after the death and before that first publication “are void as to creditors and personal representatives”, and sales after publication are void unless the personal representative joins (General Statutes 28A-17-12(a)). Virginia protects a purchaser only through a judicial route: a sale within one year after death is valid against creditors if made under a court decree and the net proceeds are paid to a special commissioner (64.2-535(B)).

Creditors, the clock and the house

A house does not escape the decedent’s debts by sitting in an heir’s name. Virginia: if the personal estate is insufficient, “all real estate of the decedent” is assets for the payment of debts (64.2-532). Texas: the estate vests “subject to the payment of, and is still liable for” the debts (101.051(b)). Arizona’s bar runs “against the estate, the personal representative and the heirs and devisees” (14-3803(A)). Ohio’s claims not presented within six months are “forever barred as to all parties” including distributees (2117.06(C)). Washington’s bar “is effective as to claims against both the decedent’s probate and nonprobate assets” (RCW 11.40.051(3)).

That last point matters for avoiding probate: in Washington, a deed that skips probate does not skip the creditor clock. Our transfer on death deed state-by-state guide covers how each state treats creditors and Medicaid for deed transfers.

Medicaid estate recovery is a creditor that can reach a house. Federal law defines the recoverable “estate” as at least “all real and personal property and other assets included within the individual’s estate, as defined for purposes of State probate law” and, at the state’s option, other assets conveyed “through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement” (42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(4)(A), (B)). The duty to seek recovery covers recipients “55 years of age or older” when they received nursing facility, home and community-based and related services (1396p(b)(1)(B)), and recovery may be made “only after the death of the individual’s surviving spouse, if any,” and while no child under 21 or blind or disabled child survives (1396p(b)(2)). State rules differ; our Texas and Florida pages read them: Texas, Florida Lady Bird deeds, California.

A house in another state: ancillary probate

If the owner lived in one state and the house is in another, the second state usually runs its own proceeding for the house. Florida’s statute is explicit: “If a nonresident of this state dies leaving assets in this state, credits due from residents in this state, or liens on property in this state,” the designated or foreign personal representative may have ancillary letters issued (734.102(1)). Texas allows a foreign will to be admitted “at any time in this state” if it affects property in the state and proof requirements are met (Estates Code 501.001). California’s section 12570 lets a sister-state representative skip ancillary administration only to collect personal property through the section 13100 affidavit, which, as above, does not transfer real property (our reading). The consequence we draw: an out-of-state rental can force a second set of lawyers, fees and deadlines even when the home-state estate is a simple affidavit.

How many estates go through this: California’s court data

The Judicial Council of California’s 2026 Court Statistics Report counts 66,908 probate filings in fiscal year 2024-25: 41,985 in the “other probate” category (which the report defines as decedent’s estate, trust and all other probate cases other than conservatorship or guardianship) and 24,923 conservatorship and guardianship filings. The same report’s table shows 63,727 probate filings the year before, of which 42,978 were other probate and 20,749 conservatorship and guardianship, so estate, trust and other probate filings were 2.3% lower in 2024-25 while conservatorship and guardianship filings rose from 20,749 to 24,923 (our arithmetic on the report’s table). For comparison with Texas and Florida we found no statewide probate count in an official report that we could read, so we do not publish one.

The federal return and the step-up, in two lines

A federal estate tax return is required only where the gross estate exceeds the basic exclusion amount for the year of death, and the trigger is reduced by adjusted taxable gifts (26 U.S.C. 6018(a)(1), (3)). For 2026 deaths that amount is $15,000,000 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Separately, an heir’s basis in inherited property is generally “the fair market value of the property at the date of the decedent’s death” (26 U.S.C. 1014(a)(1)), whether or not a return is filed; the exceptions and the real-estate numbers are on our step-up in basis page, and the exemption history is on our estate tax exemption page. If a sale follows, how the gain is taxed is in our capital gains guide.

Ways people avoid or shorten probate on a house

Each is one sentence here because each has its own statute-by-statute page. A transfer on death deed names who gets the house at death in the states that authorize one, with Texas and California covered separately; Florida, which has no TOD deed for real property, uses the Lady Bird deed; and moving a house into a revocable living trust is the third route. What none of them does, in the states we read, is end creditor or Medicaid exposure automatically (Washington RCW 11.40.051(3); 42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)(4)(B)).

What an heir or executor can do with this

These are decision points the documents raise, not instructions.

• Find the authority before the buyer does. Who holds letters, or whether the estate uses an affidavit, a court petition or a will-based power of sale, decides whether a closing can happen and when (tables above).
• Match the shortcut to the asset. If the house is the only large asset, an affidavit that covers personal property will not clear it; only the routes in the “Can it move title” table do.
• Put the claim clock on the calendar. Four months after letters in California, six months after death in Ohio, 121 days after a notice in Texas, 24 months after death in Washington if no notice was given.
• Ask whether the estate may be reached by Medicaid if the owner received long-term care after age 55 (42 U.S.C. 1396p(b)).
• Check whether the house is in more than one state, which can mean a second proceeding.
• Probate and title questions need a probate attorney licensed in the state where the house sits. Court filings, deeds and title insurance depend on facts and local forms that no web page can supply. A match with a fee-only or fee-based financial adviser, below, is for the money side of an inheritance, not a substitute.

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

FAQ

Sources, read and saved on October 13, 2026: California Probate Code 890, 8400, 9100, 10500, 10501, 12570, 13100, 13151 and 13200 and Code of Civil Procedure 366.2 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov); Judicial Council of California, Probate Code 890 adjusted amounts and 2026 Court Statistics Report (courts.ca.gov); Texas Estates Code chapters 101, 205, 256, 257, 301, 355, 356, 401, 402 and 501 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov); Florida Statutes chapters 733, 734 and 735 (leg.state.fl.us) and chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida (laws.flrules.org); New York SCPA 1301, 1802 and 1902 and EPTL 11-1.1 (nysenate.gov); Code of Virginia 64.2-508.1, 64.2-511, 64.2-521, 64.2-532, 64.2-535, 64.2-600 and 64.2-601 (law.lis.virginia.gov); Revised Code of Washington chapters 11.40, 11.62 and 11.68 (app.leg.wa.gov); Arizona Revised Statutes 14-3715, 14-3801, 14-3803 and 14-3971 (azleg.gov); District of Columbia Code 20-351, 20-360, 20-361, 20-741 and 20-903 (code.dccouncil.gov); Ohio Revised Code 2113.03, 2117.06 and 2127.01, North Carolina General Statutes 28A-17-12 and 28A-25-1, Illinois 755 ILCS 5/18-12, 20-1, 25-1 and 28-1, and Michigan MCL 700.3715, 700.3801, 700.3803 and 700.3982 (archived copies of the official pages from the Internet Archive, snapshot dates in the CSV); 26 U.S.C. 1014 and 6018 and 42 U.S.C. 1396p (U.S. Code 2024 edition, GPO); IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The official sites for Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts could not be read from our network and are marked not verified. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.