Alaska Court System Self-Help

To determine if the estate qualifies as a small estate, prepare an Inventory of all property to determine the value. Then, add up the following:

• Homestead Allowance
• Family Allowance
• Exempt Property
• Probate costs
• Funeral costs
• Medical costs of the person's last illness

If the total value of all estate property in the Inventory, after subtracting liens and debts against the property, is less than all of the above amounts added together, the estate qualifies as a small estate.

For a small estate, the Personal Representative must take all of the initial probate steps except where noted.

For a small estate, the Personal Representative must follow all of the steps in the informal probate process, except the Personal Representative:

• doesn’t need to give Notice to Creditors or pay creditor claims
• can immediately transfer the property to those who are supposed to receive it under a Will or through intestacy (when there is no Will). Read about transferring ownership of assets
• must file a special Closing Statement after the property is transferred called a "Sworn Statement of Personal Representative Closing Small Estate" that asks the court to close the probate and end the appointment as Personal Representative.

The Personal Representative can immediately transfer the property to those who are supposed to receive it under a Will or through intestacy (when there is no Will). Read about transferring ownership of assets. However, the Personal Representative must take all other probate steps, including preparing an Accounting or asking for waivers of the Accounting. The Personal Representative must also file a special Closing Statement described below.

To ask the court to close the probate and end your appointment as Personal Representative, you can file:

Sworn Statement of Personal Representative Closing Small Estate, P-350.

The Sworn Statement tells the court:

• The value of the estate, after subtracting liens and debts against the property, is not more than the combined total of the following: property, Family Allowance, Exempt Property, probate costs, funeral costs and medical costs of the person's last illness.
• You completed the probate by transferring the property of the person who died to the persons who were supposed to receive it.
• You sent a copy of the Sworn Statement to all persons who received property from the estate and to all interested persons whose claims were unpaid.
• You sent an Accounting to all persons affected by the accounting. If these persons waived their rights to an accounting, you must file the waivers with your Sworn Statement.

*Important: You must sign a verification under oath saying that all of these statements are true and complete to the best of your knowledge and belief. You can do this before a notary.

If you have any questions, you should talk to a probate lawyer.

You will keep your powers as Personal Representative for one year after you file the Closing Statement. If there are no court proceedings at the end of the year, your appointment automatically ends. No court hearing is needed.