States
Where we are open, and what we know about everywhere else
Almost every state publishes a simplified route for a small estate, and almost nobody is told it exists. Here is what we have found out, with the source for each — including for the states we cannot prepare documents for yet.
Open now
- Nevada — the full Nevada guide
Researched, not open
We can tell you how these work. We cannot prepare the paperwork yet — see the note under each one for what is missing.
California
Prob. Code § 13100 et seq.
- Route
- Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property
- Limit
- $208,850 — The figure printed in § 13100 is stale. The operative amounts are the Judicial Council's adjusted ones on form DE-300, in force for deaths on or after 1 April 2025 and fixed until 31 March 2028.
- Wait
- 40 days after the death
- A will
- Available either way
- A house
- Personal property only under § 13100. Real property has its own route with its own, lower ceiling.
Before we could prepare these: Registration as a Legal Document Assistant under Bus. & Prof. Code § 6400 et seq. The state's own forms, read and transcribed. Review of our output by an attorney licensed in this state.
Checked 2026-08-17 against California Courts — when formal probate may not be needed, Judicial Council form DE-300.
Texas
Tex. Est. Code ch. 205
- Route
- Small Estate Affidavit
- Limit
- $75,000 — The $75,000 excludes the homestead, exempt property and anything passing outside probate — so a house and a retirement account can both sit outside the figure. Assets must also exceed debts.
- Wait
- 30 days after the death
- A will
- Not available if there is one
- A house
- The homestead only, and only where it passes to a surviving spouse or to minor children who lived there. No other real property.
Before we could prepare these: No registration scheme exists in this state, so whether we may prepare these documents for a fee turns on its unauthorized-practice-of-law rules. That is a question for an attorney licensed there, not something research settles. The state's own forms, read and transcribed. Review of our output by an attorney licensed in this state.
Checked 2026-08-25 against TexasLawHelp — small estate affidavits, Texas Estates Code chapter 205.
Where a service like ours can operate at all
Worth saying plainly, because it is not obvious and it shapes how fast we can open anywhere. Only 3 states — Arizona, California and Nevada — run a scheme that registers non-attorney document preparers and says in terms what they may do.
Everywhere else there is nothing to register for, and that is not the same as permission. It means the question becomes whether preparing these documents for a fee counts as practising law in that state, which is a matter of its own rules and case law. That is a question for an attorney licensed there, and not one we will answer by reading a website — so we say so rather than guessing in either direction.
Not looked at yet
48 states. We would rather list them plainly than imply coverage we do not have. Tell us which one you need on the home page and it moves up the queue — that is genuinely how we decide what to research next.
Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · 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 · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming