Alabama Small Estate: Summary Distribution Explained

General information, not legal advice. Alabama's ceiling moves every March and published sources disagree on the current figure. Confirm the number with the probate court in the decedent's county before relying on it.

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Summary distribution, not an affidavit

The Revised Alabama Small Estates Act, codified at Ala. Code 43-2-690 and following, was passed in 1979 and revised in 2024. It provides a court proceeding that distributes a decedent's personal property in summary fashion to a surviving spouse or the appropriate distributees, without full administration. The petition goes to the probate judge in the county where the decedent was domiciled, and it is verified rather than sworn to a bank. A surviving spouse has priority as petitioner; if there is none, any person who inherits under a will or under Alabama's intestate succession laws may file. So there is court involvement here, just far less of it than a full estate would require.

A ceiling that moves every March

Alabama does not legislate a flat dollar figure. Under 43-2-692(b)(1), the limit equals the combined maximums of the homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, each adjusted by the Consumer Price Index, and the State Finance Director issues revised figures to the probate judges. Each new number takes effect on March 1 and runs for twelve months. The published progression shows the drift plainly: $30,245 for 2020, $32,047 for 2022, $34,611 for 2023, $36,030 for 2024, and $37,075 for the period running through February 2026. Some sources report a considerably higher figure under the revised formula, which is precisely why the probate court, not an article, is the authority here.

Publish, then wait thirty days

The timeline in Alabama is driven by publication rather than by the date of death. After filing the verified petition, notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the decedent lived, or, if the county has no such newspaper, posted at the courthouse for one week. The court will not act on the petition until at least 30 days have run from that publication, which gives unknown creditors and other interested parties a window to appear. Funeral expenses and other debts must be paid, and where the estate cannot cover everything, they are paid in the statutory order of priority rather than in whatever order the family prefers.

The Medicaid notice

One requirement is easy to miss and hard to fix afterward. Under Ala. Code 43-2-697 the petitioner must notify the Alabama Medicaid Agency by certified mail, return receipt requested, sending the notice to the agency's Estate Notice Office in Montgomery. It has to include the decedent's full legal name, date of birth, date of death, Social Security number, marital status, and details about the proceeding. This ties into the state's ability to recover long-term care costs from the estate. Once the court is satisfied on all fronts, it enters an order directing summary distribution, and that order, sometimes with a copy of the will, is what you present to a bank to claim the property.

Written by the Trámites Notariales US editorial team, based on Ala. Code 43-2-690 through 43-2-697. The CPI-adjusted ceiling changes each March; verify with the county probate court.