Relating to decedent property, including deposit accounts, small estate affidavits, and distribution of child support

This bill relates to decedent property, including deposit accounts, small estate affidavits, and distribution of child support.356 (distribution of property by affidavit) to collect and transfer a decedent’s personal property that would otherwise be distributed by will or intestate succession if the gross value of the personal property is $50,000 or less and the estate includes no real property, or if the death occurred prior to January 1, 2025, the real property passes to a person exempt from inheritance tax as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, and at least 40 days have elapsed since the decedent’s death. The bill increases the maximum allowable gross value of personal property eligible for the affidavit procedure from $50,000 to $100,000. The bill also provides that the decedent’s probate assets must consist only of personal property, and eliminates the real property exception for deaths occurring prior to January 1, 2025. The requirement that 40 days must elapse following the decedent’s death remains unchanged. As under current law, a successor may act by furnishing an affidavit and without procuring letters of appointment from the court. The bill allows a successor of a decedent who has a very small estate to access undistributed child support payments owed to the decedent held by child support services or the collection services center. The bill requires child support services to create and make available a form that allows the successor to collect the held moneys.