Idaho route screening
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
A claiming successor may collect the decedent's personal property by presenting an affidavit stating that the fair market value of the entire estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000); that thirty (30) days have elapsed since death; and that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative or for summary administration is pending or has been granted (Idaho Code § 15-3-1201(a)).
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.
Controlling citation: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 — Idaho Statutes are updated to the website July 1 following the legislative session..
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
(1) The fair market value of the entire estate of the decedent which is subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000); (2) Thirty (30) days have elapsed since the death of the decedent
| Procedure | Collection of personal property by affidavit (Idaho Code § 15-3-1201) |
|---|---|
| What counts | Personal property only; real property is outside this route |
| Value basis | Value less enforceable liens and encumbrances |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.
Idaho Code § 15-3-1201 sets the affidavit ceiling at $100,000, measured as “the fair market value of the entire estate of the decedent which is subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances.” Fair market value is stated in the statute rather than left to the affiant’s judgement, and the base is the whole probate estate rather than personal property only.
Idaho also blocks the affidavit in one more circumstance than most uniform states. The successor must swear that no application or petition “for the appointment of a personal representative or for summary administration” is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. Because Idaho has a separate summary administration route, a pending summary petition closes the affidavit door that an appointment petition would close elsewhere. The affidavit may also be used by a successor entitled “as a trust pursuant to a will of the decedent.”
The provision that surprises families is subsection (c). For the recovery of medical assistance, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare “shall be deemed a successor to the estate,” provided that before the affidavit is presented the department gives notice by regular mail to persons it knows of. A Medicaid claim is therefore not a creditor question sitting outside the affidavit process in Idaho; the department stands inside it as a successor.
Source: Idaho Code § 15-3-1201, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Reviewed source note: (1) The fair market value of the entire estate of the decedent which is subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000); (2) Thirty (30) days have elapsed since the death of the decedent
Idaho record: 5/5 verified, 16 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction