K.S.A. 59-1507b
Reviewed source note: (a) When a resident of the state dies, whether testate or intestate, if the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value
Kansas route screening
Kansas small-estate limit: $75,000
Kansas offers two abbreviated routes.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
(1) Small estate affidavit (K.S.A. 59-1507b): transfer a decedent's personal property by affidavit when the total assets of the estate subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value; the statute states no fixed post-death waiting period (threshold raised to $75,000 by L. 2024, ch. 35). (2) Kansas Simplified Estates Act (K.S.A. 59-3201 to 59-3206): a court-administered but streamlined alternative to full supervised administration. On the hearing of a petition for appointment of an administrator or for probate of a will where administration is sought under the Act, the court determines under K.S.A. 59-3202 whether the estate is administered as a simplified estate or a supervised estate, considering the size of the estate, the degree of kinship of the heirs and persons seeking appointment, the solvency of the estate, its nature, the wishes of the heirs and devisees, the probable cost of administration, and other pertinent matters. The Simplified Estates Act is a procedure, not a dollar-threshold shortcut, and coexists with the § 59-1507b affidavit.
Threshold evidence and currency
What the reviewed source establishes
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: K.S.A. 59-1507b — L. 2024.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
(a) When a resident of the state dies, whether testate or intestate, if the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value
How the Kansas screen is measured
| Procedure | Small estate affidavit (K.S.A. 59-1507b); Kansas Simplified Estates Act administration (K.S.A. 59-3201 to 59-3206) |
|---|---|
| What counts | Personal property only; real property is outside this route |
| Value basis | Gross value; liens are not subtracted |
| Waiting period | Not verified, so no number is published |
K.S.A. 59-1507b states no fixed waiting period after death for the small-estate affidavit.
The Kansas caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Kansas overview.
The official Kansas path
No statewide form is published for this route; ask the District Court in the county of residence for its packet.
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.
Kansas transfers the property without any court at all, and the receipt itself discharges the payer
K.S.A. 59-1507b applies where a Kansas resident dies, testate or intestate, and “the total assets of the estate of the decedent subject to probate do not exceed $75,000 in value.” The ceiling is drawn around the assets subject to probate, so property passing outside probate is outside the test as well as outside the transfer.
What follows is not a simplified proceeding — it is the absence of one. Personal property “transferable to the decedent’s estate by any entity or person shall be transferred to a person claiming to be a successor of the decedent, or in a manner as directed by the successor, without having been granted letters of administration or letters testamentary, upon such successor furnishing the entity or person with an affidavit showing entitlement thereto.” No court issues anything, and nothing is filed.
Subsection (b) explains why a bank or transfer agent can act on that affidavit safely. The transfer “shall be deemed to be a transfer to the personal representative of the decedent,” and the successor’s receipt “shall constitute a full discharge and release from any further claim for such transfer to the same extent as if the transfer had been made to an executor or administrator.” The protection runs to the institution, which is what makes the route work in practice.
Form and standing are both defined. The affidavit “shall be deemed sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set forth by the judicial council,” and subsection (c) limits “successor” to a person entitled to the property by will or by intestate succession, or nominated as personal representative under the decedent’s will.
The section has been amended repeatedly — the history line runs from L. 1980 through L. 2023, ch. 77 and L. 2024, ch. 35 — so the dollar figure above is the one the revisor published on the date below and is worth re-reading rather than assuming.
Source: K.S.A. § 59-1507b (transfer of certain personal property to successor), 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.
Controlling source
Kansas record: 7/7 verified, 24 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction