Massachusetts route screening
After 30 days, an interested person may file a voluntary-administration statement when the Massachusetts domiciliary left only personal property and the non-motor-vehicle personal property does not exceed $25,000.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
A prior petition for appointment disqualifies the route; one motor vehicle may be included outside that $25,000 wording.
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: 2026 session-law supersession remains manual because the publisher exposes no section history.
Controlling citation: G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201 — Publisher edition or amendment label not stated; verified October 3, 2026.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
If a person domiciled in the commonwealth dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value, any interested person
| Procedure | Voluntary administration / collection of personal property by affidavit |
|---|---|
| What counts | Personal property only; real property is outside this route |
| Value basis | Gross value; liens are not subtracted |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
The Massachusetts caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Massachusetts overview.
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.
Massachusetts is not a $100,000 state. Under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201 the route is open where a person domiciled in the Commonwealth dies “leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value.”
The drafting there is easy to misread and worth reading twice. The $25,000 limit applies to the other personal property; a motor vehicle the decedent owned may be included in the estate without being counted toward the ceiling. An estate consisting of a car and $24,000 in a bank account is inside the rule, whatever the car is worth. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, so a single parcel of real estate takes the route away no matter how small the rest of the estate is.
The person who acts is called a voluntary personal representative rather than an executor, and Massachusetts names an unusual class of applicants. Where the decedent was, at death, receiving services from the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Developmental Services or the Division of Medical Assistance, any person that agency designates to act as voluntary personal representative may file. The filing is a sworn or affirmed statement on a form prescribed by the court, made after thirty days from death, and only where no petition for appointment of a personal representative has been filed in the county where the decedent resided.
Source: M.G.L. c. 190B, § 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: If a person domiciled in the commonwealth dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property the total value of which may include a motor vehicle of which the decedent was the owner, and other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value, any interested person
Massachusetts record: 4/4 verified, 16 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction