Tool · Triage
Do I need probate?
Not every death needs a court case. Six short questions — where the deceased lived, roughly what was in their name alone, and how the assets were owned — and this triage gives you the likely route for your state, with the verified threshold and the statute behind it. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Probate normally happens where the deceased lived. Fully verified routes so far: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama.
Don’t count anything with a named beneficiary, joint ownership, or a trust — only what was titled in the deceased’s name alone. A rough estimate is fine.
Several small-estate routes can only move personal property or bank balances — they cannot transfer real estate.
Some simplified routes are intestate-only — they are only available when there is no will.
A few states raise the small-estate limit, or open a spouse-only route, when the surviving spouse inherits everything.
Answer Yes only if nothing at all was left in the deceased’s name alone.
This tool runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent or stored. After you click, changing an answer updates the result straight away.