The four things that decide whether the affidavit fits.

How property title — joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, community property, tenancy in common — controls whether an asset enters the probate estate at all. The single most important decision-shaping rule, with a worked example for a married homeowner.

Life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s, transfer-on-death brokerage and vehicle accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts. How these designations route assets directly to the named person, why they supersede the will, and what happens when no beneficiary is named.

What happens when there is no will. The default order of heirs across the U.S., the boundary cases that complicate it (per stirpes vs per capita, half-blood siblings, adopted and stepchildren), and how the rules decide who is allowed to file the affidavit.

The honest page. Six scenarios in which the small-estate-affidavit pathway is the wrong tool — estate exceeds the cap, real property excluded, contested heirship or will, debts exceeding assets, out-of-state property, minor or incapacitated heirs — and what to do instead.