Original dataset
MORTL maintains the legal figures that decide what a family faces after a death in every US state and Washington, D.C.: probate cutoffs, certificate fees and deadlines, cremation waits, property transfer tools, and state death taxes. Each figure lives on the matching state guide with its statutory source. This page puts all 51 jurisdictions side by side and gives you the whole dataset as a CSV.
Reviewed August 17, 2026. Free to download and cite (CC BY 4.0).
What the data shows
The small estate cutoff, the value under which an estate can skip full probate, is $15,000 in Georgia and $400,000 in Wyoming. The same estate that clears in one state goes to court in the other. New Hampshire sets no general cutoff.
A first certified copy of a death certificate costs $5 in Florida and $35 in Utah, 7 times as much. Figures cover the 51 jurisdictions whose guides record a single statewide fee; the rest price by county or order channel.
35 jurisdictions let a home pass to a named beneficiary through a recorded transfer on death instrument, outside probate entirely. In the other 16, that tool doesn't exist and families use trusts or joint ownership instead.
13 jurisdictions levy their own estate tax on top of the federal one, and 5 tax the people who inherit. Maryland does both. Where you die, and where your heirs live, changes the bill.
30 jurisdictions set no legally required wait before cremation. Others make families wait up to 48 hours. The wait matters because storage fees start immediately.
The deadline for filing a death certificate runs from 1 day to 10 days depending on the state. 3 jurisdictions set no day count and tie filing to the burial permit instead.
All 51 jurisdictions
| State | Small estate cutoff | Estate tax | Inheritance tax | Death cert fee | Filing deadline | Cremation wait | TOD deed | Directive signing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $47,000 | No | No | $15 | 5 days | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| Alaska | $50,000 | No | No | $30 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Arizona | $200,000 | No | No | $20 | 7 days | 24 hours | Yes | 1 witness |
| Arkansas | $100,000 | No | No | $10 | 10 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| California | $208,850 | No | No | $26 | 8 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Colorado | $88,000 | No | No | $25 | 3 days | 24 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Connecticut | $40,000 | Yes, $15,000,000 exemption | No | $20 | 3 days | 48 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| Delaware | $50,000 | No | No | $25 | 3 days | None | Yes | 1 witness |
| Florida | $150,000 | No | No | $5 | 5 days | None | No | 2 witnesses |
| Georgia | $15,000 | No | No | $25 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Hawaii | $100,000 | Yes, $5,490,000 exemption | No | $10 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Idaho | $100,000 | No | No | $16 | 5 days | 24 hours | No | 0 witnesses |
| Illinois | $150,000 | Yes, $4,000,000 exemption | No | $19 | 7 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Indiana | $100,000 | No | No | $8 | 5 days | 48 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Iowa | $200,000 | No | No | $20 | 3 days | None | No | 2 witnesses |
| Kansas | $75,000 | No | No | $20 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Kentucky | $30,000 | No | Yes | $6 | 5 days | None | No | 2 witnesses |
| Louisiana | $200,000 | No | No | $7 | 5 days | None | No | 2 witnesses |
| Maine | $52,500 | Yes, $7,160,000 exemption | No | $15 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Maryland | $50,000 | Yes, $5,000,000 exemption | Yes | $10 | 3 days | 12 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Massachusetts | $25,000 | Yes, $2,000,000 exemption | No | $20 in person, $32 by mail | 5 days | 48 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| Michigan | $53,000 | No | No | $34 | 3 days | None | No | 2 witnesses |
| Minnesota | $75,000 | Yes, $3,000,000 exemption | No | $13 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Mississippi | $75,000 | No | No | $17 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Missouri | $40,000 | No | No | $14 | 5 days | None | Yes | 0 witnesses + notary |
| Montana | $100,000 | No | No | $16 | 10 days | 24 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Nebraska | $100,000 | No | Yes | $16 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Nevada | $150,000 | No | No | $22 or $25, by county of death | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| New Hampshire | No general cutoff | No | No | $15 | Tied to burial permit | 48 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| New Jersey | $50,000 | No | Yes | $25 | Tied to burial permit | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| New Mexico | $50,000 | No | No | $5 | 5 days | None | Yes | 0 witnesses |
| New York | $50,000 | Yes, $7,350,000 exemption | No | $30 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| North Carolina | $20,000 | No | No | $24 | 5 days | None | No | 2 witnesses + notary |
| North Dakota | $100,000 | No | No | $15 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Ohio | $35,000 | No | No | $21.50 | Tied to burial permit | 24 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Oklahoma | $50,000 | No | No | $15 | 3 days | 24 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Oregon | $75,000 | Yes, $1,000,000 exemption | No | $25 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Pennsylvania | $50,000 | No | Yes | $20 | 4 days | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| Rhode Island | $15,000 | Yes, $1,838,056 exemption | No | $22 in person, $25 by mail | 7 days | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| South Carolina | $45,000 | No | No | $12 | 5 days | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| South Dakota | $100,000 | No | No | $15 | 5 days | 24 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Tennessee | $50,000 | No | No | $15 | 5 days | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| Texas | $75,000 | No | No | $20 | 10 days | 48 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Utah | $100,000 | No | No | $35 | 5 days | None | Yes | 1 witness |
| Vermont | $45,000 | Yes, $5,000,000 exemption | No | $10 | 1 day | 24 hours | No | 2 witnesses |
| Virginia | $75,000 | No | No | $15 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Washington | $100,000 | Yes, $3,000,000 exemption | No | $25 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Washington, D.C. | $80,000 | Yes, $4,988,400 exemption | No | $18 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| West Virginia | $50,000 | No | No | $12 | 5 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses + notary |
| Wisconsin | $50,000 | No | No | $20 | 6 days | 48 hours | Yes | 2 witnesses |
| Wyoming | $400,000 | No | No | $25 | 3 days | None | Yes | 2 witnesses |
Each state name links to the full guide, where every figure carries its statutory source and change log. Conditions and property-type limits live in the CSV's note columns.
Download and cite
One CSV, 51 rows, 21 columns, including the notes and conditions the summary table leaves out. Licensed CC BY 4.0: use it in reporting, research, or products, with attribution. Laws move, so link this page rather than repost a copy; the guides and this dataset are re-audited on a quarterly cycle and whenever a law changes.
Suggested citation
MORTL State Death Data, reviewed August 17, 2026. mortl.com/state-death-data.
The written analysis of this data, with the year's six findings, is the annual report: State Death Data 2026, exportable as PDF or Word.
Methodology
Every figure comes from one of MORTL's 51 state guides, sourced to the statute, court rule, or agency schedule that sets it. The guide page shows the source next to the claim. This dataset is generated from those guides by script, and an automated check fails our build whenever the two disagree, so the table you're reading can't drift from the guides it came from.
Verification is a process, and we publish it: every guide is re-read against its sources on a quarterly cycle and re-stamped in an audit ledger, and any edit to a legal figure ships with a dated change log entry. When an official source can't be read (a few state legislature sites block automated readers), we record the claim as unverifiable rather than guess. The full standard is at how MORTL verifies its content.
Found a figure your state has changed? Report an error and we'll re-verify it against the statute.
Small estate cutoff
The total estate value under which state law allows a simplified process (an affidavit or summary administration) instead of full probate. Some states limit it to certain property types; the note column carries the conditions.
Transfer on death (TOD) instrument
A recorded deed or designation that passes real estate directly to a named beneficiary at death, without probate. States name it differently; the instrument column gives each state’s term.
State estate tax
A tax the state levies on the estate itself before distribution, separate from the federal estate tax. The exemption column gives the 2026 state exemption where one exists.
Inheritance tax
A tax on the person who inherits, with rates that usually depend on their relationship to the person who died.
Filing deadline
The number of days state law allows for filing the death certificate with vital records, usually the funeral director’s job.
Cremation wait
The minimum time state law requires between death and cremation, separate from any permit requirement.
See death certificate fees and rules by state in What Dying Costs. To compare two states side by side, use the comparison tool. For the full picture in one state, start with the state guides.