The Alabama Small Estates Act allows the personal property of a deceased person to be distributed to the surviving spouse or appropriate next of kin through a court proceeding in a summary manner without full probate or administration. Summary distribution makes the passing of a small estate significantly faster.   

The requirements to use this process depends on what is in the estate and its value.  No real property can be passed by summary distribution, and the personal property has to be of limited value.

Every March the permitted value to use summary distribution is published by the State Finance Director based on the Consumer Price Index. As of March 1, 2022, the value of the estate cannot exceed $32,047 (up $1439 from the 2021 limit of $30,608).

This process is frequently used for small estates where someone leaves a bank account with no joint owner or payable on death designation.  If the person had a will, it is included in the filing to control to whom the property will be distributed, and if he or she did not have a will, the property will pass by intestate succession (the state prescribed order of distribution when a deceased has no will).