Do I have to go through probate in Alaska?

In Alaska, estates worth $50,000 or less may qualify for a simplified small-estate procedure (personal property only). Estates above that generally require probate through the Superior Court.

How long do creditors have to make a claim in Alaska?

The creditor claim period in Alaska is generally 4 months. What starts that clock varies, so confirm which date applies before relying on it.

How long does probate take in Alaska?

A typical Alaska estate takes 6–12 months. Complications — a contested will, an unsold house, a late-surfacing creditor — extend it.

Does Alaska have an estate or inheritance tax?

Alaska has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. That is not the same as nothing to file: if the estate earns income and you file a federal Form 1041, many states want their own fiduciary return alongside it.

EstateMate › Probate by state › Alaska

Settling an estate in Alaska

An executor in Alaska has to work through the Superior Court and a long list of tasks that have nothing to do with the court. This page sets out what Alaska law actually requires at each step, with the section it comes from and the date we last read it.

Probate court: Superior Court
Small-estate shortcut: Estates of $50,000 or less may qualify for a simplified small-estate procedure (personal property only — it will not transfer real estate).
Creditor claim period: 4 months
Typical timeline: 6–12 months
State death tax: None — no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax

Immediate

Obtain certified death certificates

Alaska keeps the eligibility list in regulation rather than in the statute, and gives you an appeal if a local office says no. Under AS 18.50.310(a) it is unlawful to disclose information contained in vital statistics records, or to issue a copy, except as provided in that section or as authorized by regulations issued under the chapter. So what you have to show is set by the bureau rather than by the code, and the office is where to ask before you travel. Subsection (d) is the part worth knowing: an appeal from a local custodian’s refusal to disclose goes to the state registrar, whose decision is binding on that custodian. Subsection (f) opens the record entirely once fifty years have elapsed after the date of death, at which point it becomes a public record subject to inspection and copying under AS 40.25.110 to 40.25.140. Two practical notes. The funeral director usually orders the first batch as part of their service, so ask them how many they have already requested before you order more — families routinely pay twice. And order more than you think: banks, insurers and transfer agents often keep the copy you give them rather than returning it. Confirm the current fee on the state’s own page at the moment you order, because fees change without notice.

AS 18.50.310·last read 2026-08-25

Locate the will (or confirm there is none)

Alaska is request-triggered, and the drafting rewards a carefully worded request. Under AS 13.12.516 the duty arises after the death and on request of an interested person. The custodian must deliver the will with reasonable promptness to a person able to secure its probate, and only if they know of no one able to secure probate does the will go to an appropriate court instead. So the court is the fallback, not the default. If you are the one who intends to open the estate, say so in the request and say that you are able to secure probate — that is the fact the statute turns on, and it removes the custodian’s room to do nothing. A person who wilfully fails to deliver a will is liable to a person aggrieved for any damages sustained by the failure, and a person who wilfully refuses or fails after a court order brought to compel delivery is subject to penalty for contempt of court. Until an interested person asks, nothing is late. Put the request in writing and keep a dated copy — it is what turns a delay into a breach of duty.

AS 13.12.516·last read 2026-08-25

Short-term

Claim the family allowances you are entitled to

Alaska follows the Uniform Probate Code and all three protections stack. Under Alaska Stat. § 13.12.402 a surviving spouse takes a homestead allowance of $27,000, or where there is no spouse the minor and dependent children divide that figure between them. It is in addition to a share passing by the will unless the will provides otherwise, by intestate succession or by way of elective share. Section 13.12.403 adds exempt property worth up to $10,000 over and above any security interests, in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances and personal effects, and where the estate does not hold that much of it other assets are used to make the value up. Section 13.12.404 adds a reasonable allowance in money for maintenance during administration, with no dollar cap at all, which may not run beyond one year if the estate is inadequate to discharge allowed claims. That one is also not chargeable against a share. So the family takes $37,000 plus a maintenance allowance, on top of whatever they inherit.

Alaska Stat. §§ 13.12.402, 13.12.403, 13.12.404·last read 2026-08-21

Notify beneficiaries and keep them informed

Alaska keeps the uniform thirty-day rule and the uniform contents. Under AS 13.16.360 every personal representative except a special administrator must, not later than 30 days after appointment, give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees — including, where there has been no formal testacy proceeding and you were appointed assuming intestacy, the devisees under any will mentioned in the application. It goes by delivery or ordinary mail to each address reasonably available to you. The duty does not extend to anyone already adjudicated in a prior formal testacy proceeding to have no interest. Four things must be in the notice: your name and address, a statement that it is going to persons who have or may have some interest in the estate, whether bond has been filed, and a description of the court where the papers relating to the estate are on file. Getting this wrong rarely costs money directly — it stalls the case. An estate that cannot show notice was properly given can be held open, and the appointment itself can be reopened, so keep proof of what you sent, to whom, and on what date.

AS 13.16.360·last read 2026-08-25

Determine if probate is required

Alaska bars this route outright when there is real property — the affidavit reaches personal property only, so a house closes it whatever the value. Within that limit Alaska is unusually generous in one respect: alongside the $50,000 personal-property limit there is a separate $100,000 allowance for Alaska-registered vehicles, so a car or truck does not eat into the $50,000. Both are measured net of debts and liens, and both require that 30 days have passed and that no personal representative has been appointed. If there is real property, ask the court what other simplified options exist rather than assuming a full probate is the only way.

AS 13.16.680·last read 2026-08-18

Legal Process

File a petition with the probate court

Alaska’s informal appointment happens with almost no advance notice, and the duty to tell people comes afterwards. Under AS 13.16.125 the moving party need give notice of an intention to seek an appointment informally to only two groups: anyone who has demanded it under AS 13.16.070, and anyone with a prior or equal right to appointment that they have not waived in writing and filed with the court. The section then says in terms that no other notice of an informal appointment proceeding is required. What balances that is AS 13.16.360, which obliges the personal representative to give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees within thirty days after it — so the family learns of it after the fact rather than before. Under AS 13.16.120 the registrar may decline an application where not satisfied it should be made, and a declination of informal appointment is not an adjudication and does not preclude appointment in formal proceedings. One practical point: the word your state uses for this office is not decoration — asking for the wrong one wastes a trip and a phone call. And where a registrar or clerk can grant it, no judge is involved and no hearing is set, so nothing in the system will prompt you: the case moves only when you file.

AS 13.16.120, 13.16.125·last read 2026-08-25

Inventory all assets and debts

Alaska takes the uniform text, so the inventory here is a document you prepare rather than one you necessarily file. Under AS 13.16.365 a personal representative who is not a special administrator, and not a successor to someone who already discharged the duty, must within three months after appointment prepare an inventory of property owned by the deceased at death. Each item is listed in reasonable detail, showing its fair market value as at the date of death and the type and amount of any encumbrance. You must send a copy to interested persons who request it. Filing the original with the court is permitted but not required — so unless someone asks, or you choose to file, the inventory never reaches the court file at all. Two things that apply everywhere. Values are as of the date of death, not today — a house that has risen since is still listed at what it was worth then. And the inventory is the document everything else is measured against: fees, bond, and every later distribution. It is also what beneficiaries most often challenge, so take the time to get it right rather than filing a rough figure you intend to fix later.

AS 13.16.365·last read 2026-08-25

Publish notice to creditors

Alaska makes publication compulsory, which sets it apart from most of its uniform-code neighbours. Under AS 13.16.450 a personal representative upon appointment shall publish a notice once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district, announcing the appointment and address and notifying creditors to present their claims within four months after the date of the first publication or be forever barred. Note the word: shall, not may. Utah and North Dakota leave that choice to the representative; Alaska does not. Section 13.16.455 adds a rule that quietly extends some claims: the running of any statute of limitations measured from an event other than the death is suspended during the four months following the death, and resumes afterwards. So a claim that looked time-barred at the date of death may not be. Two things to hold on to. Publication is what starts the clock in most states, so an estate where nobody published can stay exposed to claims far longer than the family expects. And a known creditor usually has to be told directly — publication alone does not bind someone whose name and address you could reasonably have found.

AS 13.16.450, 13.16.455·last read 2026-08-25

Administration

Identify and close digital accounts

Alaska’s list names only letters testamentary, which is worth checking against your own paperwork. Under AS 13.63.040 the content of electronic communications is disclosed where the deceased person consented or a court directs it. The personal representative gives the custodian a written request, a certified copy of the death certificate, and a certified copy of the letters testamentary of the personal representative. No small-estate affidavit appears on that list, and the section names letters testamentary rather than the letters of administration issued where there was no will — so in an intestate estate, ask the court what document the custodian should be given before you write. Unless the person used the provider’s online tool you must also produce the will, trust or power of attorney evidencing consent. The custodian may then ask for an account identifier, evidence linking the account, or a finding by the court. The rule to hold on to everywhere: without consent you generally get only the catalogue — who was contacted, when, and at what address — not what was actually said. “The executor can get into the accounts” is not what these laws do. And if you are advising someone still living, the provider’s own online tool is where this should be set, because it beats the will.

AS 13.63.040·last read 2026-08-25

Financial Settlement

Pay valid debts and expenses

Alaska uses the uniform six-class order, with one addition worth knowing about. Under AS 13.16.470(a), where the applicable assets are insufficient to pay all claims in full, the personal representative pays in this order. First, the costs and expenses of administration. Then reasonable funeral expenses. Then debts and taxes with preference under federal law, and past due child support payments — except payments required under AS 25.27.120 to 25.27.130. Then the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness. Then debts and taxes with preference under other Alaska laws. And then all other claims. Putting past due child support up in the federal-preference class is the Alaska variation, and it matters: arrears owed to a former spouse or the child support agency outrank the hospital bill from the final illness. Subsection (b) closes the door on jumping the queue. No preference may be given to any claim over another of the same class, and a claim that is due and payable is not entitled to a preference over claims not yet due. Paying a lower-ranked debt before a higher-ranked one can leave you personally liable for the difference. So where the estate may not cover everything, stop before paying anything beyond the funeral and administration costs, and take advice.

AS 13.16.470·last read 2026-08-27

File required tax returns

Alaska has no estate tax in practice, no inheritance tax and no state income tax — which makes it about the simplest state in the country for this step. The estate tax section is still in the code: AS 43.31.011 imposes a tax on the transfer of the estate of a person who at the time of death was an Alaska resident. But the amount is worked out from the federal credit allowable for state death taxes, reduced by what was actually paid to other states on property located there. Congress replaced that credit with a deduction, so the starting figure is zero and nothing is due. With no individual income tax either, there is no Alaska fiduciary return on estate income — unlike almost every other state, the federal Form 1041 is the whole of it. None of that removes the federal returns: the deceased’s final income tax return, and Form 1041 for income the estate itself earns during administration. And it does not help with property in another state, which may carry that state’s own death tax and its own filing.

AS 43.31.011·last read 2026-08-25

Distribution

Distribute assets to heirs

Alaska uses the Uniform Probate Code tiers, and the surviving parents are the reason a spouse may not take everything. Under AS 13.12.102 the spouse’s intestate share is one of four. The entire estate if no descendant or parent of the deceased survives. The first $200,000 plus three quarters of the balance if no descendant survives but a parent does. The first $150,000 plus half the balance if all the deceased’s surviving descendants are also the spouse’s, and the spouse has other children of their own. And the first $100,000 plus half the balance if one or more of the deceased’s descendants are not the spouse’s. The tier people are surprised by is the second. A childless couple where the deceased’s mother or father is still alive does not give the spouse the whole estate — the parent takes a quarter of whatever is left above $200,000. Alaska also has a rule no other state needs, and the reason is on the face of it rather than buried in fifty other codes: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act corporations exist only here. Subsection (b) takes settlement common stock and other inalienable stock in a corporation organised under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act out of the tiers above entirely: the surviving spouse takes all of that stock if there is no surviving issue, and one half of it if the deceased is survived by issue. If ANCSA stock is in the estate, work it out separately from everything else. Alaska also shuts out an absent parent, and it shuts out that parent’s relatives with them. The rule is not where its title suggests: § 13.12.114 is headed “parent and child relationship”, and subsection (c) is the bar. Inheritance from or through a child by either natural parent — OR BY THAT PARENT’S KINDRED — is precluded unless that parent openly treated the child as their own and did not refuse to support the child. No time period and no court finding are required by the section: the test is open treatment plus not refusing support. Where a child dies without a spouse or descendants, that clause can decide which side of the family takes the whole estate. The rest of that section does the job its title promises, and it is worth reading before deciding anyone is not a child. Subsection (a): an individual is the child of their natural parents “regardless of their marital status”, so a child born outside marriage inherits on the same footing. Subsection (b): an adopted individual is the child of the adopting parents and not of the natural parents. But adoption by the spouse of either natural parent does not affect the relationship with that natural parent, nor the right of the child or a descendant of the child to inherit from or through the other natural parent. A stepparent adoption in Alaska therefore costs the child nothing on either side: the new parent is added and neither birth parent is cut off for the child’s purposes. These shares apply only where there is no valid will — a will overrides all of it. And do not distribute anything until the creditor period has run and the debts are settled: a representative who pays the family early can be personally liable for what is still owing.

AS 13.12.102, 13.12.114·last read 2026-09-09

Close Estate

File a final accounting and close the estate

Alaska stacks two six-month periods, and they do not start together. Under AS 13.16.630 a personal representative may close by filing a verified statement no earlier than six months after the date of the original appointment of a general personal representative — and that statement must also say that notice to creditors was published with the first publication occurring more than six months before the statement. So publishing late pushes the closing back, however long ago you were appointed. The statement must confirm full administration, with claims, expenses of administration and death taxes paid, settled or otherwise disposed of, and the assets distributed to the persons entitled. A copy goes to all distributees and to every claimant of whom you are aware whose claim is neither paid nor barred, together with a full written account. If no proceedings are pending one year after filing, the appointment terminates. Closing is what ends your exposure, so do not simply stop when the money runs out — an estate left open leaves the representative personally on the hook. And filing a closing statement is not the same as being discharged. In several states the appointment only terminates some months later, if nobody objects. Keep the file, the receipts and the proof of what you sent until then.

AS 13.16.630·last read 2026-08-25

Work through this as a checklist

The free Alaska checklist tracks where you are across every step, keeps your documents in one place, and tells you what is due next. No payment, no card.

Open the free Alaska checklist

EstateMate is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Every note above cites the section it came from and the date it was last read, so you can check it yourself. Statutes change, and the right answer can turn on facts specific to your family — when something looks close to the line, talk to a Alaska probate attorney.