Delaware Affidavit of Jointly Held Real Estate

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Section 1905(e) asks for exactly two things: a general description of the real estate, and the name of the surviving owner. That short list tells you what the instrument is for. You are not applying for the property and nobody is deciding whether you get it. Joint ownership with right of survivorship and tenancy by the entireties both move the interest to the survivor at the moment of death, and this affidavit is how Delaware's probate office is informed that the co-owner named on the deed has died. Both county forms that were retrieved ask for more than those two items, which is dealt with further down.

2. 2

   The filing is compulsory and the clock starts at the death. Section 1905(e) reads that the personal representative or the surviving joint tenant shall, within 3 months after the decedent's death, complete and file an affidavit in the office of the Register of Wills of the county in which the real property is located. Two details matter in that sentence. Shall, not may, which puts Delaware in a small minority. And three months from the death, not three months from any appointment or grant of letters, which is the clock the neighboring subsection uses for an executor's inventory.

3. 3

   Only two people can swear it, and the statute names them in the alternative: the personal representative, or the surviving joint tenant. Delaware does not open this up to any person with knowledge of the facts. Both county forms track the statute and make it a select one choice between Personal Representative and Surviving Joint Tenant with Right of Survivorship. Kent County's form goes a step further and has the notarial officer certify that the affiant is known to me personally to be such, so turning up as a stranger with the right paperwork is not quite the whole of it.

4. 4

   Three counties, three Registers of Wills, and the office is in the probate building rather than the land records. New Castle, Kent and Sussex are the only three, and the affidavit goes to the one where the real property sits. For contrast, inside the same state a transfer on death deed must be recorded with the recorder of deeds under 25 Del. C. Section 209(4). The Register of Wills acts only as a Clerk of the Court of Chancery when performing the functions of the office, under 12 Del. C. Section 2501.

5. 5

   What the statute requires and what the county forms ask for are two different lists, and two counties corroborate the gap. Section 1905(e) never mentions a death certificate, a notary, a witness or a Social Security number. Both the Kent and the Sussex forms make the affiant swear the decedent died as evidenced by the attached certified copy of a death certificate. Both ask for the decedent's Social Security number. Both ask for the parcel number, which Kent prints as Tax Parcel No. and Sussex as Tax Map Parcel No. TMP number. Both close with a recital that the entire interest passed by operations of law to a named person, and both require a notarial officer. Bring what the form asks for, because the form is what the counter takes.

6. 6

   The oath can very likely be administered where you file it. Kent County's signature block names the officer taking the oath as Register of Wills slash Notarial Officer, and the statute backs that up: under 12 Del. C. Section 2502(a) the Register of Wills has power to take acknowledgements, administer oaths, issue notices, certify and authenticate copies of instruments, documents and records of the Court. So a Delaware affiant does not necessarily have to find an outside notary before going in. Sussex County's FORM NDETRR is blunter about the sequence and prints the instruction Sign here in front of a notary.

7. 7

   The fee is set county by county, which is the statute's own design. 12 Del. C. Section 2510 provides that the governing body of each county shall determine the fees which shall be charged by the Register of Wills of that county, and Section 2511 requires every Register to keep a printed or written list of the fees then in effect available for public inspection. Only one county list was retrieved. Kent County's schedule, revised February 5, 2026, prices a Jointly Held Real Estate Affidavit at 10 dollars, and prices a No DE Estate Tax due Affidavit separately at 10 dollars, plus 1 dollar for Filing of Death Certificate. Sussex and New Castle schedules were not retrieved, so treat the 10 dollar figure as Kent's.

Delaware Requirements for Affidavit of Death

• The Register of Wills of the County Where the Property Sits

  Not the recorder of deeds and not a register of deeds. Section 1905(e) directs the filer to complete and file an affidavit in the office of the Register of Wills of the county in which the real property is located, and both retrieved county forms are headed Register of Wills and captioned as an affidavit to the Register of Wills. Delaware has three counties, so three offices: New Castle, Kent and Sussex. Kent County's is on the first floor of the Kent County Levy Court in Dover; Sussex County's is at 5 East Pine Street, Georgetown. Inside the same state a transfer on death deed goes elsewhere, to the recorder of deeds under 25 Del. C. Section 209(4), so the two instruments do not share a counter.

• Filing Within 3 Months After the Date of Death

  Section 1905(e) uses the word shall, which makes this a duty rather than an option, and it starts the clock at the death: the personal representative or the surviving joint tenant shall, within 3 months after the decedent's death, complete and file an affidavit. Note the contrast with the executor's inventory in subsection (a) of the same section, whose own three months run from the granting of letters testamentary or of administration. Nothing has to be applied for or granted before this clock begins, so a survivor who is waiting to see whether an estate will be opened is already inside the period.

• The Affiant: Personal Representative or Surviving Joint Tenant

  The statute names two classes in the alternative and no third. A neighbor, an adult child who is not the survivor, or a title agent with the facts to hand does not fit either description. Both county forms track the statute with a select one choice between Personal Representative and Surviving Joint Tenant with Right of Survivorship, and Kent County's notarial preamble additionally certifies the affiant as known to me personally to be such. If the surviving owner and the personal representative are different people, either one satisfies the subsection on its face.

• The Two Items the Statute Actually Requires

  Short enough to quote whole. Section 1905(e) calls for a statement setting forth a general description of the real estate and the name of the surviving owner. That is the entire statutory content list. Copy the description from the recorded deed rather than paraphrasing the street address, and spell the surviving owner's name the way the deed spells it. Section 1905(e) also expressly relieves one group of filers: a filer is not required to produce a certified or exemplified copy from the jurisdiction in which the decedent resided at the time of the decedent's death, or to make certifications regarding the decedent's probate status in another jurisdiction.

• A Certified Copy of the Death Certificate, Attached, Because the County Asks

  This one is county practice rather than statute, and it is worth knowing which is which. The subsection never mentions a death certificate. Both county forms retrieved make the affiant swear to a decedent who died on a stated date as evidenced by the attached certified copy of a death certificate, so it travels with the affidavit rather than being shown at the counter. Two counties independently require it, which is why this page treats it as what to expect statewide while labeling it as the form's requirement. Order more than one certified copy. Kent County's schedule also prices Filing of Death Certificate as its own 1 dollar item.

• The Decedent's Social Security Number and the Tax Parcel Number

  Two more items the statute does not ask for and both county forms do. Kent County's form opens FOR THE ESTATE OF with an SSN field beside it; Sussex County's opens For the Estate of with Social Security number. For the parcel, Kent prints Tax Parcel No. and Sussex prints Tax Map Parcel No. TMP number. Both forms then close the body with a recital that the entire interest passed by operations of law to a named person. Have the parcel number from the county assessment record or the tax bill before starting, because it is not something the deed always states in that form.

• The Oath Before a Notarial Officer, Possibly at the Counter

  Section 1905(e) says nothing about notarization, oaths or witnesses; the requirement rides on the word affidavit and on the county forms, which both require a notarial officer. Kent County's preamble has the affiant personally appear and be duly sworn according to law, and its closing line is signed by the Register of Wills slash Notarial Officer. That is grounded in statute too: under 12 Del. C. Section 2502(a) the Register of Wills has power to take acknowledgements, administer oaths, issue notices, certify and authenticate copies of instruments, documents and records of the Court. Sussex County's FORM NDETRR instead prints Sign here in front of a notary, with two SEAL lines and a commission expiry. No witness line appears on either form.

• The County Fee, and the Sussex Tax Paragraph That Kent Charges Separately

  There is no statewide fee by design. 12 Del. C. Section 2510 provides that the governing body of each county shall determine the fees which shall be charged by the Register of Wills of that county, and Section 2511 requires every Register to keep a printed or written list of the fees then in effect for public inspection. Kent County's schedule, revised February 5, 2026, prices a Jointly Held Real Estate Affidavit at 10 dollars and a No DE Estate Tax due Affidavit at a further 10 dollars. Sussex County instead merges the two, printing the no estate tax return declaration as paragraph 4 of FORM NDETRR, which cites Section 1505, Title 30. Sussex and New Castle fee schedules were not retrieved.