Washington Probate Checklist: Petition, Notices, and Closing

A Washington probate checklist runs in a fixed order: confirm probate is actually needed, file a petition in the superior court where the deceased lived, get appointed as personal representative, notify creditors and the state, inventory the assets, pay debts and taxes, then close the estate. The filing fee is $290, and most estates finish in six months to a year. Before working through the steps, check whether a shortcut applies.

Step 1: Confirm Full Probate Is Needed

Two things can eliminate probate or shrink it dramatically.

First, nonprobate assets pass directly to a named beneficiary or co-owner without any court involvement. That category includes jointly held bank accounts and real property with rights of survivorship, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, life insurance, retirement accounts with designated beneficiaries, transfer-on-death deeds, revocable trusts that become irrevocable at death, and community property agreements between spouses.¹ If most of the wealth is structured this way, the probate estate may be small enough for the affidavit route or may not need probate at all.

Second, when the value of the probate estate (after subtracting debts, liens, and the surviving spouse’s community property share) is $100,000 or less, a successor can claim personal property using a sworn small estate affidavit instead of opening a case. The affidavit can’t be used until 40 days after death, all debts including funeral expenses must be paid or accounted for, no probate can be pending, and the claimant must give the other successors 10 days’ written notice. A copy also goes to the Department of Social and Health Services, Office of Financial Recovery.² The affidavit only reaches personal property. If the estate holds real estate that isn’t handled by a nonprobate mechanism, full probate is likely still required.

Step 2: Gather Documents and File the Petition

Anyone holding the will has to deliver it to the court or to the named executor within 30 days of learning of the death. Sitting on it creates personal liability for damages suffered by any heir or beneficiary.³

Pull these together before going to court:

The original will (not a copy) and any codicils.
Certified death certificates. Order several; banks, agencies, and title companies each want one.
Names and addresses of every beneficiary named in the will, every legal heir who would inherit without a will, and any known creditors.
An estimated value of the real and personal property in the estate for the petition.

With that in hand, complete the Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Personal Representative, which names the proposed personal representative and describes the estate. Prepare an Oath of Personal Representative as well, but leave it unsigned until you’re in front of a clerk or notary. County clerk websites and the King County probate forms portal are common places to find templates.

File everything with the superior court in the county where the deceased person lived. Many larger counties accept electronic filing; in-person filing at the clerk’s window always works. The total filing fee is $290: a $200 base fee plus a $40 judicial stabilization surcharge and a $50 surcharge split among state archives, the judicial stabilization trust, and clerk operations.⁴

Step 3: Get Appointed and Ask for Nonintervention Powers

After filing, the petitioner usually presents the proposed order to a judge or court commissioner through the ex parte department. If the paperwork is in order, the court signs an order admitting the will to probate and appointing the personal representative. The clerk then issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one). Those letters are proof of authority. Banks, title companies, brokerage firms, and government agencies will all ask for them before releasing any asset.

A bond is not required if the will waives it, if the representative is the surviving spouse and the entire estate will go to that spouse after expenses and creditor claims, or if a bank or trust company serves as representative.⁵ Otherwise the court sets a bond amount based on the estate’s liquid assets.

At the same hearing, ask for nonintervention powers. This is the pivot that separates a manageable Washington probate from a supervised slog. With nonintervention powers, the personal representative can sell real estate, pay debts, distribute assets, borrow on the estate’s credit, and perform the decedent’s contracts without going back to court for each transaction.⁶

The court grants those powers if the estate is solvent and at least one of these is true: the petitioner was named as personal representative in the will, the petitioner is the surviving spouse of an intestate decedent whose estate is entirely community property with no children from another relationship, or the grant would serve the best interests of beneficiaries and creditors.⁶ A will can block the grant by saying so explicitly, and any interested person can object. Most Washington probates proceed with nonintervention powers.

Step 4: Notify Creditors and DSHS

Two notice obligations kick in immediately after appointment, and they run on different tracks.

Creditor Notice

Publish a notice to creditors once a week for three consecutive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county where the estate is being administered, and file the notice with the court. Known creditors get individual notice by regular first-class mail at their last known address.⁷ Creditors then have four months from the date of first publication (or from the date the notice is filed with the court, whichever is later) to present their claims. Claims filed after the deadline are barred.⁸

Skip this and the four-month clock never starts, meaning creditors can surface much later. The personal representative may also end up personally liable for debts that could have been resolved during the claim window.

DSHS Notice

If the decedent was 55 or older, serve a copy of the notice of appointment on the Department of Social and Health Services, Office of Financial Recovery, within 30 days of appointment.⁹ Separately, mail a copy of the published creditor notice (including the decedent’s Social Security number) to the same DSHS office as part of the creditor notification process.⁷ These are two separate notices. The first lets DSHS decide whether it has a Medicaid reimbursement claim; the second puts DSHS on notice as a creditor. Missing either can delay the estate or create personal liability.

Step 5: Open the Estate Account and Inventory the Assets

Open a bank account in the estate’s name early. Banks require an Employer Identification Number (obtained from the IRS on Form SS-4), the Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, a death certificate, and valid ID for each executor or administrator.¹⁰ The EIN is separate from the decedent’s Social Security number and will be used for all estate tax filings. Run every dollar of estate income, sale proceeds, and expense through this account so the paper trail stays clean. Opening it usually has to happen in person at a branch.

Within three months of appointment, prepare a sworn inventory of all estate property that has come into your possession or knowledge, listing the fair market value of each item as of the date of death along with any liens or encumbrances.¹¹ The inventory isn’t automatically filed with the court, but any heir or beneficiary who requests it in writing is entitled to a copy. Professional appraisals for real estate, business interests, or unusual personal property are common and typically count as a legitimate estate expense.

One point on community property. Washington is a community property state, and half of the community property already belongs to the surviving spouse by operation of law. Only the decedent’s half is subject to the will or intestacy rules. The entire community property can still be pulled into probate administration for the purpose of paying community debts, the family support allowance, and certain other obligations.¹

Step 6: Pay Debts and File Taxes

Pay valid creditor claims from the estate account. Then work through as many as four possible tax filings.

Washington Estate Tax

Washington has its own estate tax, with a filing threshold of $3,076,000 for deaths in 2026.¹² The threshold is based on the gross estate, not the net estate after debts. Rates are graduated, starting at 10% on the first $1,000,000 above the exclusion and climbing to 35% on amounts over $9,000,000.¹³ Plenty of estates that fall well below the federal exemption still owe Washington estate tax, especially those with real estate in King, Snohomish, or Pierce counties. The return goes to the Washington Department of Revenue.

Federal Estate Tax

The federal estate tax exemption for 2026 is $15,000,000, following the increase enacted under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21).¹⁴ Estates below the threshold generally owe no federal estate tax and don’t need to file, unless the surviving spouse wants to elect portability of the unused exemption.

Decedent’s Final Income Tax Return

File a final federal Form 1040 for the deceased covering income from January 1 through the date of death. The deadline is the same as it would be for a living taxpayer, typically April 15 of the following year.¹⁵ No Washington state income tax return is needed; Washington doesn’t tax personal income.

Estate Income Tax Return

If the estate earns income after the date of death (interest, rent, dividends), file IRS Form 1041 under the estate’s EIN.¹⁶ Income distributed to beneficiaries during the tax year generally passes through to their individual returns rather than being taxed at the estate level.

Step 7: Close the Estate

Once debts are satisfied, taxes are paid, and the four-month creditor period has expired, prepare to close. How you do it depends on whether the estate has nonintervention powers.

With nonintervention powers, file a Declaration of Completion of Probate with the court. It confirms that the publication requirements have been met, statutory obligations are satisfied, and all taxes and administrative costs have been or will be paid. Mail a copy to each beneficiary with notice of their right to object.¹⁷ If no interested party objects within 30 days, the declaration is deemed approved and the personal representative is discharged.

For supervised estates (those without nonintervention powers), file a final report and petition for a decree of distribution. The court reviews the accounting and, if satisfied, enters an order directing how the remaining assets are to be distributed.

The final practical step is transferring assets: recording new deeds for real property, retitling vehicles, moving funds from the estate account to beneficiaries, and distributing personal property. Close the estate account once everything is transferred, and the probate is done.

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.02.070 – Community Property
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.62.010 – Disposition of Personal Property Without Probate
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.20.010 – Duty of Custodian of Will, Liability
4
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 36.18.020 – Clerk Fees, Surcharges
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.28.185 – Bond Requirements
6
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.68.011 – Nonintervention Powers
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.40.020 – Notice to Creditors
8
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.40.051 – Claims Against Decedent, Time Limits
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.28.237 – Notice to Department of Social and Health Services
10
Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number
11
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.44.015 – Inventory and Appraisement
12
Washington Department of Revenue. Estate Tax
13
Washington Department of Revenue. Estate Tax Tables
14
Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax
15
Internal Revenue Service. Filing a Final Federal Tax Return for Someone Who Has Died
16
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts
17
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 11.76 – Settlement of Estates