King County Superior Court Clerk Guide

An out-of-court procedure that never reaches the King County Clerk. At any time more than 40 days after the death, a claiming successor presents proof of death and a sworn affidavit to whoever holds the decedent's personal property or owes the decedent a debt, and that person must pay or deliver. A transfer agent must re-register a security on the same showing, and a governmental agency that issues certificates of ownership or licence registration must issue a new certificate. No release from any Washington state or local taxing authority may be required first. THE COMMUNITY-PROPERTY EXCLUSION IS THE WASHINGTON-SPECIFIC PART and it materially widens the route for a married decedent: because only the decedent's half of the community estate counts, a couple's $180,000 community estate can still qualify.

• The claiming successor's name and address, and that they are a "successor" as defined in RCW 11.62.005
• That the decedent was a Washington resident on the date of death
• That the value of the entire estate subject to probate, excluding the surviving spouse's or domestic partner's community property interest and net of liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000
• That 40 days have elapsed since the death
• That no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction
• That all debts of the decedent including funeral and burial expenses have been paid or provided for
• A description of the personal property claimed and a statement that it is subject to probate
• That written notice of the claim was given to all other successors, by personal service or mail, at least 10 days earlier
• That the claiming successor is personally entitled to full payment or delivery, or is entitled to it on behalf of and with the written authority of all other successors with an interest
• Mail a copy of the affidavit, including the decedent's social security number, to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Office of Financial Recovery (RCW 11.62.010(5))

Qualifies:

$100,000. Measured as the value of the decedent's entire estate subject to probate, wherever located, net of liens and encumbrances, and EXCLUDING the surviving spouse's or surviving domestic partner's community property interest in assets subject to probate. Personal property and debts only - it does not move Washington real estate.

Typical duration:

2-3 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

NO STATEWIDE WASHINGTON FORM EXISTS for this affidavit and none is asserted here; RCW 11.62.010 prescribes the contents rather than a form. REAL PROPERTY IS OUTSIDE THIS ROUTE ENTIRELY - the section reaches personal property and debts. Where a house is the thing that has to move, look instead at the RCW 82.45.197 lack-of-probate affidavit recorded with the county auditor, at an adjudication of testacy or intestacy and heirship under RCW 11.28.340, or at a transfer on death deed recorded before the death. The $100,000 figure has stood since 7 June 2006 and carries no inflation indexing, and it attaches to the date the affidavit is presented rather than to the date of death.

This is Washington's normal route and its signature procedure, and it is the single thing most likely to be described wrongly by copy written for another state. A personal representative petitions for NONINTERVENTION POWERS, and unless the will directs otherwise the court SHALL grant them on finding the estate solvent and one of three conditions met. After the grant the representative administers and settles the estate with essentially no court supervision and no court accounting, and closes on a declaration of completion of probate under RCW 11.68.110 or a decree of distribution under RCW 11.68.100. Copy that says "the court supervises each step" is wrong about Washington.

• File the will and a petition for letters with the King County Clerk and pay the $290 statutory total
• Petition for nonintervention powers, with notice under RCW 11.68.041 where required
• Give notice of the appointment and of the pendency of the probate to heirs, legatees, devisees and nonprobate beneficiaries within 20 days (RCW 11.28.237(1))
• File the report confirming notice to third parties within 30 days of appointment (RCW 11.76.010(1))
• Make and verify an inventory and appraisement within three months of appointment (RCW 11.44.015) - Washington requires you to PREPARE it and to hand a copy to anyone entitled within ten days of a written request, but NOT to file it
• Give notice to creditors if you want to shorten the creditor window (RCW 11.40.020) - publication is optional in Washington
• Close by declaration of completion (RCW 11.68.110) or by decree of distribution (RCW 11.68.100)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is SOLVENCY, taking probate and nonprobate assets together, plus one of the three qualifying conditions of RCW 11.68.011(2), plus the absence of a will provision directing that the court not grant the powers.

Typical duration:

6-12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

A personal representative appointed under RCW 11.28.120(3) - the suitable person a court may appoint after 90 days of family inaction - may NOT be granted nonintervention powers unless the appointee is an entity described in RCW 11.36.010(2) or (3). RCW 11.68.011 was amended by 2026 c 204 s 9 effective 11 June 2026, so any third-party description written before mid-2026 predates the current text. There is no statewide Washington form for this petition; see the notes on forms.

The court supervises the administration under chapter 11.76 RCW. The personal representative reports, pays debts in the RCW 11.76.110 order, files a final report and petition for distribution, publishes and mails notice of the hearing at least 20 days ahead, and obtains a decree of distribution. It is slower and more expensive than the nonintervention route, which is why Washington practice reaches for nonintervention powers first.

• The same opening steps as a nonintervention administration
• Final report and petition for distribution (RCW 11.76.030)
• One publication of hearing notice at least 20 days before the hearing, plus mailed notice to each known heir, legatee, devisee and distributee not less than 20 days before (RCW 11.76.040)
• Decree of distribution and discharge

Qualifies:

No threshold. This is what happens where nonintervention powers are not sought, are refused, or are later vacated or restricted - for example on the estate's insolvency under RCW 11.68.080.

Typical duration:

12-24 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

RCW 11.76.030(2), added by 2026 c 204 s 11 effective 11 June 2026, lets the court presume 24 months after appointment that the estate is ready to be closed and, on request of the court or any interested person, order the final report submitted by a date certain movable only for good cause.

Washington lets the court establish a will, or establish intestacy and heirship, WITHOUT appointing a personal representative. RCW 11.20.020(1): where the application for probate of a will does not request appointment of a personal representative and the court enters an adjudication of testacy establishing the will, no further administration is required except as commenced under RCW 11.28.330 or 11.28.340. Four months after entry of the order and the mailing or service of the RCW 11.28.330 notice, absent a challenge, the order is deemed the equivalent of a final decree of distribution as to those who waived or received notice.

• An application under RCW 11.20.020 or a petition under RCW 11.28.110 that does not seek appointment of a personal representative
• Notice under RCW 11.28.330
• Four months without a later will being offered, a contest of the adjudication, or a challenge to the determination of heirship

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. Available where nobody needs to be appointed to act - typically where the only task is to establish who owns what.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Washington enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act as chapter 64.80 RCW (2014 c 58). An individual may transfer property to one or more beneficiaries effective at death by a transfer on death deed. The deed is revocable, is nontestamentary, transfers nothing during the transferor's life, and needs no notice to, delivery to, acceptance by, or consideration from the beneficiary.

• The essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable inter vivos deed (RCW 64.80.060(1))
• A statement that the transfer to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor's death (RCW 64.80.060(2))
• RECORDING BEFORE THE TRANSFEROR'S DEATH in the public records in the office of the auditor of the county where the property is located (RCW 64.80.060(3))

Qualifies:

Not applicable. A transfer on death deed recorded before the transferor's death passes the described real property outside probate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one