Klickitat County Superior Court Clerk Guide

NO COURT AND NO FILING FEE. More than 40 days after the death, a claiming successor gives a sworn affidavit and proof of death straight 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 RCW 11.62.010(3) makes any governmental agency that issues certificates of ownership or licence registration issue a new certificate. No release from any Washington state or local taxing authority may be demanded first. TWO THINGS WASHINGTON EXECUTORS GET WRONG HERE. The $100,000 cap EXCLUDES the surviving spouse's or surviving domestic partner's community property interest in assets subject to probate, so a married couple's $180,000 community estate can still qualify because only the decedent's half counts - that exclusion is a community-property rule with no analogue in most states. And the affidavit reaches PERSONAL PROPERTY AND DEBTS ONLY; it does not move Washington real estate, so a house takes the estate out of this route entirely.

• At least 40 days have elapsed since the death (RCW 11.62.010(1)(d))
• The decedent was a Washington resident on the date of death
• The whole estate subject to probate, wherever located and net of liens and encumbrances, is worth no more than $100,000, EXCLUDING the surviving spouse's or domestic partner's community property interest
• No application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted anywhere
• All debts of the decedent, including funeral and burial expenses, have been paid or provided for
• Written notice of the claim was served or mailed to every other successor at least 10 days earlier
• 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
• A copy of the affidavit, including the decedent's social security number, is mailed to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Office of Financial Recovery (RCW 11.62.010(5))

Qualifies:

$100,000

Typical duration:

2-3 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

NO WASHINGTON AGENCY PUBLISHES A FORM FOR THIS AFFIDAVIT: Washington has no statewide probate forms at all, and the Department of Licensing publishes no successor-affidavit form either. The $100,000 cap has stood since 7 June 2006 (2006 c 360 s 16 raised it from $60,000) and carries no inflation index. Do not confuse this affidavit with the RCW 82.45.197 lack of probate affidavit, which is a real estate excise tax document rather than a way of transferring title.

This is Washington's normal route and its signature procedure, and it is the opposite of the step-by-step court supervision most states run. The personal representative petitions the Klickitat County Superior Court for NONINTERVENTION POWERS, and unless the will directs otherwise the court shall grant them on finding the estate solvent - counting probate and nonprobate assets together - and one of the three RCW 11.68.011(2) conditions met. After the grant the representative administers and settles the estate with almost no court involvement and closes by a declaration of completion of probate rather than by a court accounting. Copy that says a Washington court reviews each step is wrong for this route.

• File the will, if there is one, and petition for probate and for letters (RCW 11.20.020, RCW 11.28.110), paying the $290 statutory fee to the Klickitat County Clerk
• Petition for nonintervention powers under RCW 11.68.011
• Give notice of appointment and of the pendency of the probate to heirs, legatees, devisees and nonprobate beneficiaries (RCW 11.28.237)
• File the report confirming notice to third parties within 30 days of appointment (RCW 11.76.010(1), added by 2026 c 204 and effective 11 June 2026)
• Prepare the inventory and appraisement within three months of appointment; it need not be filed, but a copy must go to anyone entitled who asks in writing, within ten days (RCW 11.44.015)
• Publish notice to creditors if you want to shorten the claim window (RCW 11.40.020) - publication is optional in Washington
• Close by decree under RCW 11.68.100 or by declaration of completion under RCW 11.68.110

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is SOLVENCY plus one of the three qualifying conditions in RCW 11.68.011(2), and the absence of a direction in the will that the court not grant the powers.

Filing fee:

$290

source

Typical duration:

6-12 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

NO FORM NUMBER IS GIVEN BECAUSE WASHINGTON HAS NO STATEWIDE PROBATE FORMS. The statewide index at courts.wa.gov/forms publishes 90 categories and not one of them is probate; a full-text search of it for 'probate', 'decedent', 'estate' and 'will' returns nothing. Washington's nonintervention practice is pleading-driven and the documents are county-local or attorney-drafted, so ask the Klickitat County Clerk what this court expects rather than looking for a state form. RCW 11.68.011 was amended by 2026 c 204 s 9 effective 11 June 2026, so any description of it written before mid-2026 is out of date.

This is Washington's signature procedure and its normal route. A personal representative petitions for NONINTERVENTION POWERS, and unless the decedent's will directs otherwise the court SHALL grant them if it finds the estate solvent - taking both probate and nonprobate assets into account - and one of three things is true. After the grant, the representative administers and settles the estate with essentially no court supervision and closes on a declaration of completion of probate rather than on a court accounting.

• Petition for probate of the will and for letters, or for letters of administration (RCW 11.20.020, RCW 11.28.110)
• Petition for nonintervention powers, with notice under RCW 11.68.041 where required
• Notice of appointment to heirs, legatees, devisees and nonprobate beneficiaries within 20 days (RCW 11.28.237(1))
• Report confirming notice to third parties within 30 days of appointment (RCW 11.76.010(1))
• Inventory and appraisement within 3 months of appointment (RCW 11.44.015)
• Notice to creditors if the representative chooses to shorten the creditor window (RCW 11.40.020)
• Close by decree under RCW 11.68.100 or by declaration of completion under RCW 11.68.110

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is SOLVENCY plus one of three qualifying relationships in RCW 11.68.011(2), and the absence of a will provision directing that the court not grant the powers.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The Klickitat County Superior Court supervises the administration under chapter 11.76 RCW. The personal representative reports to the court, pays debts in the order set by RCW 11.76.110, files a final report and petition for distribution, publishes and mails notice of the hearing at least 20 days beforehand, and takes a decree of distribution. It is slower and costlier than nonintervention administration, and it is the exception in Washington rather than the rule.

• The same opening steps as a nonintervention administration, filed with the Klickitat County Clerk
• Final report and petition for distribution (RCW 11.76.030)
• Notice of the hearing, published and mailed at least 20 days ahead
• Decree of distribution and discharge of the personal representative

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is what happens when nonintervention powers are not sought, are refused, or are later restricted or vacated - say if the estate turns out to be insolvent.

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 and effective 11 June 2026, lets the court presume an estate is ready to be closed 24 months after the personal representative was appointed, and on request of the court or any interested person the court shall order the final report filed by a date certain, movable only for good cause. That deadline is new and postdates most published descriptions of Washington probate.

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