District of Columbia timeline
District of Columbia probate timeline and creditor deadlines
The waiting-period requirement has not been verified, so no number is published below.
District of Columbia creditor deadlines are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed October 3, 2026.
The one date this page can source
No waiting-period number is published for the small estate proceeding (d.c. code §§ 20-351 to 20-356) route. D.C. Code §§ 20-351 to 20-356 state no waiting period after death for the court small-estate proceeding. The 60-day wait in § 20-361 belongs to the separate affidavit route, and the absence of a stated wait does not prove no rule or practice imposes one. Read: D.C. Code §§ 20-351 to 20-356; D.C. Super. Ct. Prob. R. 204.
If the property of a decedent subject to administration in the District of Columbia has a value of $80,000 or less, the property may be administered as a small estate in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter.D.C. Code § 20-351 — Council of the District of Columbia (D.C. Law Library); Mar. 21, 2025, D.C. Law 25-302, § 4(n), 72 DCR 780.
Creditor deadlines
- From publication of notice to creditors
- Claims are barred unless presented within 6 months after the date of the first publication of notice of the appointment of a personal representative (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)(1)). The notice must be published within 20 days after appointment, once a week for 2 successive weeks (§ 20-704(a)). In a small-estate proceeding where the Court directs notice, the period is instead 30 days from publication (§ 20-353(b)).
How these combine. The District has one bar for claims that arose before the appointment, and it runs from the first publication of the notice of appointment, not from death, appointment or mailed notice. Mailed notice to known creditors is due within 20 days of appointment (§ 20-704(b)) but does not start a separate clock in § 20-903. Six months is stated in months, so it is not converted to days.
unless presented within 6 months after the date of the first publication of notice of the appointment of a personal representativeD.C. Code § 20-903(a) — Council of the District of Columbia (D.C. Law Library); verified October 3, 2026.
(a) Within 20 days after appointment, the personal representative shall, unless notice has already been given under this subsection, publish a notice of the appointment in a legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation in the District or any other publication as the Court may provide by Rule once a week for 2 successive weeks.D.C. Code § 20-704(a) — Council of the District of Columbia (D.C. Law Library); This section includes amendments by temporary legislation that will expire on March 27, 2027..
(b) Notice. - If the Court directs that notice be given, notice shall be given once in the form required by section 20-704; except, that the period within which claims must be filed or objection must be made to contest the validity of the will or the small estates proceeding or the appointment of the personal representative shall be 30 days from the date of publication of notice.D.C. Code § 20-353(b) — Council of the District of Columbia (D.C. Law Library); verified October 3, 2026.
General sequence: first week, how long probate takes.
District of Columbia record: 12/12 verified, 39 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction