Washington estate administration
Small-estate limit: $100,000
This guide explains probate in Washington: Washington provides a successor-affidavit route for qualifying personal property after a 40-day wait.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
The decedent's entire estate subject to probate, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed $100,000. The affidavit itself only collects personal property, so solely owned real property counts toward the limit but does not transfer under this procedure.
Successor affidavitSimplified route
The decedent's entire estate subject to probate, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed $100,000. The affidavit itself only collects personal property, so solely owned real property counts toward the limit but does not transfer under this procedure.
Eligibility and caveatsCourt cost
Formal probate costs $290 statewide: a $200 base fee plus $40 and $50 surcharges that the same section makes mandatory for probate filings.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
The court determines compensation that is just and reasonable.
Compensation detailCreditor deadline
Washington keeps the creditor clocks separate: a creditor given actual notice is barred on the later of 30 days after that notice and four months after first publication; a creditor given no actual notice who is not reasonably ascertainable at four months after first publication; and a reasonably ascertainable creditor given no actual notice — or any creditor where no notice issues — at 24 months after death (RCW 11.40.020, 11.40.051).
RCW 11.40.020(1) (Washington State Legislature; reviewed August 7, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsThese are the Washington provisions read end to end on the enacting state’s own site, rather than summarised from a secondary source. The middle column is what reading each one actually established for Washington — not a restatement of the topic — and the last column records the date the wording was read, so a later amendment can be spotted by comparing dates.
| Citation | What reading it established | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| RCW 11.62.010 | Washington subtracts the surviving spouse’s community property before applying the ceiling — small estate route note | 2026-09-17 |
| RCW 11.48.210 | Washington pays the representative separately for lawyer’s work, and allows interim draws — representative pay note | 2026-09-17 |
Washington decision map
Use this map before opening a form or entering a number. It keeps the Washington amount test, time gate, court cost, and creditor record separate so one easy figure does not stand in for the whole administration.
| Question | Recorded Washington answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Successor affidavit | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $100,000 | Establish community-property interest before treating the screen as decided. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 40 days after death; Washington keeps the creditor clocks separate: a creditor given actual notice is barred on the later of 30 days after that notice and four months after first publication; a creditor given no actual notice who is not reasonably ascertainable at four months after first publication; and a reasonably ascertainable creditor given no actual notice — or any creditor where no notice issues — at 24 months after death (RCW 11.40.020, 11.40.051). | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | $290 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the Superior Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | The court determines compensation that is just and reasonable. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Washington ceiling is $100,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $75,000 sits below the Washington figure and $125,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Washington counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Washington ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $75,000 | Below $100,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $125,000 | Above $100,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Washington publishes no statewide pattern form for the RCW 11.62.010 successor affidavit. The affidavit content is set by the statute itself, and the superior court clerk in the county of filing states local requirements.
Source trail
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: (c) That the value of the decedent's entire estate subject to probate, not including the surviving spouse's or surviving domestic partner's community property interest in any assets which are subject to probate in the decedent's estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars; (d) That forty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent;
Reviewed source note: (f) In probate proceedings, the party instituting such proceedings, shall pay at the time of filing the first document therein, a fee of $200.
Reviewed source note: The personal representative, when no compensation is provided in the will, when he or she renounces all claim to the compensation provided in the will, or when he or she administers an intestate estate, shall be allowed such compensation for his or her services as the court shall deem just and reasonable.
Reviewed source note: (b) The personal representative shall cause the notice to be published once each week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county in which the estate is being administered; (c) The personal representative may, at any time during the probate proceeding, give actual notice to creditors who become known to the personal representative by serving the notice on the creditor or mailing the notice to the creditor at the creditor's last known address, by regular first-class mail, postage prepaid;
Reviewed source note: (a) If the personal representative provided notice under RCW 11.40.020 and the creditor was given actual notice as provided in RCW 11.40.020 (1)(c), the creditor must present the claim within the later of: (i) Thirty days after the personal representative's service or mailing of notice to the creditor; and (ii) four months after the date of first publication of the notice; (b) If the personal representative provided notice under RCW 11.40.020 and the creditor was not given actual notice as provided in RCW 11.40.020 (1)(c): (i) If the creditor was not reasonably ascertainable, as defined in RCW 11.40.040 , the creditor must present the claim within four months after the date of first publication of notice; (ii) If the creditor was reasonably ascertainable, as defined in RCW 11.40.040 , the creditor must present the claim within twenty-four months after the decedent's date of death; and (c) If notice was not provided under this chapter or chapter 11.42 RCW, the creditor must present the claim within twenty-four months after the decedent's date of death.