Cost context
Formal probate costs $290 statewide: a $200 base fee plus $40 and $50 surcharges that the same section makes mandatory for probate filings.
$290 is the recorded statewide amount.
Washington route screening
Washington small-estate limit: $100,000
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.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Threshold evidence and currency
What the reviewed source establishes
Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.
Controlling citation: RCW 11.62.010 — Section history through 2008 c 6 s 923.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
(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;
What the Washington amount screen counts
The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.
This screen counts the probate estate within the statute’s stated scope, not merely cash accounts. Solely owned real property can therefore affect the amount test. That does not necessarily mean the same simplified procedure transfers the house; counting scope and transfer authority are separate questions.
The reviewed value basis subtracts enforceable liens and encumbrances. Enter the asset value and the lien separately. An unsecured bill is not a lien against an asset unless this state separately requires it as an input.
Timing and facts the threshold cannot answer
The reviewed route requires 40 days after death before the affidavit or petition can be used. That is a minimum timing condition, not a promise that the institution or court completes the transfer on that day.
The statute requires facts the asset list cannot derive:
- The surviving spouse or domestic partner's community-property interest, which this state excludes from the count
Leaving one blank keeps the result undecided. The calculator never substitutes zero for a legal input nobody supplied.
What does not qualify for this route
- An estate above $100,000 does not qualify for this value-based route, unless the separately described alternate route applies.
- Property that transfers by survivorship, beneficiary designation, or a funded trust is not probate property for this screen.
- Filing before 40 days have elapsed from death fails the reviewed timing condition.
- The surviving spouse or domestic partner's community-property interest, which this state excludes from the count must be established before the result can be treated as qualifying.
- A pending or completed personal-representative appointment, a will condition, creditor issue, or family-rights condition can disqualify the route even when the amount appears within the reviewed rule.
Move from the screen to the official Washington path
Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.
- Washington Courts forms index — Washington Courts
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.
If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Superior Court or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.
Questions to resolve before relying on “likely qualifies”
- Solely owned real property counts toward the $100,000 limit but is not transferred by the affidavit. A separate proceeding is required for the house.
- The statute excludes a surviving spouse or domestic partner's community-property interest from the count. That figure is asked for separately, because characterising community property is a legal judgement this tool cannot make from an asset list. Until it is entered the route stays undecided rather than being resolved as though the interest were zero.
- The $290 total is the statewide statutory amount. County law library charges and certified copies are additional.
- Debts, funeral expenses, and expenses of last illness must be paid or provided for before the affidavit is used.
- Other successors generally must receive advance written notice.
- Confirm deed, account title, beneficiary, and trust ownership from the actual records.
- Confirm whether a will, prior appointment, creditor issue, or family allowance changes the route.
- Confirm the official form, fee, copy count, and filing method with the receiving court or institution.
Use this as a starting point.
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.
Washington subtracts the surviving spouse’s community property before applying the ceiling
RCW 11.62.010 uses a $100,000 ceiling, but it is not measured the way a common-law state measures one. The value counted is that 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.
Washington is a community property state, and in a long marriage a large share of what looks like the decedent’s estate is the survivor’s own half interest. Removing that half before testing the ceiling means Washington estates that would be screened out by a gross-value test in Nebraska or Idaho can still qualify here. It also means a Washington screen cannot be run from a single “estate value” figure: the character of each asset — community or separate — has to be settled first.
That characterisation question is the reason this site does not attempt to pre-compute a Washington qualification. Whether a particular account is community property, separate property, or a mixture depends on when and how it was acquired and on any agreement between the spouses, and none of that is available to a calculator.
Source: RCW 11.62.010, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Washington eligibility map
What the Washington simplified route still requires
The Washington threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.
| 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. |
Eligibility inputs
The Washington screen is made of these inputs
A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.
| Input | Registry record |
|---|---|
| Threshold | $100,000 |
| Property scope | probate property within the rule's stated scope |
| Value basis | net of enforceable liens and encumbrances |
| Waiting period | 40 days after death |
| Required extra facts | community-property interest |
Case-file context
Keep the Washington answer with its neighboring conditions
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Washington descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Compensation context
The court determines compensation that is just and reasonable.
The court determines compensation that is just and reasonable. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Deadline context
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).
- Solely owned real property counts toward the $100,000 limit but is not transferred by the affidavit. A separate proceeding is required for the house.
- The statute excludes a surviving spouse or domestic partner's community-property interest from the count. That figure is asked for separately, because characterising community property is a legal judgement this tool cannot make from an asset list. Until it is entered the route stays undecided rather than being resolved as though the interest were zero.
- The $290 total is the statewide statutory amount. County law library charges and certified copies are additional.
- Debts, funeral expenses, and expenses of last illness must be paid or provided for before the affidavit is used.
- Other successors generally must receive advance written notice.
Court-material note: 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.
Arithmetic illustration
See the Washington amount screen without mistaking it for a result
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
Use the calculator for arithmetic, then verify title, timing, and the receiving court's form.
- Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
- Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
- Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
- Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.
Official material
- Washington Courts forms indexWashington Courts
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
Records used by this Washington map
- RCW 11.62.010Revised Code of Washington, Small Estates; reviewed August 7, 2026
- RCW 36.18.020(2)(f)Revised Code of Washington, Superior Court Fees; reviewed August 7, 2026
- RCW 11.48.210Revised Code of Washington, Personal Representative Compensation; reviewed August 7, 2026
- RCW 11.40.020(1)Revised Code of Washington, Notice to Creditors; reviewed August 7, 2026
- RCW 11.40.051(1)Revised Code of Washington, Claims Against Decedent - Time Limits; reviewed August 7, 2026
Controlling source
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
RCW 11.62.010
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;