Washington

Washington has no separate probate court; estates are filed in the Superior Court of the
county where the deceased lived. What makes Washington distinctive is how quickly the court
gets out of the way.

Nonintervention powers

Under RCW 11.68 the court must grant nonintervention powers on request where:

• the estate is solvent — more assets than debts,
• the petitioner was named as personal representative in the will, and the will does not
  forbid it, and
• the personal representative is not a creditor of the deceased.

Once granted, the personal representative can sell, mortgage, distribute and otherwise manage
the estate without any further court orders, notices or hearings, and closes the estate by
filing a Declaration of Completion. Washington has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code,
but nonintervention delivers a lighter touch than most UPC states manage.

A surviving spouse or domestic partner can obtain the same powers where the estate is entirely
community property and there are no children from another relationship.

Community property

Washington is a community property state. The surviving spouse already owns half the
community property, so the estate is usually smaller than the family's balance sheet suggests.
A community property agreement can pass everything to the survivor outside probate entirely.

The Washington estate tax is real

Unlike most states, Washington taxes estates, and the threshold is low enough to catch ordinary
homeowners in Seattle. For deaths on or after 1 July 2026 the exclusion is $3,000,000,
with rates running from 10% to 20%. Earlier 2026 deaths used a slightly higher figure. The
exclusion is no longer indexed to inflation, so it will bite more people over time. Confirm
current figures with the Department of Revenue.

A Washington will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another at their
direction), and attested by two competent witnesses who sign at the testator's request. The
testator must be 18 or older and of sound mind.

Washington does not accept holographic wills

A will written out entirely by hand and left unwitnessed is not valid in Washington. This
puts Washington with California, Florida and Illinois rather than with Texas, Michigan or
Arizona. If you have moved here with a handwritten will made in a state that allowed one, it no
longer does the job.

Washington does permit electronic wills executed to the statutory standard, which is a more
modern route than a handwritten one and actually works.

Ask for nonintervention powers in the will

This is the single most valuable clause in a Washington will. State expressly that the
personal representative is to serve without bond and with nonintervention powers. It is what
lets the estate be administered without returning to court, and a will that omits it, or
forbids it, imposes real cost on the family.

Community property, and the agreement that skips probate

Washington couples often sign a community property agreement converting everything to
community property and vesting it in the survivor on death. It can avoid probate entirely for
the first death — but it also overrides the will, and it can complicate estate tax planning
where the estate approaches the $3,000,000 exclusion. Take advice rather than assuming it is
strictly better.

Also

• Name an alternate personal representative, and review after a marriage, divorce, birth or
  a move to Washington.

Yes. A Washington personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for
services performed. There is no statutory percentage.

What "reasonable" turns on

The size and nature of the estate, the time actually spent, the difficulty and novelty of the
work, the skill required, the responsibility assumed, and the results achieved. Washington
courts look at what the job genuinely demanded rather than applying a formula, so a large but
simple estate does not automatically justify a large fee.

The nonintervention wrinkle

Where the personal representative holds nonintervention powers, nobody is reviewing the
administration as it happens — including the fee. That is not permission to help yourself. Any
interested person may petition the court to review compensation, and the Declaration of
Completion that closes the estate must disclose what the representative took. Beneficiaries who
first learn the figure from that document tend to object to it.

Agree the fee in writing with the beneficiaries before taking it. In a nonintervention
estate that agreement is the only approval that exists.

Keep time records

With no percentage to fall back on, contemporaneous records of hours and tasks are the whole of
the justification. This matters more in Washington than in the statutory-commission states.

If the will fixes the figure

The will governs where the representative accepts on those terms.

Tax, and the estate tax angle

Compensation is taxable income to the representative; an inheritance is not. But note the
Washington twist: a fee is a deductible administration expense against the Washington estate
tax. Where the estate is over the $3,000,000 exclusion, taking a fee can reduce estate tax at up
to 20% while costing income tax — arithmetic worth doing with an accountant.

A Washington personal representative is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable
expenses of administration, separately from compensation for their time. Where the estate is
near the $3,000,000 estate tax exclusion, these are also deductible against it, which makes
careful recording worth real money.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, and a reasonable reception.
• Superior Court filing fees, certified letters testamentary, certified death certificates, and
  publication of the notice to creditors.
• Attorney's fees, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040, any Form 1041, and the
  Washington estate tax return where one is due.
• Appraisals — a formal valuation matters far more here than in a no-estate-tax state,
  because the number decides whether the estate is taxable at all.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: insurance, property tax, utilities, security,
  maintenance, moss and gutter clearing, and landscaping.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents, including a cabin or island
  property where ferry costs apply.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate, including ferries and flights.
• Bond premiums, in the uncommon case that bond was not waived.

Normally not claimable

• The representative's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account and run everything through it. Under nonintervention powers
nobody checks your figures as you go — so the log you keep is the only record, and it is what
supports both the estate tax deductions and your own fee when the Declaration of Completion is
filed.

Nonintervention powers make Washington one of the easier states for a family member to
administer an estate. The case for a professional is correspondingly narrower — but the state
estate tax creates one that does not exist elsewhere.

Consider a professional when

• The estate is near or above the $3,000,000 exclusion. This is the Washington case. A
  Seattle house and a retirement account can reach it without the family thinking of themselves
  as wealthy, and the estate tax return, valuation choices and deduction planning are not
  something to improvise at rates up to 20%.
• The estate holds an operating business, farmland, timber, or rental property.
• Community property characterisation is unclear — a long marriage, a prior marriage,
  separate property brought into the state and commingled. Getting the half-and-half line wrong
  misstates the estate and the tax.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely. Note the
  Washington-specific point: the court will decline or revoke nonintervention powers where
  the estate is insolvent or contested, so a disputed estate loses the very feature that makes
  Washington administration cheap.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage with a minimum annual fee. Attorneys
generally bill hourly. Ask for either in writing.

Middle ground

Appoint a family member, ask for nonintervention powers and no bond in the will, and let
them retain an attorney and an accountant at the estate's expense. Bring the accountant in early
if the estate might be taxable — the valuation decisions are made at the beginning, not the end.

A named representative who does not want the job can decline before being appointed.