Devise

Key Takeaways

• A devise is a gift of real property made through a will, and the person who receives it is the devisee.
• Personal property left by a will is not a devise. Washington probate statutes pair the phrases devise or bequest and devisees or legatees.
• In Washington, title to land vests in the heirs or devisees immediately at death, but no one is deemed a devisee until the will has been probated.
• A transfer of real property by devise or inheritance is exempt from Washington's real estate excise tax.

What It Means

A devise is a gift of real property made through a will. The person who writes the will is the testator, and the person who takes land or a house under it is the devisee. A will moves Real Property by devise. Personal property left by that same will passes as a bequest, to a legatee.

Dying with a valid will is called dying testate. Dying without one is dying Intestate, and the state's intestate succession statutes then decide who takes the property instead of the will. A devise only works if the Will itself is valid, which is why the execution formalities matter as much as the wording of the gift.

For a broker, a devise usually surfaces as a chain of title question. Somebody died, the house went to a devisee, and now that person wants to sell. Knowing whether title arrived by devise or by intestate succession tells you what the title company will ask for before it insures the sale. The ownership interests a will can pass along are mapped out in this guide to estates in land.

How It Works in Washington

Washington puts unusual weight on the moment of death. Under RCW 11.04.250, when a person dies owning land, title vests immediately in the heirs or devisees, subject to the decedent's debts, family allowance, expenses of administration, and other charges. No administration of the estate and no decree of distribution is necessary to vest that title. The same section adds the condition that trips students up: no person is deemed a devisee until the will has been probated.

The will has to be valid before any of that happens. RCW 11.12.020 requires that every will be in writing, signed by the testator or by another person at the testator's direction and in the testator's presence, and attested by two or more competent witnesses.

There is a tax consequence worth knowing too. WAC 458-61A-202 is titled "Inheritance or devise" and states that transfers of real property through a devise by will or inheritance are not subject to the Real Estate Excise Tax Reet. The rule adds that it makes no difference whether the property was encumbered by underlying debt at the time it was inherited or devised.

Example

Ruth Nakamura dies in Olympia in March 2026, leaving a 1954 bungalow on Water Street and a paid-off pickup. Her will names her daughter Anne as the devisee of the bungalow and her nephew Carl as the legatee of the truck. Under RCW 11.04.250, title to the bungalow vests in Anne the day Ruth dies, but Anne is not deemed a devisee until Ruth's will is probated in Thurston County Superior Court. Anne lists the bungalow in June and it sells for $429,000. The title company asks for the probate file rather than a deed signed by Ruth, because the will plus the probate is what puts Anne into the chain of title. Real estate excise tax is due on that $429,000 sale. The earlier transfer from Ruth to Anne carried no excise tax at all, because a devise is exempt.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Devise and bequest are the classic swapped pair. A devise moves real property, and a bequest moves personal property.
• Descent and devise are different routes to the same house. Descent follows the intestate succession statutes, while a devise is directed by the will itself.
• Vesting at death is not the same as clear title. Washington vests title in the devisee the moment the owner dies, but the will still has to be probated before anyone counts as a devisee.
• The excise tax exemption covers the transfer by devise, not the devisee's later sale. When the devisee sells to a buyer, that sale is a taxable transfer.