Personal representative

Key Takeaways

• A personal representative is the person a probate court recognizes as having authority to administer a deceased owner's estate, and only that person can sign a listing or a purchase and sale agreement for estate property.
• Washington uses one label for the whole office: RCW 11.02.005 provides that personal representative includes executor, administrator, and special administrator.
• An executor is named in the will and receives letters testamentary, while an administrator is appointed by the court and receives letters of administration, but both hold the same statutory office.
• A transfer made by the personal representative of a decedent's estate is exempt from Washington's seller disclosure statement requirement under RCW 64.06.010, so no Form 17 is delivered.

What It Means

A personal representative is the person a probate court recognizes as holding authority to settle a deceased owner's estate. Washington puts the whole office under that single label. If the decedent left a Will naming someone, that person is an executor and the court issues letters testamentary. If there is no will, or the named executor cannot or will not serve, the court appoints an Administrator and issues letters of administration. Both are personal representatives, and both carry the same statutory powers, so the two titles describe how the appointment happened rather than two different jobs.

The work is administrative: identify and protect the estate's assets, notify creditors, pay valid claims and taxes, and distribute what is left to the heirs or beneficiaries. For a broker, the part that matters is signing authority. When estate property comes to market, the seller is not a living owner and it is not the family. The seller is the estate, acting through its personal representative. Adult children who expect to inherit have no power to sign until title passes to them. Before a listing agreement is drafted, ask for a certified copy of the letters and read the name printed on them, then make sure the signature block on the Purchase And Sale Agreement shows the representative capacity and not just the individual.

How It Works in Washington

Washington probate law sits in Title 11 RCW. RCW 11.02.005 defines personal representative to include executor, administrator, special administrator, and conservator or limited conservator and special representative, and it adds that administrator means a personal representative of the estate of a decedent, with the term usable in place of personal representative where the context requires. That single definition is why a Washington exam answer that treats executor and administrator as two separate offices is wrong.

Authority to sell comes from RCW 11.68.090. A personal representative granted nonintervention powers holds the power to mortgage, encumber, lease, sell, exchange, convey, assign, and otherwise transfer the decedent's real and personal property without an order of the court and without notice to, direction from, approval by, confirmation by, or intervention of any court. Most Washington estate sales close on that authority, which is why the letters and the order granting nonintervention powers are the first documents a title company asks for. Disclosure is the other divergence. RCW 64.06.010 provides that the seller disclosure chapter does not apply to a transfer made by the personal representative of the estate of the decedent or by a trustee in bankruptcy, so a Form 17 is not delivered on an ordinary probate sale. Verifying authority before the contract is written belongs in every broker's contract review routine.

Example

Harold Nakashima dies in Everett owning a house free and clear. His will names his son Kenji as executor, and on March 12 the Snohomish County Superior Court issues letters testamentary and grants nonintervention powers. Kenji is now the personal representative. He signs the listing at $625,000, and the file carries a certified copy of the letters. In April a buyer offers $610,000 and Kenji signs the purchase and sale agreement as Kenji Nakashima, Personal Representative of the Estate of Harold Nakashima. His sister Mira, who inherits half the estate under the will, signs nothing, because she holds no authority to convey. No Form 17 goes out, since RCW 64.06.010 exempts a transfer by the personal representative. At closing the $610,000 is wired to the estate account rather than split between Kenji and Mira, and the heirs are paid only after the estate's debts, taxes, and costs are settled.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Executor and administrator are not opposing answers in Washington. RCW 11.02.005 makes both of them personal representatives, and the difference is only whether the will named the person or the court appointed one.
• A personal representative is not an attorney-in-fact. A power of attorney terminates when the principal dies under RCW 11.125.100, so a POA signed by the owner before death cannot be used to sell the property after death.
• The heirs do not sign the listing or the purchase and sale agreement while the estate is open. Authority to convey runs through the personal representative, not through the people who will eventually inherit.
• Not every seller delivers a seller disclosure statement. RCW 64.06.010 exempts a transfer made by the personal representative of a decedent's estate.