Probate

Key Takeaways

• Probate is the court process that confirms a will's validity, pays the decedent's outstanding debts, and distributes the remaining assets.
• The personal representative is the person the court appoints to administer the estate and to sign the deed when estate real property is sold.
• Property held with right of survivorship passes directly to the surviving owner at death and does not go through probate, which is one reason owners choose that form.
• Washington probate is usually nonintervention. Once the court grants nonintervention powers, the personal representative may sell and convey real property without a further court order.

What It Means

Probate is what happens to a person's property after death when it does not pass automatically to someone else. A court confirms whether a Will is valid, appoints a personal representative to gather the assets, gives creditors a window to present claims, and then oversees the distribution of what is left. If there is no valid will, the same machinery runs under the Intestate succession statute instead of the will's instructions.

For real estate, probate matters mostly because it controls who can sign. A house held by the decedent alone cannot be conveyed by an heir who believes they have already inherited it. Only the appointed personal representative can sign until the estate distributes title. That is why a listing agent on an estate sale asks for the letters of appointment before anything else.

Not everything goes through probate. A joint tenancy share with right of survivorship passes straight to the surviving owner, and property held in a trust follows the trust. Avoiding the cost and delay of probate is a common reason owners choose those forms. A share held as Tenancy In Common carries no survivorship, so it does pass through the owner's estate, which is the distinction that decides who signs the deed.

How It Works in Washington

Washington probate law lives in Title 11 RCW, and its defining feature is nonintervention administration. Under RCW 11.68.011, the court shall grant nonintervention powers to a personal representative who petitions for them if the estate is solvent, counting probate and nonprobate assets, and one of three conditions is met. The usual condition is that the petitioning personal representative was named in the decedent's probated will. A decedent can block the grant by saying so in the will.

Once granted, those powers change the shape of an estate closing. RCW 11.68.090(1)(c) gives the personal representative the power to mortgage, encumber, lease, sell, exchange, convey, assign, and otherwise transfer the decedent's real and personal property. RCW 11.68.090(1)(h) adds the right to exercise those powers without an order of the court and without notice to, direction from, approval by, confirmation by, or intervention of any court. That is why most Washington estate sales close on an ordinary timeline rather than waiting for hearings. The representative is not unbound: RCW 11.68.090(2)(c) still requires discretionary powers to be exercised in good faith, with honest judgment, and in line with the probated will and the beneficiaries' interests.

Creditors keep their window. RCW 11.40.051 bars a claim from a creditor who was not reasonably ascertainable if it is not presented within four months after first publication of the notice to creditors, and sets an outside limit of twenty four months after the date of death when no notice was given. RCW 11.40.051(3) makes that bar effective against both the decedent's probate and nonprobate assets. For how ownership form decides whether probate is needed at all, see our guides to estates in land and life estates.

Example

Harold dies in Everett owning a rambler in his name alone, worth about $520,000, carrying a $180,000 mortgage. His will names his daughter Nina as personal representative. Nina files the will, is appointed, and petitions for nonintervention powers under RCW 11.68.011. The estate is solvent and she is the person named in the probated will, so the court grants the powers. Nina publishes the notice to creditors, and two claims totaling $9,400 arrive inside the four month window. She lists the house, accepts an offer at $505,000, and signs the deed herself under RCW 11.68.090(1)(c) with no court confirmation hearing. At closing the $180,000 loan is paid off, the $9,400 in claims and the costs of sale come out of the proceeds, and the balance stays in the estate for distribution under the will. Had Harold owned the rambler with a right of survivorship, none of this would have been necessary.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Probate does not move property that already has a surviving owner. A joint tenancy share with right of survivorship passes outside probate, while a tenancy in common share passes through the owner's estate.
• A personal representative and an heir are not interchangeable. Only the appointed personal representative can convey estate real property, even when the heir is the only beneficiary.
• Testate and intestate describe the decedent, not the process. Either one can require probate. The difference is whether the will or the succession statute directs the distribution.
• In Washington a nonintervention personal representative sells estate real property without a court confirmation hearing, so an answer that requires court approval for every estate sale is wrong here.