Washington estate administration

Washington small-estate limit: $100,000

Washington provides a successor-affidavit route for qualifying personal property after a 40-day wait.

Sources reviewed August 7, 2026

Answer first

Successor affidavit

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.

Read the eligibility details

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The calculation runs entirely in your browser, which is why nothing you enter is sent anywhere — and why it cannot run with scripting disabled. Every figure it would produce is also published as static text: the state comparison lists limits, waiting periods and court charges for all reviewed states, and each state’s cost page itemises the statutory fee schedule.

Private by design: entries stay in this browser.

1. Where and when

StateWashingtonFixed to this page. Open the navigator to compare another state.Date of deathRequired. Without it no waiting period can be tested and the route stays undecided.

The surviving spouse or domestic partner's community-property interest, which this state excludes from the count$Washington requires this figure. Leaving it blank keeps the result undecided rather than assuming zero.

2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real property

Asset 2

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real propertyWill it be sold during administration?Some court charges are assessed on sale proceeds and exclude real property that is kept, so this changes the amount.

Your working estimate

Washington estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted

Court chargeMore information neededInstituting probate proceedingsAt least one asset has no amount entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.

Scheduled executor compensationMore information neededAt least one asset has no amount entered.The court determines compensation that is just and reasonable.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the reviewed rules establish

Simplified route

$100,000

Eligibility and caveats

Court cost

$290

Formal probate costs $290 statewide: a $200 base fee plus $40 and $50 surcharges that the same section makes mandatory for probate filings.

Filing-cost detail

Executor compensation

Court-reviewed

The court determines compensation that is just and reasonable.

Compensation detail

Limits and unresolved costs

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.
Attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, certified copies, tax work, and asset-sale costs are not included unless expressly shown.
Asset title, beneficiary designations, creditor claims, and will terms can change the route.

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.

Continue

What Washington courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Forms indexWashington Courts forms indexWashington Courts

Limits on court material

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.

Primary sources

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

Statute

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;

Washington State Legislature · Reviewed August 7, 2026

Statute

RCW 36.18.020(2)(f)

Reviewed source note: (f) In probate proceedings, the party instituting such proceedings, shall pay at the time of filing the first document therein, a fee of $200.

Washington State Legislature · Reviewed August 7, 2026

Statute

RCW 11.48.210

Reviewed source note: The personal representative, when no compensation is provided in the will, when he or she renounces all claim to the compensation provided in the will, or when he or she administers an intestate estate, shall be allowed such compensation for his or her services as the court shall deem just and reasonable.

Washington State Legislature · Reviewed August 7, 2026

Case details

Asset 1

Asset 2

Washington estate snapshot

More information is needed

What the reviewed rules establish

$100,000

$290

Court-reviewed

Limits and unresolved costs

Continue

What Washington courts publish

Limits on court material

Primary sources

RCW 11.62.010

RCW 36.18.020(2)(f)

RCW 11.48.210