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How much does probate cost in Washington?

Opening a probate case in a Washington superior court costs a $200 filing fee under RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), and the same statute adds two mandatory surcharges on that fee — $40 under subsection (5)(c) and $50 under subsection (6) — so the total collected when the first document is filed is $290. The fee does not scale with the estate: Washington charges the same $200 clerk's fee to open probate of a modest estate as of a large one, and a petition to contest a will admitted to probate is priced at the same $200 under subsection (2)(g).

Washington probate fees at a glance

The two surcharges are easy to miss because older summaries of Washington fees predate them, so this page builds the total the way the current statute does. Subsection (5)(c) requires a $40 surcharge on all filing fees under RCW 36.18.020 except appeals, antiharassment petitions and criminal-conviction fees, with 75 percent going to the state judicial stabilization trust account. Subsection (6) then requires a further $50 surcharge on the fees listed in (2)(a), (b), (c), (e), (f) and (g) — probate's paragraph (f) is expressly included — split between the Washington state legacy project, state library and archives account ($20), the judicial stabilization trust account ($25) and the county clerk's operations ($5). County clerks may also collect separate local charges authorised elsewhere, so treat $290 as the statewide statutory total and confirm the clerk's full receipt in your county. The national comparison is on the probate court costs hub and the state picture is on the Washington court costs guide.

How Washington probate is structured

Washington probate runs in superior court under Title 11 RCW. The personal representative is appointed and receives letters testamentary (with a will) or letters of administration (without one), and many Washington estates are administered with nonintervention powers, under which the representative settles the estate without repeated court orders once those powers are granted. That structure is why the clerk's fee can stay a single flat charge: the court opens the file and grants the authority, and the day-to-day administration — inventory, creditor notice, payment of claims, distribution — happens outside the clerk's window. The $200 fee is payable at the time of filing the first document, in the statute's words, by the party instituting the proceedings, and in practice it is advanced by the petitioner and treated as a cost of administration payable from the estate.

When a second $200 appears

Two later filings carry their own full filing fee under the same statute. A petition to contest a will admitted to probate, to admit a will that has been rejected, or objecting to a written agreement or memorandum under RCW 11.96A.220 costs $200 under (2)(g), with the same $40 and $50 surcharges applying because (g) is listed in subsection (6) and is not excepted from subsection (5)(c). Ordinary objections and accountings inside an already-open probate, by contrast, are not new proceedings under (2)(f), and Washington's long-standing reading of the clerk's fee statute is that auxiliary filings in a pending probate do not each attract a fresh filing fee. A separate civil lawsuit filed as its own case — for example a TEDRA action docketed independently — pays the ordinary $200 civil first-filing fee under (2)(a). Knowing which category a filing falls into is worth $290, so confirm the clerk's treatment before filing a contest.

How probate runs

1. Confirm the county of the deceased's residence and whether a will exists
2. Complete the petition for probate and for letters, with the death certificate and the original will where there is one
3. File the first document with the superior court clerk and pay the fee and surcharges $290 total
4. Attend the initial hearing, obtain letters, and request nonintervention powers where the estate qualifies
5. Publish and serve the notice to creditors, inventory the estate, pay valid claims and taxes, and close with the declaration or report of completion

What probate really costs beyond the clerk

Beyond the $290, a Washington estate meets costs the clerk's statute does not set. Creditor notice is published in a newspaper of general circulation, which charges its own rate. A bond, where required, is priced by the surety. The personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation under Washington law, and attorneys and accountants bill the estate at market rates — none of those figures are in RCW 36.18.020, so this page does not estimate them. For orientation inside the same statute, Washington prices the first filing of an unlawful detainer (eviction) case at a deliberately low $45 under (2)(a) — the subject of the Washington eviction costs page — while probate, civil actions, adoptions and name changes all start from the standard $200 line. Compare flat-fee probate systems in Oklahoma probate costs and value-based systems in North Carolina probate costs.

Can't afford the fee?

Because the probate fee is a cost of administering the estate, it is normally paid or reimbursed from estate funds once letters are issued, rather than borne permanently by the petitioner. A filer with no access to estate funds yet and no ability to advance $290 should raise the problem with the clerk and the court at the first hearing rather than letting the filing stall: Washington courts can address filing-fee hardship for indigent litigants, and the estate itself is the expected source of the fee once the representative controls its accounts. The general mechanics of fee waivers are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: RCW 36.18.020, official text at app.leg.wa.gov, read directly at build time — (2)(f) probate first-document fee $200; (2)(g) will-contest fee $200; (2)(a) civil first filing $200 and unlawful detainer $45; (5)(c) surcharge $40; (6) surcharge $50 on (2)(f) and (2)(g) filings. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures, and any county charges added under other authority, with the superior court clerk.