Executor duties in DC when the estate owns a house
In the District the job is called personal representative, not executor, and the moment the estate includes real property the role stops being paperwork and becomes property management with a fiduciary standard attached. Here is what Title 20 actually requires of you, and how to stay on the right side of it.
Your authority comes from one document
Nothing you do for the estate is enforceable until the Register of Wills appoints you and issues Letters of Administration. That single page is what a title company, a bank, an insurer and a buyer's attorney will each ask to see. Order more certified copies than you think you need at the start.
Once appointed, DC's default is that you act on your own. A personal representative "shall proceed expeditiously with the settlement and distribution" of the estate and does so without adjudication, order, or direction of the Court, unless the Court orders otherwise in that case — though you may always ask the Court to resolve a question (D.C. Code § 20–701.01(a)). The long list of things you may "properly" do — including selling, leasing, repairing and insuring real property — is in § 20–741, subject to any limits in the will, Title 20 or a court order.
Two things the Letters do not do:
- They do not make the house yours. You hold it for the estate. Every decision has to be defensible as being in the interest of everyone entitled to it, not yours.
- They do not settle who inherits. That is decided by the will or by intestacy, and it is a separate question from who has authority to act now.
If you have not been appointed yet, start with how to open probate in DC and what Letters of Administration let you do.
The legal standard: a fiduciary, judged like a trustee
D.C. Code § 20–701(a) says a personal representative, supervised or unsupervised, is a fiduciary under a general duty to settle and distribute the estate according to the will or the intestacy laws "as expeditiously and efficiently as is prudent and consistent with the best interests of the persons interested in the estate," fairly considering the interests of all interested persons and of creditors whose claims have been allowed.
The consequence of getting it wrong is spelled out in § 20–743: if your exercise of a power is improper, you are liable to interested persons for the resulting damage or loss to the same extent as a trustee of an express trust, and acting in violation of a court order or contrary to the will "may be a breach of duty." The protection runs the other way too: under § 20–701(b) you are not surcharged for acts of administration or distribution that were authorized at the time.
In practice that comes down to three habits:
- Act for the estate, not for one heir — including when that heir is you.
- Do not commingle. Open an estate account under the estate's tax ID and run every property expense and the sale proceeds through it. § 20–741(5) is built around estate funds sitting in federally insured accounts held for the estate.
- Document the reasoning, not just the result. The question later is rarely "was the price right"; it is "can you show how you arrived at it".
The first six months: deadlines with a code section behind them
| Duty | Deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Publish notice of your appointment (once a week, 2 successive weeks) | Within 20 days after appointment | § 20–704(a) |
| Mail notice to heirs, legatees and known or reasonably ascertainable creditors | Not later than 20 days after appointment | § 20–704(b) |
| Take possession or control of the estate, pay its taxes, protect and preserve it | From appointment | § 20–702 |
| Verified inventory — the house listed with its date-of-death fair market value and its encumbrances | Within 3 months of appointment | § 20–711(a) |
| Supervised estates: mail the inventory to interested persons before filing it | Within the 15 days before filing | § 20–711(b) |
| Fix anything you filed or sent that turns out to be materially wrong | "Promptly" on discovery | § 20–705 |
| Creditor claims window closes | 6 months after first publication | § 20–903(a) |
Notice rules in § 20–704 are currently amended by temporary 2026 legislation set to expire March 27, 2027; the 20-day and two-week requirements are the same, but confirm publication options with the Register of Wills. The longer-range clocks — accounts, the Certificate of Completion, the 3-year automatic termination — are laid out in how long DC probate takes.
Taking possession — including from a relative living in the house
Section 20–702 gives a personal representative both a right and a duty to take possession or control of the decedent's estate. The house is the asset where that gets personal, because someone is often already in it.
- An heir or legatee already in possession is disturbed only when your possession is "reasonably necessary for purposes of administration." But if you ask for the property back and have to sue for it, the law presumes your possession is reasonably necessary.
- You can go to court over it. The same section lets a personal representative bring an action to recover possession of estate property or to determine title to it.
- A tenant is different from a relative. A paying or non-paying occupant can trigger DC tenant protections when the house is sold. See selling an inherited DC house with a tenant and TOPA and the inherited rental before you plan the sale.
Most of these situations end with a conversation, a timeline and a written agreement about bills, access and a move-out date — not a lawsuit. But the conversation goes better when everyone knows where the legal default sits.
Your duties while the house just sits there
§ 20–702 also says the personal representative "shall pay taxes on, and take all steps reasonably necessary for the management, protection, and preservation of" the estate in their possession. For a house, that list is concrete, and § 20–741 gives you the matching powers:
- Insurance is the first call, not the fifth. You may insure estate property against damage, loss and liability, and insure yourself against liability to third persons (§ 20–741(12)). A standard homeowner's policy can be restricted once the house is unoccupied; ask the carrier for coverage in the estate's name and get it in writing.
- Taxes and assessments get paid from the estate (§ 20–741(14)). The owner's homestead or senior deduction does not survive the change in occupancy — see inherited property taxes in DC.
- Repairs are allowed, ordinary or extraordinary (§ 20–741(7)), and you may borrow money to protect estate property and pledge it as security (§ 20–741(25)). Whether a repair is wise before a sale is a separate question; many are not.
- Leasing is allowed (§ 20–741(9)), even for a term extending beyond the administration — but a new tenant creates rights that complicate a later sale.
- Watch the vacant and blighted classes. DC taxes registered vacant property at $5.00 and blighted property at $10.00 per $100 of assessed value, against $0.85 for ordinary residential. Probate gives relief for a limited time, not forever: the vacant estate house explains registration and the exemption.
- Do not strip the house. Clear-out crews routinely remove mantels, hardware and original woodwork that DC buyers pay real money for. See clearing out a DC property.
The inventory, and why the valuation date matters
Within three months of appointment you must prepare a verified inventory of what the decedent owned at death, describing each item in reasonable detail with its fair market value on the date of death and the type and amount of any encumbrance (§ 20–711(a)). Real property is the first category on the statutory list — so the house needs a value and the mortgage, reverse mortgage or other lien needs to be shown against it.
In a supervised estate the inventory is filed with the Court after being mailed to interested persons; in an unsupervised estate it goes to the interested persons under § 20–713.01. Either way, if a value later proves materially wrong, § 20–705 obliges you to send a corrected document promptly.
That date-of-death figure is not what the house would sell for today, and neither one is the DC tax assessment. It also sets the heirs' cost basis for income tax — a real consequence, not a formality. You may hire an appraiser or broker at the estate's expense to help (§ 20–741(17)). Our page on probate property valuation in DC covers all three numbers.
Selling the house: what you can do on your own signature
The power to sell is in the statute. A personal representative may "acquire or dispose of property, real or personal ... at public or private sale" (§ 20–741(6)) and may sell or lease estate real property for cash or on credit (§ 20–741(25)) — except property specifically devised under the will. If the will leaves the house to a named person, selling it is not simply your call.
| Unsupervised administration | Supervised administration | |
|---|---|---|
| Court order needed to sell? | No, by default (§ 20–701.01) | No interim order needed, unless the Court has restricted your powers for good cause (§ 20–404) |
| Where a restriction shows up | A court order in your case | It must be endorsed on your letters, or it is ineffective against people dealing with you in good faith (§ 20–404) |
| How the sale is reported | In the account sent to interested persons | Itemized in the account filed with the Court |
Two more things that matter: an heir can ask the Court to decide which assets are sold first (§ 20–703), which can pause a sale until notice and a hearing; and a buyer who deals with you in good faith and for value is protected even if you breach a duty in the transaction (§§ 20–743, 20–744) — which is exactly why the liability lands on you rather than on the sale. More detail: supervised vs. unsupervised probate and selling estate property as a personal representative.
Selling to yourself, or to an heir
It happens constantly and it is not automatically improper — but it is the single most scrutinised thing a personal representative can do. Under § 20–743.01 a sale of estate property to the personal representative, or to someone close enough to create a conflict of interest, is voidable by an interested person unless one of the statute's exceptions applies — the most practical being that the interested person consented after fair disclosure.
- Disclose the proposed sale in writing to every interested person, in the same document, at the same time.
- Get an independent written valuation from someone with no stake in the outcome.
- Get written consent after that disclosure, or ask the Court to approve the transaction (§ 20–742 lets you petition at any time).
An open-market sale with real exposure is far easier to defend than a private transfer at a number you chose, even when your number was fair. Full detail: when the personal representative or an heir buys the house.
Getting paid, and paying the people who help you
- You are entitled to reasonable compensation for your services (§ 20–751), unless the Court orders otherwise for good cause in a supervised estate. If the will sets your compensation, you may renounce that provision and take reasonable compensation instead, and you may waive all or part of your fee in writing.
- You may hire help at the estate's expense — accountants, attorneys, appraisers, brokers and others with special skills — for reasonable compensation (§ 20–741(17)).
- Any of it can be reviewed. On an interested person's petition (or motion in a supervised estate), the Court can review the need for and scope of anyone you hired, what they were paid, and what you took for yourself, and can order excess refunded (§ 20–753(a)). The factors include the relationship of the fee to the work, any estimate given up front, the time spent, the complexity and results, and whether the time limits were met (§ 20–753(b)).
- Litigation expenses for defending or prosecuting estate proceedings in good faith and with just cause come from the estate, win or lose (§ 20–752).
Practical rule: get a written fee estimate from every professional before they start, and keep your own time log if you intend to take a fee. Both are items the Court looks at.
What gets a personal representative removed
Under § 20–526(a) the Court shall remove a personal representative it finds misrepresented material facts in getting appointed, willfully disregarded a court order, is unable to discharge the duties effectively, has mismanaged property, or failed without reasonable excuse to perform a material duty (the Court may keep a representative in office on that last ground if it is in the estate's best interest).
- A hearing is required first; it can be started by the Court, the Register, or any interested person's written petition (§ 20–526(b)).
- Once notice of the hearing goes out, the representative may exercise only the powers of a special administrator — which can stall a pending house sale.
- A removed representative must immediately account for and hand over estate property to the successor (§ 20–526(c)–(d)).
"Mismanaged property" is the ground a neglected, uninsured or vacant-and-deteriorating house invites. Heirs who think the house is drifting have a real remedy — see what to do when the heirs disagree.
Accounting, and the file you should be keeping
An unsupervised personal representative must account to interested persons for receipts, disbursements and distributions "at reasonable intervals, or on reasonable demand," and can be compelled to account to the Court (§ 20–734). The estate closes with a Certificate of Completion confirming the account went out and the family had 60 days to object (§ 20–735). A supervised estate files accounts with the Court on a fixed schedule.
Keep one folder from day one: the Letters and certified copies, notice and mailing proofs, the inventory and every valuation, estate account statements, the insurance binder, every written offer, listing agreements, the settlement statement, receipts for repairs and clean-out, professionals' fee estimates and invoices, and dated copies of everything you sent the heirs.
Where we fit: we can give you a written date-of-death opinion of value in time for the three-month inventory, tell you honestly what the house needs before it can sell, and run an open-market sale that is easy to defend in your account — at no cost for the consultation. Related reading: the DC probate process step by step and serving as a personal representative from out of state.
Sources: D.C. Code Title 20; the Probate Division of the D.C. Superior Court and the Office of the Register of Wills (dccourts.gov); and D.C. Law 25-302, the Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024. Rules change and individual cases vary — confirm anything that affects a decision with the Register of Wills or your own attorney.