Opening probate in DC: the petition, the bond and the notice

Nothing about the house can move until someone has authority, and authority starts with one filing at the Register of Wills. Here is what that petition has to contain, which of the two probate tracks it asks for, who gets appointed, and the clocks that start the day letters issue — including the District's 2026 temporary amendments.

The short version

An estate in the District is opened by filing a petition for probate with the Register of Wills, which serves the Probate Division of the D.C. Superior Court. The petition asks for one of three proceedings — abbreviated probate, formal probate, or a small estates proceeding (D.C. Code § 20–304(e)) — and for the appointment of a personal representative.

1. File the petition with the facts § 20–304 requires, and the original will if there is one.
2. Get appointed. On an abbreviated petition the Court or the Register of Wills appoints the personal representative; the appointment is an order for unsupervised administration unless it says otherwise (§ 20–312(a)).
3. Qualify. File the acceptance of duties, any required bond and a consent to jurisdiction (§ 20–501). Then the Register issues Letters of Administration (§ 20–503).
4. Give notice within 20 days of appointment — publication once a week for two successive weeks, and certified or registered mail to heirs, legatees and known creditors (§ 20–704(a)–(b)).

What the petition for probate has to say

§ 20–304(a) requires the petition to contain everything the petitioner knows about:

• the decedent's name, domicile, and place and date of death;
• the petitioner's name, address, age, citizenship, relationship to the decedent, interest in the estate and any legal disability;
• the facts that give the Court jurisdiction, and any other proceeding filed elsewhere about the estate;
• the character, location and estimated value of the decedent's real and personal property, and the total estimated debts and funeral expenses;
• the names and addresses of all interested persons, and of the witnesses to any will;
• whether the decedent died with or without a will.

If there is no will, the petition must state that a diligent search for one has been made (§ 20–304(b)). If there is a will, the petitioner must exhibit the original (or a copy, if the original is already on file), say whether they know of any later will, and explain how they came to hold the original (§ 20–304(c)). Anything the petitioner cannot supply must be explained (§ 20–304(d)).

The same petition can, without a separate complaint, ask the Court to admit the will, order witnesses to testify about its execution, order whoever holds a will to deliver it, address a lost or destroyed will, find that the decedent died intestate, and appoint a supervised or unsupervised personal representative (§ 20–304(f)).

Abbreviated vs formal probate

Abbreviated probate is a proceeding to probate a will (or determine intestacy) and appoint a personal representative that may be conducted without the prior notice required for formal probate (§ 20–311(a)). On an abbreviated petition, due execution of a will is presumed and the Court or the Register of Wills may admit it either because it appears duly executed and contains an attestation recital, or on the verified statement of anyone with personal knowledge of its execution, whether or not they were an attesting witness (§ 20–312(b)).

Formal probate is the track for when due execution cannot be presumed, or when someone wants notice first. It is conducted after notice: the petitioner must promptly notify all known interested persons and publish once a week for two successive weeks (§§ 20–321, 20–323(a)). Formal probate is mandatory if, before abbreviated probate, an interested person or creditor asks for it, or the abbreviated petition appears materially incomplete or incorrect (§ 20–322). If nobody files within a reasonable time, the Register, with the Court's approval, may itself petition for formal probate (§ 20–321).

After that window, an abbreviated probate is final and binding on all interested persons, subject to the will-contest provision (§ 20–331(c)). A verified complaint contesting a will may be filed within six months after the published notice of appointment (§ 20–305). A small estate — the third track — has its own rules; see the DC small estate route.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

The Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Law 25–302) took effect March 21, 2025. It replaced the old term “standard probate” with formal probate and shortened publication to two successive weeks. A 2026 temporary act adds that the 2024 act applies to estates of decedents who died on or after March 21, 2025.

The Strengthening Probate Administration Temporary Amendment Act of 2026 (D.C. Law 26–164, effective August 14, 2026, applying as of May 14, 2026) then:

• rewrote § 20–311 to define abbreviated probate as a proceeding for probate of a will or a determination of intestacy and appointment of a personal representative, conducted without the prior notice formal probate needs;
• rewrote § 20–312 so that the Court or the Register of Wills appoints, and so that, where the Register requires additional verified proof, the matter may be referred to the Court to decide whether to appoint and whether to admit the will;
• allowed the formal-probate notice, the foreign personal representative notice and the notice of appointment to run in a “legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation” in the District (§§ 20–323(a), 20–343(a), 20–704(a)), not only a legal periodical;
• repealed § 20–361(a)(4), the will-admission reference in the transfer-by-affidavit section.

Who gets appointed

§ 20–303(a) sets the order of priority, each paragraph treated as a class:

1. the personal representative named in a will admitted to probate;
2. the surviving spouse, domestic partner or children of an intestate decedent — or the surviving spouse or domestic partner of a testate decedent;
3. the residuary legatees;
4. the children of a testate decedent;
5. the grandchildren; then parents; then brothers and sisters; then next of kin; then other relations;
6. the largest creditor who applies; then any other person.

Heirs or legatees may nominate someone in writing, and a person may renounce the right to nominate, be nominated or be appointed (§ 20–303(c-1)). The Court may vary the order for good cause (§ 20–303(d)).

§ 20–303(b) bars letters to anyone who has renounced; is under 18; has a mental illness as defined in § 21–501; has a felony conviction whose sentence has not expired or expired within the past 10 years; is an alien not lawfully admitted for permanent residence; or is a judge or court-system employee (unless a spouse, domestic partner or relative within the third degree). A nonresident may serve only after filing an irrevocable power of attorney designating the Register for service of process (§ 20–303(b)(7)) — see the out-of-state personal representative guide.

No will? The priority list above decides who serves; who inherits a DC house with no will decides who ends up owning it. They are different questions.

Qualifying: acceptance, bond and letters

Before letters issue, the personal representative must file a statement accepting the duties of the office, any required bond, and a written consent to personal jurisdiction in the District (§ 20–501).

• When bond is required. Every personal representative must give bond to the District for the benefit of interested persons and creditors unless excused by the will or by the written waiver of interested persons; the interest of anyone who does not waive is still protected, and nobody may waive on behalf of a person who is not a competent adult except as the statute allows (§ 20–502(a)).
• Demand for bond. Anyone with an interest worth more than $1,000, or a creditor with a claim over $1,000, may demand in writing that bond be given, up to the value of that interest (§ 20–502(a-1)).
• How much. The Court fixes the penalty sum at no more than the probable maximum value of the personal and D.C. real property during administration, and may reduce it for restricted bank deposits or for property that cannot be sold or distributed without prior Court authorization (§ 20–502(d)).
• Who pays. Bond premiums are charged against the estate (§ 20–502(f)). Banks and trust companies authorised to serve are generally exempt (§ 20–502(b)(1)).

Letters then issue from the Register, stating the Court, the decedent, the personal representative, the date of appointment, any will admission date, and whether administration is supervised or unsupervised, with any limits on the representative's powers (§ 20–503). For what supervision changes, see supervised vs unsupervised administration.

The 20-day notice clock

The day of appointment starts § 20–704. Within 20 days, unless notice has already been given, the personal representative must:

• Publish a notice of appointment once a week for two successive weeks in a legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation in the District, then file a certification of the date and content with the Register (§ 20–704(a)). The statutory form tells objectors to file with the Register, and creditors to present claims, within 6 months from the first publication — claims not filed by then are unenforceable.
• Mail the text of that notice by registered or certified mail to the heirs, legatees, and all creditors who are known or reasonably ascertainable, with the Court's information form on the representative's duties, how fees are set, heirs' rights, and — in an unsupervised estate — the right to petition for supervision (§ 20–704(b)).
• Certify to the Register, within 90 days of appointment, that the mailed notices were given (§ 20–704(b-1), (b-2)).

The published notice is also what starts the six-month windows to request formal probate over an abbreviated one (§ 20–331) and to contest a will (§ 20–305). The statutory form asks any relative who does not receive mailed notice within 25 days to tell the Register of Wills.

Costs to expect (and what we will not quote)

• Court costs. Probate deposits and fees are paid to the Register of Wills, who may require a deposit when a petition is presented (D.C. Code § 15–708). The current schedule is set by the court — ask the Register for it at filing; we do not publish a number that may be stale.
• Publication. Two weeks of notice under § 20–704(a), plus two more under § 20–323(a) if you use formal probate.
• Certified mail to every heir, legatee and known creditor.
• Bond premium, if bond is not waived — paid by the estate.
• Attorney's fees, if you use counsel. Priority disputes, lost wills, a petitioner who is neither named in the will nor next of kin, or a title problem on the house are the usual reasons to.

If anything is disputed, § 20–107 lets an interested person or the Register petition the Court at any time to resolve a question in a supervised or unsupervised estate, and a request need not be in any particular format so long as it is in writing and identifies the issue.

Where we fit

We are a District real estate brokerage, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. The Register of Wills and your attorney decide which track, which forms and which version of each section apply to your estate.

What we do is the property side, starting before letters issue if you like: a free written opinion of value for the petition, a read of the deed and title so surprises surface early, and a plan for securing and preparing the house during the notice period — then a listing or direct sale once the personal representative has authority to sign. Related reading: the DC probate process start to finish, executor duties when selling DC real estate, and when an earlier death was never probated.

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.