The DC probate process, step by step
Probate in the District is a sequence of filings at one office, the Register of Wills, and a handful of statutory deadlines that run from the day the personal representative is appointed. Here is the whole arc in order, the D.C. Code section behind each step, and exactly where the house fits in.
The whole process on one page
Most DC estates that own a house move through the same ten steps. Each one links to a deeper guide if you need it.
| # | Step | When | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Decide whether the house needs probate at all | Before anything is filed | § 20–105; § 20–301 |
| 2 | Deliver the original will to the Register of Wills | Within 90 days after the death becomes known | § 18–111 |
| 3 | File the petition for probate (abbreviated, formal or small estate) | When the family is ready; nothing starts until it is filed | §§ 20–301, 20–304 |
| 4 | Appointment and Letters of Administration | After the petition is approved and bond is posted or waived | §§ 20–501 to 20–505 |
| 5 | Publish and mail notice of appointment | Within 20 days after appointment | § 20–704 |
| 6 | Verified inventory with the house at date-of-death value | Within 3 months after appointment | § 20–711 |
| 7 | Creditor claims window | 6 months from first publication | § 20–903 |
| 8 | Sell the house (if it is being sold) | Any time after Letters issue | §§ 20–741, 20–744 |
| 9 | Pay claims and distribute (cash or deed) | After probable claims are known | §§ 20–906, 20–1102, 20–1103 |
| 10 | Account and close the estate | Not before the claims window has run | §§ 20–735, 20–1301 |
Step 1: Does the house need probate at all?
Under D.C. Code § 20–105, all property of a decedent is subject to Title 20 and, at death, passes to the personal representative, who holds legal title for administration and distribution. In practice that means a house titled in the decedent's name alone almost always needs an estate opened before anyone can sign a deed for it.
Some houses never pass through probate, because they never belonged to the decedent alone at death:
- A house held in a revocable living trust is sold by the successor trustee — see selling a trust-owned DC house.
- A house covered by a recorded transfer on death deed goes to the named beneficiary — see the TOD deed guide.
- A house owned with a surviving joint tenant or spouse by the entirety belongs to the survivor — see when a co-owner dies.
When probate is needed, § 20–301 gives three routes: an abbreviated probate proceeding, a formal probate proceeding, or a small estates proceeding. Very modest estates may qualify for the last — see small estates in DC.
Step 2: Get the original will to the Register of Wills
Whoever has the original will has a legal duty to hand it over. Under D.C. Code § 18–111, a person who has possession of a will and willfully neglects, for 90 days after learning of the death, to deliver it to the Probate Court, the Register of Wills, or an executor named in it can be fined up to $500. Taking, destroying, hiding or mutilating a will for a fraudulent purpose is a felony under § 18–112.
That duty applies whether or not anyone plans to open an estate. If no will turns up, the petition has to show that a diligent search was made, and the house passes to the heirs under DC's intestacy rules — see who inherits with no will.
Step 3: Opening the estate
Everything is filed with the Office of the Register of Wills, which serves the Probate Division of the D.C. Superior Court. A standard decedent's estate is an ADM case. The court's filing materials have consistently listed the same core papers:
- The original will, if there is one
- A Petition for Probate (§ 20–304 sets out what it must contain, including the value of real and personal property)
- The proposed order and the notice of appointment, notice to creditors and notice to unknown heirs
- A bond, or the waivers or will provision that excuse it (§ 20–502)
- Court costs, payable to the Register of Wills
Who may serve follows the priority list in § 20–303: the personal representative named in a will first; then the surviving spouse, domestic partner or children (if there is no will); then residuary legatees, grandchildren, parents, brothers and sisters and other relatives; and only after them the largest creditor or anyone else. A nonresident of DC can serve only by filing an irrevocable power of attorney with the Register (§ 20–303(b)(7)). Most uncontested estates use abbreviated probate, which proceeds without prior notice to interested persons; a dispute, a questionable will or certain other triggers push the case into formal probate (§§ 20–311, 20–321 to 20–323). Our guide to opening probate in DC walks through the petition, priority and bond in detail.
Note: parts of §§ 20–311, 20–312 and 20–704 are currently amended by temporary 2026 legislation set to expire on March 27, 2027. Confirm current procedure with the Register of Wills before you file.
Step 4: Appointment and Letters of Administration
The personal representative (PR) is the person the court authorizes to act for the estate — the District's word for an executor or administrator. Before appointment the PR accepts the role, posts any required bond and consents to the court's jurisdiction (§§ 20–501, 20–502).
The PR then receives Letters of Administration. Under § 20–505 the PR's powers begin when the letters are issued. Title companies, banks and buyers' lawyers will all ask for a current copy; until they exist, nobody can sign a deed for the house. See Letters of Administration in DC.
Appointment also matters to creditors: under § 20–901, no proceeding to enforce a claim against the estate may be started or revived before a personal representative is appointed.
Step 5: Notice of appointment
Within 20 days after appointment, the PR must publish a notice of the appointment once a week for 2 successive weeks, announcing the appointment, stating whether the estate is supervised or unsupervised, and telling creditors to present their claims (§ 20–704(a)). The PR files a certification of what was published and when.
Within the same 20 days the PR mails notice to the heirs, legatees and known or reasonably ascertainable creditors (§ 20–704(b)), and certifies to the Register within 90 days that it was done (§ 20–704(b-2)).
The date of first publication is the most important date in the estate. Every later deadline that keeps the estate open is measured from it.
Step 6: Inventory and the date-of-death value
Under § 20–711 the PR prepares a verified inventory within 3 months of appointment, listing each item of estate property in reasonable detail with its fair market value as of the date of death and any encumbrances. For most families the house is most of the inventory.
A date-of-death value is not today's price and not the tax assessment; it is a supportable opinion of what the house was worth on the day the owner died. In a supervised estate the inventory is filed with the court; in an unsupervised one it goes to interested persons instead.
Step 7: The six-month creditor window
Claims against the estate are generally barred unless presented within 6 months after the first publication of the notice of appointment (§ 20–903(a)). A recorded mortgage or other perfected lien on the house is not wiped out by that bar — the lender can still look to the property (§ 20–903(b)); see an inherited house with a mortgage.
If the estate cannot pay everyone, § 20–906(a) sets the order of payment:
- Court costs, publication costs and bond premiums
- Funeral expenses, up to $5,000
- Fiduciary and attorney's fees, up to $1,000
- The homestead and family allowances
- Exempt property
- Medical and hospital expenses of the last illness
- Rent in arrears for which an attachment could be levied
- DC court judgments and decrees
- All other just claims
Claims in the same class share equally, with no preference within a class (§ 20–906(b)). The window does not stop a sale. What it controls is when the money can safely be distributed.
Step 8: Selling the house
Once Letters issue, the PR generally has the statutory power to sell estate real property without a separate court order (§ 20–741). That is true even in a supervised estate unless the court restricted the PR's powers and the restriction is endorsed on the letters (§ 20–404). See supervised vs. unsupervised probate.
What buyers' agents should expect:
- The seller is the estate, signing through the PR. A buyer who deals with the PR in good faith and for value is protected as if the PR had properly exercised the power (§ 20–744).
- Disclosure is different. A fiduciary administering an estate is exempt from DC's seller disclosure requirement (§ 42–1301(b)(4)), so these homes are usually sold as-is — see selling without repairs.
- Title takes a little longer, because the title company checks the chain of authority from the decedent to the PR.
- Insider sales are different. If the PR or a relative wants to buy, the sale is voidable unless an exception applies — see when the PR or an heir buys the house.
If heirs disagree about selling, see when heirs disagree. While the house sits, someone has to insure, secure and pay for it — see vacant estate property and clearing out the house.
Step 9: Distribution — cash or the house itself
Not every estate sells. Under § 20–1102, the PR distributes assets in kind to the extent possible, subject to the will and the needs of administration. A residuary estate is distributed in kind when nobody objects and it is practicable to distribute undivided interests; otherwise it may be converted to cash.
Once the probable claims are known, the PR may send a proposal for distribution. An interested person who does not object in writing within 30 days after it is mailed or delivered loses the right to object (§ 20–1102(d)).
If the house itself is distributed, the PR executes a deed of distribution — which may be a quitclaim deed — the estate pays the recording costs, and the deed is indexed in the land records under the decedent's name (§ 20–1103). The heirs then own the house directly and can keep, rent or sell it themselves.
Step 10: Accounting and closing the estate
An unsupervised estate closes when the PR files a Certificate of Completion, which cannot be filed before the creditor window has expired and must confirm that interested persons received an account and had 60 days to object (§ 20–735). A supervised estate closes when the court approves the final account (§ 20–1301(a)). If an unsupervised PR never files the certificate, the appointment ends automatically after 3 years unless extended (§ 20–1301(c)).
Put the clocks together and a clean, uncontested estate rarely closes in less than about nine months from appointment; a year to eighteen months is normal. How long probate takes in DC breaks down every deadline, and the personal representative's duties covers what the PR owes the estate along the way.
Where we fit
We are a DC real estate team that works only on inherited and estate property. We step in at three points in this process: the date-of-death opinion of value for the inventory (step 6), selling the house on the open market or for cash once Letters issue (step 8), and helping heirs who receive the house by deed decide what to do next (step 9). We do not give legal advice; your attorney and the Register of Wills handle the filings.
If you are early in the process and not sure which step you are on, start with our DC probate home sale overview or send us a note below.
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.