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District of Columbia Creditor Claims
Support GuideDistrict of Columbia15 min read

District of Columbia Creditor Claims

D.C. creditor claims are barred 6 months after the notice of appointment is first published, and must reach the PR and the Register of Wills.

By Settled Editorial

In the District of Columbia, a creditor has 6 months after the notice of the personal representative's appointment is first published to present a claim against the estate. Miss that date and the claim is barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and legatees (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)). The clock runs from first publication. It does not run from the date of death, and it does not run from the day a creditor happens to see the notice.

That one rule shapes the whole job. If you are the personal representative, you start the clock by publishing, you mail notice to the creditors you know about, you answer each claim in writing, and you pay in the order the D.C. Code sets. This guide walks that sequence and cites the section behind each step. Read it beside the personal representative duties guide and every D.C. probate deadline.

One note before you start. Some D.C. probate sections currently read as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, the Strengthening Probate Administration Temporary Amendment Act of 2026, which took effect August 14, 2026. Where a rule on this page rests on that temporary text, the citation says so.

The 6-Month Claim Bar Runs From First Publication

Here is the rule in the Code's own words. All claims against a decedent's estate, "whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract or other legal basis," are barred "unless presented within 6 months after the date of the first publication of notice of the appointment of a personal representative" (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)). This section has not been amended since D.C. Law 3-72 enacted it in 1980.

Let's break down what that means for you:

  • The date that matters is the first publication date. Your published notice prints it, and you file a certification of the publication with the Register of Wills, so the date is on the record.
  • The bar covers contingent and unmatured claims too. A debt that is not due yet still has to be presented inside the 6 months.
  • The District and the United States can differ. The 6-month rule applies "except as otherwise expressly provided by statute with respect to claims of the United States and the District of Columbia" (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)). Tax claims can follow their own statutes.
  • Claims against you as personal representative run separately. A claim based on your own conduct, or on a contract you signed for the estate, is barred unless the claimant sues the estate within 6 months of the date that claim arose (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)(2)).

Many pages online say D.C. requires publication for "three successive weeks" and point to D.C. Code § 20-343. Both are out of date or misread. Publication now runs 2 weeks, and § 20-343 is the publication rule for a foreign personal representative appointed in another jurisdiction. That rule belongs to D.C. ancillary probate.

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What the 6-Month Bar Does Not Cut Off

Four kinds of claims survive the bar or sit outside it. Knowing them keeps you from assuming a debt is gone when it is not.

  1. Liens and secured debts. The bar does not stop anyone from enforcing "any mortgage, pledge, judgment, or other recorded or otherwise perfected security interest on property of the estate" (D.C. Code § 20-903(b)). A mortgage lender can still foreclose on the house after the 6 months.
  2. Lawsuits served before death. An action already filed against the decedent survives if the decedent was "duly served with process before death" (D.C. Code § 20-903(c)). You are not personally liable for paying or distributing without accounting for that suit, as long as you had no actual knowledge of it and the claimant did not present it on time.
  3. Insured claims. A claim covered by a liability insurance policy the decedent held is not barred if the claimant sues within the usual limitations period for that kind of claim. Recovery is then limited to what the policy pays (D.C. Code § 20-903(d)). Car accident claims are the familiar example.
  4. Claims arising from your own conduct. As noted above, these run 6 months from the date the claim arose, under D.C. Code § 20-903(a)(2).

Step 1: Publish the Notice of Appointment

You start the clock yourself. Within 20 days after appointment, you publish a notice of the appointment "in a legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation in the District," once a week for 2 successive weeks (D.C. Code § 20-704(a), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027). The permanent text allows a legal periodical only, so check the rule again if you publish after that date.

The notice announces your appointment and address, states whether administration is supervised or unsupervised, and tells creditors to present their claims. The form printed in the statute warns that any claim not filed within 6 months of first publication "shall be unenforceable thereafter." You then file a certification with the Register of Wills giving the date and content of the published notice (D.C. Code § 20-704(a), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027).

Timing matters here. Each week of delay pushes the end of the creditor period, and the earliest date the estate can close, a week later.

Step 2: Mail Notice to Known Creditors

Publication reaches creditors you cannot name. Mail reaches the ones you can. Within the same 20 days, you send the text of the first published notice by registered or certified mail to the heirs, the legatees, and "all creditors whose identities are known or whose identities are reasonably ascertainable by reasonably diligent efforts" (D.C. Code § 20-704(b), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027). A court-developed information form goes with it.

Within 90 days after your appointment, you certify to the Register of Wills that those mailed notices went out (D.C. Code § 20-704(b-2), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027).

Mailing does not shorten a creditor's deadline in D.C. The bar still falls 6 months after first publication for everyone. What mailing does is give known creditors the notice the statute requires, and personal representatives commonly build that list from the decedent's mail, bank statements, and recurring bills, and keep the certified-mail receipts.

How a Creditor Presents a Claim

A phone call is not a claim. A creditor presents a claim by delivering or mailing, return receipt requested, a written statement of the claim, verified under D.C. Code § 20-102, in one of two ways (D.C. Code § 20-905(a)):

  • to the personal representative, with a copy to the Register of Wills, or
  • to the Register of Wills, with a copy to the personal representative.

The statute forgives one slip. If a creditor sends the claim only to you or only to the Register by mistake, the claim still counts as presented for the 6-month deadline (D.C. Code § 20-905(a)).

The written statement must give the claimant's name and address, the basis of the claim, the amount, when the claim will come due if it is not due yet, the nature of any contingency, and a description of any security (D.C. Code § 20-905(b)). The Court may disallow a claim, in whole or in part, when the claimant skips those requirements or ignores your reasonable requests for more information (D.C. Code § 20-905(c)).

The Register of Wills also has its own small-claim authority. The Register may "approve or reject claims not exceeding $300" that are properly brought before that office (D.C. Code § 11-2104(a)(2)).

Step 3: Allow or Disallow Each Claim in Writing

For every claim presented on time, you mail the claimant a notice that says one of three things: the claim is allowed in a stated amount, the claim is disallowed in whole or in part (with the procedures and time limits for contesting that), or you will petition the Court to decide it (D.C. Code § 20-908(a)). You may deduct any counterclaim the estate holds against the claimant.

Three timing rules come with that notice:

  • Rescinding an allowance. You can take back an allowance only within 6 months after first publication, and you must tell the claimant how much you rescinded (D.C. Code § 20-908(a)).
  • The creditor's 60 days. A disallowed claim is "forever barred" to the extent of the disallowance unless the claimant files a verified complaint in the Court within 60 days after you mail the disallowance notice (D.C. Code § 20-908(a)).
  • Silence does not help you. If you never respond, the claimant may file a verified complaint, and your silence does not pause any statute of limitations (D.C. Code § 20-908(b), (c)).

With many claims, you can ask the Court to sort them at once. A personal representative may convene a meeting of all creditors who presented claims, on a day the Court designates, with at least 10 days' written notice. The Court approves or denies claims at that meeting, and paying a claim as the Court's order approves it protects you (D.C. Code § 20-910).

Step 4: Pay Claims, and Watch the 8-Month Mark

You pay allowed claims no later than 8 months from first publication, unless the Court extends that time for good cause (D.C. Code § 20-909(a)). A creditor with a valid claim that goes unpaid past 8 months can petition the Court for an order directing payment to the extent estate funds allow.

Paying early carries a personal risk. You may pay any just claim that is not barred at any time, with or without formal presentation. But you become personally liable to another claimant hurt by that payment if you paid before the 6 months ran and did not require the payee to give adequate security to refund part of it, or if the payment came from your negligence or willful fault (D.C. Code § 20-909(b)). For that reason, many personal representatives wait out the 6 months before paying ordinary unsecured debts in full.

Claims that are not due yet, or that depend on a future event, get paid the same way as present claims if they become due or certain before distribution. Otherwise, you or the Court can pay a consenting claimant the present value, or set up a trust, escrow, or bond for later payment (D.C. Code § 20-911). A secured creditor who keeps the security is paid on the claim less what the security brought in, or less its agreed or court-set value (D.C. Code § 20-912).

When the Estate Cannot Pay Everyone

If the estate's assets fall short, you pay in this order (D.C. Code § 20-906(a)):

  1. Court costs, publication costs, and bond premiums
  2. Funeral expenses, up to $5,000
  3. Fiduciary and attorney's fees, up to $1,000
  4. The homestead allowance and the family allowance
  5. Exempt property
  6. Reasonable medical and hospital expenses of the last illness, including pay for people who attended the decedent
  7. Rent in arrears for which an attachment might be levied
  8. Judgments and decrees of courts in the District of Columbia
  9. All other just claims

No claim gets a preference over another claim in the same class, and a claim already due gets no preference over one not yet due (D.C. Code § 20-906(b)). The funeral line has its own rule. The Court may allow funeral expenses above $5,000, up to $15,000, and in a solvent estate every heir or legatee can waive the limit in a signed writing filed with the Register of Wills (D.C. Code § 20-907). For how each class works in an insolvent estate, see the order claims are paid.

Small Estates Run on a 30-Day Clock

A small estate proceeding uses a shorter period. When the Court directs notice in a small estate, the notice is published once, and claims must be filed within 30 days from the date of publication (D.C. Code § 20-353(b)). In a small estate, the claim window is 30 days, not 6 months.

A Creditor Checklist for D.C. Personal Representatives

These questions track the statutory steps that come before any distribution:

  1. Did you publish the notice within 20 days of appointment, for 2 successive weeks, and file the certification with the Register of Wills?
  2. Did you mail the notice and the court's information form to known and reasonably ascertainable creditors, and certify that within 90 days?
  3. Have 6 months passed since the date of first publication?
  4. Did you mail an allowance or disallowance notice for every claim presented on time?
  5. Have 60 days passed since each disallowance notice, with no verified complaint filed?
  6. Are you paying within 8 months of first publication, in the § 20-906 order?
  7. Did you account for mortgages, liens, insured claims, and suits served before death?

Under the statutes above, distribution generally follows the close of the creditor period and the settlement of claims. The estate's accounting and closing papers come after that. Our D.C. executor duties guide covers those last steps.

Common Questions

How long do creditors have to file a claim against an estate in D.C.?

Six months from the date the notice of the personal representative's appointment is first published (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)). The date of death does not start the clock. In a small estate proceeding where the Court directs notice, the period is 30 days from publication (D.C. Code § 20-353(b)).

Where does a creditor file a claim in the District of Columbia?

A creditor delivers or mails, return receipt requested, a verified written statement to the personal representative with a copy to the Register of Wills, or to the Register of Wills with a copy to the personal representative (D.C. Code § 20-905(a)). A claim sent to only one of them by mistake still counts as presented.

How long must a personal representative publish notice to creditors in D.C.?

Once a week for 2 successive weeks, starting within 20 days after appointment, in a legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation in the District (D.C. Code § 20-704(a), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027). Pages that say three weeks describe the rule before D.C. Law 25-302.

What happens if the personal representative rejects a claim?

The personal representative mails a disallowance notice. The claim is forever barred to the extent of the disallowance unless the creditor files a verified complaint in the Court within 60 days after that notice was mailed (D.C. Code § 20-908(a)).

Does a mortgage disappear if the lender misses the 6-month deadline?

No. The claim bar does not affect enforcement of a mortgage, pledge, judgment, or other recorded or perfected security interest on estate property (D.C. Code § 20-903(b)).

This guide is general information about estates in the District of Columbia. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the Register of Wills, the Probate Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, or a licensed D.C. attorney.

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Information current as of October 5, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in District of Columbia can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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