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District of Columbia Executor Duties
Pillar GuideDistrict of Columbia15 min read

District of Columbia Executor Duties

D.C. personal representative duties in order: publish notice within 20 days, send the inventory in 3 months, pay claims, account and close.

By Settled Editorial

District of Columbia executor duties begin when the Probate Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia appoints you as personal representative. The will naming you gives you no power by itself. Once appointed, you are a fiduciary with a general duty to settle and distribute the estate "as expeditiously and efficiently as is prudent," under the will or the intestacy rules (D.C. Code § 20-701(a)). This guide walks the duties in deadline order.

D.C. law calls the person in charge of an estate the personal representative, whether a will names them (an executor) or the court picks them without one (an administrator). One court hears every estate in the District: the Probate Division (D.C. Code § 20-101(b)). The Register of Wills is an office inside that division, not a separate court (D.C. Code § 11-2101). This is general information, not legal advice.

Use this guide with the District of Columbia probate guide, every D.C. probate deadline, and the Probate Division filing page.

Step 1: Get Appointed and Settle the Bond

Authority comes from the appointment. Before it, a named executor can find the original will, secure the home, and gather records, but cannot collect accounts, sign estate deeds, or move title.

The court appoints by priority under D.C. Code § 20-303(a). The personal representative named in a probated will comes first. Without a will, the surviving spouse, domestic partner, or children come next, followed by more distant relatives, then the largest creditor who applies. Some people cannot serve at all. The list includes anyone under 18 and a nonresident of the District who has not filed an irrevocable power of attorney naming the Register of Wills to receive notices and process for the estate (D.C. Code § 20-303(b)).

On an abbreviated probate petition, the Court or the Register of Wills appoints you, and the appointment is an order for unsupervised administration unless it says supervised (D.C. Code § 20-312(a), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027). That choice decides who you report to for the rest of the estate. Unsupervised personal representatives report to the heirs and legatees. Supervised ones file with the court.

Then comes the personal representative bond. You must post a bond with court-approved sureties unless the will excuses it or the interested persons waive it in writing (D.C. Code § 20-502(a)). A waiver does not end the question. Any person with an interest in the estate worth more than $1,000, or any creditor with a claim over $1,000, may file a written demand that you post bond up to the value of that interest (D.C. Code § 20-502(a-1)). Bond premiums are paid from the estate (D.C. Code § 20-502(f)).

Not every estate needs this full process. A smaller estate may qualify for a small estate proceeding or a transfer by affidavit instead. See the District of Columbia small estate guide before you file.

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What a D.C. Personal Representative Does

Once appointed, you take possession or control of the estate and protect it. D.C. Code § 20-702 says you "shall pay taxes on, and take all steps reasonably necessary for the management, protection, and preservation of, the estate." You keep estate money apart from your own, weigh the interests of every heir and allowed creditor fairly, and distribute only when the estate is ready (D.C. Code § 20-701(a)).

The duties run in this order:

  1. Publish notice of your appointment within 20 days
  2. Mail notice and the court's information form within 20 days, then certify within 90 days
  3. Deliver the inventory within 3 months
  4. Handle claims through the 6-month bar and pay them in the statutory order
  5. File the District estate tax return if the estate is large enough
  6. Account for every dollar
  7. Distribute and close with a Certificate of Completion

Duty 1: Publish Notice Within 20 Days

Your first clock starts on the day of appointment. Within 20 days, 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, and file a certification with the Register of Wills giving the date and content of the notice (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 only a legal periodical, so check the rule again if you publish after that date.

Two weeks, not three. Older guides still say three successive weeks. D.C. Law 25-302 cut the requirement to two in 2025.

Here is why the date matters. The first day your notice runs starts the creditor clock and the will-contest clock. Both run six months from first publication, not from the date of death.

Duty 2: Mail Notice and the Court's Information Form

Within the same 20 days, you send the text of the first published notice by registered or certified mail to every heir, every legatee, and every creditor you know of or could identify with reasonably diligent effort (D.C. Code § 20-704(b), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027). With it goes general information in a form the court developed. That form explains the typical duties of a personal representative, how fees are set, the rights of heirs and legatees, and, in an unsupervised estate, their right to petition for court supervision.

Within 90 days after appointment, you certify to the Register of Wills that you sent those notices (D.C. Code § 20-704(b-2)). This applies whether your administration is supervised or unsupervised.

Duty 3: Deliver the Inventory Within 3 Months

The inventory lists everything the decedent owned at death, with each item's fair market value on the date of death and the type and amount of any lien or other encumbrance.

How you deliver it depends on your track:

  • Unsupervised: within 3 months after appointment, deliver or mail the inventory to each interested person (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(a)). Filing the verified original with the court is optional (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(b)).
  • Supervised: within 3 months of appointment, file a verified inventory with the court, with a certificate that you mailed or delivered a copy to all interested persons within the previous 15 days (D.C. Code § 20-711).

Real property, tangible personal property, stocks, bank accounts, money, and debts owed to the decedent all belong on it (D.C. Code § 20-711(a)). You may hire a qualified, disinterested appraiser for any asset whose value is in doubt (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(c)). If you later find property you missed, or learn a value was wrong, you prepare a supplementary inventory and send copies to the interested persons (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(d)). For the full walkthrough, see inventory and accounts.

Duty 4: Handle Claims and Pay in the Statutory Order

Creditors in D.C. get six months. A claim against the estate is 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)). Recorded mortgages, judgments, and other perfected security interests survive that bar (D.C. Code § 20-903(b)). See the 6-month claim bar for how claims are presented and disallowed.

If the estate cannot pay everyone in full, you pay in this order under D.C. Code § 20-906(a):

  1. Court costs, publication costs, and bond premiums
  2. Funeral expenses, not exceeding $5,000
  3. Fiduciary and attorney's fees, not exceeding $1,000
  4. The homestead allowance and the family allowance
  5. Exempt property
  6. Medical and hospital expenses of the last illness
  7. Rent in arrears for which an attachment might be levied
  8. Judgments and decrees of D.C. courts
  9. All other just claims

No claim gets preference over another in the same class (D.C. Code § 20-906(b)). See the insolvent estate priority guide for how each class works.

Duty 5: File the District Estate Tax Return

The District has its own estate tax, separate from the federal one. For deaths in 2026, the District's exclusion amount is $4,988,400, per the Office of Tax and Revenue's 2026 D-76 instructions. If the estate owes the tax, you file the return, with a copy of any federal estate tax return, within 10 months after death (D.C. Code § 47-3705(a)(1)). No return is required if the gross estate does not exceed $1 million or the zero bracket amount, whichever is higher (D.C. Code § 47-3705(a)(2)). Payment is due by the same date (D.C. Code § 47-3705(c)), and OTR requires electronic filing and payment on MyTax.DC.gov.

You pay any District estate tax, penalties, and interest before you distribute the estate (D.C. Code § 47-3713). See the District of Columbia estate tax guide for how the District tax sits beside the federal one.

Duty 6: Account for Every Dollar

Accounting shows what you received, what you paid, and what you handed out.

  • Unsupervised: you account to interested persons "at reasonable intervals, or on reasonable demand." An interested person can ask the court to compel an account after notice and a hearing (D.C. Code § 20-734).
  • Supervised: you file accounts with the court within one year and one day of the first publication of notice, then within 9 months after each account until the final one (D.C. Code § 20-724(a)). The court can extend a deadline for good cause on written application (D.C. Code § 20-724(b)).

Keep receipts, statements, and canceled checks as you go. Every payment in the account needs proof.

Duty 7: Distribute and Close the Estate

In an unsupervised estate, you close by filing a verified Certificate of Completion with the court (D.C. Code § 20-735(a)). You cannot file it before the creditor period ends. Before filing, you send every interested person a copy of your account with notice of a right to object within 60 days, and the certificate states that each person consented in writing or did not object in that window (D.C. Code § 20-735(b)). It also confirms that distribution matches the account and that known creditor claims were paid or otherwise settled.

Questions commonly checked before anything goes to an heir or legatee:

  1. Has the 6-month claim period since first publication run?
  2. Are valid claims paid in the § 20-906 order?
  3. Did you pay any District estate tax due?
  4. Did every interested person get the account and the 60-day objection notice?
  5. Does the account support each proposed distribution?

You may make partial distributions during administration (D.C. Code § 20-741(24)), but an early distribution that leaves a valid claim unpaid can come back to you. A claim of personal liability against you, other than for fraud, is barred one year after you distribute all assets and satisfy all known claims. In an unsupervised estate that date is presumed to be the filing of the Certificate of Completion (D.C. Code § 20-1303(a)).

Powers You Hold Without a Court Order

Unless the will, the Code, or a court order limits you, D.C. Code § 20-741 gives you a long list of powers. The ones most families use:

  • Sell property. You may sell real or personal property at public or private sale, for cash or on credit, except property the will gives to a named person (D.C. Code § 20-741(6), (25)). See selling the house during probate.
  • Pay the funeral. You may pay funeral expenses, including burial space and a marker, up to $15,000, except as §§ 20-906 and 20-907 provide (D.C. Code § 20-741(16)).
  • Hire help. You may employ accountants, attorneys, appraisers, and brokers for reasonable compensation (D.C. Code § 20-741(17)).
  • Run a business briefly. You may continue the decedent's unincorporated business for up to 4 months after appointment to preserve its value (D.C. Code § 20-741(28)).
  • Ask the court. When you are unsure, you may petition the court for permission to act on any administration question (D.C. Code § 20-742).

How a D.C. Personal Representative Gets Paid

D.C. sets no percentage fee. "A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services" (D.C. Code § 20-751). If the will sets your pay, you may renounce that provision and take reasonable compensation instead, and you may renounce all or part of your fee by filing a written renunciation with the court. Pages quoting a "3% to 5%" D.C. executor fee cite no D.C. statute. The D.C. executor compensation page sets out the same rule, including the court review of a fee under D.C. Code § 20-753.

Two points bear on the fee. Your fee is taxable income, while an inheritance generally is not, so family members who are also heirs often waive it. In an insolvent estate, only fiduciary and attorney's fees not exceeding $1,000 rank in the third class of § 20-906(a).

Common Questions

Which court supervises a D.C. personal representative?

The Probate Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the only probate court in the District (D.C. Code § 20-101(b)). Your appointment is unsupervised unless the order says otherwise, and in that case you report to the heirs and legatees instead of filing accounts with the court.

What is the first deadline after I am appointed?

Within 20 days, publish notice of your appointment once a week for 2 successive weeks and mail the notice and the court's information form to heirs, legatees, and known creditors (D.C. Code § 20-704, as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027).

How long do creditors have to file claims in D.C.?

Six months after the first publication of your notice of appointment (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)). The clock starts from publication, not from the date of death.

How much does an executor get paid in D.C.?

Reasonable compensation for services, with no statutory percentage (D.C. Code § 20-751). You may waive all or part of it.

Do I need a bond?

Yes, unless the will excuses it or the interested persons waive it in writing. Anyone with more than $1,000 at stake in the estate may still demand one (D.C. Code § 20-502).

When can I close the estate?

After the 6-month creditor period ends and the 60-day window for objections to your account passes, you file a verified Certificate of Completion (D.C. Code § 20-735).

This guide is general information about District of Columbia estates. For questions about your own estate, consult a licensed District of Columbia attorney. The Register of Wills can confirm filing procedure.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

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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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