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District of Columbia Probate Accounting
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District of Columbia Probate Accounting

D.C. probate accounting: the 3-month inventory, accounts to heirs or the court, the Register of Wills audit, and the Certificate of Completion.

By Settled Editorial

A District of Columbia personal representative reports the estate's money in two steps: an inventory within 3 months of appointment, then accounts showing every receipt, payment, and distribution. Who receives those reports depends on the type of administration. In an unsupervised estate, you send them to the heirs and legatees and close with a verified Certificate of Completion. In a supervised estate, you file them with the court on a fixed schedule, and the Register of Wills audits them.

Most D.C. estates run unsupervised. On an abbreviated probate petition, the Court or the Register of Wills appoints the personal representative, and that appointment is an order for unsupervised administration unless the order says supervised (D.C. Code § 20-312(a), as amended by D.C. Law 26-164, a temporary act effective until March 27, 2027). The permanent text of that section names only the Court as the appointing authority. The supervised-or-unsupervised default reads the same in both versions.

Read this guide beside personal representative duties and every D.C. probate deadline. This is general information, not legal advice.

Two Tracks, Two Sets of Rules

The District runs two kinds of administration, and the accounting rules split cleanly between them. Find out which one you have before you do anything else. Your appointment order tells you.

Unsupervised administrationSupervised administration
Inventory deadlineWithin 3 months after appointmentWithin 3 months of appointment
Inventory goes toEach interested person (court filing optional)The court, with copies to interested persons
Account scheduleAt reasonable intervals, or on reasonable demandWithin 1 year and 1 day of first publication, then every 9 months
Accounts go toInterested personsThe court, with copies to interested persons
Who reviewsInterested persons, who can object within 60 daysThe Register of Wills audits, and the court approves
How the estate closesVerified Certificate of CompletionCourt approval of the final account
Statutes§§ 20-713.01, 20-734, 20-735§§ 20-711, 20-721 to 20-724, 11-2104

An unsupervised personal representative "is not subject to continuing court supervision" except where the Code says otherwise, and is not subject to the sections that apply only to supervised estates (D.C. Code § 20-406). The court orders supervised administration only when the will directs it, or when it finds good cause to protect the people interested in the estate (D.C. Code § 20-402(a)).

The track can change mid-estate. Any interested person, or the personal representative, can petition for supervised administration at any time before the proceeding ends (D.C. Code § 20-403(b)). A change runs forward only, and the court will not set aside earlier actions solely because the form of administration changed, except for fraud (D.C. Code § 20-403(c)).

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Step 1: The Inventory

The inventory is your starting balance. It lists what the decedent owned at death, item by item, with "its fair market value as of the date of the decedent's death, and the type and amount of any encumbrance" on each one (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(a)).

The Code lists what goes on it (D.C. Code § 20-711(a)):

  • Real property
  • Tangible personal property, other than ordinary clothing, food for the family, family pictures, and family Bibles (furs and jewelry do go on the list)
  • Corporate stocks
  • Debts owed to the decedent, including bonds and notes
  • Bank accounts, building association shares, savings and loan accounts, and money
  • Debts the personal representative owed the decedent
  • Any other interest in property that passes under the will or by intestacy

Property that passes outside probate, such as a joint account with a survivor or a payable-on-death account, does not belong on the probate inventory because it does not pass under the will or by intestacy.

Unsupervised inventory

Within 3 months after appointment, you prepare the inventory and deliver or mail it to each interested person (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(a)). You may also file the verified original with the court, but the statute makes that optional (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(b)). A special administrator, or a successor whose predecessor already sent one, does not repeat the step.

Supervised inventory

Within 3 months of appointment, you prepare a verified inventory and file it with the court. The filing carries a certificate that, within the previous 15 days, you mailed or delivered a copy to all interested persons with a notice of the date by which you will file it (D.C. Code § 20-711(b)).

Values in doubt and property found later

You may use the court's standing appraisers or any other qualified and disinterested appraiser for an asset whose value is open to reasonable doubt, and the inventory names each appraiser beside the items they valued (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(c)). If you find property you missed, or learn a listed value was wrong, you prepare a supplementary inventory, send copies to the interested persons, and file it with the court if you filed the original (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(d)). A supervised personal representative files a supplemental inventory or reappraisal with the court under the same 15-day mailing certificate (D.C. Code § 20-713).

Step 2: Accounting in an Unsupervised Estate

The unsupervised rule fits in one sentence. You "shall account to interested persons for his receipts, disbursements, and distribution of estate assets at reasonable intervals, or on reasonable demand" (D.C. Code § 20-734). There is no fixed calendar. An interested person who does not get an account can ask the court to compel one, after notice and a hearing (D.C. Code § 20-734).

The statute does not set a format for an unsupervised account. A sensible model is the content the Code requires of a supervised account, set out in the next section, because an heir who objects will measure your figures against the same questions: what you started with, what came in, what went out, and what is left.

Any interested person can also ask the court for help with a specific issue in an unsupervised estate, and the request needs no particular format as long as it is in writing and names the issue (D.C. Code § 20-107(b), (c)).

Step 3: Accounting in a Supervised Estate

A supervised personal representative prepares verified written accounts and files each one with a certificate that, within the previous 15 days, a copy went to all interested persons with notice of the filing date (D.C. Code § 20-721).

Here is the schedule (D.C. Code § 20-724(a)):

  1. The first account is due within one year and one day of the first publication of the notice of your appointment.
  2. Each later account is due within 9 months after the one before it, until the final account or the end of your appointment.
  3. An account is also due when your appointment ends, and at any other time the court orders.

You can ask for more time. On your written application stating reasons, the court may extend an account deadline to a specified date for good cause (D.C. Code § 20-724(b)).

What a supervised account contains

The first account shows the total value from every inventory filed so far, all receipts, each purchase, sale, lease, transfer, compromise, settlement, disbursement, and distribution with a description and its effect on the totals, and the value of what remains in your hands (D.C. Code § 20-722). Each later account starts from the remaining value in the previous account, adds any new inventory and receipts, lists every transaction since, and ends with the value still on hand (D.C. Code § 20-723).

The Register of Wills audit

The Register of Wills may "receive inventories and accounts of sales, examine vouchers, and state accounts" of personal representatives, "subject to final approval of the court," and may "audit and state fiduciary accounts" (D.C. Code § 11-2104(a)(1), (4)). So expect every payment in a supervised account to need a voucher, such as a receipt, invoice, bank statement, or canceled check. The court approves the account after the audit.

Waivers that lighten the supervised load

Two separate waivers exist, and each takes a written waiver signed by every heir or legatee and filed with the Register:

  • Waiver of filing. It excuses you from filing the inventories and accounts with the court. The waiver must say the signers know of their right to require those filings and their right to revoke. A signer can demand the filings by written demand to the Register within 7 days of the final account being sent to interested persons. A will that waives these filings has the same effect, and the court can then order them only after a hearing for good cause (D.C. Code § 20-731).
  • Waiver of formal audit. It excuses you from a formal court audit of the accounts. The court still conducts a cursory review to see whether the accounts look regular on their face and are supported by reasonable documentation. A signer can demand a formal audit within 20 days of the court's approval of the final account (D.C. Code § 20-732).

Signed waivers of filing from all interested persons count as a change to unsupervised administration, and a later demand for filings changes the estate back to supervised (D.C. Code § 20-403(a)).

Step 4: Closing the Estate

Unsupervised: the Certificate of Completion

You close an unsupervised estate by filing a verified Certificate of Completion with the court, in the form the court prescribes, unless the court orders otherwise for good cause. You may file it at any time after the creditor deadline passes, never before (D.C. Code § 20-735(a)). That deadline is 6 months after the first publication of the notice of your appointment (D.C. Code § 20-903(a)), which is why closing waits for the creditor period.

The certificate states six things (D.C. Code § 20-735(b)):

  1. The time for creditors' claims has expired.
  2. Every interested person received a copy of an account and a notice of the right to object within 60 days after it was sent, with a warning that claims against you are barred without an objection.
  3. Each interested person consented to the account in writing, or no written objection arrived within the 60 days.
  4. Distribution matches the account.
  5. Known creditor claims that are not barred were paid or settled, or the certificate explains how any outstanding claim is covered.
  6. You paid the administration expenses and otherwise fully administered the estate.

It also lists the name and address of everyone who received the account and notice, with a certificate of service showing each of them got a copy of the Certificate of Completion (D.C. Code § 20-735(c)). An objection goes in writing to you or to the court within the 60 days (D.C. Code § 20-735(d)).

Filing the certificate closes the estate, and it ends your appointment if you elect that in the certificate (D.C. Code § 20-1301(b)). If you never file one, your appointment ends automatically 3 years after it began, unless you ask the court in writing for 12-month extensions, which have no limit on number (D.C. Code § 20-1301(c)).

Supervised: approval of the final account

In a supervised estate, court approval of the final account closes the estate automatically. If the final account asks for it and the court approves, the approval also ends your appointment (D.C. Code § 20-1301(a)).

Why the paperwork protects you

A claim of personal liability against a personal representative, 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, or, if none is filed, 3 months after your appointment ends (D.C. Code § 20-1303(a)). A clean account and a filed certificate start that one-year clock.

Your Own Pay Goes in the Account

A D.C. personal representative "is entitled to reasonable compensation for services" (D.C. Code § 20-751). The Code sets no percentage, so the amount you take shows up as a disbursement your heirs, or in a supervised estate the Register and the court, will read. You may also renounce all or part of it in writing (D.C. Code § 20-751).

Habits That Keep the Accounts Clean

  • Open an estate account on day one. Run every receipt and payment through it so the bank statements double as your ledger.
  • Keep a voucher for every payment. A supervised account faces a Register audit, and an unsupervised one faces heirs who can object.
  • Date every entry. Dates show the claim deadline passed before you paid or distributed.
  • Send the account before you close. The 60-day objection window in an unsupervised estate runs from the day you send the account, so the certificate cannot go in until 60 days after that.

Common Questions

When is the first probate account due in D.C.?

It depends on the track. In a supervised estate, the first account is due within one year and one day of the first publication of the notice of appointment, then every 9 months (D.C. Code § 20-724(a)). In an unsupervised estate, there is no fixed date: you account to interested persons at reasonable intervals or on reasonable demand (D.C. Code § 20-734).

Do I file the inventory with the court in an unsupervised estate?

No filing is required. You deliver or mail it to each interested person within 3 months after appointment, and filing the verified original with the court is optional (D.C. Code § 20-713.01(a), (b)).

What is a Certificate of Completion?

It is the verified filing that closes an unsupervised D.C. estate. You file it after the creditor period ends and after interested persons have had 60 days to object to your account (D.C. Code § 20-735).

Can the heirs skip the Register's audit?

In a supervised estate, yes, if every heir or legatee signs a written waiver of formal audit filed with the Register. The court still gives the accounts a cursory review (D.C. Code § 20-732).

Who can I ask about the filing steps?

The Probate Self-Help Center at 515 5th Street, NW, Room 318, offers free help with wills, small and large estates, and adult guardianship, Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 3:30pm, as listed in the D.C. Office of the Tenant Advocate's Tenant Resource Guide. The Register of Wills may not give legal advice (D.C. Code § 11-2104(c)), so bring strategy questions to a lawyer licensed in D.C.

This guide is general information about estates in the District of Columbia. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the Probate Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or a licensed D.C. attorney.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

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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