Use This County Probate Reference Before You File
This page is built for the detailed county-level checks that generic probate guides usually miss: local filing fees, Superior Court Clerk contact details, administrative orders, e-filing rules, and hearing logistics for Benton County.
Local Fee Schedule
Review county-specific probate filing charges before you estimate total case cost.
Court Rules and Orders
Check the local rules, judge procedures, and administrative orders that can change how a case moves.
Clerk and Filing Logistics
Confirm where to file, whether e-filing is allowed, and how hearings or notices are handled locally.
Benton County Superior Court Clerk Guide
Benton-Franklin Superior Court, the joint judicial district of RCW 2.08.064. Benton and Franklin counties share seven superior court judges and operate publicly under the joint name. · Superior Court Clerk information · Updated August 2026
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Filing & Fees
Fee Schedule Signals
Probate Filing Fees
| Filing Type | Fee |
|---|---|
Formal Administration Standard probate for larger estates | $290 |
Small Estate Affidavit For estates under threshold (no court filing needed) | $0 |
Note: IT COSTS $290 TO OPEN A PROBATE ANYWHERE IN WASHINGTON, whatever the estate is worth and whichever county it is filed in. The figure is three statutory components of RCW 36.18.020 added together: a $200 filing fee at (2)(f), a $40 judicial stabilization surcharge at (5)(c) and a $50 surcharge at (6). Each is written as a duty to collect, so no county clerk has an instrument with which to vary it and no county in Washington charges a different probate filing fee. THE $50 IS NEW. It was added by 2025 c 357, effective 27 July 2025, so any source quoting $240 is describing the pre-July-2025 total and any source quoting $200 has dropped both surcharges. That makes it the most likely stale number a reader will meet on another site. A petition contesting a will admitted to probate costs the same $290. There is no value-based Washington probate fee, no probate tax and no small-estate discount at the courthouse. small_estate_affidavit is recorded as 0 because it is a genuine zero, not a missing value: the RCW 11.62.010 affidavit is presented directly to whoever holds the property, so nothing is filed with the court and no filing fee arises. will_filing_before_death is the $20 that RCW 36.18.016(27) requires for filing a will or codicil under chapter 11.12 RCW - note the subsection number, because 2026 c 33 renumbered the section effective 11 June 2026 and a pre-June-2026 source cites this as (28). fee_schedule_url is null for a documented reason rather than because none was found: Washington's judiciary publishes no statewide fee schedule at all, because RCW 36.18.080 makes posting the fee list a duty of each county officer in that officer's own office, and no separate posted superior-court-clerk schedule was verified at an official Benton County URL on 2026-08-07. The statute IS the schedule. County clerks do add per-service charges under RCW 36.18.016, for example $5 for a certificate of qualification with a certified copy of the letters and $5 for the first page of a certified court document plus $1 a page after that. Confirm the current total with the Benton County Clerk before filing.
IT COSTS $290 TO OPEN A PROBATE ANYWHERE IN WASHINGTON, whatever the estate is worth and whichever county it is filed in. The figure is three statutory components of RCW 36.18.020 added together: a $200 filing fee at (2)(f), a $40 judicial stabilization surcharge at (5)(c) and a $50 surcharge at (6). Each is written as a duty to collect, so no county clerk has an instrument with which to vary it and no county in Washington charges a different probate filing fee. THE $50 IS NEW. It was added by 2025 c 357, effective 27 July 2025, so any source quoting $240 is describing the pre-July-2025 total and any source quoting $200 has dropped both surcharges. That makes it the most likely stale number a reader will meet on another site. A petition contesting a will admitted to probate costs the same $290. There is no value-based Washington probate fee, no probate tax and no small-estate discount at the courthouse. small_estate_affidavit is recorded as 0 because it is a genuine zero, not a missing value: the RCW 11.62.010 affidavit is presented directly to whoever holds the property, so nothing is filed with the court and no filing fee arises. will_filing_before_death is the $20 that RCW 36.18.016(27) requires for filing a will or codicil under chapter 11.12 RCW - note the subsection number, because 2026 c 33 renumbered the section effective 11 June 2026 and a pre-June-2026 source cites this as (28). fee_schedule_url is null for a documented reason rather than because none was found: Washington's judiciary publishes no statewide fee schedule at all, because RCW 36.18.080 makes posting the fee list a duty of each county officer in that officer's own office, and no separate posted superior-court-clerk schedule was verified at an official Benton County URL on 2026-08-07. The statute IS the schedule. County clerks do add per-service charges under RCW 36.18.016, for example $5 for a certificate of qualification with a certified copy of the letters and $5 for the first page of a certified court document plus $1 a page after that. Confirm the current total with the Benton County Clerk before filing.
E-Filing & Filing Methods
Source ↗Records portal
Check live court-record information when available. Search results may not include every probate record.
Timelines & Proceedings
Deadlines & Creditor Claims
Key Deadlines
- Will Deposit
- 30 days
- Creditor Claims
- 4 months
- Known Creditor Notice
- 30 days
Creditor Claims
- Period Starts
- the date of first publication of the notice to creditors
- Statute
- RCW 11.40.051
Publication Requirements
Notice to Creditors
- Duration
- Once each week for three successive weeks
- Statute
- RCW 11.40.020
- Statewide Requirement
- Not recorded in cited ordinary claim-presentation sources
Publication of a notice to creditors is NOT required in Washington - RCW 11.40.020(1) says the personal representative "may" give notice - but giving it cuts the creditor window from 24 months after death to four months after first publication and bars claims against the nonprobate assets as well. Where it is given, it runs once each week for three successive weeks in a LEGAL NEWSPAPER IN THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE ESTATE IS BEING ADMINISTERED, which for an estate opened here means a legal newspaper in Benton County. No newspaper is named and no cost is estimated in this record: no Benton County official page read on 2026-08-07 designates a newspaper of record or publishes a price, and inventing either would be worse than leaving both null - a notice published in a paper the court does not accept as a legal newspaper does not start the clock. Ask the Benton County Clerk for the list it accepts and ask the paper for a quote.
Related Proceedings
Property Recording
Source ↗Recording Fees
- First Page
- $5.00
- Additional Pages
- $1.00
Sources (15)
- https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/orgs/263.html
- https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/
- https://dw.courts.wa.gov/
- https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/
- https://www.bentoncountywa.gov/departments/courts_and_judicial_services/superior_court/index.php
- https://www.bentoncountywa.gov/government/elected_officials/clerk/index.php
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.96A.040
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.18.020
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.18.080
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.62.010
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.68.011
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.40.051
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.40.020
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.20.010
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.02.070