Douglas County Superior Court Clerk Guide

Note: WASHINGTON'S PROBATE FILING FEE IS A FLAT, STATEWIDE, STATUTORY $290, AND IT DOES NOT VARY WITH THE SIZE OF THE ESTATE OR WITH THE COUNTY. RCW 36.18.020(2)(f) sets $200 for the first document in a probate proceeding; RCW 36.18.020(5)(c) adds a mandatory $40 judicial stabilization surcharge on all filing fees collected under that section except subsections (2)(b), (d) and (h); and RCW 36.18.020(6) adds a mandatory $50 surcharge on the fees collected under (2)(a), (b), (c), (e), (f) and (g). Every one is written 'shall collect' or 'must be collected', so no county clerk has an instrument with which to vary them. All three subsections were read verbatim at the statute on 2026-08-07. THE $50 SURCHARGE IS NEW: it was added by 2025 c 357, effective 27 July 2025, so any source still quoting $240 predates it and any source quoting $200 has omitted both surcharges. A petition to contest a will admitted to probate, or to admit a rejected will, carries the same $200 base under RCW 36.18.020(2)(g) and the same two surcharges, so it is also $290. RCW 36.18.025 and RCW 27.24.070 direct where the money goes; they are revenue destinations, NOT extra charges, and must not be added. THERE IS NO SMALL ESTATE COURT FEE, because there is no court filing: the RCW 11.62.010 affidavit is presented directly to whoever holds the property, which is why small_estate_affidavit is stored as 0. The per-service figures come from RCW 36.18.016 - (4)(a) a certified copy at $5 for the first page and $1 for each additional page, (4)(c) a copy without a seal at 50 cents a page, (9) a certificate of qualification with a certified copy of the letters at $5, and (27) $20 to file a will or codicil under chapter 11.12 RCW. RCW 36.18.016 was renumbered by 2026 c 33 effective 11 June 2026, so a source citing subsection (28) for the will filing fee is citing what is now (27). WASHINGTON PUBLISHES NO STATEWIDE JUDICIARY FEE SCHEDULE: RCW 36.18.080 makes posting a fee statement a per-county duty, so the statute is the schedule and each county clerk posts its own. Confirm the total with the clerk before filing; a fee waiver is asked for under court rule GR 34. formal_administration and petition_probate both carry $290 because in Washington they are the same charge: RCW 36.18.020(2)(f) prices the first document in a probate proceeding without regard to which route the estate then takes, so a nonintervention administration and a court-supervised one cost the same to open.