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Washington Family Allowance
Support GuideWashington15 min read

Washington Family Allowance

Washington replaces the family allowance with one court award under chapter 11.54 RCW. The basic amount starts at a $125,000 floor and must be petitioned for.

By Settled Editorial

Washington does not have a family allowance in the sense most states use the phrase. It has a single court award under chapter 11.54 RCW, which the statute calls the basic award, and that one mechanism does the work that a homestead allowance, an exempt-property allowance and a family allowance do elsewhere. It is not automatic, it is not periodic, and nobody receives it without asking a Superior Court for it.

Two things follow from that, and both are easy to get wrong. The award has a real floor, currently at least $125,000 and rising with a statutory inflation factor, which makes it one of the largest family protections in the country. And it carries a hard filing deadline in RCW 11.54.015(3) that ordinarily expires eighteen months after the death, or sooner if the estate closes first. This guide covers who may petition, how the amount is built, what the court can add or subtract, and what the award can never defeat. It is general information rather than advice about one estate. Confirm your own claim with the Superior Court handling the file or a licensed Washington attorney.

One Chapter, Two Strands

Chapter 11.54 RCW is titled "Family support and postdeath creditor's claim exemptions," and the title is the map. The chapter contains two distinct rules that people routinely blend together.

  • The exemption. RCW 11.54.008 keeps whatever was exempt from attachment, execution and forced sale under Title 6 RCW immediately before the death exempt from the decedent's pre-death debts afterwards. Nobody petitions for that; it operates on its own. What stays exempt from creditors covers that strand in detail.
  • The award. RCW 11.54.010 lets specific survivors petition a court to have exempt property awarded to them. That is this page.

The chapter was rewritten in full by chapter 20, Laws of 2024, effective August 1, 2024. Section numbering moved, a definitions section and RCW 11.54.008 were added, and the old RCW 11.54.030 became RCW 11.54.015. Anything written about a Washington family award before August 2024 is describing a different statute, and the old section numbers still circulate. RCW 11.02.070 and RCW 11.28.340 also still use the historical phrase "award in lieu of homestead" for this same award; there is no separate surviving homestead allowance hiding behind that wording.

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Who May Petition

RCW 11.54.010(1) names three classes and no others: the decedent's surviving spouse, the decedent's surviving registered domestic partner, and the decedent's dependent children. Any one or more of them may commence a judicial proceeding under chapter 11.96A RCW.

The definitions section is where the real scope sits. RCW 11.54.005 sets three terms that decide most claims.

TermWhat RCW 11.54.005 says
ChildAnyone with a parent-child relationship to the decedent as defined in RCW 26.26A.100, regardless of age
DependentA child who received more than half of that person's support from the decedent during the twelve months preceding the death, with public or governmental support excluded from the test
ValueFor property being purchased on contract or subject to an encumbrance, the value net of the balance due and the encumbrance

The age point matters. An adult child who was genuinely supported by the decedent can qualify, and a minor child who was not supported by the decedent may not. Dependency is the test, and the twelve-month lookback is measured against actual support rather than a legal duty to provide it.

Nothing here turns on whether the survivor also inherits. What else a surviving spouse can claim sits alongside the award rather than in place of it, and in a community-property state the confirmed community half usually dwarfs it.

How the Amount Is Built

RCW 11.54.020(1) gives a formula, not a number. The basic award is the greater of:

  1. The exempt-property value at death. The value, as of the date of the decedent's death, of the decedent's property, or where the decedent was married or had a registered domestic partner, the community property of the couple, that was exempt from attachment, execution or forced sale under Title 6 RCW immediately before the death.
  2. The statutory amount. The amount specified in RCW 6.13.030(1)(a), or if greater the amount in RCW 11.54.020(3), measured on the date of death.

RCW 6.13.030(1)(a) is $125,000. Read the pointer carefully, because it is narrow: RCW 11.54.020(1)(b) points at subsection (1)(a) alone and not at RCW 6.13.030(1)(b), the county median sale price. The county median can still raise the award, but it comes in through route one, as part of the value of exempt property, rather than through route two.

Since 2024 the floor moves. RCW 11.54.020(3) says that for 2024 and each calendar year afterward the basic award may not be less than $125,000 multiplied by an inflation factor, rounded to the nearest $1,000, effective on the first calendar day of the year. The inflation factor is a fraction whose numerator is the consumer price index figure published for the most recent October before the adjustment and whose denominator is the figure for October 2021, using the CPI for all urban consumers, all items, in the Seattle area, not seasonally adjusted. The figure can never fall: no adjustment is made for a year that would produce the same or a lesser award than the year before.

We do not print a current-year dollar figure here. Computing it requires the October 2025 and October 2021 Seattle-area CPI values, and no Washington court or agency page publishing the current basic award was located. What is safe to rely on is the structure: the floor is at least $125,000 and, because of the annual adjustment, is now higher than that. Ask the court or a Washington attorney for the figure that applies to your date of death.

Two more sizing rules travel with it. RCW 11.54.010(5) folds in all homestead and other Title 6 RCW exempt property as part of the basic award. And RCW 11.54.020(2) makes the award an aggregate: where it is split between a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and dependent children, the total to everyone is the subsection (1) amount, not that amount per claimant.

What the Court Can Add

RCW 11.54.040 is the closest thing Washington has to a traditional family allowance, and it is a discretionary increase rather than a monthly payment. The court may raise the award above the basic amount where a claimant demonstrates two things: that present and reasonably anticipated future needs for basic maintenance and support during the pendency of proceedings under Title 11 RCW will not be met from other resources, and that an increase would not be inconsistent with the decedent's intentions or with principles of equity and fairness.

The section then tells the court what to weigh. On need, it considers the resources available and reasonably expected to be available to the claimant and the claimant's dependent children, including employment income and benefits flowing from the estate. On intent, it considers provisions the decedent made for the claimant under the will or otherwise, provisions made for third parties that an increase would affect, the duration and status of the marriage or registered domestic partnership at death, the effect of an award on other benefits, the size and nature of the probate and nonprobate estate, and admissible oral or written statements the decedent made. RCW 11.54.055 supplies further factors for the court to consider.

Note the boundary in the words "during the pendency." The support increase is measured against the period the proceedings actually run, so an estate that closes quickly supports a smaller increase than one that drags.

What the Court Can Subtract

RCW 11.54.050 lets the court go the other way, and one branch surprises people.

  • The claimant already receives property at death. Where the recipient is entitled to receive probate or nonprobate property, including insurance, by reason of the decedent's death, the court may decrease the award by no more than the value of that other property. A large beneficiary designation therefore reaches into the award calculation even though it never touches the estate.
  • Dependent children would lose out. Where the decedent is survived by dependent children who are not the children of the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the award would cut what those children otherwise receive, or where the award would reduce amounts otherwise distributable to any dependent child, the court weighs the RCW 11.54.040(2) and (3) factors and RCW 11.54.055, and asks whether the children's needs are adequately provided for from any source.

The award is also not charged against a claimant's distributive share. RCW 11.54.010 contains no such charge. The adjustment mechanism is the discretionary decrease, which is a different thing and produces a different result.

What the Award Can Never Defeat

Two sections cap the award from below, and both are absolute.

RCW 11.54.015(1) says the court may not make an award at all until the expenses of administration, funeral expenses, expenses of the last sickness, and wages due for labor performed within the sixty days immediately preceding the death have been paid or provided for. RCW 11.54.015(2) bars an award to or for the benefit of a slayer or abuser as defined in RCW 11.84.010.

RCW 11.54.060 says the same four categories, as those terms are used in RCW 11.76.110, reach the property notwithstanding anything else in the chapter, and that nothing in the chapter abrogates or diminishes the rights associated with a valid lien. So a mortgage survives the award untouched, and how the award ranks against creditors is a narrower question than it first appears: the award beats general creditors, and loses to those four categories and to secured claims.

The Deadline That Ends It

RCW 11.54.015(3) is a hard bar with no good-cause escape. The court may not make any award unless the petition is filed before the earliest of:

  • Eighteen months from the date of death, where within twelve months of the death either a personal representative was appointed or a notice agent filed the declaration and oath required by RCW 11.42.010(3)(a)(ii);
  • The termination of all proceedings under Title 11 RCW relating to the decedent's probate or nonprobate assets; or
  • Six years from the date of death.

In an ordinary probate the operative date is eighteen months, because a personal representative is normally appointed inside twelve. The second branch is the one that catches families out: a personal representative who closes the estate at month nine has ended the window at month nine. A survivor who intends to ask for the award should say so before the estate closes.

Venue and notice run through RCW 11.54.090, which sends the petition to the county where the probate is being administered, or where the decedent was domiciled at death if no probate was commenced, with notice under RCW 11.96A.110. Where an award exhausts the estate, RCW 11.54.100 closes the estate and discharges the personal representative, and RCW 11.54.071 abates gifts of the awarded property whatever their classification.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Washington have a family allowance?

Not under that name, and not as a separate periodic payment. Washington folds the whole family-protection idea into one mechanism, the award under chapter 11.54 RCW, which the statute calls the basic award. RCW 11.54.010 lets a surviving spouse, a surviving registered domestic partner or dependent children commence a judicial proceeding under chapter 11.96A RCW for an award out of the decedent's separate property and the community property. The court may then increase it for support under RCW 11.54.040 or decrease it under RCW 11.54.050.

How much is the Washington basic award?

RCW 11.54.020(1) states a formula rather than a figure. The amount is the greater of the value at the date of death of the property that was exempt from attachment, execution or forced sale under Title 6 RCW, or the amount specified in RCW 6.13.030(1)(a), which is $125,000. Since 2024 the award may not be less than $125,000 multiplied by an inflation factor built from Seattle-area CPI figures and rounded to the nearest $1,000, so the current-year floor is above $125,000. We do not publish a computed current-year number because the CPI inputs were not read at an official source.

Who can ask for the Washington award?

A surviving spouse, a surviving registered domestic partner, and dependent children, under RCW 11.54.010(1). RCW 11.54.005(1) defines child by the parent-child relationship in RCW 26.26A.100 regardless of age, so an adult child is not excluded. What limits the class is dependency: RCW 11.54.005(3) defines a dependent child as one who received more than half of their support from the decedent during the twelve months before the death, and public or governmental support does not count.

What is the deadline to petition for the Washington award?

RCW 11.54.015(3) bars any award unless the petition is filed before the earliest of three dates: eighteen months from the date of death if a personal representative was appointed or a notice agent filed the RCW 11.42.010(3)(a)(ii) declaration within twelve months of the death; the termination of all proceedings under Title 11 RCW relating to the decedent's probate or nonprobate assets; or six years from the date of death. Closing the estate therefore cuts the window off early.

Can the award be made if there is no probate?

Yes. RCW 11.54.010(6) says the basic award may be made whether or not any proceedings have been commenced under Title 11 RCW relating to the decedent's probate or nonprobate assets, and RCW 11.54.001(2) applies the chapter to probate and nonprobate assets alike. RCW 11.54.090 sends the petition to the county where the probate is administered, or where the decedent was domiciled at death if no probate was commenced.

Do dependent children each get the full award?

No. RCW 11.54.020(2) says that if an award is divided among a surviving spouse or surviving registered domestic partner and the decedent's dependent children, the aggregate awarded to all claimants is the subsection (1) amount. It is one pot, and RCW 11.54.010(3) lets the court divide it between the survivor and any of the dependent children as it deems appropriate.

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It is not legal advice.

Information current as of August 8, 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 Washington can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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