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Washington Nonintervention Powers
Support GuideWashington21 min read

Washington Nonintervention Powers

Washington lets a solvent estate settle without court supervision. Who qualifies under RCW 11.68.011, what the powers cover, and how the estate closes.

By Settled Editorial

A Washington personal representative who holds nonintervention powers settles the estate without court supervision. Under RCW 11.68.011 the superior court must grant those powers when it finds the estate solvent and one of three conditions met, unless the will tells it not to. The grant comes from its own petition, and the test differs for a will and no will.

Washington names the whole idea in the chapter heading: chapter 11.68 RCW is titled Settlement of Estates Without Administration. Most states supervise an estate step by step. Washington asks the court once, near the front of the case, and then steps back. Guidance written for a supervised state describes a Washington estate wrongly, so read this alongside the full Washington probate process rather than in place of it.

The Powers Come From a Petition, Not From Appointment

Appointment and nonintervention powers are two separate orders. RCW 11.68.011(1) lets a personal representative petition the court for the powers whether the decedent died testate or intestate. RCW 11.68.021 adds that the hearing on that petition may be held at the time of appointment or at any later time, so a personal representative who did not ask at the start can still ask. If the person serving dies, resigns or otherwise becomes disabled, RCW 11.68.060 lets the successor, or someone petitioning to become the successor, ask for the same powers.

Two conditions sit above the rest in RCW 11.68.011(2). The court must find the estate solvent, and the statute tells it to count probate and nonprobate assets in that finding, so a large payable-on-death account is part of the picture. And the will controls the door: if the decedent specified in the will that the court not grant nonintervention powers, the court does not grant them. RCW 11.68.011(3) lets the court rest its findings on witness statements, a verified petition, an inventory returned on oath, an affidavit filed in the cause, or other proof.

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Who Qualifies Splits Three Ways

RouteRCW 11.68.011(2)Who it covers
Named executor(a)The petitioner was named in the decedent's probated will as the personal representative
Intestate spouse, community property only(b)No will, the petitioner is the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner, the estate is composed of community property only, and the decedent left no issue who is living or in gestation, whose identity is reasonably ascertainable, and who is not also issue of the petitioning spouse or partner
Best interests(c)Everyone else. The petitioner was not a creditor of the decedent at the time of death, and settlement with nonintervention powers would serve the best interests of the beneficiaries and creditors

Route (c) starts in the petitioner's favor. RCW 11.68.011(2)(c) presumes the grant serves the beneficiaries and creditors until a person entitled to notice under RCW 11.68.041 rebuts that presumption by coming forward with evidence.

The split bites hardest when there is no will. A surviving spouse whose late husband or wife owned only community property and left no children outside the marriage clears route (b) and receives the powers with no advance notice at all. A surviving spouse in an otherwise identical estate whose spouse left a child from an earlier relationship fails route (b) on that one fact, runs route (c) instead, gives notice, and can be opposed at the hearing.

A 2026 Amendment Closed One Door

Chapter 204, Laws of 2026 (Engrossed House Bill 2445) took effect June 11, 2026, and the act describes its own subject as ending probates for profit. It rewrote RCW 11.28.120 and added a new subsection (3): where nobody entitled to letters petitions within 90 days of the death, the court may appoint any suitable person to administer the estate. That appointee takes only the compensation RCW 11.48.210 allows, may not purchase or take proceeds from the sale of estate assets except as RCW 11.48.020 permits, and may file no more than two petitions for appointment a year.

The same act added a second sentence to RCW 11.68.011(1). A personal representative appointed under RCW 11.28.120(3) who is not an entity described in RCW 11.36.010(2) or (3) may not petition for nonintervention powers and may not be granted them. RCW 11.36.010(2) covers trust companies organized under Washington law and national banks; subsection (3) covers professional service corporations, professional limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships whose shareholders, members or partners are all attorneys. RCW 11.28.185, amended in the same act, requires bond from that appointee in an amount commensurate with the major probate assets identified in the case. Any description of this procedure written before June 2026 predates all of it. Read whether a bond is required next to this page, because the court settles both questions in the same stretch of the case.

Notice Runs Ten Days, and Two Routes Skip It

RCW 11.68.041(1) waives advance notice of the hearing where the court is required to grant the powers under RCW 11.68.011(2)(a) and (b). Every other petition carries notice.

RCW 11.68.041(2) sends that notice to all heirs, all beneficiaries of a gift under the decedent's will, and everyone who has requested and is entitled to notice under RCW 11.28.240, a section that lists a petition for nonintervention powers among the matters a person may demand special notice of. Two groups drop off the list: anyone who has waived notice or consented to the grant in writing, and an heir who is not also a beneficiary once the will has been probated and the time to contest it has run. RCW 11.24.010 sets that contest window at four months after the probate or rejection of the will.

RCW 11.68.041(3) sets the mechanics. Personal service or regular mail at least ten days before the hearing, with proof of mailing by affidavit filed in the cause. The notice names the decedent, the probate cause number and the personal representative, states that entry of the order lets the personal representative administer and close the estate without further court intervention or supervision, and tells the reader they may appear and object.

Objections get weighed. RCW 11.68.050(1) has the court consider them inside the best interests determination under RCW 11.68.011(2)(c). RCW 11.68.050(2) shields the two mandatory routes: the court may not restrict the powers at a hearing where RCW 11.68.011(2)(a) and (b) require the grant, unless the will itself says the powers may be restricted when first granted.

What the Powers Actually Cover

RCW 11.68.085 states the rule in a single sentence: a personal representative with nonintervention powers may administer and settle the estate without supervision or intervention by the court except as chapter 11.68 RCW otherwise provides. RCW 11.68.090(1) then itemizes it.

  • Every power common law or statute gives a personal representative without nonintervention powers, plus anything a supervising court could have granted one.
  • Power to borrow money on the general credit of the estate.
  • Power to mortgage, encumber, lease, sell, exchange, convey, assign and otherwise transfer the decedent's real and personal property.
  • Power to perform the decedent's contracts.
  • Power to determine who is entitled to the estate, to partition property, to sell it, and to distribute pro rata or non pro rata.
  • The powers, privileges and limitations of liability of a trustee under chapters 11.98, 11.100 and 11.102 RCW.
  • Authority to exercise all of it without a court order and without notice to, direction from, approval by, confirmation by or intervention of any court.

Two of those matter on a live file. RCW 11.68.090(2)(b) frees the personal representative from the reporting procedures of RCW 11.76.010 through 11.76.080 and from chapter 11.56 RCW, the court-confirmed sale chapter. And RCW 11.68.140 gives a buyer, lender or title company dealing with the personal representative a conclusive presumption that the transaction is necessary for the administration of the estate, which is why a house sells here without a confirmation order.

The chapter keeps two doors back to the courthouse open on the personal representative's own terms. RCW 11.68.120 lets a personal representative present a matter for resolution or instructions under chapter 11.96A RCW at any time and says asking waives nothing. RCW 11.68.130 gives the power to construe an ambiguous will provision, with a rebuttable presumption that the construction matches the testator's intent, while any party may still take the question to court. Where two people serve together, RCW 11.68.095 applies the co-trustee rules of RCW 11.98.016 to co-personal representatives.

The Duties Stay Exactly Where They Were

Nonintervention removes the court, not the job. RCW 11.68.090(2) keeps the same duties, restrictions and liabilities that bind a supervised personal representative, and requires acting for the benefit of all persons interested in the estate as RCW 11.96A.030(6) defines them. RCW 11.68.090(2)(c) adds that a discretionary power must be exercised in good faith, with honest judgment, and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the probated will and the interests of the beneficiaries.

A will may add to, alter or deny the powers, and may add to, alter or remove the duties. RCW 11.68.090(4) then fences off what no will can reach, including RCW 11.68.065, RCW 11.68.070 and RCW 11.68.080, the three sections below, along with chapters 11.36, 11.44, 11.54 and 11.108 RCW and anything preserving the marital deduction. No testamentary provision relieves the duty to act in good faith.

Creditor deadlines run on their own clock, untouched by the grant. RCW 11.40.051 bars a claim whether or not notice was published under RCW 11.40.020: four months from the date of first publication for a creditor who was not reasonably ascertainable, the later of thirty days after actual notice and four months from first publication for a creditor who received actual notice, and twenty-four months from the date of death where a reasonably ascertainable creditor got no actual notice or where no notice was published at all. Subsection (3) applies that bar to both probate and nonprobate assets. Work through the creditor duties that survive the grant before publishing anything, and personal representative duties for the rest of the role.

How an Interested Party Puts the Court Back In

Three sections do the work, and a will cannot disable any of them.

A report of the estate, RCW 11.68.065. A beneficiary who has not acknowledged in writing that their interest has been fully paid or distributed may petition for an order directing the personal representative to deliver a signed and verified report of the affairs of the estate. The petition may be filed at any time after one year from the day the last report was delivered, or one year after the appointment order where no report has ever been delivered. After notice under RCW 11.96A.110 the court may order the report for good cause, covering property that came into the personal representative's hands, money collected and paid out, claims filed and allowed or rejected, and any estate, inheritance or fiduciary income tax returns filed.

Misconduct and removal, RCW 11.68.070. A party as defined in RCW 11.96A.030 may petition under chapter 11.96A RCW for a determination that the personal representative breached a fiduciary duty, exceeded their authority, abused their discretion, failed to execute the trust faithfully, violated a statute or the common law, or is subject to removal for a reason in RCW 11.28.250. The petition must allege supporting facts and be verified or backed by affidavit. Remedies reach money damages, a surcharge, an order to take a specific action, restriction of the powers, removal and appointment of a successor, and fees and costs under RCW 11.96A.150. When the court restricts the powers it endorses the words powers restricted, with the date, on the original grant order and on the letters.

Insolvency, RCW 11.68.080. This one runs on the personal representative. Within ten days of receiving claims whose aggregate face value, added to the other debts and to taxes and expenses of higher priority, would appear to make the estate insolvent, the personal representative must notify every beneficiary, every heir where property passes intestate, and every unpaid creditor whose claim is not already barred, in writing, and file a copy with the court. Within ten days after the estate becomes insolvent, the personal representative must petition under RCW 11.96A.080. The court then reaffirms, rescinds or restricts the grant as far as the beneficiaries and creditors need, and endorses powers rescinded or powers restricted on the prior order.

Closing by Declaration Instead of Decree

Most nonintervention estates close without a decree. RCW 11.68.110(1) has the personal representative file a declaration of completion of probate stating the date of death and the decedent's residence, whether the decedent died testate or intestate, the date of the will and of the order probating it, that every justly due and properly presented creditor claim has been paid or settled by agreement and that taxes have been determined and paid or provided for, that administration is complete and the estate is ready to be settled and distributed, the heirs and their shares where there is no will, and the fees paid or to be paid to the personal representative, lawyers, appraisers and accountants.

Within five days of filing, RCW 11.68.110(4) sends a copy of the declaration plus a notice to each party who has not waived notice in writing and who either has not received a full distribution or holds a property right the discharge could affect. RCW 11.68.110(3) then gives any party thirty days from the filing to petition under chapter 11.96A RCW to enforce their rights, to review the reasonableness of the fees, or to compel a closing under RCW 11.68.100.

If nobody petitions, RCW 11.68.110(2) makes the filing the legal equivalent of a decree of distribution under chapter 11.76 RCW. The fees are deemed reasonable and approved, the acts of the personal representative are approved, the personal representative and any bond are discharged, and the estate is determined to have been properly and fully distributed and settled. Where every party entitled to notice waives it in writing, RCW 11.68.110(5) discharges the personal representative automatically on the day the declaration is filed.

Two variants handle the ragged edges. RCW 11.68.112 lets a declaration that promises final distribution within five business days after the objection window closes, and that states each party's minimum distribution in the notice, keep the power to make those distributions during those five business days. RCW 11.68.114 lets the personal representative hold a reserve of no more than three thousand dollars to finish with federal, state or local taxing authorities, then ends those powers thirty days after mailing an accounting of the reserve to the people entitled to it and filing the checks or receipts with the court.

The court route stays available for anyone who wants a signed order. RCW 11.68.100 lets a personal representative with nonintervention powers apply for a decree that either finds the approved claims paid, identifies the takers and distributes the property, or approves an accounting and settles the estate the way a supervised estate is settled. Either petition must state the fees paid or proposed, and any heir, devisee or legatee whose share those fees would reduce receives a copy with the notice of hearing and may ask the court to rule on whether they are reasonable. See closing by declaration of completion for the documents themselves.

When No Probate Beats Nonintervention

Nonintervention powers still need an appointment, a cause number and a filing. RCW 11.62.010 offers a route with none of those. Forty days after the death, a successor may collect personal property by affidavit if the decedent's entire estate subject to probate, excluding the surviving spouse's or domestic partner's community property interest and net of liens and encumbrances, does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, all debts including funeral and burial expenses have been paid or provided for, and no petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. That last condition makes the two paths alternatives rather than stages, and the affidavit reaches personal property only. Weigh the $100,000 successor affidavit before opening a case you may not need.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are nonintervention powers in Washington?

RCW 11.68.085 puts it in one sentence: a personal representative with nonintervention powers may administer and settle the estate without supervision or intervention by the court, except where chapter 11.68 RCW says otherwise. RCW 11.68.090 then lists what that covers, including selling or mortgaging real property, borrowing on the general credit of the estate, and distributing the estate, all without a court order and without notice to or approval by any court.

Who can get nonintervention powers in Washington?

RCW 11.68.011(2) requires the court to find the estate solvent, counting probate and nonprobate assets, and then to find one of three things: the petitioner was named as personal representative in the probated will; or the decedent died intestate, the petitioner is the surviving spouse or domestic partner, the estate is composed of community property only, and there is no issue of the decedent who is not also issue of that spouse; or the petitioner was not a creditor of the decedent at death and the grant would serve the beneficiaries and creditors.

Can a Washington will block nonintervention powers?

Yes. RCW 11.68.011(2) opens with the condition that the decedent has not specified in the will that the court not grant nonintervention powers. A will may also add to, alter or deny individual powers under RCW 11.68.090(3). What a will cannot do is listed in RCW 11.68.090(4), which protects the beneficiary report right, the removal and insolvency sections, and the family award chapter, and never lets a will relieve the good faith duty.

Do you have to give notice before the court grants nonintervention powers?

Not always. RCW 11.68.041(1) waives advance notice where the court is required to grant the powers under RCW 11.68.011(2)(a) and (b), which covers the named executor and the community property intestate spouse. Every other petition needs notice to all heirs, all beneficiaries of a gift under the will, and everyone entitled to special notice under RCW 11.28.240, served personally or mailed at least ten days before the hearing.

How does a Washington nonintervention estate close?

By a declaration of completion of probate under RCW 11.68.110 rather than a court decree. The personal representative files the declaration, mails it with a notice within five days, and waits thirty days. If no party petitions in that window, the filing is the legal equivalent of a decree of distribution under chapter 11.76 RCW, the fees are approved, and the personal representative and any bond are discharged.

Can nonintervention powers be taken away?

Yes, three ways. RCW 11.68.065 lets a beneficiary petition for a signed report of the affairs of the estate. RCW 11.68.070 lets any party petition for a finding of breach, abuse of discretion or a removal ground, and the court may surcharge, restrict the powers or remove the personal representative. RCW 11.68.080 makes insolvency the personal representative's own duty to report, and the court then reaffirms, rescinds or restricts the grant.

Related Guides

This page describes chapter 11.68 RCW as the statute reads on the date above, and it is general information rather than advice about one estate. Whether an estate is solvent once nonprobate assets are counted, which of the three routes in RCW 11.68.011(2) a petitioner falls into, whether a particular will restricts the powers, and whether a declaration of completion or a decree under RCW 11.68.100 fits a file are all questions that turn on facts the statute cannot settle from a distance. Those belong with a Washington attorney or with the superior court in the county where the estate is filed.

Sources:

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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