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Washington Trust Administration
Support GuideWashington35 min read

Washington Trust Administration

Washington never adopted the Uniform Trust Code. A successor trustee runs chapter 11.98 RCW, a 60-day notice clock, and a creditor bar the trust cannot erase.

By Settled Editorial

Washington trust administration is the work a successor trustee does once the settlor dies. You accept the trusteeship, take control of the trust property, send the notice RCW 11.98.072 requires within 60 days, decide how to handle the settlor's creditors, report to the beneficiaries, then distribute and close. Almost none of it happens in a courtroom.

Three facts separate the Washington version of this job from the one described in national articles. Washington never adopted the Uniform Trust Code, so the rules sit in several separate chapters rather than in one code. RCW 11.97.010 lets the trust document override most of those rules, which means the instrument, not the statute, is your first read. And chapter 11.42 RCW gives a Washington trustee a notice-to-creditors procedure that can bar claims against the trust itself on a four-month clock.

Trustee or Personal Representative: Two Different Offices

Get the vocabulary straight before the first phone call, because Washington uses both roles and one person often holds both.

Washington calls the person who settles a probate estate the personal representative. That office comes from the Superior Court, which issues letters and can revoke them. The Washington executor duties guide covers that job, and most solvent estates run it under nonintervention powers.

A trustee holds a different office entirely. The trust document names you, nobody issues you letters, and no filing fee opens your matter.

Successor trusteePersonal representative
Source of authorityThe trust documentThe Superior Court
Governing lawChapters 11.98, 11.100, 11.103, 11.104B and 11.106 RCWTitle 11 RCW probate chapters
Property coveredAssets titled in the trustAssets in the decedent's sole name
Court fileNone unless someone opens oneAlways
Proof of authorityCertification of trust under RCW 11.98.075Letters testamentary or of administration

Many Washington families need both. The trust holds the house and the brokerage account while the last paycheck, the car and a forgotten credit union account sit in the decedent's own name. When that happens, keep two sets of books and two sets of dates.

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Where Washington's Trust Rules Live

There is no single Washington Trust Code, so start with the map.

ChapterOfficial titleWhat it governs
Chapter 11.98 RCWTRUSTSAcceptance, successor trustees, powers, notice, loyalty, breach
Chapter 11.100 RCWINVESTMENT OF TRUST FUNDSThe prudent investor standard and the duty to diversify
Chapter 11.103 RCWREVOCABLE TRUSTSTrustor capacity, revocation, and the contest window
Chapter 11.104B RCWUNIFORM FIDUCIARY INCOME AND PRINCIPAL ACTSplitting receipts between principal and income
Chapter 11.106 RCWTRUSTEES' ACCOUNTING ACTThe annual statement and court-settled accounts
Chapter 11.96A RCWTRUST AND ESTATE DISPUTE RESOLUTIONCourt jurisdiction, limitation periods, settlement agreements
Chapter 11.42 RCWSETTLEMENT OF CREDITOR CLAIMS FOR ESTATES PASSING WITHOUT PROBATEThe trustee's notice to creditors

Because these are separate chapters, a rule you find in one does not carry into another. The override power in RCW 11.97.010 reaches chapters 11.95A, 11.98, 11.100 and 11.104B RCW plus a single section of chapter 11.106 RCW, and stops there.

Step One: Accept the Trusteeship, or Decline It

RCW 11.98.017(1) gives you two routes into the office. Comply with a method of acceptance written into the trust, or, where the trust says nothing or its method is not exclusive, accept delivery of trust property, exercise a power, perform a duty, or otherwise indicate acceptance.

Declining is a live option. RCW 11.98.017(2) lets a designated trustee who has not yet accepted deliver a written declination to the trustor, or, if the trustor has died or lost capacity, to a successor trustee, and if there is none, to a qualified beneficiary. Subsection (3) lets you act to preserve trust property and inspect it for environmental or other liability without accepting, so long as the written declination follows within a reasonable time.

Handoffs run outside court too. RCW 11.98.039(1) says that when a vacancy occurs and the document names a willing successor, the outgoing trustee or another interested party gives notice of the vacancy and of the successor's agreement to serve to each permissible distributee. RCW 11.98.041 then discharges the outgoing trustee on the agreement of everyone entitled to notice, or 30 days after that notice, whichever comes first, unless somebody petitions the court in the meantime. Where no willing successor is named, RCW 11.98.039(2) lets the interested parties agree to a nonjudicial change under RCW 11.96A.220, and RCW 11.98.039(4) leaves a court petition as the fallback.

Two protections matter to a new successor. RCW 11.98.060 hands you every power, duty and discretionary authority the original trustee held. RCW 11.98.039(5)(a) then says a successor fiduciary without actual knowledge of a breach is not liable for a predecessor's acts, need not investigate them, may accept a predecessor's accounting as accurate, and may give a receipt only for the assets actually delivered, with no duty to hunt for undisclosed ones. That protection stops short of retained improper investments, which become yours the moment you keep them.

A trustee who wants out later resigns under RCW 11.98.029, by a writing signed and filed with the trust records, effective on discharge under RCW 11.98.041.

The 60-Day Notice in RCW 11.98.072

This is the section beneficiaries quote back at you.

DutyDeadlineCite
Keep qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed about the administration and the material facts they need to protect their interestsOngoingRCW 11.98.072(1)
Respond to a beneficiary's request for information about the administrationPromptly, unless unreasonable in the circumstancesRCW 11.98.072(1)
Notify qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence, the trustor's identity, your name, address and telephone number, and their right to request information60 days after you accept the positionRCW 11.98.072(2)(a)

Read the limits, because Washington wrote several.

RCW 11.98.072(2)(b) applies the 60-day notice only to irrevocable trusts created after December 31, 2011 and to revocable trusts that became irrevocable after that date. A revocable living trust becomes irrevocable when the settlor dies, so a recent death lands inside the rule.

RCW 11.98.072(3) excuses notice to everyone except the trustor's spouse or domestic partner where that spouse has capacity, is the only permissible distributee, and every other qualified beneficiary is a descendant of the trustor and that spouse. RCW 11.98.072(4) says that while the trustor of a revocable trust is alive, no beneficiary other than the trustor is entitled to anything under the section. And RCW 11.98.072(5) lets the trustor waive or modify the requirements of subsections (2) and (3), either in the trust or in a separate writing delivered to the trustee at any time.

The general duty in subsection (1) survives all of that. If a beneficiary has to go to court to pry information loose, RCW 11.98.072(1) points the judge at RCW 11.96A.150, which lets the court award costs and reasonable attorney fees against you personally, against the trust, or against a nonprobate asset.

Who Counts as a Qualified Beneficiary

RCW 11.98.002(2) defines a qualified beneficiary as a trust beneficiary who, on the date qualification is determined, fits one of three descriptions:

  • is a permissible distributee, which RCW 11.98.002(1) defines as a beneficiary currently eligible to receive distributions of trust income or principal, whether the distribution is mandatory or discretionary
  • would be a permissible distributee if the interests of the current distributees ended on that date
  • would be a permissible distributee if the trust terminated on that date

Build the notice list from that definition rather than from the names in the distribution clause. RCW 11.98.002 sits on the short list of sections RCW 11.97.010 does not let a trust document rewrite, so the definition holds no matter how the instrument is drafted.

Note which list gets which document. The 60-day notice goes to qualified beneficiaries. The annual statement under RCW 11.106.020 goes to permissible distributees, a narrower group.

Read the Trust First: RCW 11.97.010 Controls

Washington puts the trust document above most of the statute, and this is the section that does it.

RCW 11.97.010 lets the trustor relieve the trustee of any or all of the duties, restrictions and liabilities imposed by chapters 11.95A, 11.98, 11.100 and 11.104B RCW and by RCW 11.106.020, alter or deny the privileges and powers those provisions confer, or add new ones. Where a specific provision of those chapters conflicts with the trust, the trust controls, whether or not the document mentions the chapter, subject to the carve-outs below.

RuleCan the trust override it?
Duty to act in good faith and with honest judgmentNo, RCW 11.97.010 says so outright
Definitions in RCW 11.98.002No
The duty to keep beneficiaries informed in RCW 11.98.072(1)No
Beneficiary trustee limits, RCW 11.98.200 through 11.98.240No
Chapter 11.103 RCW, including the contest windowNo
The 60-day notice in RCW 11.98.072(2)Yes, and RCW 11.98.072(5) says so directly
The annual statement in RCW 11.106.020Yes
The prudent investor rule and the duty to diversifyYes, and RCW 11.100.047 repeats the point
The loyalty rule in RCW 11.98.078Yes in part, since RCW 11.98.078(2)(a) validates a transaction the trust authorized
Limitation periods in RCW 11.96A.070No, chapter 11.96A RCW is outside the override list

Even inside the override, discretion has a floor. RCW 11.97.010 closes by saying that no matter how broad the grant, including words like absolute, sole or uncontrolled, the trustee must exercise a discretionary power in good faith and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the trust and the interests of the beneficiaries.

Take Control, Then Review the Portfolio

RCW 11.100.020(1) sets the standard: invest and manage trust assets as a prudent investor would, considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances of the trust, exercising reasonable care, skill and caution. Subsection (2) says to judge each asset in the context of the portfolio as a whole rather than in isolation, and subsection (3) lists eight circumstances to weigh, from general economic conditions and the effect of inflation to the expected tax consequences, liquidity needs, other resources of the beneficiaries, and an asset's special value to the purposes of the trust. Subsection (6) adds a trap for professionals: a trustee with special skills, or one named in reliance on a representation of special skills, has a duty to use them.

Two companion duties round it out. RCW 11.100.045 tells you to invest and manage solely in the interests of the beneficiaries and, where there are two or more, to act impartially while accounting for their differing interests. RCW 11.100.047 requires diversification unless you reasonably determine that special circumstances mean the trust's purposes are better served without it.

Retention is where new trustees stumble. RCW 11.100.060 lets a fiduciary hold and retain property the trust received from any source without diversifying, and protects you from loss on an investment that was permitted when received, but only if you exercise due care and prudence in deciding whether to keep or sell it. Sitting on an inherited concentrated stock position is a decision, and the statute expects you to make it on purpose and write down why.

The Loyalty Rule and Washington's Presumed-Conflict List

RCW 11.98.078(1) tells you to administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. Subsection (2) makes a self-dealing or conflicted transaction voidable by an affected beneficiary unless the trust authorized it, the court or a nonjudicial binding agreement approved it, the beneficiary consented or released you under RCW 11.98.108, the limitation period in RCW 11.96A.070 has run, or the contract predates your becoming trustee.

RCW 11.98.078(3)(a) presumes the conflict where the transaction is with:

  • your spouse or registered domestic partner
  • your descendants, siblings, parents, or their spouses or registered domestic partners
  • an agent or attorney of yours
  • a corporation, person or enterprise in which you, or someone who owns a large share of the trustee, hold an interest that might affect your best judgment

The presumption is rebuttable under subsection (3)(b) if you show the conflict did not adversely affect the beneficiaries. Selling the family cabin to your own brother lands squarely inside the list, so price it against an appraisal and get written consent or a court order first.

RCW 11.98.078(6) then permits several ordinary transactions where they are fair to the beneficiaries, including reasonable compensation to you, a deposit of trust money in a regulated financial-service institution you or an affiliate operate, and transactions between a trust and another trust or estate you serve. RCW 11.98.078(8) closes with the impartiality rule where a trust has two or more beneficiaries.

Washington Lets a Trustee Bar the Settlor's Creditors

This is the fact that sets your schedule, so work it before you distribute anything.

Start with the exposure. RCW 11.18.200(2)(e) says a trust for the decedent's own use, of which the decedent was the grantor, answers the decedent's liabilities, claims, estate taxes and administration expenses to the same extent the trust was reachable by creditors immediately before death under RCW 19.36.020. RCW 11.18.200(2)(f) reaches a trust that became effective or irrevocable only at death. A revocable living trust moves assets past the court file. It does not move them past the bills.

Washington then gives you a way to close the window. Chapter 11.42 RCW is titled SETTLEMENT OF CREDITOR CLAIMS FOR ESTATES PASSING WITHOUT PROBATE, and RCW 11.42.010(1) says a beneficiary or trustee who received, or is entitled to receive, substantially all of the decedent's probate and nonprobate assets may act as the notice agent, provided no personal representative has been appointed in this state. RCW 11.42.010(3) has the notice agent pay a filing fee to the Superior Court clerk in a county where probate could be commenced, take a cause number, and file a declaration and oath. That section does not name the fee amount, so confirm the current figure with the County Clerk before you file.

RCW 11.42.020(2) then sets the mechanics: publish the notice once each week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the notice county, file it with the court, mail actual notice to creditors you know about, and mail a copy including the decedent's social security number to the state Department of Social and Health Services office of financial recovery.

Creditor situationDeadlineCite
Given actual notice by the notice agentThe later of 30 days after service or mailing and four months after first publicationRCW 11.42.050(1)(a)
Not reasonably ascertainable, no actual noticeFour months after first publicationRCW 11.42.050(1)(b)(i)
Reasonably ascertainable but never given actual notice24 months after the date of deathRCW 11.42.050(1)(b)(ii)
No notice given under chapter 11.40 or 11.42 RCW at all24 months after the date of deathRCW 11.40.051(1)(c)

RCW 11.42.050(3) and RCW 11.40.051(3) each say the bar is effective as to claims against both the decedent's probate and nonprobate assets. That sentence is what makes the procedure worth running, because it protects the trust, not just an estate.

Two limits to plan around. RCW 11.42.010(1) is unavailable once a personal representative has been appointed here, in which case the estate's notice under chapter 11.40 RCW does the work and the Washington creditor claims guide walks that window. And RCW 11.42.085(2) lets the notice agent pay an allowed claim only out of assets received by reason of the death, absent an agreement under RCW 11.96A.220 or a court order.

The practical rule: run the notice, or hold a reserve for 24 months. Distributing everything at month three without publishing leaves you exposed.

The Contest Window: 24 Months, or Four

RCW 11.103.050(1) gives a challenger the earlier of two deadlines to contest a trust that was revocable at the trustor's death:

  1. 24 months after the trustor's death, or
  2. four months after the trustee sent that person, by personal service, mail or a consented electronic transmission, a notice giving the trust's name and date, the identity of the trustor, the trustee's name, address and telephone number, and the time allowed for commencing a proceeding.

You decide which one applies. Send the packet and a two-year exposure becomes a four-month one. RCW 11.103.050(2) then lets you distribute according to the trust terms unless you know of a pending contest, or a potential contestant notified you of a possible proceeding and one was actually commenced within 60 days after that notification. RCW 11.103.050(3) leaves beneficiaries liable to return distributions if the trust turns out to be invalid.

Chapter 11.103 RCW sits on the RCW 11.97.010 carve-out list, so no drafting choice shortens or lengthens these dates. The parallel fight over a will runs on its own clock in the Washington will contests guide.

Accounting: The Annual Statement Most Trustees Owe

Most Washington trustees never file anything with a court, and still owe a document every year.

RCW 11.106.020 requires the trustee appointed by any will, deed or agreement to mail or deliver at least annually, to each permissible distributee, a written itemized statement of all current receipts and disbursements of the trust funds, both principal and income, and on a beneficiary's request to furnish an itemized statement of the property then held. The same section lets you file that statement in the Superior Court of the county where a trustee resides, which is optional.

Splitting receipts between principal and income is its own body of law. Chapter 11.104B RCW, the uniform fiduciary income and principal act, supplies the default allocation rules and the power to adjust between the two.

Three escape valves and one lever exist:

  • Waiver. RCW 11.106.100 lets any adult beneficiary entitled to an accounting waive it by a separate instrument delivered to the trustee.
  • Drafting. RCW 11.97.010 names RCW 11.106.020 among the duties a trust document may cut back.
  • Scope. RCW 11.106.010 excludes several trust types from the chapter, including business, voting, liquidation and investment trusts, and says the chapter does not apply to personal representatives at all.
  • The beneficiary's lever. RCW 11.106.040 lets any settlor or beneficiary petition, at any time after the later of one year from the trust's inception or one year after the day a report was last filed, and the court may order an account for good cause shown.

A trustee who wants finality can buy it. RCW 11.106.030 lets you file an intermediate account under oath showing the period covered, the principal you are chargeable with, itemized principal and income receipts and disbursements, the closing balances and how they are invested, the names and addresses of all living beneficiaries including contingent ones, and a description of any unborn or unascertained beneficiary. RCW 11.106.050 then has the clerk set a return day and issue notice under RCW 11.96A.110, and RCW 11.106.080 makes the resulting decree final, conclusive and binding on every interested party, including incompetent, unborn and unascertained beneficiaries, subject only to appeal. A final account works the same way once the time for termination arrives. The estate-side documents run on different rules, covered in the Washington probate accounting guide.

What a Washington Trustee Gets Paid

Washington publishes no percentage and no schedule. RCW 11.98.070(26) gives you the power to pay reasonable compensation to the trustee or co-trustees considering all circumstances, including the time, effort, skill and responsibility involved, and to reimburse yourself with interest where appropriate for expenses properly incurred in administering the trust.

RCW 11.98.078(6)(a) and (b) then protect an agreement about your appointment or compensation, and the payment itself, from being voided under the loyalty rule where the transaction is fair to the beneficiaries and total compensation is reasonable. Because the number is judged rather than calculated, keep a contemporaneous time log and disclose the figure in the annual statement.

If you delegate, RCW 11.98.071 governs the trustee's delegation of duties, and RCW 11.98.070(27) lets you engage lawyers, accountants and investment advisors, including firms associated with you, subject to RCW 11.98.071.

Taxes the Trustee Has to Handle

Washington runs an estate tax and no inheritance tax. The Department of Revenue states plainly that Washington does not have an inheritance tax, and that a person in Washington who inherits property or money owes no Washington tax on the inheritance itself.

The estate tax reaches trust property. RCW 83.100.050(1) requires a Washington return whenever the gross estate equals or exceeds the applicable exclusion amount, and the Department counts assets held in a revocable trust as owned by the decedent for that purpose, wherever those assets sit.

Date of deathApplicable exclusion amount
On or after January 1, 2026 and before July 1, 2026$3,076,000
On or after July 1, 2026$3,000,000

Those figures come from RCW 83.100.020(1)(a)(ix) and (x), as amended by chapter 209, Laws of 2026. The Department gives the return and any payment a deadline of nine months after the date of death, with a six-month extension available to file but not to pay, and interest accruing daily on unpaid tax after the nine-month mark. A filing is required even where no tax is due.

The federal layer runs on top and is covered in the Washington federal estate tax guide. Because Washington is a community property state, a surviving spouse often gets a basis adjustment on the whole community asset rather than half of it, which the Washington step-up in basis guide works through alongside the Washington community property guide.

Trust Real Estate and the County Auditor

RCW 65.08.070(1) records a conveyance in the office of the recording officer of the county where the property is situated, and RCW 36.22.010(1) makes the county auditor the recorder of deeds for that county. So a trustee selling or distributing trust real estate deals with the auditor's office, and with the county treasurer on the excise tax side.

You rarely have to hand over the whole trust. RCW 11.98.075(1) lets you furnish a certification of trust to a person other than a beneficiary, stating that the trust exists and the date the instrument was executed, the identity of the trustor, the identity and address of the acting trustee, the relevant trustee powers, whether the trust is revocable and who may revoke it, the signing authority of co-trustees, and the name or titling of the trust property. Subsection (3) requires a statement that the trust has not been revoked or amended in a way that makes the certification wrong, and subsection (4) says the certification need not contain the dispositive terms. Subsections (6) and (7) protect a person who relies on it in good faith, and subsection (8) makes a person who demands the full instrument anyway liable for damages and attorney fees if a court finds the demand was not made in good faith.

For the real estate excise tax, RCW 82.45.197(1)(b) tells a trustee exactly what to hand the county treasurer to claim the inheritance exemption on a transfer under a trust instrument: a certified copy of the death certificate, plus a copy of the portion of the trust instrument showing the grantor's authority. Pricing, closing and the rest of a sale are covered in the guide to selling inherited property in Washington.

Your Own Exposure, and the Report That Shortens It

RCW 11.98.085(1) sets the price of a breach: the greater of the amount needed to restore the trust property and distributions to where they would have been, or the profit you made from the breach. Subsection (2) allows contribution among co-trustees, but denies it to a trustee who was substantially more at fault, acted in bad faith or with reckless indifference, or kept a benefit from the breach.

RCW 11.96A.070(1)(a) gives a beneficiary three years from the delivery of a report, in the manner required by RCW 11.96A.110, that adequately disclosed the existence of a potential claim and told the beneficiary the time allowed. Without such a report, RCW 11.96A.070(1)(c) still runs three years, but from the first of your removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust. So the report does not shorten the period. What it does is start the clock on a date you choose and can prove.

RCW 11.96A.070(1)(b) lists what raises the presumption that a report disclosed enough:

  1. receipts and disbursements of principal and income during the accounting period
  2. the assets and liabilities of the trust and their values at the start and end of the period
  3. your compensation for the period
  4. the agents you hired, their relationship to you, and their compensation
  5. any pledge, mortgage, option, lease or other agreement affecting trust property that binds it for five years or more
  6. every transaction of the kind described in RCW 11.98.078, or that a conflict could otherwise have touched
  7. a statement that the recipient may petition the Superior Court under chapter 11.106 RCW to review the statement and your acts
  8. a statement that claims for breach cannot be made after three years from delivery of the report

Write the annual statement to that list, and you convert a vague exposure into a dated one. RCW 11.98.108 adds a second layer: a beneficiary's informed consent, release or ratification protects you, unless your improper conduct induced it or the beneficiary did not know their rights or the material facts.

Distributing and Closing

RCW 11.98.145(1) hands you the closing tool. On termination or partial termination, send the beneficiaries a proposed plan of distribution by personal service, certified mail with return receipt requested, or a consented electronic transmission. A beneficiary who does not object within 30 days after the proposal was sent loses the right to object, including the right to object to a nonpro rata distribution, but only where the proposal told that beneficiary about the right to object and the time allowed.

RCW 11.98.145(2) then asks you to distribute expeditiously once a terminating event occurs, subject to your right to retain a reasonable reserve for debts, expenses and taxes. Size that reserve against the creditor clock you chose above and against the nine-month estate tax deadline, not against the calendar.

Where everyone wants finality without a hearing, RCW 11.96A.220 lets all parties sign a written agreement resolving any matter under chapter 11.96A RCW, and makes it binding and conclusive on everyone interested in the trust. A party who virtually represents another under RCW 11.96A.120 binds those people by signing.

When a Trust Matter Reaches the Superior Court

RCW 11.96A.040(2) gives the Superior Court of every county original subject matter jurisdiction over trusts and all matters relating to trusts, and subsection (4) says that jurisdiction applies without regard to venue, so a case is not defective because it was filed in the wrong county. The Washington probate court directory maps each county to its Superior Court and County Clerk.

Notice in a judicial proceeding runs on RCW 11.96A.110(1): personal service on or mailing to all parties or their legal or virtual representatives at least 20 days before the hearing, unless a statute or the court sets a different period, with electronic transmission allowed where the recipient consented in a record. Proof goes in by affidavit or declaration at or before the hearing.

Fees follow the court's discretion. RCW 11.96A.150(1) lets the court award costs and reasonable attorney fees from any party, from the trust, or from a nonprobate asset that is the subject of the proceeding, in whatever amount and manner it finds equitable.

Mistakes That Cost Washington Trustees

  • Reading the statute before the trust. RCW 11.97.010 puts the document above four chapters and RCW 11.106.020. Read the instrument first, then check it against the carve-out list.
  • Missing the 60-day notice. RCW 11.98.072(2) runs from acceptance, not from the death, and it is the first thing a beneficiary's lawyer checks.
  • Confusing the two mailing lists. Qualified beneficiaries get the RCW 11.98.072 notice. Permissible distributees get the RCW 11.106.020 annual statement.
  • Distributing without deciding the creditor question. With no notice under chapter 11.40 or 11.42 RCW, RCW 11.40.051(1)(c) leaves creditors 24 months from the date of death.
  • Skipping the RCW 11.103.050 packet. One mailing turns a 24-month contest window into four months.
  • Sending a thin annual statement. The eight items in RCW 11.96A.070(1)(b) are what make a report count.
  • Selling to family without cover. RCW 11.98.078(3) presumes the conflict. Get consent or approval, and an appraisal.
  • Assuming no Washington estate tax return is due. RCW 83.100.050(1) keys the filing duty to the gross estate, and revocable trust assets are inside it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Washington successor trustee do first?

Accept the trusteeship, then start the 60-day notice clock. RCW 11.98.017 says you accept either by complying with the method written into the trust or, if the trust is silent, by taking delivery of trust property, exercising a power, performing a duty, or otherwise showing acceptance. Reading the document is not acceptance. Moving the bank account is. RCW 11.98.060 then gives a successor trustee all the powers, duties and discretionary authority the original trustee held, so nobody issues you letters and no court file opens.

When does the Washington 60-day trustee notice start, and who gets it?

RCW 11.98.072(2)(a) gives you 60 days from the date you accept the position to notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence, the identity of the trustor, your name, address and telephone number, and their right to request the information they need to enforce their rights. Subsection (2)(b) limits that duty to irrevocable trusts created after December 31, 2011 and revocable trusts that became irrevocable after that date, which covers any trust that turned irrevocable on a recent death.

Can a Washington trust document override the trustee's duties?

Most of them, yes. RCW 11.97.010 lets the trustor relieve, alter or add to the duties imposed by chapters 11.95A, 11.98, 11.100 and 11.104B RCW and by RCW 11.106.020, and says the trust controls on conflict. The section then carves out a short list the trust cannot reach, including RCW 11.98.002, RCW 11.98.072(1), RCW 11.98.200 through 11.98.240 and all of chapter 11.103 RCW. No trust may relieve a trustee of the duty to act in good faith and with honest judgment.

Does a Washington trustee have to send an annual accounting?

RCW 11.106.020 says the trustee must mail or deliver at least annually to each permissible distributee a written itemized statement of all current receipts and disbursements of principal and income, and on request furnish an itemized statement of the property then held. Two exits exist. RCW 11.106.100 lets an adult beneficiary waive the accounting by a separate instrument delivered to the trustee, and RCW 11.97.010 lists RCW 11.106.020 among the duties a trust document may cut back.

Can a Washington trustee cut off the settlor's creditors?

Washington is one of the states where a trustee can. Chapter 11.42 RCW lets a trustee who received substantially all of the decedent's probate and nonprobate assets act as a notice agent when no personal representative has been appointed here, publish notice to creditors, and close the window under RCW 11.42.050. RCW 11.42.050(3) makes that bar effective against both probate and nonprobate assets. Skip it and RCW 11.40.051(1)(c) leaves creditors 24 months from the date of death.

How long do Washington beneficiaries have to sue a trustee?

Three years, measured two different ways. RCW 11.96A.070(1)(a) runs three years from the delivery of a report that adequately disclosed a potential claim and told the beneficiary the time allowed. Without such a report, RCW 11.96A.070(1)(c) runs three years from the first of your removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust. The statute lists eight items that raise a presumption the report disclosed enough.

How much does a Washington trustee get paid?

Washington publishes no percentage and no fee schedule for trustees. RCW 11.98.070(26) gives you the power to pay reasonable compensation to yourself considering all circumstances, including the time, effort, skill and responsibility the work required, and to take reimbursement with interest where appropriate for expenses properly incurred. RCW 11.98.078(6)(b) then protects that payment from being voided if it is fair to the beneficiaries and the total is reasonable, so a contemporaneous time log is what defends your number.

Related Guides

Trust terms override much of this, and the facts of a trust change how the rest of it lands. Read the document alongside the statute, and confirm your dates and your figures with the Superior Court in the county where a trustee resides or with a licensed Washington attorney.

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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