How Probate Fights Work in Washington

Q: Is probate litigation the same as contesting a will?

No. Contesting a will is just one type. Probate litigation also covers removing a bad personal representative, forcing an accounting, fights over what a document means, creditor disputes, and trust battles. A will contest is one room; this manual is the whole house.

Q: Do I need a lawyer to file a probate case in Washington?

No. You can represent yourself, and this manual is built to help you do it. But the deadlines are unforgiving and the petitions are technical. If real money or your inheritance is on the line, at least get a consultation before you file.

Q: How long does a Washington probate case take?

Anywhere from a couple of months if it settles at mediation to a year or more if it goes to trial and appeal. The deadlines to start, though, can be as short as a few months. Do not confuse a slow case with having plenty of time to file.

Q: Someone told me they won their probate case. Does that help mine?

Only if you read the signed court order. People say they won loosely. In law, the result is whatever the judge actually signed, nothing more. Never rely on a claimed outcome you have not seen in writing.

matthew3563
Jul 14
10 min read

Washington Probate Litigation Manual › How Probate Fights Work

By Matthew Cunanan, DC Law Group (WSBA #42530) · A Washington litigation practice

Who this is for: Anyone caught in a fight over a Washington estate — whether you're thinking about bringing a case, defending one, or just trying to understand what's happening. Written so a non-lawyer can follow it, with enough law underneath that a self-represented person or a newer attorney can actually use it.

The 30-second version

"Probate litigation" is just a fancy phrase for fighting in court over a dead person's estate — who's in charge, whether the will is real, where the money went, and who gets what. In Washington, almost all of these fights run through one law: the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act, or TEDRA (RCW 11.96A). You file in the superior court for the county handling the estate. Almost anyone with a real stake in the estate can start a case. And the single most important thing to know on day one: there are deadlines, some of them short — miss one and you can lose for good, no matter how right you are. The deadlines map is near the bottom of this page.

What "probate litigation" actually means

When someone dies, their stuff doesn't move itself. Probate is the court process for settling up: paying the bills, proving the will (if there is one), and handing out what's left. Most of the time it's paperwork, not a fight.

Probate *litigation is what happens when people don't* agree. Think of regular probate as a quiet checkout line. Probate litigation is when someone says, "Wait — that's wrong," and a judge has to sort it out.

The fights usually fall into a few buckets:

"That's not the real will." Someone thinks the will is fake, was signed under pressure, or was made when the person wasn't thinking clearly. (The manual's will-contest guide covers this.)
"The person in charge is doing a bad job — or stealing." The estate's manager isn't accounting for the money, is playing favorites, or has a conflict. (Covered in Removing a Personal Representative in Washington.)
"I'm being cut out." A spouse, child, heir, or creditor isn't getting notice, information, or their share. (The removal guide above covers forcing information out; creditor claims get their own guide.)
"We just can't agree on what this document means." The will or trust is unclear and people read it differently. (The will-validity guide covers this.)

Metaphor: The estate is a house being closed up after the owner dies. The personal representative is the house-sitter holding the keys and the checkbook. Probate litigation is what happens when the family, the neighbors, or the bill collectors think the house-sitter is doing it wrong — or think they grabbed the wrong set of keys in the first place.

Where these cases happen: the courts

Probate and probate fights in Washington are handled by the superior court — the state's main trial court — in the county where the estate is being probated (usually the county where the person lived when they died). There's no separate "probate court" building in Washington; it's a department inside the regular superior court.

So a King County estate fight is filed in King County Superior Court; a Spokane County estate in Spokane County Superior Court, and so on. By statute, the superior court of every county has original jurisdiction over the probate of wills, the administration of estates, and all matters relating to trusts — full power to hear and decide these cases (RCW 11.96A.040).

Practical note: the estate's main probate file already has a case number. Many disputes get filed as a new TEDRA case with its own number but are tied back to the probate. If a judge removes or limits the person in charge, that order usually needs to be filed in both files. (More in the manual's TEDRA guides.)

The one law that runs almost everything: TEDRA

If you remember one thing, remember TEDRA — the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act, RCW 11.96A.

TEDRA is Washington's master toolkit for estate and trust disputes. It's the procedure that lets you bring almost any estate-related question to a judge, sets the rules for notifying everyone, and even pushes people toward settling. Whatever the specific fight, TEDRA is usually the road you travel to resolve it.

Metaphor: TEDRA is the law's all-purpose key ring. Most estate disputes have a door somewhere in Title 11 of the code, and TEDRA is the ring that holds the keys to open them — plus the rules for how everyone gets told you're unlocking the door.

What TEDRA gives you:

A way in. RCW 11.96A.080 lets any "party" ask a judge to declare rights or settle a "matter." The terms "party" and "matter" are defined very broadly in RCW 11.96A.030 — on purpose, so real disputes get heard instead of bounced on technicalities.
Notice rules. RCW 11.96A.110 says everyone involved must get notice of a hearing — personally served or mailed at least 20 days before the hearing (electronic notice is allowed only if the person agreed to it in advance), and you have to file proof you did it.
A built-in push to settle. RCW 11.96A.300 lets any party force the case into mediation just by serving a written notice. The judge has to send it to mediation "except for good cause," and that order can't be appealed. Translation: Washington expects you to try to work it out before a trial.
And only then, arbitration. TEDRA also has a binding-arbitration path — but it's a second step, not an alternative. Arbitration only becomes available after someone has petitioned for mediation and that mediation has finished (RCW 11.96A.310). You can't skip the table and go straight to the arbitrator. (Covered in the TEDRA mediation-and-arbitration guide.)

TEDRA is the spine of this whole manual. Its own set of guides walks the process step by step.

Who is allowed to bring a case

You can't sue over someone else's estate just because you're curious. You generally need a real stake in it — what the law calls being a "party" or an interested person.

Under RCW 11.96A.030, "party" is read broadly and includes people like:

Heirs — relatives who would inherit if there were no will.
Beneficiaries — people actually named in the will or trust.
The personal representative or trustee — the person in charge.
Creditors — people or companies the estate owes money.
Guardians and other fiduciaries standing in for someone who can't act for themselves.

The simple test: does the outcome actually touch your money, your inheritance, or a legal duty owed to you? If yes, you're probably a party who can bring or join a case. If you're a stranger to the estate, you're not.

Metaphor: Owning a stake in the estate is like having a seat at the table. A seat means you get to see the menu and the bill — and speak up if the math is wrong. No seat, no standing to complain.

Not sure if you qualify? That's exactly the kind of question to run past a lawyer before you spend filing fees.

How a case actually moves, start to finish

Every case is different, but most Washington estate fights follow the same skeleton:

Something's wrong. You spot a problem — a suspicious will, missing money, no accounting, being left out.
You file a petition. A written request to the court that lays out the facts and exactly what you want the judge to do. Many estate disputes are filed as a TEDRA petition. (The TEDRA guides show what goes in one.)
Everyone gets notice. You must tell all the other parties, the right way and on time — at least 20 days before the hearing under RCW 11.96A.110 — and file proof you did.
Mediation (usually). Because any party can force it (RCW 11.96A.300), most cases hit a mediation table before a judge ever rules. Many settle here.
Hearing or trial. If mediation fails, a judge (rarely a jury) hears it and decides.
The order. The judge signs a written order — removing the person in charge, ordering an accounting, deciding the will is valid or not, dividing the money. That order is the result. It only counts when it's signed and entered — not when someone says they won.
Maybe an appeal. A losing side can sometimes appeal to a higher court. (Covered in the TEDRA guides.)

The deadlines map (read this)

This is the part that costs people their cases. Some probate deadlines are short and absolute — blow one and the court won't help you, even if you were right. Dates are calculated from specific trigger events; confirm yours against the statute and, when it matters, with a lawyer.

| The fight | The clock | Where it comes from |

|---|---|---|

| Contest a will (say it's invalid) | 4 months after the will is admitted to (or rejected from) probate. The contest starts when you file the petition — then you must personally serve the personal representative within 90 days of filing. | RCW 11.24.010 |

| Creditor claim against the estate | The later of 30 days after the personal representative mails you notice, or 4 months after the first published notice. If no notice is given: up to 24 months after the date of death — then you're barred forever. | RCW 11.40.051 |

| TEDRA hearing notice (to others) | Serve/mail all parties at least 20 days before the hearing. | RCW 11.96A.110 |

| Force mediation before a hearing is set | Other parties get 20 days to object after you serve a mediation notice, or mediation goes forward. | RCW 11.96A.300 |

Other deadlines (fiduciary surcharge, trust matters, appeals) are covered in their own chapters. When in doubt, treat the deadline as sooner than you think and act now — almost nothing in probate litigation rewards waiting.

Plain-English glossary

Probate — the court process for settling a dead person's affairs and passing on what's left.
Estate — everything the person owned at death (minus what passes outside probate, like life insurance with a named beneficiary).
Personal representative (PR) — the person in charge of the estate. Old word: "executor" (named in a will) or "administrator" (appointed when there's no will). The house-sitter with the keys and the checkbook.
Trustee — like a PR, but for a trust instead of an estate.
Beneficiary — someone named to receive something from the estate or trust.
Heir — a relative who would inherit if there were no will, under state default rules.
Fiduciary — anyone (PR, trustee, guardian) legally required to act in someone else's best interest, not their own. A duty to put your wallet down and pick up theirs.
TEDRA — the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (RCW 11.96A); Washington's main law for estate and trust disputes.
Petition — the written request that starts or asks for something in a case.
Party / interested person — someone with a real legal stake in the estate, who's allowed to be in the case.
Accounting — the PR's written report of every dollar in and out of the estate.
Letters ("letters testamentary" / "of administration") — the court document proving someone is the official PR. The badge that says the house-sitter is legit.

Official forms and where to get them

Use official Washington court and legal-aid forms — never a random template, and we don't host our own (giving you a fill-in form would be practicing law for you):

Washington Courts forms portal — statewide court forms: www.courts.wa.gov/forms.
WashingtonLawHelp.org — free plain-language legal-aid guides and some forms: www.washingtonlawhelp.org.
Your county superior court clerk — local filing rules, fees, and cover sheets (King, Spokane, Pierce, Snohomish, etc. each post their own).

Many TEDRA petitions are custom-drafted, not fill-in-the-blank, because they have to lay out your specific facts. The manual's TEDRA guides show what one contains.

What it costs

Straight talk, because nobody else lists this:

Court filing fee to open or respond to a case in superior court: roughly $240 in most Washington counties (counties set their own; check your clerk). If you truly can't afford it, you can ask the court to waive fees with a fee waiver application.
Service of process (having papers formally delivered): typically $50–$100+ per person, depending on the process server.
Mediation: mediators commonly charge a few hundred dollars per hour, usually split between the sides; TEDRA mediations run at least three hours.
Lawyers: most charge by the hour for litigation. Some estate fights can shift fees to the estate or the losing side, but don't count on it — assume you pay your own way unless a judge orders otherwise.

The real cost driver is how hard the other side fights. A case that settles at mediation costs a fraction of one that goes to trial.

Common questions

Is "probate litigation" the same as contesting a will?

No — contesting a will is just one type. Probate litigation also covers removing a bad personal representative, forcing an accounting, fights over what a document means, creditor disputes, and trust battles. A will contest is one room; this manual is the whole house.

Do I need a lawyer to file?

No — you can represent yourself, and this manual is built to help you do it. But the deadlines are unforgiving and the petitions are technical. If real money or your inheritance is on the line, at least get a consultation before you file.

How long does a case take?

Anywhere from a couple of months (if it settles at mediation) to a year or more (if it goes to trial and appeal). The deadlines to start, though, can be as short as a few months — don't confuse "the case is slow" with "I have plenty of time to file."

Someone told me they 'won' their probate case. Does that help mine?

Only if you read the signed court order. People say "we won" loosely. In law, the result is whatever the judge actually signed — nothing more. Never rely on a claimed outcome you haven't seen in writing.

When to call a lawyer

Handle-it-yourself is realistic for simple, low-dollar matters. Get a lawyer involved when:

A deadline is close (a will contest is at 3+ months; a creditor claim window is near).
There's real money, a house, or a business in the estate.
Someone is accusing you of wrongdoing as a personal representative or trustee.
The other side has a lawyer.
You're not sure you even qualify to bring the case.

Need help with a Washington estate fight?

This manual is written by Matthew Cunanan of DC Law Group, a Washington litigation practice. We handle probate, trust, and estate disputes across the state — appearing by video in every county, and in person for the hearings that need it.

Call 206-745-2823 or visit DC Law Group.

About the author — Matthew Cunanan is the founder of DC Law Group, a Washington litigation practice. He handles probate, trust, and estate disputes across Washington State, appearing in superior courts statewide.

This manual is general information about Washington law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change and every situation is different — for advice about your specific case, talk to a lawyer. Statutes cited were verified against the official text at leg.wa.gov on July 14, 2026.