Selling an Estate House in King County, Washington

Probate is a superior court case. King County District Court and the municipal courts in Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, and Seattle do not appoint personal representatives. The Superior Court Clerk has offices at the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Room E-609, Seattle, and at the Maleng Regional Justice Center, 401 Fourth Avenue North, Room 2C, Kent. King County uses a probate case-assignment cover sheet. The Kent counter is closer than downtown Seattle for many south King County families. Ask your attorney or the clerk which office and which case-assignment area apply. KindKey will not choose the courthouse or file the petition.

RCW 11.96A.050, part of the Washington Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act, lets a petitioner start in a Washington county they select and lets another party ask to move the case. If the decedent lived in Washington, the transfer rule points to the county of residence. A person who lived in Kent, Federal Way, or Seattle resided in King County. A person who lived in Auburn resided in King County or Pierce County depending on the parcel. A person who lived in Milton may have resided in either county. The residence county and the county where the deed is recorded can be discussed with the closing agent as two facts. Do not pick a courthouse from the return address on the mail.

The closing agent will ask for letters testamentary or letters of administration, and for the order on nonintervention powers. Washington uses “personal representative” for the person the court appoints. A will may call that person an executor. If the court granted nonintervention powers, RCW 11.68.090 lets the personal representative sell the decedent’s real property without a further court order and without the sale procedures in chapter 11.56 RCW, subject to the will and the representative’s duties. Those duties include using discretionary power in good faith, with honest judgment, and in line with the will and the interests of the beneficiaries.

RCW 11.68.011 is the statute on granting the powers. Unless the will tells the court not to grant them, the court grants them when it finds the estate is solvent, counting probate and nonprobate assets, and the petitioner fits a path in the statute. One path is being the person named in the probated will. The step-by-step guide for executors walks through the petition, the notice rules in RCW 11.68.041, and the cases where a sale still needs a court order. If the powers were not granted, or if a later order restricts them, chapter 11.56 RCW may apply. KindKey cannot waive that because the house is in King County.

Auburn is KindKey’s home city. Downtown, Lea Hill, and Lakeland Hills are commonly King County. A parcel toward the southern edge can come back as Pierce County at title. Use the Auburn inherited-house guide for that split, and use this page for the King County side. The deed, once you have authority to sign, records with the King County Recorder when the parcel is in King County. Property-tax questions on that parcel go to King County, not to Pierce County.

Kent is in King County, from East Hill and West Hill down to the valley floor. There is no separate Kent probate article on this site because the court file is the county file described above. Federal Way is also a King County residence question for a person who lived there. The Federal Way inherited-house guide covers the neighborhoods and the difference between superior court and municipal court. This page is the clerk’s offices those families share with Seattle and Kent.

Seattle is in King County, and the downtown courthouse is there. A decedent who lived in Seattle has a King County residence under the venue rule. This site’s city pages are Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Milton, Tacoma, Edgewood, and Puyallup. The authority rules on this page are the same for a Seattle house. Call (206) 519-5463 and describe the property if you want to know whether KindKey will make an offer. KindKey is not a listing broker.

King County estate houses are often full of a long occupancy: a Kent rambler with a deferred roof, a Federal Way house that has been vacant since the funeral, an Auburn house with a shop still locked. You do not have to empty them or repair them before KindKey looks. The guide comparing an estate sale of belongings with an as-is sale of the house covers clean-out companies and what to remove. Take keepsakes. Leave the rest. If someone still lives there, ask your attorney before you change the locks.

Milton sits on the county line. A King County Milton parcel belongs in this conversation. A Pierce County Milton parcel belongs in the Pierce County estate guide and in the Milton inherited-house guide. Southern Auburn belongs in the Pierce County article when the parcel is on that side. The closing agent confirms the parcel. KindKey does not charge an agent commission or a separate assignment fee. The settlement statement shows payoffs, liens, taxes, and closing costs before you deed the house.