Selling an Estate House in Pierce County, Washington

Pierce County probate is opened with the Clerk of the Superior Court at the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave S, Room 110, Tacoma, WA 98402. The clerk’s phone number is (253) 798-7455, and the public counter is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pierce County’s probate page says a case is needed when the decedent’s assets exceed $100,000 and/or include any real property. A house is real property. Do not assume a small-estate affidavit can take the place of a deed. The same page lists opening papers and a filing fee. Confirm the current fee with the clerk before you go, because the fee schedule can change. KindKey will not file the case or stand in line for you.

RCW 11.96A.050, in the Washington Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act, lets a petitioner begin in a Washington county they select and lets another party ask the court to move the case. If the decedent lived in Tacoma, Edgewood, or Puyallup, the residence county under that transfer rule is Pierce County. King County Superior Court, in Seattle or at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, is the wrong residence county for those decedents. Milton and the southern edge of Auburn can go either way. The city guides for those two places explain the split. The City of Tacoma, the City of Puyallup, and the City of Edgewood do not appoint personal representatives.

Whatever city is on the mailbox, the closing agent wants letters testamentary or letters of administration, and the order that says whether the personal representative has nonintervention powers. A will may say “executor.” Washington law uses “personal representative” for the appointed person. If the powers were granted, RCW 11.68.090 gives that person authority to sell the decedent’s real property without a further court order, and without following chapter 11.56 RCW, subject to the will and the representative’s duties. The duties include good faith, honest judgment, and the interests of the beneficiaries. The will can restrict the sale.

RCW 11.68.011 is the grant statute. Unless the will tells the court not to grant nonintervention powers, 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, including the path for the person named in the will. If the powers were not granted, a sale may have to follow the court process in chapter 11.56 RCW. The step-by-step guide for executors explains the petition and when a hearing is required under RCW 11.68.041. An agreement among heirs in Tacoma and heirs out of state is not a substitute for the signature title requires. The deed records with the Pierce County Auditor when the parcel is in Pierce County.

Tacoma estate houses show up across the city: older houses in the North End and Hilltop, houses on the Eastside, and houses in South Tacoma that have been vacant since the funeral. KindKey buys them as they sit. You do not have to repair plaster, empty a lifetime of belongings, or host showings for KindKey to make an offer. The Tacoma city page is the general sale page. This article is the probate overlay. Occupancy stays with your attorney if a relative still lives there.

Puyallup is in Pierce County. Downtown Puyallup and the neighborhoods inside the city limits are city matters for code letters and city services. South Hill addresses that people call Puyallup are sometimes unincorporated Pierce County. The letterhead on a tax bill or a code notice tells you who wrote it. The closing agent confirms the parcel. KindKey does not treat “Puyallup” on an envelope as a legal description. There is a Puyallup city page for the sale itself. There is not a separate Puyallup probate article, because the clerk, the letters, and RCW 11.68 are the county process on this page.

Edgewood is in Pierce County, between Milton, Fife, Puyallup, and Sumner. The Edgewood inherited-house guide covers North Hill, the valley, and the Puyallup Indian Reservation boundary question. Read that guide before you assume a King County checklist fits. Milton’s Pierce County side belongs in the Milton inherited-house guide as well as here. If the Milton parcel is on the King County side, use the King County estate guide. KindKey will not decide the side from a street name.

Contents are the other half of the work. You can hire an estate sale company, clear the house, or leave the belongings. The comparison of an estate sale and an as-is house sale explains those choices. KindKey is the buyer of the house, not the company that runs a tag sale. KindKey does not charge an agent commission or a separate assignment fee. Payoffs and liens can reduce proceeds, and the settlement statement shows them. Call (206) 519-5463 or use the cash-offer form when the signer is known, or while your attorney is still confirming the signer. Sign only after that confirmation.