Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in Washington

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Mandatory preparation, optional filing

Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.015(1) requires every personal representative to make and verify the inventory and appraisement by affidavit within three months after appointment. The court may grant a longer time. The statute does not exempt a personal representative merely because the estate has nonintervention powers.

Filing is a separate question. Section 11.44.015(2) says the inventory may, but need not, be filed in the probate cause. Keeping it outside the court file does not eliminate the duty to prepare it or the request-based copy duties.

Property classes, secured charges, and net value

The inventory covers estate property passing under the will or intestacy law that has come to the representative's possession or knowledge. Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.015(1) requires a statement of every encumbrance, lien, or other secured charge against an item and a fair net value as of death after deducting those charges.

The statute prescribes six classifications: real property by legal description; stocks and bonds; mortgages, notes, and other written debt evidence; bank accounts and money; furniture and household goods; and accurately identified other personal property. The last class includes the decedent's proportionate partnership share, but the representative does not inventory the partnership's underlying property.

Optional assistance for doubtful values

Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.070 permits a qualified and disinterested person to help value an asset whose value is reasonably doubtful. It does not make outside appraisal mandatory for every item. Different people may appraise different asset types.

The representative sets the fee initially. The court later reviews reasonableness at the statutory hearing or on a specified request or petition and may order the representative to refund an unreasonable amount.

Who can demand a copy

The written-request class in Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.015(2) is specific: an heir, legatee, devisee, unpaid creditor who filed a claim, a nonprobate-asset beneficiary from whom contribution is sought under RCW 11.18.200, or the Department of Revenue. The representative must furnish a true and correct copy within ten days after receiving the request.

The inventory chapter states no automatic delivery to every interested person, general public-inspection right, special sealing rule, or confidentiality designation. Optional filing therefore should not be confused with automatic public filing or with a right to refuse a proper statutory request.

New property, challenges, and consequences

Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.025 requires an additional, affidavit-verified inventory and appraisement when omitted estate property later becomes known. The ordinary deadline is 30 days after discovery, subject to a longer time granted by the court. Everyone who properly requested the original inventory also receives a copy of the additional one.

Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.035 permits any interested party to challenge the inventory and appraisement at any stage of probate and allows other evidence to contradict or avoid it when administration is in issue. The chapter does not state a separate representative-initiated deadline for correcting a mistaken description or value.

Under Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.050, neglect or refusal to prepare the inventory on time or provide a required copy permits the court to revoke letters. The representative is also liable on the bond to an interested party for injury the estate sustained through the neglect.

What trips people up

The inventory itself is mandatory even when filing is not. A representative who chooses not to lodge it in the probate cause still must prepare, verify, and furnish it to proper requesters.

Washington uses fair net value, not a separate gross-value line with liens left undisclosed. The statute requires both the secured charge and the date-of-death value after deducting it.

The chapter's six property classifications do not add a universal community- versus-separate-property worksheet. Ownership characterization may matter to what passes through the estate, but chapter 11.44 does not require the extra column or formula.

Common questions

Is an outside appraisal required?

No. Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.070 makes qualified, disinterested assistance optional for assets whose values are reasonably doubtful.

Can a creditor request the inventory?

An unpaid creditor can request it after filing a claim. The representative then has ten days to provide a true and correct copy.

What happens when new property is found?

The representative makes and verifies an additional inventory and appraisement within 30 days after discovery unless the court grants longer, then provides it to everyone who properly requested a copy under § 11.44.015(2).

Can a beneficiary dispute a value?

Any party interested in the estate may challenge the inventory and appraisement at any stage of probate under Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.035.

Statutes and sources

• Wash. Rev. Code § 11.44.015 — three-month preparation clock, affidavit, property scope and classes, net date-of-death value, optional filing, and ten-day request-based copies. Official Chapter 11.44 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Wash. Rev. Code §§ 11.44.025 and .035 — additional inventory, copies, and challenges. Official Chapter 11.44 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Wash. Rev. Code §§ 11.44.050 and .070 — revocation, bond liability, optional qualified disinterested valuers, fee review, and refund. Official Chapter 11.44 (accessed 2026-08-10).