Probate in Washington, D.C.: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

If someone dies owning property in the District of Columbia, probate usually follows, unless one of a few exceptions applies. If the deceased does not have a will, this is called intestate succession. An estate will go through probate in D.C. if there is no will, with a few exceptions.

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These asset types generally pass outside of probate.

• Any life insurance policies that have a designated beneficiary.

• Any retirement accounts with a designated beneficiary.

• Any bank or brokerage accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation.

• Any property owned as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, which passes automatically to the surviving owner.

If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in D.C. The District recently raised its small estate threshold: estates valued at $80,000 or less (up from $40,000, under the Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024) can use a small estate proceeding or transfer by affidavit instead of formal probate.

Succession Laws Without a Will in D.C.

Who inherits in Washington, D.C. depends first on how the law classifies what a couple owns. D.C. is a common law jurisdiction, not a community property one, meaning ownership follows whose name is on the title, deed, or account. It's also one of the few places in this series that gives registered domestic partners the exact same inheritance rights as married spouses.

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If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following lines of succession.

• If you have no descendants and no living parents, your spouse or domestic partner inherits everything.

• If your descendants are all shared with your spouse or partner, and they have no other descendants, your spouse or partner inherits 2/3 of your estate. Your descendants inherit the remaining 1/3.

• If either you or your spouse or partner has descendants from another relationship, your spouse or partner inherits 1/2 of your estate. Your descendants inherit the other 1/2.

• If you have no descendants but living parents, your spouse or partner inherits 3/4 of your estate. Your parents inherit the remaining 1/4.

• If you have children but no spouse or partner, your children inherit everything, divided equally.

• If you have no spouse, partner, or children, your parents inherit everything, then your siblings.

D.C. Probate Process

Probate in D.C. is handled by the Probate Division of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. D.C. also imposes its own estate tax on estates over roughly $4.7 million, with rates from 11.2% to 16%, separate from the federal estate tax.

Avoiding Probate in D.C.

Probate can be slow and public, which is why many people plan around it. Here's how.

• Put your assets in a revocable living trust. A living trust lets you have full control over your estate as the trustee. You name a successor trustee who will manage distributing your assets after your death.

• Name beneficiary designations on financial and retirement accounts. A payable-on-death (POD) designation will specify who receives payment at the time of your death. A transfer-on-death (TOD) designation names a new owner for those accounts.

• Establish joint ownership with right of survivorship, or hold real estate as tenants by the entirety with a spouse, so it passes automatically.

Want to learn more about trusts in D.C.? Check out this article.