No. Any person who has higher priority to serve and is choosing not to do so must sign a renunciation (not a consent). The renunciation states that the person knows that he or she has higher priority to serve and is still choosing not to do so. The consent does not contain that language.
No. The forms are available online. The forms are interactive and should be typed and printed out for filing in person.
If you have an attorney, that attorney will prepare the notice for your signature. If you are not represented by an attorney, type the decedent's name in the top line and on line 3 in the body of the notice exactly as it appears in the petition for probate. Type the name(s) of the persons who are asking to be appointed in the first line in the body of the notice and their addresses in the second line. Type the decedent's date of death in the third line. Do not type anything else in the body of the notice. The Probate Division staff will insert the dates.
All persons asking to be appointed as Personal Representative should sign the bottom of the notice and list their telephone numbers. The names of two District of Columbia newspapers must be inserted on the two lines on the bottom left. One of the newspapers must be a legal newspaper of general circulation.
Once all the required documents have been filed, an order appointing a personal representative is generally issued within 10 to 14 days.
No. Any person can file a petition for probate. However, the process is complicated, and you may wish to hire an attorney to ensure the proper administration of the estate.
Yes. File the petition with the estate listed and the address in care of the person most likely to be appointed as personal representative. Correct or amend the List of Interested Persons after the estate is opened, and a personal representative is appointed. Serve notice on the personal representative as required by DC Code, sec. 20-704.
Although wills must be filed within ninety days of the person’s death, there is no required time within which the documents needed to open an estate must be filed. However, no one has authority to act for a decedent until an estate is opened, and a personal representative is appointed by the Court.
Court costs are set forth in Superior Court, Probate Division Rules 125 and 425. In general, there is a $25.00 fee if the decedent owned one or more pieces of real estate in the District of Columbia, plus an additional fee depending on the value of all other assets/personal property.
$0.01 - $499.99...no cost
$500.00 - $2,500.00...$15.00
$2,500.01 - $15,000.00...$50.00
$15,000.01 - $25,000.00...$100.00
$25,000.01 - $49,999.99...$150.00
$50,000.00 - $74,999.99...$250.00
$75,000.00 - $99,999.00...$350.00
$100,000.00 - $499,999.99...$575.00
$500,000.00 - $749,999.99...$825.00
$750,000.00 - $999,999.99...$1,275.00
$1,000,000.00 - $2,499,999.99...$1,800.00
$2,500,000.00 - $4,999,999.99...$2,300.00
$5,000,000.00 and over...$2,300.00 plus 0.02% of amount in excess of $5,000,000.00
Over $50,000,000 ... 11,300.00
In all decedent’s estates in which there is no will or the will does not waive bond, the law of the District of Columbia requires that any person who wishes to serve as personal representative either obtain a signed, written waiver of bond from each interested person or buy a bond from a bonding company. Assets of the estate are used to pay the bond premium. Bond is a type of insurance. If the personal representative misappropriates or otherwise mishandles estate assets, the bonding company will repay the estate the amount lost or the amount of the bond, whichever is less. However, the amount of the bond purchased by the person who wishes to serve as personal representative does not include the share of anyone who has waived bond, so if the personal representative does misappropriate or otherwise mishandle estate assets and the bonding company has to pay off, anyone who waived bond does not receive a share of the bond.
An estate proceeding is opened in the name that the decedent used to sign a will if there is one. Any other version of the decedent’s name typed in the will is listed as an "aka." If there is no will and the decedent owned assets in different names during his or her life, the name used most often should be first, and other versions can be listed as "aka’s." For example, John Howard signed his will John Q. Howard, but both versions of his name are included in his will. The estate is opened as "John Q. Howard, aka John Howard."