Who sets the value in a Washington probate
RCW 11.44.015 gives that job to the personal representative. Inside three months from appointment, or longer if the court allows, the personal representative swears to a true inventory and appraisement of the estate's property, describes any real estate by its legal description, and assigns each item its fair net value at the date of death once liens and encumbrances are subtracted. Nothing in that section requires the house value to come from a professional appraiser. RCW 11.44.070 lets the personal representative employ "a qualified and disinterested person" to help find the fair market value at the date of death of any asset whose value may be in reasonable doubt, and the court can review what that help cost.
The inventory and appraisement may, but need not, be filed in the probate case. An heir, a beneficiary under the will, an unpaid creditor with a filed claim, a beneficiary of a nonprobate asset who is asked to contribute, or the Department of Revenue can ask in writing for a copy, and the personal representative must provide it within ten days of receiving the request (RCW 11.44.015(2)). Anyone with an interest in the estate can contest the inventory and appraisement at any point while the probate is open (RCW 11.44.035), and property discovered later goes on an additional inventory within 30 days of discovery, unless the court allows longer (RCW 11.44.025). When family members will read the house value and may question it, an appraiser's documented support gives the personal representative something firmer than an estimate.
When a court looks at the appraisal
Whether a judge ever sees the house value depends on the personal representative's powers. Unless the will says otherwise, a personal representative who petitions for nonintervention powers receives them when the court finds the estate solvent and one of the statute's conditions is met, such as being named in the probated will, and can then sell, mortgage or lease the real property without a court order or confirmation (RCW 11.68.011 and RCW 11.68.090). Without those powers, estate property is sold under a court order unless the law provides otherwise (RCW 11.56.010). In that case the court will not confirm a private sale of estate real estate unless the price offered reaches 90 percent of the appraised value and the appraisal is less than a year old at the time of sale. A missing or stale appraisal, or one the court considers too high or too low, can lead the court to appoint appraisers (RCW 11.56.090).
In Snohomish County, probate is a Superior Court case, and the Superior Court Clerk keeps the file. Snohomish County's local probate rule, SCLSPR 98.04, lets uncontested matters that require no notice go ex parte, while anything needing notice is set on the Guardianship/Probate calendar (Snohomish County local court rules). The Clerk's own guidance is that probate is not always necessary. A home can instead pass at death under a transfer on death deed (RCW 64.80.020) or under a married couple's community property agreement (RCW 26.16.120).
Three points to fix before the appraisal
- Which date the report carries. The inventory looks at the day the owner died. A court-confirmed private sale is measured differently: the appraisal must have been made within the year before the sale. A buyout among heirs may use yet another date, so ask the estate's attorney to name it.
- How the house stood on that date. After a death, a house may be emptied, repaired or left vacant for months. Photos, listing records and invoices help separate its condition at death from what happened afterward.
- Who reads the finished report. The personal representative, heirs who ask for a copy of the inventory, the court on a confirmed sale, or the Department of Revenue if a Washington estate tax return is due. DOR does not accept the probate inventory and appraisement as support for that return, and for real estate that was not sold it asks for a certified appraisal (DOR estate tax FAQ).
Taxes a probate estate may face
Washington has no inheritance tax. A Washington estate tax return is required only when the gross estate reaches the filing threshold for the date of death: $3,076,000 for deaths from January 1 through June 30, 2026, and $3,000,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2026, each period with its own rate table (our estate appraisal page sets them out). Heirs owe no federal inheritance tax either, since federal law taxes the estate, not the heir, and leaves payment to the executor. On the federal side, the estate tax reaches only estates above $15,000,000 (the IRS threshold in force for a U.S. citizen or resident who dies in 2026, going by its estate tax guidance). Ask the estate's attorney or tax adviser which returns apply before you order the appraisal.
Details to have on hand when you call
- The date of death and the date the personal representative was appointed.
- Whether the personal representative holds nonintervention powers, and whether a sale is planned.
- The property address and, if you have it, the recorded deed from Snohomish County Recording.
- What the house was like on the date of death, and any work done since.
- Any request for a copy of the inventory, and any date the attorney is working toward.
Ask Eagle Home Appraisal Marysville for the scope, fee and delivery estimate in writing, and have the estate's attorney confirm the effective date before the work begins. If the home passed outside probate, the estate appraisal page is the better starting point.