This article covers the Petitioner Information tab in the Intestate Probate Opening Package.
This tab collects information about the individual or entity seeking appointment as Administrator. Unlike testate probate (where authority derives from nomination in the Will), intestate appointment is governed by a statutory priority order under RCW 11.28.120. Your responses here determine how the Petition describes the Petitioner’s authority to serve and whether higher-priority persons must be accounted for.
Your responses on this tab directly affect the legal sufficiency of the Petition to Appoint Administrator.
Serving with Co-Administrators? When more than one person will serve, this tab has three sections: The Client, Other Co-Administrators and All Petitioners. See this article for the full walkthrough.
Why This Tab Matters
To have an Administrator appointed, the court must understand:
- Why this Petitioner has authority to serve under RCW 11.28.120; and
- Whether anyone else has higher priority, and if so, why they are not serving.
If the Petition is filed within 60 days of death, it must identify all higher-priority persons who are not petitioning and the reason each is not serving. After 60 days, priority rights have lapsed under EHB 2445 and declinations are generally not required.
The Priority Order Under RCW 11.28.120
Washington law establishes a priority order for who may petition to administer an intestate estate. The system identifies the Petitioner’s tier based on their relationship to the decedent and the basis of their claim.
| Tier (1)(a) | Surviving spouse, or a person designated by the surviving spouse |
| Tier (1)(b) | Next of kin: children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, nieces and nephews |
| Tier (1)(c) | Trustee, guardian, conservator, or agent under durable power of attorney who controlled substantially all of the decedent’s assets |
| Tier (1)(d) | Beneficiary or transferee of the decedent’s nonprobate or probate assets |
| Tier (1)(f) | Principal creditor of the decedent |
Note: “Suitable Person” petitions are not supported Persons who do not qualify under tiers (1)(a) through (1)(f) are considered Suitable Persons under RCW 11.28.120. Suitable Person petitioners are subject to significant additional restrictions under EHB 2445, including a mandatory 90-day waiting period, mandatory bond, and full court supervision without nonintervention powers. This system does not currently support Suitable Person petitions.
Petitioner’s Authority by Tier
Expand the section below that matches the Petitioner’s priority tier.
The surviving spouse has first priority under RCW 11.28.120(1)(a). When the Petitioner is the surviving spouse, the system confirms this automatically based on the relationship entered on the Client Information tab.
No declinations or designations from other parties are required. The spouse’s priority is absolute and does not depend on the filing date.
The tab displays a confirmation of the spouse’s priority, and no further priority questions are asked.
The surviving spouse may designate another person to serve as Administrator under RCW 11.28.120(1)(a). The designated person steps into the spouse’s first-priority position.
When this path applies, select Designated by the surviving spouse when prompted. The system will:
- Automatically add a Designation of Administrator document to the Document Selection tab: the spouse must sign this document and it must be filed concurrently with the petition.
- Confirm that no declinations from tier (1)(b) or lower parties are required: the designated person’s authority derives from the spouse’s first-priority right, not from their own tier standing.
Note: The ‘Spouse Designee path’ is not available if the spouse lacks capacity An agent under a power of attorney cannot exercise the spouse’s authority to designate a petitioner under RCW 11.28.120(1)(a). If the surviving spouse is incapacitated, this option is unavailable. Select a different basis for the Petitioner’s priority.
Even when the spouse has signed the Designation of Administrator, if nonintervention powers are being requested, the spouse must separately waive the right to advance notice of that grant. The Designation of Administrator does not cover that right. See the Notice & Waivers tab for guidance on which waivers apply to your matter.
Next of kin have second priority under RCW 11.28.120(1)(b). This tier includes children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews of the decedent.
The system identifies the Petitioner’s next-of-kin status automatically from the relationship entered on the Client Information tab and displays a confirmation of the applicable RCW subsection.
If filing within 60 days of death: The tab will ask you to enter each higher-priority person who is not petitioning, meaning the surviving spouse (if any) and any equal-priority next of kin in the same class, and the reason each is not serving. Answer Yes to Are there other persons with higher or equal statutory priority who are not petitioning to be Administrator? and enter each person in the list that follows. The system will generate a Declination to Serve document for persons who have declined.
If filing after 60 days: The Petition states that the priority rights of persons with higher or equal priority have lapsed, and no declinations are required. A checkbox allows formal declinations to be obtained anyway (see the note on the 60-day rule below).
Equal-priority lapse applies within the same class. For example, if the Petitioner is a child of the decedent, other children have equal priority and their rights also lapse after 60 days.
A trustee, guardian, conservator, or agent under a durable power of attorney who controlled substantially all of the decedent’s probate and nonprobate assets has third priority under RCW 11.28.120(1)(c).
Select the Petitioner’s specific role from the dropdown:
- Trustee named in the trust
- Guardian of the decedent
- Conservator of the decedent
- Agent under durable power of attorney
- Custom description
If filing within 60 days: The petition must account for all higher-priority persons who are not petitioning: the surviving spouse (if any) and all next of kin. Answer Yes to Are there other persons with higher or equal statutory priority who are not petitioning to be Administrator? and enter each person in the list that follows.
If filing after 60 days: The Petition states that the priority rights of higher-priority persons have lapsed.
A beneficiary or transferee of the decedent’s nonprobate or probate assets has fourth priority under RCW 11.28.120(1)(d).
Select the basis of the Petitioner’s beneficiary or transferee status:
- Beneficiary of a revocable trust
- Beneficiary of a transfer on death deed
- Beneficiary of a payable on death account or bank account
- Surviving joint tenant
- Beneficiary under a community property agreement
- Beneficiary of a transfer on death security or brokerage account
- Beneficiary of an IRA or retirement account
- Custom description
If filing within 60 days: The petition must account for all higher-priority persons who are not petitioning: the surviving spouse (if any), all next of kin, and any tier (1)(c) trustee or agent. Answer Yes to Are there other persons with higher or equal statutory priority who are not petitioning to be Administrator? and enter each person in the list that follows.
If filing after 60 days: The Petition states that the priority rights of higher-priority persons have lapsed.
Nonprobate assets are defined in RCW 11.02.005. If the Petitioner’s relationship to the decedent’s assets does not fit a listed category, use the Custom description option.
A principal creditor of the decedent has fifth priority under RCW 11.28.120(1)(f).
Select the nature of the debt owed to the Petitioner by the decedent:
- Promissory note or written loan agreement
- Judgment against the decedent
- Written contract or obligation
- Other written obligation
Enter a brief description of the debt and the approximate amount owed when prompted.
If filing within 60 days: The petition must account for all higher-priority persons who are not petitioning: the surviving spouse (if any), all next of kin, and any tier (1)(c) and (1)(d) persons. Answer Yes to Are there other persons with higher or equal statutory priority who are not petitioning to be Administrator? and enter each person in the list that follows.
If filing after 60 days: The Petition states that the priority rights of higher-priority persons have lapsed.
Nonintervention powers are not available for creditor petitioners Under RCW 11.68.011, a principal creditor petitioner may not petition for or be granted nonintervention powers. The estate will proceed under full court supervision. The Bond & Nonintervention Powers tab will reflect this limitation automatically.
How the System Identifies Your Tier
The system pre-populates the Petitioner’s likely priority tier based on the relationship to the decedent entered on the Client Information tab. For spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, and nieces/nephews, the tier is identified automatically.
For non-family petitioners, the system will ask you to select the basis of the Petitioner’s priority from the available tier (1)(c), (1)(d), and (1)(f) options.
For any non-spouse petitioner, the system will also ask whether the Petitioner is acting under their own statutory priority or has been designated by the surviving spouse under RCW 11.28.120(1)(a).
The 60-Day Filing Window
For all tiers other than (1)(a), the system asks whether the petition will be filed within 60 calendar days of the decedent’s death. This question appears on this tab and directly controls whether the petition must address higher-priority persons or may allege lapse of their rights.
| Filing within 60 days: Answer Yes | Higher-priority persons must be accounted for. Enter each in the list that follows a Yes to the higher-priority question, and select the reason they are not serving. The system will generate Declination to Serve documents for persons who have declined. |
| Filing after 60 days: Answer No | The Petition states that the priority rights of persons with higher or equal priority have lapsed, and no declinations are required. A checkbox allows formal declinations to be obtained anyway. |
The 60-day rule and declinations After 60 days, the Petition states that the priority rights of persons with higher or equal priority have lapsed, and no Declinations to Serve are drafted unless the declinations checkbox is selected. RCW 11.28.120, as amended in 2026, does not itself use the word “lapse.” It provides that if the persons entitled “fail for more than 60 days after the death of the decedent to present a petition for letters of administration,” the court may appoint a contract service provider with the Office of Public Guardianship and Conservatorship or a guardian ad litem, and after 90 days “any suitable person.” The lapse reading comes from older Washington cases, decided under the prior statute, that treated a failure to petition as a waiver of priority. Whether courts will apply that reasoning between family members under the amended statute has not been settled. The checkbox allows Declinations to Serve to be obtained from persons with higher or equal priority after 60 days.
Entering Higher-Priority Persons Not Serving
When filing within 60 days, answering Yes to the higher-priority question opens a list for entering each person with higher priority who is not petitioning. For each person, select the reason they are not serving:
| Deceased | The person has predeceased the decedent or died after the decedent’s death. This is noted in the petition; no separate document is generated. |
| Declining | The person has declined to serve. The system generates a Declination to Serve as Administrator document for that person to sign. |
| Disqualified | The person is legally disqualified from serving. The basis for disqualification is noted in the petition. |
Petitioner Qualifications
This section gathers information related to statutory qualifications to serve under RCW 11.36.010 as amended by EHB 2445 (effective June 11, 2026). In a Co-Administrator matter, this section is headed Client’s Qualifications, is answered for the Client only, and appears at the end of the tab; each other Co-Administrator’s qualifications are asked in that person’s own entry. The system asks whether the Petitioner:
| Has been convicted of a felony | A felony conviction disqualifies a person from serving as Administrator under RCW 11.36.010. |
| Has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude | A conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude (e.g., theft, fraud) disqualifies a person from serving. |
| Has had letters of administration revoked for cause within the last 24 months | A person whose letters were revoked for waste, embezzlement, or fraud within the preceding 24 months is disqualified under EHB 2445. |
| Has been found to have engaged in dishonesty, theft, or breach of fiduciary duty within the last 36 months | A finding by a court or administrative agency of such conduct within the preceding 36 months disqualifies a person under EHB 2445. |
These are factual representations to the court in the Petition. A person who is disqualified under any of these grounds cannot be appointed as Administrator.