This article explains how to complete the Children and Grandchildren tab in the Intestate Probate Opening Package, including how to enter deceased children and their living descendants.
Accurate completion of this section is essential for determining heirship, statutory notice compliance, and bond and nonintervention power eligibility.
Why This Tab Matters
In intestate probate, children and the descendants of deceased children may be statutory heirs under RCW 11.02.070. Whether they inherit — and how much — depends on the character of the estate's assets and whether each child is a joint child of both the decedent and the surviving spouse.
Failure to properly identify living children or the living descendants of a deceased child can result in:
- Incorrect heir identification
- Improper or insufficient statutory notice
- Incorrect recitals in the Petition
- Errors in bond exemption analysis
- Incorrect nonintervention power eligibility determination
The information entered here also feeds directly into the Review the Decedent's Heirs tool on the Other Parties tab. Accurate parentage information is required before running that tool.
Information Added in This Tab
The Children and Grandchildren tab:
- Identifies all living children of the decedent
- Identifies deceased children who left living descendants
- Establishes family lines for representation under RCW 11.04.015
- Captures contact information for notice purposes
- Confirms capacity status of descendants
- Establishes whether each child is a joint child of both the decedent and the surviving spouse
This tab works together with the Decedent Information and Decedent Spouse Information tabs to support full heir identification before the Heirs Tool is run on the Other Parties tab.
Living Children
Begin by indicating whether the decedent had any living children at the time of death. You will also be asked whether any of those children are minors. If the decedent had living children, each child must be entered individually using the Add Children Information option.
For each child, you must:
- Enter identifying and contact information
- Confirm whether the child has legal capacity
- Indicate parentage by selecting "Who's child is this?"
Parentage Matters
The parentage selection identifies whether the child is:
- A joint child of both the decedent and the surviving spouse; or
- A child of the decedent from another relationship.
In intestate probate, this distinction is critical — not just for notice, but for determining heirship itself. When all children are joint children of both the decedent and the surviving spouse and all property is community property, the surviving spouse is the sole heir and children have no inheritance interest. When any child is not a joint child, or when the estate includes separate property, children may share in the estate as heirs alongside the spouse.
Accurate parentage also supports:
- Bond exemption analysis under RCW 11.28.185
- Nonintervention power eligibility under RCW 11.68.011(2)(b)
- Guardian ad Litem waiver analysis under RCW 11.76.080(2)
- Correct notice determinations
- Accurate recitals in the Petition
Failure to correctly identify parentage can lead to errors in heir identification, bond analysis, and required notice.
Capacity status is also critical. If a child lacks legal capacity or is a minor, notice and representation requirements may differ and a Probate Guardian ad Litem may be required.
If a child of the decedent is also the Client/Petitioner, that individual must still be listed here as a child. You may use the Copy Client Info feature to populate their information.
For each child, provide identifying information and current mailing address. Accurate address information is required for notice purposes.
Deceased Children with Living Descendants
If the decedent had a child who predeceased them and that child left living descendants, enter:
- The deceased child; and
- Each of that deceased child's living children (the decedent's grandchildren).
The deceased child's entry establishes the line of representation under RCW 11.04.015. Although the deceased child does not receive notice and is not an heir, their living descendants inherit by representation and may be entitled to notice as heirs.
For each grandchild, enter identifying information, contact details, and capacity status.
If a deceased child left no living descendants, nothing should be entered for that child.