Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

settling insolvent estate with creditor claims in WA

My mother died this spring in Washington state and left me as her executor. I have filed her will with the court as required by WA law but taken no further action so far. There is at least 1 major creditor (I know because they have been sending bills and calling me -- no other bills appear to be outstanding). She had very little $ (was living on Social Security in a state-paid nursing home). After final expenses there is less than $500 left in her account. It costs $200 to file either a probate or a non-probate notice to creditors. Being out of state, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do. I was planning to file a non-probate notice to creditors, but I can't tell how you resolve creditor's claims if the estate is insolvent using that procedure. What is my best option? The creditor's claim is ~$7,000 and I doubt they will voluntarily go away for $500; I tried asking them and they said they would have to see the claim form before they could move forward with settlement.


Asked on 7/31/08, 10:20 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Christopher Steuart IT Forensics, Inc.

Re: settling insolvent estate with creditor claims in WA

Tell the creditor that if they want to have the estate probated they should prepare and file the probate (and pay the filing fee) and then they can have the asset ($500.00). For you the filing fee and notary fee and letters fee will consume about half of that money and then several hours of your time, and you and the legatees will get nothing, so why bother. Nobody else besides your mother is liable for the debt, i.e. it does not transmit through the estate (unless somebody was co-signed for the debt or it was somehow a jointly incurred debt e.g. through community property rules). The creditor will not be interested, because they will have to hire somebody to prepare the documents and file them, and their net will be less than nothing.

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Answered on 7/31/08, 6:05 pm


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