Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

Re: Spouse death in community property state

Although you won't want to hear this, the answer is "maybe." Typically, a probate is required after the death of any individual. Probate (or more correctly, estate administration) allows the court to determine the proper distribution of the assets of the decedent based on the Last Will and Testament. If no Will exists, the court follows a statutory distribution list. In most cases the statutory list probably matches who the decedent would have listed on his/her Will.

In a community property estate, the property of each spouse is assumed to be community. As such, unless the Will states otherwise, the surviving spouse will be entitled to ALL community property assets (but not necessarily separate property assets). However, probate would be necessary unless the estate was valued under $60,000 and did not contain real property.

Community Property Agreements allow both spouses to confirm that all property should be considered community as of the date of death. This may be the case even without the community property agreement. But what makes the community property agreement so valuable in community property states such as Washington is that because they are a contract between spouses and typically vests the decedent spouse's estate to the surviving spouse, they avoid probate at the death of the first spouse. Because of this benefit, I suggest that all married individuals who ONLY have community property in their estate AND have a combined estate less than $675,000 (ceiling before federal estate taxes are imposed on an estate) to execute a community property agreement IF they intend for their spouse to receive 100% of their estate. If you are married, only have community property, want everything to go to your spouse, and have a combined estate less than $675,000, community property states such as Washington are "great" states to die in. Hope this helps.