Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

Re: testimentary

Life insurance is generally not a probate asset. All you should need is the certified copy of the death certificate, the policy should have a named beneficiary (or it could say "by law" or something similar). So you should not need to do the probate process,but if you do, an overview of the process is provided: A letter testamentary is issued by the court clerk to the named Personal Representative or Executor of an estate upon the acceptance of the will into probate. If there is no will the clerk issues letters of administration upon the intestate estate being accepted into probate. The process is fairly straight forward, but I am not aware of the forms or formats being readily available on the web (I put together my own form set about 13 years ago and just review and update them. The fees for probate are $220 filing fee, and $20-$50 for notary fees and certified copies of the letters. If there is a will and the estate is solvent (don't count the life insurance, it is generally not a probate asset) then you can get non-intervention powers (authority to handle the estate without court intervention).