[WSBAPT] Abandon King Co. Probate and Commence new Probate in Pierce Co.?

Tue Sep 19 10:08:33 PDT 2023

What if I petition the King County Superior Court to revoke the letters of administration, admit the will to probate, appoint a new personal representative, and then file a motion for change of venue per RCW 11.96A.050(4)?  The trigger is “within four months of the mailing of the notice of appointment and pendency of probate.”  With a new PR, there is a new notice of appointment that must be sent… Change of venue (if I can convince the court that I’m within the time prescribed) would be compulsory under RCW 11.96A.050(4)(a) because the decedent was a resident of Pierce County.

RCW 11.96A.050(4) provides:

(4) Venue for proceedings pertaining to the probate of wills, the administration and disposition of a decedent's property, including nonprobate assets, and any other matter not identified in subsection (1), (2), or (3) of this section, must be in any county in the state of Washington that the petitioner selects. A party to a proceeding may request that venue be changed if the request is made within four months of the mailing of the notice of appointment and pendency of probate required by RCW  11.28.237<http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.28.237>, and except for good cause shown, venue must be moved as follows:
(a) If the decedent was a resident of the state of Washington at the time of death, to the county of the decedent's residence; or
(b) If the decedent was not a resident of the state of Washington at the time of death, to any of the following:
(i) Any county in which any part of the probate estate might be;
(ii) If there are no probate assets, any county where any nonprobate asset might be; or
(iii) The county in which the decedent died.

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Inge A. Fordham | Attorney
Fordham Law, PLLC
3218 Sixth Avenue | Tacoma, WA 98406
Office: (253) 348-2657 | Mobile: (206) 778-3131
www.fordhamlegal.com<http://www.fordhamlegal.com>

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From: Inge Fordham <inge at fordhamlegal.com>
Date: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 10:01 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Abandon King Co. Probate and Commence new Probate in Pierce Co.?
It is going to cost to family more to fix all of the errors in King County, publish the notice of vacation and appointment of successor PR in two counties (where the probate is pending and where the notice to creditors should have been published given the existence of real property in Pierce Co.), publish a new notice to creditors with the appropriate statutory language, etc., etc.  Nothing has been done to administer the first estate – the administrator sat on it for nearly a year now.  No creditor claims and, as mentioned, improper notice to creditors.  No publication of the notice to creditors.  No notice to DSHS.  Failed to disclose the existence of a will and file it with the court, etc.  The errors are egregious.  Worse yet, the deceased administrator was an attorney who regularly handled probate actions.  Upon further investigation, the WSBA admonished him in 2017 for conduct very similar to that exhibited in this probate.  It’s mind boggling.

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Inge A. Fordham | Attorney
Fordham Law, PLLC
3218 Sixth Avenue | Tacoma, WA 98406
Office: (253) 348-2657 | Mobile: (206) 778-3131
www.fordhamlegal.com<http://www.fordhamlegal.com>

Confidential Communication: This email is sent to a recipient on behalf of an attorney/law firm, and is information intended exclusively for the individual, entity or company to which it is sent.  This communication may contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information or may otherwise be legally exempt from disclosure other than to the intended recipient.  If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or otherwise disseminate this message or any part of it.  If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by email or other communication and delete all copies of the message.

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Eric Nelsen <eric at sayrelawoffices.com>
Date: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 9:54 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Abandon King Co. Probate and Commence new Probate in Pierce Co.?
I don’t think it can just be abandoned; you’d have to disclose to the Pierce County court that an existing administration was commenced in King County. Even if the PR is deceased, they still did something during their administration, and the PR’s Estate I think has a duty to account to any successor PR as to what was done, what assets remain to be administered, etc. RCW 11.28.280, .290.

I think it’s too late to request a venue change also, under RCW 11.96A.050(4). You might be stuck in King County, for which I truly sympathize. I practice almost entirely in King County but occasionally handle a Pierce County case, and burn with regret every time I use LINX and remember that there was a time that King County could have switched to LINX instead of its current systems. AND that the statewide system could have been LINX instead of Odyssey. (I’m sure there were good reasons for the decision, but from the outside, LINX still looks like the best by far.)

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Inge Fordham
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 9:27 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Abandon King Co. Probate and Commence new Probate in Pierce Co.?

Colleagues,

I have a case where the administrator (now deceased) commenced probate in King County and several procedural mistakes were made.  Among other mistakes, the decedent had a will, which was never admitted to probate, proper notice was not given to heirs, the notice to creditors was defective and unpublished, no notice was given to DSHS, and the list goes on….  Rather than jumping through the hoops of petitioning the King County Court to revoke the prior letters, admit the will to probate, appoint a new personal representative, and fix all of the errors, may the new personal representative abandon the King County action and commence a new probate proceeding in Pierce County?  The Notice to Creditors will need to be re-published anyhow (so there’s no concern about proper notice to creditors – and there are no known creditors).  I recognize that I’m biased as my office is in Pierce County but I find the Pierce County Superior Court much more convenient for a number of reasons – LINX and proximity to the court, etc.

Thank you,

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Inge A. Fordham | Attorney
Fordham Law, PLLC
3218 Sixth Avenue | Tacoma, WA 98406
Office: (253) 348-2657 | Mobile: (206) 778-3131
www.fordhamlegal.com<http://www.fordhamlegal.com>

Confidential Communication: This email is sent to a recipient on behalf of an attorney/law firm, and is information intended exclusively for the individual, entity or company to which it is sent.  This communication may contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information or may otherwise be legally exempt from disclosure other than to the intended recipient.  If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or otherwise disseminate this message or any part of it.  If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by email or other communication and delete all copies of the message.
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