[WSBAPT] Pierce County probate questions

Wed Oct 8 11:36:14 PDT 2025

Pierce County runs a JIS/JABS report for all proposed administrators and personal representatives.  This is true even where the proposed administrator is a professional fiduciary.  I do not include the petitioner’s DOB in my petition.  I provide it verbally (if presenting the petition in person) or file a separate document titled “Confidential Date of Birth of Petitioner,” which will have limited access on LINX (much like a death certificate).

[uc%3fexport=download&id=1W3rEcChy0_E0cCfV5up02mkhwnL6eWIs&revid=0B4P5JoIHdbFaR29EbHlRWHFseFV5STZpSUVGeUNPWldkVDFVPQ]
Inge A. Fordham | Attorney
Fordham Law, PLLC
3218 Sixth Avenue | Tacoma, WA 98406
Office: (253) 348-2657 | Fax: (253) 276-0280
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 Sarah McCarthy <sarah at kawlawyers.com>
Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025 at 10:50 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Pierce County probate questions
Wow! There are courts that run background checks???  That makes total sense, but I've never heard of that. Not the practice in Island...

Sarah O’Farrell McCarthy

(Pronouns: she / her)
Attorney*, Partner | Kelly, Arndt & Walker, Attorneys at Law, PLLP
P.O. Box 290 | 6443 Harding Avenue | Clinton, WA  98236

(Located on Whidbey Island, Island County, Washington)

* Licensed to practice in Washington (active) and California (inactive)
Phone: (360) 341-1515 | Fax: (360) 341-3272
sarah at kawlawyers.com | www.kawlawyers.com<http://www.kawlawyers.com>

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR DELIVERIES TO THIS OFFICE:

For delivery by USPS, please send to PO Box 290, Clinton, WA 98236.

For delivery by UPS or FedEX, please send to 6443 Harding Ave, Clinton WA 98236.

This electronic message transmission contains information from the law firm of Kelly, Arndt & Walker, PLLP which may be confidential or privileged.  This information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above,  If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any further review, disclosure, printing, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this transmission is prohibited. If you have received this electronic message transmission in error, please notify us immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message.  Thank you.

We do not accept service of any kind by e-mail unless expressly authorized in writing by the attorney of record.  This e-mail is NOT a contract and is not binding upon the author pursuant to CR 2A. This e-mail is, at most, a negotiation under ER 408.

On Wed, Oct 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM deborah at neillaw.com<mailto:deborah at neillaw.com> <deborah at neillaw.com<mailto:deborah at neillaw.com>> wrote:
Sara,

How would your court run a background check without the proposed administrator’s birthdate?

Deborah Jameson| Attorney | Neil & Neil, P.S.
5302 Pacific Avenue,Tacoma,WA 98408 | deborah at neillaw.com<mailto:deborah at neillaw.com>
(253)475-8600 | f:(253)473-5746

This email address is not monitored at all times. If your matter is urgent, please phone my office.
Also, this message is not encrypted, therefore it may not be secure. This message and attachsents are confidential and may contain information that is privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender at once by email or call 253-475-8600 and delete this message completely from your information system. Further use, disclosure, or copying of information contained in this email is not authorized, and receipt by anyone other than the named recipient is not a waiver of any attorney-client, work product, or other applicable privilege; or other confidentiality protections.

On Oct 8, 2025, at 9:42 AM, Sara Longley <slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com<mailto:slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com>> wrote:

A note of sincere thanks to the folks who reached out to me yesterday, and a helpful hint for any other first-time Pierce County probate filers out there:

Pierce County requires that the Petition for Probate include the date of birth of the person seeking appointment as Personal Representative.  If you do not include it, your petition will be rejected.

This rule appears nowhere in the local rules, court website, or anywhere else that I could find.  You just have to know.

Best,
Sara

<Outlook-cid_image0.png>
Sara D. Longley, Attorney
(Main) 360.378.4450 ext. 107
(Direct) 360.468.7230
Slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com<mailto:Slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com>
www.pnwtaxlaw.com<http://www.pnwtaxlaw.com/>

This email and any attachments may contain confidential and/or attorney-client privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient please immediately delete the email and notify the sender.
________________________________
From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com><wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> on behalf of Sara Longley <slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com<mailto:slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com>>
Sent: Tuesday, October 7, 2025 11:13 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Pierce County probate questions

Hello lovely listmates,

I have a client seeking to be appointed Successor PR in an ongoing probate in Pierce County — this is my first time in many years practicing in Pierce, though I do have a LINX account.  (I've been practicing in King for over 15 years.)

I filed what I thought was a completely adequate Petition, Oath, and supporting declarations from all the other beneficiaries, but this morning I received a denial.

If there is someone who regularly practices there who could spare a few minutes to answer my newbie questions I would be incredibly grateful.

Thanks in advance,
Sara

<Outlook-cid_image0.png>
Sara D. Longley, Attorney
(Main) 360.378.4450 ext. 107
(Direct) 360.468.7230
Slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com<mailto:Slongley at pnwtaxlaw.com>
www.pnwtaxlaw.com<http://www.pnwtaxlaw.com/>

This email and any attachments may contain confidential and/or attorney-client privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient please immediately delete the email and notify the sender.
***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***
_______________________________________________
WSBAPT mailing list
WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com>
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt

***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***
_______________________________________________
WSBAPT mailing list
WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com>
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20251008/551298e2/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 358107 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20251008/551298e2/image001-0001.png>