[WSBAPT] RCW 11.78 issues

[Brent Williams-Ruth]

Greetings Marcus -

This is an outcome of the new Probate for Profit bill that passed.  Under
the new law, the statute limits the ability to bring a non-family member up
from the "any suitable person" category to ONLY the surviving spouse or
registered domestic partner.

It will be very interesting to see how this is applied in various counties.

Now that the state website has been updated, you can see how under (1)(a)
it clearly states that only the surviving spouse or registered domestic
partner may request to have someone else appointed in their shoes.
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=11.28.120

Under the prior law, there were no express prohibitions.  That is not the
case now.  The "Sub 3" - any suitable person, are now expressly forbidden
from being granted NIP and no bond. I beleive the Courts are going to be
less inclined to allow for the consent by heirs to change this.

Good luck!

Brent

*Brent Williams-Ruth* (pronouns: he/him)
*Attorney-At-Law*

*Law Offices of Brent Williams-Ruth, **a division of BWR Consulting, PLLC*

*Physical Address: 500 S 336th Street, Suite 214; Federal Way, WA 98003*

*Mailing Address: **PO BOX 3319; Federal Way, WA 98063 *

Office/Scheduling Phone: (253) 285-7751

For All Meetings & Scheduling: info at williams-ruthlaw.com

e-mail <Brent at Williams-RuthLaw.com> / website
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On Thu, Jul 23, 2026 at 9:55 AM Marcus Fry <MFry at hawleytroxell.com> wrote:

> Anyone encounter resistance from courts in granting nonintervention powers
> and waiving bond by the agreement of all the beneficiaries of an intestate
> estate when the PR is not on the list of approved family members of the
> deceased to serve.  Think of people like an ex-spouse or step-children
> serving as PR for an intestate estate by agreement of all of the
> beneficiaries.
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> Thank you,
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> Marcus
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> Hawley Troxell
>
> Yakima, WA.
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> 509.248.7220
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