[WSBAPT] Clearing Title Following Prior Closed Probate

[Eric Nelsen]

Off the cuff:

Quick/least effort: Quitclaim deeds from Husband's estate to Husband's brother, and ignore the issue with Wife's estate. That probably can be fixed at the time of a later sale. It should just involve convincing the title company to insure around the gap in title from the Wife's estate, akin to an Affidavit of Lack of Probate, but modified to indicate that: probate occurred, property was unquestionably community property wholly inherited by Husband in 2009, and Husband continued to live at the property and pay all taxes until 2026. Basically the risk of a challenge to title based on Wife's interest is so low that an insurance company should be willing to insure. But it's not certain.

Clean, still fairly quick, but more expensive: Husband's brother petitions to re-open Wife's estate solely for purposes of issuing QCDs on the properties. Then Husband's brother can issue QCDs from both estates to himself. I think that would be legally permissible as an inheritance but, if anyone is queasy about it, Wife's Estate could issue QCDs to Husband's Estate, and then Husband's Estate issues the QCDs to brother. Either way, it sews up the tear in chain of title.

If going the clean route, beware the new probate rules. Husband's brother will be an RCW 11.28.120(3) petitioner as to Wife's estate, which means determining appropriate bond and no ability to get nonintervention powers, etc. So the petition likely would need to lay out exactly what needs to be done, and hopefully the appointing order could specifically authorize issuance of the deeds and authorize closure of the estate without further accounting once the deeds are issued.

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 Setareh Mahmoodi
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2026 1:59 PM
To: 'WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv' <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Clearing Title Following Prior Closed Probate

Good afternoon,

Husband and wife owned two properties. Wife passed away in 2009, and Husband opened and administered her estate through intestate probate. Husband was the sole beneficiary, and there were no children involved.

Husband has now passed away, and his brother is serving as PR of his estate and is also the sole beneficiary. During the administration, we discovered that Wife's name remains on title to both properties. It appears that no PR deeds were ever prepared or recorded during the 2009 probate to clear her name from title.

What would be the quickest and cleanest way to clear title and transfer both properties to Husband's brother?

I'd appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks so much!


Best regards,

___

For streamlined communication, please remember to reply to all or include my paralegal on all correspondence at nazi at lawofficesofsm.com<mailto:nazi at lawofficesofsm.com>

Setareh Mahmoodi

Attorney at Law

Law Offices of Setareh Mahmoodi, PS

18222 104th Ave NE, Suite 103, Bothell, WA 98011

Phone: (425) 806-1500

Fax: (425) 489-4142 (Please email documents if at all possible)

Email: SM at lawofficesofsm.com<mailto:SM at lawofficesofsm.com>

Website: http://www.lawofficesofsm.com/

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message and any attachments is a transmission from the law firm and is intended for the recipient only.  It may contain information that is confidential and legally protected by the attorney-client confidentiality, work product and/or other privileges.  If you are not the designated or intended recipient, please destroy the message without disclosing any of its contents and notify us immediately by reply email or by calling (425) 806-1500.

Pursuant to U.S. Treasury Department Regulations, we are now required to advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended or written to be used, and may not be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20261023/a128e608/attachment.html>