How to Fill Out the District of Columbia Petition for Probate of Will + FAQs

The District of Columbia Petition for Probate is the court form you file with the D.C. Superior Court, Probate Division to open a deceased person’s estate, prove their will, and ask the court to appoint a personal representative who can legally settle that estate. Any person with an interest in the estate — most often the executor named in the will, a surviving spouse, or an adult child — files this petition under D.C. Code Title 20, the District’s law on wills, estates, and fiduciary relations.

When you fill it out, you tell the court who died, when and where, whether they left a will, who the heirs and beneficiaries are, and roughly what the estate is worth. Getting this right matters, because the District handles thousands of estates each year through this one document, and a single wrong box — a missed interested person, a bad value estimate, or an unsigned verification — can send your filing back to the bottom of the pile and delay your appointment by weeks. This guide walks you through the form line by line, in plain language, so a grieving family member can file it without a lawyer.

Here is what you will learn:

📝 How to fill out every section of the DC Petition for Probate, box by box, in plain English.
📂 The exact documents and information you must gather before you open the form.
⚖️ The difference between abbreviated and standard probate, and which one fits your situation.
💵 The current filing fees, where to file, and how to file by mail, in person, or by e-filing.
🚫 The most common mistakes filers make and the exact consequence of each one.

What the Petition for Probate Is and Who Must File It

The Petition for Probate is the opening document of a decedent’s estate in the District of Columbia. It does three jobs at once: it asks the court to accept the will as valid, it asks the court to appoint a personal representative (the District’s name for both executors and administrators), and it gives the court a snapshot of the estate’s heirs, beneficiaries, and value. The form is filed with the Register of Wills, who works inside the Probate Division of D.C. Superior Court, located at 515 5th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001.

You must file this petition when the person who died owned property in their sole name that does not pass automatically to someone else. That includes a house titled only in their name, a bank account with no payable-on-death beneficiary, or a car in their name alone. Property held in joint tenancy, in a living trust, or with a named beneficiary usually skips probate, so you may not need to file at all if everything was set up that way.

The District gives you more than one track. Abbreviated probate is the most common path for an uncontested estate where the person asking to serve has priority and holds the original will. Standard probate is used for unusual situations, such as when only a copy of the will exists, when the person seeking appointment lacks priority, or when someone is expected to object. There is also a separate small estate proceeding for estates worth $40,000 or less, which uses a different petition entirely.

The person who files is usually the executor named in the will. If that person cannot or will not serve, the law in D.C. Code § 20-303 sets an order of priority, generally moving to the surviving spouse or domestic partner, then to the residuary beneficiaries, then to other heirs. Whoever files takes on a fiduciary duty, meaning they must act honestly and in the estate’s best interest from the moment the court signs their appointment.

Before You Start: Documents and Information You Need

Filling out the petition goes faster and cleaner when you gather everything first. Opening the form and then hunting for a date or a Social Security number is how mistakes creep in. Below is your pre-filing checklist, with a note on why each item matters and what goes wrong if it is missing.

The original will and any codicils. The court needs the signed original, not a copy, for abbreviated probate. Filing only a copy forces you into standard probate, which adds notice and proof steps and slows everything down.
A certified death certificate. This proves the person actually died and fixes the date of death, which starts every deadline clock. Without it, the Register will not open the estate.
The decedent’s full legal name and any other names used. Estates, deeds, and accounts may be titled under different spellings. Missing an alias can leave assets stranded in the wrong name.
The date and place of death and the decedent’s last address. This sets venue, meaning whether D.C. is even the right court. A non-D.C. domicile with no D.C. property can get your petition rejected.
Names, ages, and addresses of all interested persons. Under D.C. Code § 20-101, these include the personal representative, every legatee under the will, and every heir at law. Leaving one out can void your notice and reopen the case.
A good-faith estimate of estate value. You need the rough value of real estate and personal property in D.C. This figure sets your filing fee, so a sloppy guess means a wrong payment.
Your own ID and contact information. The Register cross-checks the petitioner’s identity. A mismatch between your ID and your signature can trigger a hold.
Bond information or signed bond waivers. If the will does not waive bond and the heirs do not waive it, you must arrange a surety bond. Skipping this leaves your appointment incomplete.
The filing fee or a fee waiver request. The District charges a base fee plus a value-based surcharge. Arriving without payment means the clerk cannot accept the filing.

Take a few minutes to confirm that the will is the last one the decedent signed. A later will or codicil that surfaces after you file can undo your appointment and force the court to start over.

Where to Get the Form and How to Access It

The Petition for Probate is published by the D.C. Courts and is free to download. You can pull the current version from the Probate Division forms page on dccourts.gov, where the court keeps both the abbreviated and standard versions along with the companion documents you will need. Always check the revision date printed in the corner of the form before you start, so you know you are working from the version the Register currently accepts rather than an old PDF saved on your computer.

If you would rather be guided through the form question by question, the courts partner with a free interview tool. The DC Courts Forms Help Online program walks you through a Petition for Probate for a large or small estate, then assembles the finished documents for you to print, sign, and file. This is a strong choice for a self-represented filer who finds the blank form confusing, because it fills the right boxes in the right format based on your answers.

Attorneys and many repeat filers use the court’s electronic system, File & ServeXpress / CaseFileXpress, to submit probate documents online. Self-represented people can still walk into the Probate Clerk’s office at 515 5th Street NW, 3rd Floor, and file on paper. Whichever route you choose, the petition itself must be typed, not handwritten, because the Register will not accept a handwritten petition.

If cost is a worry, ask the clerk about a fee waiver. The Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Law 25-302) expanded access and fee relief, so a filer who cannot afford the surcharge may qualify to have it waived rather than abandoning the filing.

Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out the DC Petition for Probate Line by Line

The petition is organized into a caption at the top, a series of numbered paragraphs in the body, a request for relief, and a signed verification at the end. Work through it in the order the form presents, and fill every applicable box even when an item feels obvious. Below, each major section gets its own walkthrough.

Caption: Decedent’s Name and Case Information

The top of the form is the caption. It asks for the full legal name of the person who died, listed as the decedent in the matter, and leaves a blank for the administration case number that the clerk assigns when you file. You write the decedent’s complete legal name, in capital letters, exactly as it appears on the death certificate, for example MARGARET ANNE WILSON.

Leave the case number blank, because the Register fills that in. If the decedent used more than one name on deeds or accounts, add the alias with “also known as,” such as MARGARET ANNE WILSON, a/k/a MARGARET A. WILSON.

A common mistake here is entering a nickname or a married name that does not match the death certificate. When the name on the petition does not match the certificate, the Register flags the file and asks you to amend, which delays your appointment. Many filers believe the caption is just a label and does not matter, but it controls how every later document and asset search is indexed, so an error here follows the estate to its close.

Paragraph 1: Petitioner’s Name, Address, and Interest

This paragraph asks who you are and why you have the right to file. You enter your full legal name, your mailing address, your phone number, and your relationship to the decedent or your interest in the estate. For example, James Wilson, son of the decedent and the executor named in the will, residing at 1400 Maple Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011.

Write your name as it appears on your government ID, because the Register checks the petitioner’s identity against the signature and verification. If you are an attorney filing for a client, you list the client as petitioner and add your own bar information in the signature block, not here.

The most common mistake is failing to state your priority or interest clearly, which leaves the court unsure whether you are even allowed to serve. When that happens, the Register may bump you into standard probate or ask for consents from people with higher priority under D.C. Code § 20-303. Some filers think being a close relative is automatically enough, but the will’s named executor outranks family, so you must state the exact basis for your request.

Paragraph 2: Decedent’s Death, Domicile, and Venue

Here you state when and where the decedent died and where they lived. You enter the date of death in MM/DD/YYYY format, the place of death, and the decedent’s legal residence, called domicile, at the time of death. For example, The decedent died on 03/14/2026 at Sibley Memorial Hospital and was domiciled at 1400 Maple Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011.

The domicile line is what gives the D.C. court power over the estate, so it must be the decedent’s true permanent home, not a hospital or a vacation address. If the decedent lived outside D.C. but owned real estate in the District, you note that D.C. property here, because it provides a different basis for filing.

A frequent error is listing the hospital or nursing home as the residence instead of the decedent’s actual home. That can make it look like D.C. is the wrong venue and trigger a transfer or dismissal. People often assume that the place of death equals domicile, but a person who dies in a Maryland hospital while living in D.C. is still a D.C. domiciliary, and you must say so.

Paragraph 3: The Will and Its Status

This section asks whether the decedent left a will and identifies it. You state that the decedent left a valid will, give the date the will was signed, and note any codicils with their dates. For example, The decedent left a will dated 06/02/2019 and one codicil dated 01/10/2022, the originals of which are filed with this petition.

You must file the original will with the petition for abbreviated probate, and you confirm that in this paragraph. If you only have a copy because the original is lost, you say so plainly, which moves you into standard probate and requires extra proof that the will was not revoked.

The classic mistake is misstating the will’s date or forgetting a codicil, which makes the documents you attach not match what the petition describes. That mismatch stalls the file until you correct it. Many filers wrongly believe a photocopy is “good enough” for abbreviated probate, but the District treats a missing original as a sign the will may have been destroyed, so the rules are stricter.

Paragraph 4: Interested Persons

This is the heart of the petition and the one filers get wrong most. You must list every interested person as defined in D.C. Code § 20-101, giving each person’s full name, age (or a note that they are an adult or minor), mailing address, and relationship to the decedent. Interested persons include the personal representative, every legatee named in the will, and every heir at law who would inherit if there were no will.

List them in a clean table or list inside the form, for example Sarah Wilson, adult, daughter and legatee, 88 Birch Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Include minors and note their age, because minors receive notice through a parent or guardian.

The most damaging mistake is leaving out an interested person, even an estranged relative or a small-gift beneficiary. Notice must reach all of them, and a missing person can void the notice, reopen the estate, and expose you to a challenge. A widespread misconception is that you only list people who inherit money, but heirs at law must appear even when the will leaves them nothing, because they have the right to contest.

Paragraph 5: Estate Value Estimate

Here you give a good-faith estimate of the value of the estate’s property located in the District. You separate, or at least describe, the value of real property and the value of personal property such as bank accounts, vehicles, and investments. For example, Real property valued at approximately $420,000 and personal property valued at approximately $85,000.

This is an estimate, not the formal inventory you will file later, so a reasonable figure based on what you know is fine. Round to a sensible number rather than guessing to the dollar.

The error that costs money here is a value that is too low, because the filing fee is based on this number, and an undervalued estate means an underpaid fee that the clerk will catch and bounce back. Filers often think the estate value includes joint or beneficiary-designated assets, but those generally pass outside probate, so you list only the probate property the personal representative will actually administer.

Paragraph 6: Bond

This section addresses the surety bond, an insurance-like guarantee that protects the estate if the personal representative mishandles funds. You state whether bond is waived by the will, waived by the interested persons, or required and in what amount. For example, Bond is waived by Article V of the decedent’s will, or Bond in the amount of $85,000 is requested.

Under the District’s practice and D.C. Code § 20-501, the will can waive bond, or all the heirs and residuary beneficiaries can waive it by signing waivers you attach. If no one waives it, you must obtain a bond, usually set near the value of the personal property.

A common slip is claiming bond is waived without attaching the signed waivers or pointing to the will clause that waives it. The Register will not appoint you until the bond question is fully resolved, so a half-answered box stops the case. Some filers assume bond is always required and pay for one needlessly, when a clear waiver in the will would have saved the premium.

Paragraph 7: Type of Administration and Request for Appointment

Here you tell the court whether you want supervised or unsupervised administration and ask to be appointed personal representative. Unsupervised administration gives you more freedom and fewer mandatory filings, while supervised administration puts the court’s eyes on every inventory and account. For example, Petitioner requests unsupervised administration and appointment as personal representative with the issuance of Letters Testamentary.

You also state the form of “letters” you want — Letters Testamentary when you are named in the will, or Letters of Administration when the court appoints you without a will naming you. These letters are the proof banks and others demand before they will deal with you.

The mistake here is requesting supervised administration by accident, which then locks you into court approval for routine acts and adds months. Filers sometimes think supervised administration is “safer” and choose it without need, but for a simple, uncontested estate, unsupervised administration is faster and cheaper while still requiring you to account to the beneficiaries.

Verification and Signature Block

The petition ends with a verification, a sworn statement that everything you wrote is true to the best of your knowledge, followed by your signature and the date. You sign your full legal name, print it below, and date it in MM/DD/YYYY format, for example James Wilson, 03/20/2026. Many filers must sign before a notary or under penalty of perjury, depending on the version of the form.

If an attorney is filing, the attorney adds their name, D.C. Bar number, firm, address, and phone in a separate counsel block beneath the petitioner’s signature.

The fatal mistake is filing an unsigned or undated verification, which the Register treats as no petition at all and returns to you. People sometimes believe a typed name counts as a signature, but the verification requires your actual signature, and a missing signature resets your filing date and every deadline that runs from it.

Three Filled-Out Examples Using Real Scenarios

Seeing the form completed for real situations makes the blanks easier to fill. Below are three common fact patterns, each following one person through the petition’s main sections.

Scenario 1 — Surviving spouse, simple estate, valid will (abbreviated probate). Carlos Mendoza’s wife died in D.C. leaving a short will naming him executor and waiving bond. The estate is a joint-but-also-solely-titled bank account and a car.

Form Section	What Carlos Enters
Caption — Decedent’s name	ELENA MENDOZA
Paragraph 1 — Petitioner and interest	Carlos Mendoza, husband and named executor
Paragraph 2 — Death and domicile	Died 02/02/2026, domiciled at 22 Quincy St NW, DC
Paragraph 3 — Will	Original will dated 05/12/2018, filed with petition
Paragraph 4 — Interested persons	Carlos Mendoza (spouse); two adult children, legatees
Paragraph 5 — Estate value	No real property; personal property approx. $60,000
Paragraph 6 — Bond	Bond waived by Article IV of the will
Paragraph 7 — Administration	Unsupervised; requests Letters Testamentary

Scenario 2 — Adult child, larger estate with a house (abbreviated probate). James Wilson is the executor named in his late mother’s will. The estate includes a row house and several accounts.

Form Section	What James Enters
Caption — Decedent’s name	MARGARET ANNE WILSON
Paragraph 1 — Petitioner and interest	James Wilson, son and named executor
Paragraph 2 — Death and domicile	Died 03/14/2026, domiciled at 1400 Maple Ave NW, DC
Paragraph 3 — Will	Original will dated 06/02/2019, one codicil 01/10/2022
Paragraph 4 — Interested persons	James Wilson; sister Sarah Wilson; brother Paul Wilson
Paragraph 5 — Estate value	Real property approx. $420,000; personal approx. $85,000
Paragraph 6 — Bond	Bond waived by all heirs; signed waivers attached
Paragraph 7 — Administration	Unsupervised; requests Letters Testamentary

Scenario 3 — Named executor declined, successor petitions, only a copy of the will (standard probate). Aisha Bennett’s aunt named a friend as executor, but the friend renounced. Aisha, a residuary beneficiary, has only a photocopy of the will because the original was lost.

Form Section	What Aisha Enters
Caption — Decedent’s name	DORIS LEE BENNETT
Paragraph 1 — Petitioner and interest	Aisha Bennett, niece and residuary beneficiary
Paragraph 2 — Death and domicile	Died 01/08/2026, domiciled at 905 G St SE, DC
Paragraph 3 — Will	Copy of will dated 09/01/2015; original lost — standard
Paragraph 4 — Interested persons	Aisha Bennett; named executor (renounced); two cousins
Paragraph 5 — Estate value	Real property approx. $300,000; personal approx. $40,000
Paragraph 6 — Bond	Bond requested in the amount of $40,000
Paragraph 7 — Administration	Standard probate; requests Letters of Administration

How to File the Completed Petition

The District gives you three ways to file the finished petition, and your proof of filing matters in every case. Keep a stamped or electronic confirmation, because that is your evidence the estate was opened on a given date. Marcus, a first-time filer settling his father’s estate, learned to photograph his receipt before he left the building.

In person. Take the typed petition, the original will, the certified death certificate, any bond waivers, and your fee to the Probate Clerk’s office at 515 5th Street NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001. The clerk reviews it, assigns a case number, and stamps your copy as proof. The office accepts cash, check, money order, and most cards.
By mail. Mail the same complete package to the Register of Wills at the same address. Send it by a tracked method so you have delivery proof, and include a check or money order for the fee, since you cannot hand over cash by mail. Expect added time for the office to log and return your stamped copy.
By e-filing. Attorneys and registered users file through File & ServeXpress / CaseFileXpress on dccourts.gov, uploading the petition and paying online. The system time-stamps your submission and gives you an electronic receipt, though you still deliver the original paper will to the Register.

On fees, the District charges a base filing fee of $25, plus a value-based surcharge of about $1.50 per $1,000 of estate value over $1,000, which you can confirm in the Washington DC probate fee breakdown. An estate valued near $250,000, for example, runs roughly $375 in surcharge on top of the base fee. Estates of $40,000 or less use the cheaper small estate petition instead, and processing for a clean abbreviated filing commonly takes a few weeks to issue letters.

What Happens After You File

Once you file, a Deputy Register of Wills reviews the petition before anything else moves. They check that the will, death certificate, fee, and waivers are all present and that the interested-persons list is complete. If everything is in order in an abbreviated case, the court can appoint you and issue your Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration without a hearing, often within a few weeks.

After appointment, you must publish a Notice of Appointment in a D.C. legal newspaper, which opens the creditor claim window. Under D.C. Code § 20-704 and § 20-343, creditors then have six months from first publication to file claims against the estate, so you should not rush to distribute property before that window closes.

You will also owe an Inventory of the estate’s assets, typically due within three months of appointment, and then either periodic accounts in supervised administration or a final accounting to the beneficiaries in unsupervised administration. If the estate is large, watch the tax line: the District imposes its own estate tax on estates above roughly $4.71 million, and the D.C. Estate Tax Return (Form D-76) is due nine months after death.

Through all of it, you remain a fiduciary. Keep estate money in a separate estate account, keep records of every dollar, and obtain receipts from beneficiaries when you finally distribute, because the court can require you to prove what you did before it discharges you.

Mistakes to Avoid When Filling Out the Petition

Each box on this form is its own chance to slip. Below are the errors that most often delay a D.C. estate, with the consequence of each.

Filing a handwritten petition. The Register rejects it on sight, costing you the trip and the filing date.
Using a name that does not match the death certificate. The file gets flagged and held until you amend the caption.
Listing the hospital as the domicile. It can make D.C. look like the wrong venue and trigger dismissal or transfer.
Filing only a copy of the will in abbreviated probate. You are forced into standard probate, adding notice and proof steps.
Leaving an interested person off Paragraph 4. Notice becomes defective, and the estate can be reopened or challenged.
Undervaluing the estate in Paragraph 5. Your filing fee comes up short, and the clerk bounces the petition back.
Saying bond is waived without attaching waivers. The court cannot appoint you until the bond question is fully answered.
Choosing supervised administration by mistake. You lock yourself into court approval for routine acts and add months of delay.
Forgetting a codicil in Paragraph 3. The attached documents no longer match the petition, stalling the file.
Filing an unsigned or unnotarized verification. The Register treats it as no petition at all and returns it.
Skipping the publication of notice after appointment. The creditor clock never starts, leaving the estate exposed long-term.
Distributing assets before the six-month creditor window closes. You can be held personally liable to a creditor you paid around.

Do’s and Don’ts

A few simple habits keep your petition clean and your appointment fast.

Do:

Do type the entire petition, because the Register will not accept handwriting.
Do match every name to official records, since the court cross-checks the caption and your ID.
Do list every interested person, as missing one can void your notice.
Do file the original will for abbreviated probate, because a copy pushes you into standard probate.
Do keep your stamped or electronic receipt, since it proves your filing date and starts your deadlines.
Do confirm the fee against the value-based schedule, so the clerk does not reject an underpayment.

Don’t:

Don’t guess at the estate value carelessly, because a low number means an underpaid fee.
Don’t claim bond is waived without proof, since the court will not appoint you until it is resolved.
Don’t list a hospital as the domicile, as it muddies venue.
Don’t distribute assets early, because creditors have six months to file claims.
Don’t forget to sign and date the verification, since an unsigned petition is treated as never filed.
Don’t ignore later wills or codicils, because a newer document can undo your whole appointment.

Pros and Cons of Filing on Your Own vs. With Help

Many D.C. families weigh handling probate themselves against hiring an attorney, especially since District lawyers often charge $300 to $600 an hour, as noted in this DC probate cost overview.

Pros of filing on your own:

You save thousands in fees, since simple D.C. probate with a lawyer commonly runs $4,000 to $8,000.
Free tools exist, because the Forms Help Online interview guides you box by box.
You stay in control, as you handle the timeline and contact with the Register directly.
Abbreviated probate is designed to be simple, so an uncontested estate often needs no hearing.
You learn the estate intimately, which helps when you later file the inventory and accounts.

Cons of filing on your own:

One wrong box can delay you weeks, because the Register returns incomplete petitions.
You carry personal liability, since a fiduciary who distributes too early can owe creditors out of pocket.
Standard probate is technical, so a lost original will or a priority dispute is hard to handle alone.
Tax and bond rules trip up newcomers, especially the Form D-76 deadline on large estates.
Contests get expensive fast, because a will challenge can stretch a case past a year and demand a lawyer anyway.

Abbreviated vs. Standard Probate at a Glance

Knowing which track you are on shapes how you fill out Paragraphs 3 and 7.

Feature	What It Means
Abbreviated probate	Most common; original will, petitioner has priority, no advance notice needed before appointment
Standard probate	Used for a will copy, a non-priority petitioner, or an expected objection; requires notice before appointment
Original will required	Yes for abbreviated; a copy forces standard probate with extra proof
Notice before appointment	Not required in abbreviated; required in standard
Typical speed	Abbreviated is faster, often weeks; standard adds months

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I file the original will or a copy with the petition?

Yes, file the signed original for abbreviated probate; a copy is only used in standard probate and requires extra proof that the will was never revoked.

Must the petition be typed?

Yes, the Register of Wills requires a typed petition and will not accept a handwritten one, so use the form or the online interview.

Do I list heirs who inherit nothing under the will in Paragraph 4?

Yes, every heir at law is an interested person under D.C. Code § 20-101 and must be listed, even when the will leaves them nothing, because they may contest.

Do I write the place of death as the domicile in Paragraph 2?

No, you write the decedent’s true permanent home as the domicile; the place of death, like a hospital, does not control venue.

Is bond always required?

No, bond can be waived by the will or by all heirs and residuary beneficiaries through signed waivers attached to the petition.

Do I include joint accounts and life insurance in the estate value?

No, list only sole-name probate property; joint, payable-on-death, and beneficiary-designated assets pass outside probate and are excluded.

Can I be appointed without a court hearing?

Yes, in an uncontested abbreviated case the court can appoint you and issue letters without a hearing once the file is complete.

Do I need a lawyer to file the Petition for Probate?

No, self-represented filers regularly use the free Forms Help Online interview, though complex or contested estates often benefit from counsel.

Is there a deadline to file the will after death?

Yes, you should file the will promptly with the Register, and you should open the estate without unreasonable delay to avoid complications.

Do I write my own name or the decedent’s in the caption?

No, the caption holds the decedent’s full legal name as it appears on the death certificate; your name goes in Paragraph 1.

Will I owe D.C. estate tax?

No, most estates owe none, because the D.C. estate tax applies only to estates above roughly $4.71 million, with Form D-76 due nine months after death.

Can I distribute assets right after I am appointed?

No, wait until the six-month creditor claim window after publication closes, because paying out early can leave you personally liable to a valid creditor.

Do I choose supervised or unsupervised administration in Paragraph 7?

Yes, you select the level of oversight; unsupervised is faster and cheaper for simple, uncontested estates, while supervised adds mandatory court review.

Does e-filing replace delivering the paper will?

No, even when you e-file the petition through CaseFileXpress, you must still deliver the original paper will to the Register of Wills.

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