Tacoma firm on Pacific Avenue founded in 1949, with an estate group that handles probate and the administration of estates, estate litigation, and gift and estate tax planning. Planning work covers wills and trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives. The estate group works alongside the firm's business, real estate, and employment practices.
University Place is in Pierce County.
More Estate Planning Firms in Pierce County
Serves Pierce, King, and Thurston counties from offices in Tacoma, Seattle, and Olympia. Represents personal representatives in formal and summary probate and in estate and trust administration, and represents beneficiaries in will contests, undue influence claims, and trust litigation, including challenges to the actions of an executor or trustee. Also handles guardianships.
Tacoma general practice firm on Market Street, in practice since 1979, serving Tacoma and Pierce County. Helps families through probate and drafts wills and trusts. Estate work sits alongside the firm's family law, personal injury, and civil litigation practices.
Tacoma solo practice of James A. Jones. After a death it opens the probate estate with the court, notifies beneficiaries and creditors, handles creditor claims, transfers estate assets, and files estate and income tax returns; it also handles elder law and Medicaid planning. Free initial consultations in the office, by telephone, or by video.
North Tacoma firm whose probate and trust administration practice guides executors, trustees, and beneficiaries after a death, from opening the probate, preparing inventories, and completing the notice to creditors process to collecting and distributing assets, small estate affidavits, and settling estates without probate. The firm also handles estate planning, business law, mediation, and arbitration.
Tacoma firm with offices in Old Town Tacoma and downtown Gig Harbor. Its trusts and estates team opens probate and obtains letters for executors, values assets and prepares inventories, handles creditor claims, small estate affidavits, and estate mediation, and represents trustees in trust administration. The firm also prepares wills and trusts, mostly on a flat fee, and practices family law.
Probate in Pierce County
Probate Court Record
Pierce County Superior Court
Pierce County
Phone
Hours
Office
Website
E-filing
Filing in person
Self-represented filing
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Pierce County →
Verified October 15, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Pierce County? →Settling an estate in Pierce County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Washington
Free Washington forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Washington.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Last Will and Testament
In Washington, a will is signed before 2RCW 11.12.020Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyRCW 11.12.020Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Washington allows a choice for a healthcare power of attorney: 2RCW 11.125.050; RCW 11.125.400; RCW 70.122.030; RCW 7.70.065Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses or a notary.
Financial Power of Attorney
Washington requires explicit durability language for a power of attorney to survive incapacityRCW § 11.125.050Verified Oct 21, 2026View source, and it is signed before 2RCW § 11.125.050Verified Oct 21, 2026View source witnesses or a notary.
Pour-Over Will
In Washington, a pour-over will is signed before 2RCW 11.12.020Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
Transfer on Death Deed
In Washington, a transfer on death deed is signed before a notaryRCW 64.80.010 to 64.80.904Verified Oct 19, 2026View source, then recorded with the county before the owner's deathRCW 64.80.010 to 64.80.904Verified Oct 19, 2026View source. Washington does not recognize a Lady Bird deed.
Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Washington
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Washington: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for Washington.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
In Washington, a will-based plan pays probate attorney fees of typically 2.2%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source to 3.5%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source of the estate; a funded revocable trust keeps those assets out of probate and off that fee.
Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Probate in Washington takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate and charges attorney fees of typically 2.2%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source to 3.5%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source of the estate; assets held in a revocable trust skip both.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Washington runs $3,400Estimate: 10 hours at $340, Clio's Washington Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,100Estimate: 15 hours at $340, Clio's Washington Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $1,164Estimate: 3 hours at $388, Clio's Washington Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,328Estimate: 6 hours at $388, Clio's Washington Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
How Much Does Probate Cost?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in Washington costs an estimated $27,599RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source. Attorney fees run 2.2%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source to 3.5%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source of the estate under a reasonable-compensation standard.
Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?
Washington automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceRCW 11.07.010; RCW 11.12.051Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.
What Are the Estate Laws in My State?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in Washington costs an estimated $27,599RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source and takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate, with attorney fees of typically 2.2%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source to 3.5%Modeled estimate under RCW 11.48.210 (reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 9, 2026View source of the estate. Estates under $100,000RCW 11.62.010Verified Sep 9, 2026View source can use a small-estate procedure instead.
