How Do I Get Appointed as Executor in District of Columbia?

In District of Columbia, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Probate Division appoints the personal representative and the Register of Wills issues Letters of Administration; every appointment goes through the court.

State

Document Type

Getting appointed in District of Columbia

Personal Representative

The form that opens the estate

No statewide fill-in form

Fillable PDF

Start this petition for District of Columbia — the builder fills it with your answers. You review, sign, and file it with the court.

Where you file

Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Probate Division (Office of the Register of Wills), 515 5th Street NW, Room 314, Washington, DC 20001

What the court issues (with a will)

Letters of Administration

issued by Register of Wills

Letters are an output — the court issues them after granting the petition.

At a glance

UPC adoptedInformal trackE-filing (self-represented)Self-represented filingLocal/county forms

E-filing is mandatory for parties represented by counsel but optional for self-represented filers. The opening filing is PAPER regardless: Superior Court Administrative Order 13-15, PEF Procedure 4 ("Documents Excluded from eFiling"), subsection (a), lists "(1) Wills and codicils; (2) Initial pleadings that open a Probate Division case" (naming ADM and SEB among the case types) and "(4) Bonds", and the File Online page repeats that these "may not be eFiled and must be filed in paper with the clerk" — adding Form 26 (personal identification information) and Form 27 (financial information) to the paper-only list. So the Petition for Probate, the will, Form 26 and the bond go to the Probate Division in person (515 Fifth Street NW, Room 314); a self-represented fiduciary may then elect to e-file subsequent documents. The ADM filing packet: "The forms must be typewritten and filed at one time in person." A small-estate filer brings the petition packet to the Legal Branch in person.

Bond

Required before Letters: Yes
Waivable by will: Yes
Waivable by beneficiaries: Yes

What to file with the petition

Original will and any codicils, with the Certificate of Filing Will (D.C. Code § 20-304(c): "exhibit the original of the will with the petition"; DC Courts ADM case-initiation checklist, "Will (if any) and Certificate of Filing Will")
Abbreviated Probate Order (abbreviated track) or Standard Probate Order (standard/formal track) — the proposed order lodged with the petition
Statement of acceptance of the duties of the office and written consent to D.C. personal jurisdiction (D.C. Code § 20-501; "Acceptance and Consent of Each Personal Representative" form)
Bond, or waivers of bond, or some combination, unless excused (D.C. Code § 20-502)
Personal Identification Information (Form 26)
Notice of Appointment, Notice to Creditors and Notice to Unknown Heirs — lodged at case initiation. Statutory minimum (D.C. Code § 20-704(a)): "Within 20 days after appointment, the personal representative shall ... publish a notice of the appointment in a legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation in the District ... once a week for 2 successive weeks." In practice the Probate Division itself transmits the notice: "The Probate Division will send the document called Notice of Appointment, Notice to Creditors and Notice to Unknown Heirs to the two newspapers chosen by the personal representative for publication. The notice must be published once a week for three consecutive weeks concurrently in both of the publications."
List of interested persons — names and addresses of all interested persons and of any will witnesses (D.C. Code § 20-304(a)(6); stated in the petition)
Irrevocable power of attorney designating the Register of Wills for service, if the petitioner is a nonresident (D.C. Code § 20-303(b)(7))
Standard/formal probate only: Notice of Standard Probate, plus the Verified Statement Regarding Service of Petition for Standard Probate and the Acknowledgement of Receipt of Service of Notice Regarding Petition for Standard Probate (prior notice is what distinguishes formal from abbreviated probate — D.C. Code §§ 20-311, 20-323; § 20-323(a) requires notice to all known interested persons plus publication "once a week for 2 successive weeks")

Small-estate alternative

Bypasses full Letters: No
Form name: Petition for Administration of Small Estate

State-specific notes

The District uses one "personal representative" title for both testate and intestate appointees and issues a single "Letters of Administration" instrument (no separate "Letters Testamentary") — D.C. Code § 20-504 prescribes one form of letters, with a parenthetical recital of the will's probate used only on the testate track. One Petition for Probate form (for deaths on/after July 1, 1995 to the present) selects abbreviated vs. standard/formal probate, supervised vs. unsupervised administration, and original/successor/special-administrator/co-PR appointment via checkboxes; paragraph 1 carries the "(with) (without) a will" election, so the same form serves both tracks. Abbreviated probate is the fast path: it "may be conducted without the prior notice required for formal probate under § 20-323" (§ 20-311(a)), due execution of the will is presumed (§ 20-312(b)), and as amended the Court OR the Register of Wills may appoint (§ 20-312(a)) — that last point rides on emergency legislation (D.C. Act 26-388, expiring October 28, 2026, bridged by the pending temporary D.C. Act 26-351); the permanent text of § 20-312(a) still reads "the Court shall appoint". Formal probate becomes mandatory if an interested person or creditor requests it or if the abbreviated petition "is materially incomplete or incorrect in any respect" (§ 20-322). The Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Law 25-302, effective March 21, 2025) renamed "standard probate" to "formal probate" in the Code and raised the small-estate ceiling to $80,000 (D.C. Code § 20-351, formerly $40,000), and applies only to estates of decedents who died on or after March 21, 2025 (D.C. Law 25-302 § 7(d), added by D.C. Act 26-388 § 3); the court PDF forms, the Probate Division form checklists, and several brochures still display the older "Standard Probate" and "$40,000" labels — the ADM filing packet is headed "(VALUED AT MORE THAN $40,000)" and the small-estate petition form itself recites "do not exceed $40,000.00, effective April 27, 2001", so trust the Code. The District does NOT require a death certificate to open an estate. As a single jurisdiction, it has no counties or county-level probate forms.

General information about how a personal representative is appointed, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions. Data verified Aug 24, 2026

District of Columbia has no single statewide fill-in petition; the opening document is prepared to statute and filed with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Probate Division. Register of Wills issues Letters of Administration after the court grants the petition.

Along with the petition, District of Columbia generally requires: Original will and any codicils, with the Certificate of Filing Will (D.C. Code § 20-304(c): "exhibit the original of the will with the petition"; DC Courts ADM case-initiation checklist, "Will (if any) and Certificate of Filing Will"); Abbreviated Probate Order (abbreviated track) or Standard Probate Order (standard/formal track) — the proposed order lodged with the petition; Statement of acceptance of the duties of the office and written consent to D.C. personal jurisdiction (D.C. Code § 20-501; "Acceptance and Consent of Each Personal Representative" form). The court's own checklist runs longer for particular cases.

Yes. District of Columbia requires a bond by default before Letters issue. A will can waive it. The beneficiaries can also waive it in writing.

District of Columbia permits a self-represented person to open an estate. E-filing is open to self-represented filers. The District of Columbia self-file probate assessment sets self-filing against attorney costs.

Yes. A revocable living trust passes its assets to the beneficiaries without a court appointment in District of Columbia: no petition, no Letters, no bond. A revocable trust built with SimplyTrust takes about fifteen minutes.

Getting Appointed in District of Columbia

In District of Columbia, a personal representative is appointed by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Probate Division. Register of Wills issues the Letters that prove authority over the estate — Letters of Administration. District of Columbia has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code.

District of Columbia publishes no single statewide fill-in petition; the opening document is prepared to statute and filed with the court. The court filing fee runs $0 - $11,300 (graduated by personal property), and District of Columbia has no informal (registrar) appointment track, so every appointment goes through the court.

District of Columbia requires a bond by default before Letters issue, though a will can waive it and the beneficiaries can waive it in writing.

Estates under $40,000 in District of Columbia may qualify for a simplified procedure. The self-file probate assessment carries a District of Columbia cost comparison.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated September 8, 2026

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Data sourced from District of Columbia statutes and official state code. How we research.

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