Are Wills Public Record in Washington State After Probate?

Yes, wills are public record in Washington State once they are filed with the superior court after the person’s death. During the writer’s lifetime a will is entirely private, but Washington law requires whoever holds the original to deliver it to the court within a short window after death, and from that point on anyone can look at it.

What Turns a Private Will Into a Public Record

The trigger is filing. If you have possession of someone’s will and you are not the named executor, you must deliver it either to the superior court in the county where the deceased lived or to the executor within 30 days of learning about the death. The executor then has 40 days from the date of death to file it with the court.¹

This obligation applies even when the family has no plans to open a probate case. Sitting on the will is not an option. A custodian who deliberately misses the deadline can be held personally liable for damages the delay causes beneficiaries or creditors.¹

The moment the will reaches the court clerk’s office it becomes part of the public record, whether or not a probate case ever follows.²

How to Look Up a Will Filed in Washington

Filed wills live in the records of the superior court in the county where the deceased person lived. The Washington State Courts run a statewide name-and-case search that covers probate filings in every county.³ The person’s full legal name is enough to start; a date of death or case number makes it faster.⁴

You can also walk into the superior court clerk’s office and view the file for free. Copies cost money. In King County, non-certified copies run $0.50 per page and certified copies are $5.00 for the first page and $1.00 for each page after that.⁵ Other counties operate under the same state fee statute, so pricing tends to be similar. Depositing the will initially carries a $20 filing fee.²

What Else Becomes Public When Probate Opens

The will is only the start of the file. Probate is the court-supervised process for confirming the will, appointing the executor, identifying assets, paying debts, and distributing what remains. Because a judge oversees each step, every document filed—inventories, creditor claims, accountings, distribution orders—joins the public record. If you want to know what someone owned, who inherited it, and who filed claims against the estate, an active probate case is where you find it.

Privacy Rules That Still Apply

Two Washington court rules keep some sensitive information out of the public file even when the case is open.

Redaction of Personal Identifiers

Under General Rule 31, filers must strip certain identifiers from documents before submitting them. Social Security numbers appear only as the last four digits. Financial account numbers, including bank and credit card accounts, are also cut to the last four. Driver’s license numbers come out entirely.⁶

The clerk will not do this for you. Redaction is the filer’s job, and a judge can order corrections when restricted identifiers slip through.⁶

Sealing an Entire Record

General Rule 15 lets a judge seal or redact court records, but the bar is high. The judge must issue written findings that specific privacy or safety concerns outweigh the public’s interest in access, and the parties simply agreeing to seal something does not satisfy the rule. If redacting part of a document would solve the problem, the court must redact rather than seal.⁷ Sealed probate files are uncommon in practice.

Keeping Estate Details Out of the Public Record

The realistic route to privacy is not sealing the will after the fact. It is arranging the estate so the will controls very little, and so no full probate case is needed. Several tools do that.

Revocable Living Trusts

Assets held in a living trust pass to beneficiaries under the trust’s terms, managed by a successor trustee. Nothing about the trust is filed with the court, and the document stays private. This is the most thorough way to keep an estate plan out of public view.

Beneficiary Designations and TOD Accounts

Life insurance, 401(k)s, IRAs, and any bank or investment account with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation goes straight to the named beneficiary. These transfers skip probate, so they never appear in the court file.

Community Property Agreements

Washington is a community property state. Spouses and registered domestic partners can sign a community property agreement directing that when one dies, all covered property passes immediately to the survivor without probate. The agreement must be signed, witnessed, and notarized like a real estate deed.⁸ It overrides the will for the assets it covers, so it needs to fit the rest of the plan.

Small Estate Affidavit

When the deceased person’s probate assets total $100,000 or less (not counting the surviving spouse’s community property share) and consist only of personal property, heirs can claim what they inherit with a small estate affidavit starting 40 days after the death, avoiding a formal court case.⁹ One caveat: the will itself still has to be filed within the 30-day or 40-day deadline, so it still becomes public. What the affidavit avoids is the additional layer of inventories, accountings, and distribution orders that a full probate would add to the file.¹

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 11.20.010 – Duty of Custodian of Will, Liability
2
Snohomish County. Probate and Wills
3
Washington State Courts. Washington State Courts Name and Case Search
4
Washington Courts. Find Out if a Person Has a Will
5
King County. Superior Court Clerk’s Office Fee and Payment Information
6
Washington State Courts. GR 31 Access to Court Records
7
Washington State Courts. GR 15 Destruction, Sealing, and Redaction of Court Records
8
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 26.16.120 – Agreements as to Status
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 11.62.010 – Disposition of Personal Property, Debts by Affidavit