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Grant County, WA Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Superior Court in Grant County. There is no separate probate court in Washington; the superior court is the general trial court and handles probate as a case type under RCW Title 11. The Grant County Clerk's Office supports three superior court judges and one court commissioner, and the court has four departments under LAR 2(a) of the local rules: Civil, Criminal, Juvenile Court, and the Court Commissioner's Department. Probate orders are commonly presented ex parte, and the commissioner may sign them (LAR 2(d)) |
| Filing office | The Grant County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court. This is the office that takes the petition, lodges the will, issues letters, and keeps the county's estate records. The Clerk is an elected county officer, and the office describes itself as serving the Superior Court and the public after election by the citizens of Grant County |
| Courthouse | Law and Justice Building, 35 C Street NW, Room 218, Ephrata, WA 98823. The Clerk's counter is on the second floor, which is also where the courtrooms are. The courts.wa.gov directory prints the same location for the County Clerk |
| Mailing address | Grant County Clerk, PO Box 37, Ephrata, WA 98823. Probate filings, payments, and clerk correspondence can be mailed to this box. The Superior Court itself and the county's district court use the same PO Box 37, so address probate mail to the Grant County Clerk by name |
| Phone | (509) 754-2015, the Grant County Clerk's direct line, with a toll free line at 1-800-572-0119 extension 2801. The Superior Court publishes (509) 450-1128 for court business, and the courts.wa.gov directory lists the Court Administrator at (509) 754-2011 extension 4144 for scheduling; file with the Clerk, schedule with the Court Administrator |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed over the lunch hour, per the Clerk's own page. Staff are available by phone until 5 p.m. E-filed documents received after 4:30 p.m., or on a weekend or holiday, are filed the next court day, per the Clerk's formatting requirements checklist |
| Filing fee | $290 to open a probate, set by statute and the same in every county: a $200 filing fee plus a $40 surcharge and a $50 surcharge (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)); fee waivers are available for filers who cannot afford the fee (GR 34). Grant County's own fee schedule effective June 11, 2026 prints the same $290 total for an Estate (Probate) filing, as a $200 filing line plus $90 in surcharges with the same statutory cites. Confirm the current schedule with the Grant County Clerk |
| Ex parte fee | $30 for presentation of orders, up to three per case per day, which the Clerk collects under RCW 36.18.016(12). This matters in probate because most probate orders here are presented ex parte. The Clerk charges no ex parte fee for presenting a motion and order to proceed in forma pauperis to waive a filing fee, or a motion and order of indigency for an appeal |
| Local forms | Yes. Washington publishes no statewide probate form set (verified July 2026 on the courts.wa.gov Court Forms index, which has no probate category), but Grant County's Clerk posts a Probate and Estate Case Information Cover Sheet along with a Pleading Cover Sheet, a formatting requirements checklist, and blank Motion, Declaration, Order, Notice of Hearing, Notice Re Virtual Hearing, and Confidential Information Sheet forms. The Superior Court posts its own local court forms, including the LR8-I Virtual Appearance Notice. The petition, the order admitting the will, the oath, and the notices are still drafted documents |
| E-filing | Available through the Clerk's own portal, not required, and not the whole route. The Clerk publishes an Attorney eFiling Login whose registration page describes access to eFile with the Grant County Superior Court Clerk, and account help goes to [email protected]. Nothing makes it mandatory: the current Grant County Local Rules contain no electronic filing rule. The published limits matter more than the login does. Images must be black and white at 300 dpi and no larger than 60 MB each, a filing that carries a fee must be paid first by credit card by calling the Clerk's office, anything received after 4:30 p.m. is filed the next court day, and orders may not be presented to the court for signing by e-filing. Ex parte presentations may not be emailed or submitted electronically at all. A self-represented probate filer's reliable path is paper at the counter or by mail; ask the Clerk before assuming portal access |
| Case search | Grant County is one of the counties covered by Odyssey Portal, the current public case search for Washington superior courts (https://odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov/odyportal), and the Clerk's page links to it directly. The statewide index at https://dw.courts.wa.gov/ also reaches superior court cases, but it carries its own notice that dockets and case status may be inaccurate and directs users to Odyssey Portal or the court of record. Registered agency and law firm access to Odyssey Portal takes a master registration form and a confidentiality agreement filed with each participating county clerk plus a $25 annual registration fee per agency or law firm; the public search needs no account. Probate cases are indexed as superior court civil cases, and for the file itself contact the Grant County Clerk |
| Hearing dates | There is no probate docket in Grant County. The county's published docket list and LAR 4(a) of the local rules set the Civil Department calendars as protection orders Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., civil motions Friday at 9:00 a.m., and adoptions Friday at 11:00 a.m., with criminal, domestic, paternity, dependency, and juvenile dockets on their own days. Civil law and motion dockets are limited to matters needing no more than ten minutes per side (LCR 7(a)), and summary judgment motions, TEDRA petitions, and anything longer must be specially set with the Court Administrator (LAR 8). Holidays shift the dockets under LAR 4(b). Ask the Court Administrator's office which calendar a contested probate matter belongs on |
| Remote appearance | Allowed on the regular dockets without asking permission. Under LAR 9(a) attorneys and parties may appear in person or virtually through Grant County's virtual platform on all regular dockets and on special set motions, instructions are on the county's Superior Court and video hearings pages, and no special notice or filing is required, though the person appearing virtually carries the connectivity risk. Trials, evidentiary hearings, summary judgment hearings, and settlement conferences are in person under LAR 9(b), and appearing virtually at one of those takes a noted motion at least 14 court days ahead. If you appear virtually, clean copies of your proposed orders must reach the court at least one court day before the hearing (LCR 8) |
| Website | https://www.grantcountywa.gov/302/Clerk (the Grant County Clerk, with hours, contacts, the fee schedule, the forms list, and the calendars) and https://www.grantcountywa.gov/351/Superior-Court (the Superior Court, with the ex parte instructions, local court forms, and the local rules) |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything with the Grant County Clerk, know exactly what is in the estate. Which Washington route fits depends on whether there is a will, on who is entitled to be appointed, and on the value and type of the assets, because a full probate with letters testamentary or letters of administration, an unsupervised administration under nonintervention powers (RCW 11.68.011), and a small estate affidavit that opens no court case (RCW 11.62.010) are different routes with different filings. Those routes and their thresholds are statewide and are explained on the Washington state page. Identifying the estate first matters locally too, because Grant County charges fees per presentation and takes them in advance with no refunds, so a filing you have to redo costs money as well as another trip to Ephrata.
Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle, and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you file. How each asset is titled decides which route you need: the small estate affidavit reaches personal property only, and Grant County's own fee schedule notes that the affidavit is not filed with the Clerk at all, while a house in Moses Lake or Ephrata, Columbia Basin farm ground, or any other real property generally requires a probate in the superior court so that a personal representative has authority to sign a deed. Knowing the debts matters too, because nonintervention powers are granted only if the court finds the estate solvent (RCW 11.68.011). Sunset's asset discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Grant County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, is the single probate filing office for all of Grant County, at one counter in Room 218 on the second floor of the Law and Justice Building at 35 C Street NW in Ephrata. There is no second courthouse and no branch clerk counter for probate. The office serves the entire county, including Moses Lake, the county's largest city, Ephrata, the county seat, and Quincy, Warden, Royal City, Mattawa, Soap Lake, George, Coulee City, Grand Coulee, Electric City, Wilson Creek, Hartline, and Krupp, along with the unincorporated Columbia Basin farm country between them. Estates from every part of the county are filed here, in person at the counter or by mail to the Grant County Clerk, PO Box 37, Ephrata, WA 98823.
Grant County has its own superior court bench rather than sharing a judge with a neighboring county: the Clerk's Office supports three superior court judges and one court commissioner, and under LAR 2(a) of the local rules the judicial officers rotate among four departments, Civil, Criminal, Juvenile Court, and the Court Commissioner's Department. One local wrinkle is worth knowing before you present an order: under LAR 2(d) the Grant County District Court judge assigned to the Moses Lake district is ordinarily appointed a commissioner of the superior court and may sign ex parte orders, and an ex parte order signed somewhere other than the Grant County Courthouse is transmitted by the commissioner to the Clerk rather than handed back to the person who asked for it. Plan on getting your conformed and certified copies from the Clerk in Ephrata.
Washington law lets the petitioner file a probate in the superior court of any county in the state (RCW 11.96A.050(4)), but in practice you file in the county where the decedent lived: an interested party can move venue there within four months of the notice of appointment, and if the probate is filed outside the county of residence the creditor notice must still be published in the county of residence (RCW 11.40.020(2)). So if the person who died lived in Grant County, file with the Grant County Clerk. Grant County prices that second situation directly: its fee schedule charges $20 to file a notice to creditors where the probate was filed in another county and the decedent resided here (RCW 36.18.050, RCW 11.40.020(2)), and $290 to accept a change of venue in a civil or probate case (RCW 4.12.090). One narrow exception is not optional: a petitioner who seeks appointment under RCW 11.28.120(3), the route for a person not otherwise entitled that opens only after 90 days, must file where the decedent resided, or, for a nonresident, in a county where estate property is. Once letters have been granted, the rest of the probate stays in that county (RCW 11.96A.050(5)).
The jurisdiction process
- Gather the documents. Collect the original signed will if there is one, a certified copy of the death certificate, the proposed personal representative's contact information and identification, the names, ages, and addresses of the heirs, legatees, and devisees, and a list of the assets and debts with values. Washington's term for the person who settles the estate is personal representative: a will-named personal representative is often called an executor and a court-appointed one an administrator, but the statutory term is the same for both.
- Decide what you are asking the court for. With a will, the petition asks the court to admit the will to probate and issue letters testamentary, and the court may hear the proofs and enter an order establishing the will (RCW 11.20.020). With no will, the application asks for letters of administration in the priority order set by RCW 11.28.120(1), and since June 11, 2026 the application must also set out the details of the applicant's reasonable search for the heirs (RCW 11.28.110, as amended by 2026 c 204). Most Washington personal representatives also ask for nonintervention powers, which let a solvent estate be administered and closed without further court supervision (RCW 11.68.011). These statewide routes are covered on the Washington state page.
- Prepare the papers to Grant County's format. Washington has no statewide probate form set, so the petition, the order admitting the will, the oath, and the notices are drafted documents. Grant County does publish the pieces around them: the Clerk's forms page posts a Probate and Estate Case Information Cover Sheet for a new case, a Pleading Cover Sheet, and blank Motion, Declaration, Order, and Notice of Hearing forms. Follow the Clerk's formatting requirements checklist, which restates GR 14, CR 10, and LCR 7: legible, 8.5 by 11 inch white paper, one sided, 12 point or larger type, 1.5 line spacing, a clear 3 inch top margin on the first page with nothing printed in it, and the typed name of the person signing. Under CR 5(e) the Clerk may refuse a document that is not in proper form, so the checklist is worth reading before you drive to Ephrata.
- File with the Grant County Clerk. Take the papers to the counter in Room 218 on the second floor of the Law and Justice Building, 35 C Street NW in Ephrata, open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., or mail them to the Grant County Clerk, PO Box 37, Ephrata, WA 98823. The Clerk operates its own e-filing portal, published as the Attorney eFiling Login, but nothing in the Grant County Local Rules requires e-filing and the portal has published limits: black and white images at 300 dpi, no image over 60 MB, a fee-bearing filing paid first by credit card by calling the Clerk's office, anything arriving after 4:30 p.m. filed the next court day, and no orders presented for signing by e-filing. For a self-represented filer, paper at the counter or by mail is the reliable route. Call (509) 754-2015 before you mail original documents, including the original will, and ask then what the office wants on intake.
- Pay the filing fee, in advance and by the Clerk's rules. Opening a probate costs $290, set by statute and the same in every Washington county: a $200 filing fee plus a $40 surcharge and a $50 surcharge (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)), and Grant County's own fee schedule effective June 11, 2026 prints the same $290 total, as a $200 filing line plus $90 in surcharges with the same statutory cites. The Clerk takes cash, a cashier's check, a law firm check, a money order, or a personal check payable to the Grant County Clerk, and the Clerk's fee page also lists debit or credit card. Two local rules trip people up: the filing fee, the ex parte fee, and the certified copy fee must be separate checks, and all fees are paid in advance (RCW 36.18.060) with no refunds. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34, and the Clerk charges no ex parte fee to present that motion and order. The small estate affidavit route under RCW 11.62.010 is not filed with the Clerk at all and carries no court filing fee.
- Give the required notices. Within 20 days after appointment the personal representative or the estate's attorney must mail or personally serve written notice of the appointment and the pendency of the probate on each heir, legatee, and devisee, and on each known beneficiary or transferee of a nonprobate asset, and file proof of mailing with the Grant County Clerk (RCW 11.28.237(1)). If you give notice to creditors, the notice is filed with the court and published once each week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county where the estate is administered (RCW 11.40.020(1)). The Grant County Clerk posts the county's approved legal newspapers under RCW 65.16.070: the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake, which publishes daily, the News Standard in Coulee City, the Quincy Valley Post-Register, and The Sun Tribune for the Royal City area. The Grant County Journal in Ephrata is on that list as closed since June 2023, so the county seat no longer has its own approved paper. Confirm the schedule and cost with the newspaper before you count on a date, because first publication starts the four-month claim period (RCW 11.40.051).
- Present the orders, which in Grant County usually means ex parte and in person or by mail. Most probate orders, including the order admitting the will and appointing the personal representative, are presented ex parte rather than argued on a docket. Grant County's Superior Court page is explicit about how: you may not email an ex parte presentation or submit it electronically, and an ex parte must be presented in person or mailed to the Clerk's Office along with the required $30 fee, which the Clerk collects for presentation of up to three orders per case per day (RCW 36.18.016(12)). To ask for an in-person ex parte appointment with a judicial officer, email the Superior Court Administrator's Office at [email protected], and for questions about mailing an ex parte in, call the Clerk at (509) 754-2015.
- If your matter needs a hearing, note it on the right calendar and meet the deadlines. Grant County publishes no probate docket. Civil motions are heard Friday at 9:00 a.m. (LAR 4(a)) and are limited to ten minutes per side (LCR 7(a)), while summary judgment motions, TEDRA petitions under chapter 11.96A RCW, and anything longer must be specially set with the Court Administrator (LAR 8). The motion ladder under LCR 7(b) is strict: file and serve the moving papers at least nine court days before the argument date, responses at least four court days before, and any optional strict reply at least two court days before, and an untimely motion will not be placed on the docket, though a judicial officer may grant an ex parte order shortening time for good reason. Working copies for the judge go to the Court Administrator, and proposed orders are filed and served with clean copies brought to the hearing, or delivered at least one court day ahead if you are appearing virtually (LAR 10, LCR 8). To appear remotely, LAR 9(a) lets attorneys and parties appear through Grant County's virtual platform on all regular dockets and on special set motions with no special notice or filing.
- Receive the letters. On appointment the court issues letters testamentary where there is a will, or letters of administration where there is not, and the Grant County Clerk issues them for filing at $5, which includes one certified copy, with additional certified copies at $5 each (RCW 36.18.016(9)). A certificate of qualification is a separate $5 line on the same schedule. A certified copy of the letters is what banks, transfer agents, and title companies rely on, so order enough for the institutions the estate deals with, and remember that the certified copy fee travels on its own check.
- Administer and close. Inventory the assets, pay valid claims in the order set by law, handle the four-month creditor period (RCW 11.40.051), file any Washington estate tax return that is required (chapter 83.100 RCW), distribute what remains, and close the estate. A personal representative with nonintervention powers closes by declaration of completion rather than by a court accounting (RCW 11.68), while a supervised estate returns to the court for approval. Grant County excludes probate and TEDRA cases from its status conference and scheduling order track (LCR 26F(c)), so no local scheduling order will drive the pace of your estate; the statutory deadlines will.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Grant County
Washington publishes no statewide probate form set, and that surprises filers who arrive expecting a packet. The courts.wa.gov Court Forms index has categories for family law, guardianships and conservatorships, criminal, behavioral health, juvenile, financial, protection orders, and access to the courts, among others, and no probate category (verified July 2026). The petition, the order admitting the will, the oath, the notice of appointment, the notice to creditors, and the declaration of completion are drafted documents in every Washington county, including this one.
Grant County does more than most counties to fill the gap around those drafted pleadings. The Clerk's forms page posts a Probate and Estate Case Information Cover Sheet, the cover sheet that indexes a new probate case by cause of action, along with a Pleading Cover Sheet for a document whose caption does not comply with GR 14, and blank Motion, Declaration, Order, Notice of Hearing, Notice Re Virtual Hearing, and Confidential Information Sheet forms you can adapt. The Clerk also posts a formatting requirements checklist that restates GR 14, CR 10, and LCR 7 in one page, and it is the most useful thing on the site for a self-represented filer, because under CR 5(e) the Clerk may refuse a document that is not in proper form. The Superior Court posts its own local court forms, of which the LR8-I Virtual Appearance Notice is the one a probate filer may need, and the GR 34 fee waiver forms are on the statewide courts.wa.gov forms pages if you cannot afford the $290 filing fee (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)). WashingtonLawHelp publishes the plain-language self-help packets, including the small estate affidavit kit for the route that opens no court case (RCW 11.62.010), and Grant County's own fee schedule points readers there for that route. Ask the Grant County Clerk at (509) 754-2015 what the office wants on intake before you file.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Grant County Clerk forms (grantcountywa.gov) | The Clerk's own form list, including the Probate and Estate Case Information Cover Sheet, the Pleading Cover Sheet, the formatting requirements checklist, blank Motion, Declaration, Order and Notice of Hearing forms, the Notice Re Virtual Hearing, the Confidential Information Sheet, the copy request form, and the Odyssey Portal registration forms |
| Grant County Superior Court (grantcountywa.gov) | The court's own page: the ex parte presentation instructions, the local court forms LAR-A, LAR-B and LR8-A through LR8-I including the LR8-I Virtual Appearance Notice, the GR 33 accommodation request, and the link to the local court rules |
| Grant County Superior Court local rules (courts.wa.gov) | The current rule set published by the Administrative Office of the Courts, with amendments effective September 1, 2025: LAR 4 motion calendars, LAR 8 required special settings, LAR 9 virtual and in person appearance, LAR 10 working copies, LCR 7 pleadings and motion deadlines, LCR 8 proposed orders, and LCR 26F(c) excluding probate from the scheduling order track |
| Washington Courts court forms (courts.wa.gov) | The statewide forms site, including the case information cover sheets and the GR 34 fee waiver forms. There is no probate category here, which is the point: Washington has no statewide probate forms |
| WashingtonLawHelp (washingtonlawhelp.org) | Plain-language Washington probate self-help, including the guide to managing a small estate yourself and the small estate affidavit packet (RCW 11.62.010), the route Grant County's own fee schedule points readers to |
Fees
The $290 that opens a probate is statutory and identical in every Washington county, but Grant County publishes its own 15 page fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026, and several of its probate lines are charges a family will actually meet. The one to plan for is the ex parte fee: $30 for presentation of orders, up to three per case per day, which the Clerk collects under RCW 36.18.016(12). Because most Grant County probate orders are presented ex parte rather than argued on a docket, this is a recurring cost rather than a one-time one, and the county's Superior Court page states plainly that an ex parte must be presented in person or mailed to the Clerk's Office with the $30 fee. The Clerk charges no ex parte fee for presenting a motion and order to proceed in forma pauperis to waive a filing fee, or a motion and order of indigency for an appeal.
Other Grant County probate lines from the same schedule: $20 to file a notice to creditors where the probate was filed in another county and the decedent resided here (RCW 36.18.050, RCW 11.40.020(2)); $290 to accept a change of venue in a civil or probate case (RCW 4.12.090); $20 to file a will only after death where no probate is contemplated (RCW 36.18.012(7)) and $20 for a will repository filing before death (RCW 11.12.265), with the schedule adding that the Clerk should be told about an existing will only or will repository filing when a probate case is opened so the original will can be moved into the new case; $20 to file a nonjudicial binding agreement or memorandum resolving a probate dispute in an existing case with no petition (RCW 11.96A.220, RCW 36.18.012(8)); $290 to file a petition contesting a will or trust, to admit a rejected will, or objecting to a nonjudicial resolution (RCW 36.18.020(2)(g) plus the surcharges); $290 for a nonprobate notice to creditors (RCW 11.42.010(3)(a)); $5 for a citation to a personal representative to appear on a removal petition, plus the certified copy cost (RCW 11.68.070, RCW 11.28.250); and $2 to file a Department of Revenue affidavit in an escheat probate (RCW 11.08.300). The schedule states that a small estate affidavit is not filed with the Clerk.
Copies and certificates: letters of office, administration, testamentary, or guardianship are issued for filing at $5, which includes one certified copy, with additional certified copies at $5 each, and a certificate of qualification is a separate $5 line (RCW 36.18.016(9)). A certified copy of any other document is $5 for the first page plus $1 for each page after that (RCW 36.18.016(4)(a)), plain copies are 50 cents a page (RCW 36.18.016(4)(c)), a copy of a digital or electronic exhibit is $25 per exhibit (RCW 36.18.016(4)(e)), copies delivered on an electronic storage medium are $5 per medium, and executing a certificate with or without a seal is $2 (RCW 36.18.016(5)).
Three payment rules apply to all of it. The filing fee, the ex parte fee, and the certified copy fee must be on separate checks. All fees are paid in advance (RCW 36.18.060). There are no refunds. Payment may be cash, a cashier's check, a law firm check, a money order, or a personal check payable to the Grant County Clerk, and the Clerk's fee page also lists debit or credit card, with card payment by phone specifically required for a fee-bearing e-filing. Confirm any figure against the current schedule on the Clerk's fee page before you write the checks.
Local nuance
Grant County-specific considerations
Grant County has no probate docket, and that is the first thing to understand about how an estate moves here. The county's published docket list and LAR 4(a) of the local rules set the Civil Department calendars as protection orders Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., civil motions Friday at 9:00 a.m., and adoptions Friday at 11:00 a.m., with separate criminal, domestic, paternity, dependency, and juvenile dockets. Nothing on that list is a probate calendar. In practice the routine probate orders, admitting the will, appointing the personal representative, granting nonintervention powers, are presented ex parte, and only a contested matter needs a calendar. If yours does, ask the Court Administrator's office which one it belongs on before you note it, and remember that a civil law and motion docket takes matters of no more than ten minutes per side (LCR 7(a)).
Ex parte presentation here is deliberately not electronic. The county's Superior Court page states that you are not allowed to email your ex parte or submit it electronically, and that ex partes must be presented in person or mailed to the Clerk's Office along with the required $30 fee. To request an in-person ex parte appointment with a judicial officer, the county asks you to email the Superior Court Administrator's Office at [email protected]; for questions about mailing one in, call the Clerk at (509) 754-2015. The Clerk's own formatting requirements checklist says the same thing from the e-filing side: orders may not be presented to the court for signing by e-filing, and a proposed order that is e-filed should be named as proposed. Under LAR 2(d) the Grant County District Court judge assigned to the Moses Lake district is ordinarily appointed a commissioner of the superior court and may sign ex parte orders, and an order signed away from the Grant County Courthouse is transmitted by the commissioner to the Clerk and is not returned to the party or attorney who asked for it, so collect your conformed and certified copies from the Clerk in Ephrata.
Two more local rules shape a probate that becomes a dispute. Under LAR 8, TEDRA petitions, the trust and estate dispute resolution petitions under chapter 11.96A RCW, may not be noted on a regular docket at all and must be specially set with the Court Administrator, along with summary judgment motions and any hearing over ten minutes per side, and the moving party then files and serves a notice of the setting the same way a regular motion is noted. Under LCR 26F(c), probate, guardianship, minor settlement, and TEDRA cases are excluded from the status conference and scheduling order procedure that governs ordinary civil cases, so no local scheduling order will set deadlines in an estate; the statutory deadlines and the Clerk's motion ladder under LCR 7(b) are what you work to.
One practical note about publication. The Clerk posts the county's approved legal newspapers under RCW 65.16.070, and the list records that the Grant County Journal in Ephrata, approved in 1941, closed in June 2023. The county seat therefore has no approved paper of its own, and a creditor notice for a Grant County estate is published in one of the county's other approved newspapers: the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake, which publishes daily, the News Standard in Coulee City, the Quincy Valley Post-Register, which changed to monthly publication in 2024, or The Sun Tribune for the Royal City area. Publication frequency decides how long three successive weekly publications take, so check the paper's schedule against RCW 11.40.020(1) before you commit to a date.
Recent updates
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| June 11, 2026 | The Grant County Clerk adopted a new fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026 and last revised June 12, 2026. The Clerk's page attributes the change to legislation enacted under HB 2543 affecting the RCW 36.18.016 clerk fees statewide and warned filers that the updated fees applied to everything submitted after 5 p.m. on June 10, 2026. The current schedule carries the $290 Estate (Probate) filing total with the RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c) and (6) authority, the $30 ex parte presentation fee, the $5 letters issuance and certified copy lines, and the $20 out-of-county creditor notice line. Confirm any figure against the current schedule before paying. | Grant County Clerk and Clerk's fee schedule, grantcountywa.gov |
| September 1, 2025 | The current amendments to the Grant County Superior Court local rules took effect, including LAR 4 on the motion calendars, LAR 8 requiring special settings with the Court Administrator for TEDRA petitions and hearings over ten minutes per side, LAR 9 on virtual and in person appearance, LCR 7 on pleadings and the nine, four, and two court day motion ladder, LCR 8 on proposed orders, and LCR 26F(c) excluding probate and TEDRA cases from the status conference and scheduling order track. | Local Rules of the Superior Court of Washington in and for the County of Grant, courts.wa.gov |
| Current practice | Ex parte presentations in Grant County may not be emailed or submitted electronically. They are presented in person or mailed to the Clerk's Office with the $30 fee, and an in-person ex parte appointment with a judicial officer is requested through the Superior Court Administrator's Office at [email protected]. | Grant County Superior Court, grantcountywa.gov |
| June 2023 | The Grant County Journal in Ephrata, an approved legal newspaper for the county since 1941, closed. Creditor notices for Grant County estates are published in the county's other approved newspapers, and the Clerk's posted list under RCW 65.16.070 is the place to check which are current. | Legal Newspapers in Grant County, grantcountywa.gov |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Grant County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Moses Lake or Ephrata home was community property covered by a community property agreement (RCW 26.16.120), or was held with a right of survivorship, it can pass to the surviving spouse without a probate. If assets stood in the decedent's sole name and there is a will, the spouse petitions the Superior Court in Grant County to admit the will and issue letters testamentary; with no will, the surviving spouse has first priority for letters of administration (RCW 11.28.120(1)). Either way the spouse can ask for nonintervention powers so a solvent estate is administered without further court supervision (RCW 11.68.011). The petition is filed with the Grant County Clerk in Room 218 in Ephrata, and the orders are presented ex parte in person or by mail with the county's $30 ex parte fee. | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to go through the court. Packet generation for the filing with the Grant County Clerk, formatted to the Clerk's requirements checklist. A vetted attorney referral if a dispute arises. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the estate is personal property only, the probate estate less liens and encumbrances does not exceed $100,000, and 40 days have passed since death, a claiming successor can often collect the property with a small estate affidavit instead of a court case (RCW 11.62.010), and Grant County's own fee schedule confirms that affidavit is not filed with the Clerk. If a probate is needed, an out-of-state filer can mail the petition to the Grant County Clerk, PO Box 37, Ephrata, WA 98823, mail an ex parte presentation with the $30 fee on its own check, and appear on a regular docket through Grant County's virtual platform under LAR 9(a) without asking permission first. | Asset discovery to confirm the estate qualifies and to locate accounts from out of state. Packet generation for the affidavit or the probate petition, prepared so an out-of-state filer can proceed by mail and by virtual appearance. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because the estate holds real property that has to be sold, the affidavit route does not reach it and the estate goes through probate: with no will the parent petitions for letters of administration in the priority order of RCW 11.28.120(1) and now must also describe the search for the heirs (RCW 11.28.110); with a will the parent probates it and receives letters testamentary. With nonintervention powers the personal representative can sell the Grant County house and distribute the proceeds without returning to court for approval (RCW 11.68.011). Order enough certified copies of the letters for the title company, at $5 each after the one that comes with issuance (RCW 36.18.016(9)). If the heirs fall out, the dispute becomes a TEDRA petition under chapter 11.96A RCW, which LAR 8 requires to be specially set with the Court Administrator rather than noted on a regular docket. | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, property, and debts. Packet generation for the probate petition and the notices. Attorney referral if the sale or a dispute among heirs turns contested. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| <a href="https://www.grantcountywa.gov/302/Clerk">Grant County Clerk (grantcountywa.gov)</a>, (509) 754-2015, toll free 1-800-572-0119 ext. 2801 | The filing office for probate: hours, the counter in Room 218 on the second floor of the Law and Justice Building at 35 C Street NW in Ephrata, the PO Box 37 mailing address, the fee schedule, the forms list, and the calendars. Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice |
| <a href="https://www.grantcountywa.gov/351/Superior-Court">Grant County Superior Court (grantcountywa.gov)</a> | The court's own page: how to present an ex parte in person or by mail, the request mailbox [email protected] for an in-person ex parte appointment, the local court forms, and the local court rules |
| <a href="https://www.grantcountywa.gov/308/Fee-Schedule">Grant County Clerk fee schedule (grantcountywa.gov)</a> | The county's own 15 page schedule, effective June 11, 2026, with the $290 Estate (Probate) filing line, the $30 ex parte fee, the letters and certified copy fees, and the separate-check and no-refund rules |
| <a href="https://www.grantcountywa.gov/305/Court-Calendar-Information">Grant County court calendar information (grantcountywa.gov)</a> | The published docket list, the holiday schedule under LAR 4, and the Superior Court weekly hearings calendar. Useful for confirming that there is no probate docket and which calendar a contested matter would go on |
| <a href="https://www.grantcountywa.gov/470/law-library">Grant County Law Library (grantcountywa.gov)</a> | A county law library on the first floor of the courthouse in Room 102, open to the public as well as to WSBA members and state and county officials, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding county holiday closures. Reference materials only; library staff do not give legal advice |
| <a href="https://www.washingtonlawhelp.org">WashingtonLawHelp (washingtonlawhelp.org)</a> | Washington's main plain-language legal self-help publisher, with probate and small estate guides and the small estate affidavit packet (RCW 11.62.010). This is where the Grant County Clerk's own fee schedule sends readers for the affidavit route |
| <a href="https://odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov/odyportal">Odyssey Portal (odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov)</a> | The public case search for Washington superior courts, including Grant County, and the search the Clerk's page links to. Probate cases appear as superior court civil cases; document coverage varies |
| <a href="https://dw.courts.wa.gov/">Washington Courts case search (dw.courts.wa.gov)</a> | The statewide pointer index across municipal, district, superior, and appellate courts. Useful for finding a case number, but its own notice warns that case status may be inaccurate |
| <a href="https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/">Washington Courts court forms (courts.wa.gov)</a> | The statewide case information cover sheets and the GR 34 fee waiver forms. There is no statewide probate forms category |
| <a href="https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/">Washington Courts court directory (courts.wa.gov)</a> | The government directory of superior court and county clerk addresses and phones, including the separate Superior Court and County Clerk listings for Grant County |
| Northwest Justice Project CLEAR, 1-888-201-1014, <a href="https://nwjustice.org/get-help">nwjustice.org</a> | Free civil legal aid intake for low-income Washington residents, Monday to Friday mornings; callers 60 and over can use CLEAR Sr at 1-888-387-7111. CLEAR targets basic-needs civil problems, so ask whether an estate matter qualifies |
| <a href="https://www.wsba.org/for-the-public/find-legal-help">Washington State Bar Association, find legal help (wsba.org)</a> | Lawyer referral and public resources for finding a Washington probate attorney who covers Grant County |
When to hire an attorney
Many Grant County estates are uncontested, and a personal representative granted nonintervention powers administers and closes a solvent estate without further court supervision (RCW 11.68.011), which is why plenty of families here get through probate with limited legal help. Consider counsel when a will is contested or a dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim, when Columbia Basin farm ground, irrigated acreage, water rights, a business, or property in another state has to be valued or divided, when the estate is large enough to owe Washington estate tax under chapter 83.100 RCW, or when no one entitled to appointment has come forward and the petition has to be made under RCW 11.28.120(3). Local procedure is its own reason: a dispute in an estate here becomes a TEDRA petition that LAR 8 requires to be specially set with the Court Administrator, and Grant County's ex parte presentations must be made in person or by mail, so a lawyer who already appears in Ephrata can present an order without a trip for you. Note that the county's Courthouse Facilitator helps self-represented people in domestic relations cases only and the county's own page says the facilitator cannot assist in other civil matters, so there is no probate facilitator to fall back on. The Grant County Clerk can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Washington probate attorney serving Grant County.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Grant County real estate, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Washington estate settlement route fits before you file.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, whether a probate with letters testamentary or letters of administration, a request for authority to act without routine court supervision, or a small estate affidavit, ready to file with the Grant County Clerk at the counter in Ephrata or by mail to PO Box 37.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Washington probate attorney serving Grant County.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file for probate in Grant County?
With the Grant County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, at the counter in Room 218 on the second floor of the Law and Justice Building, 35 C Street NW in Ephrata, or by mail to the Grant County Clerk, PO Box 37, Ephrata, WA 98823. Washington has no separate probate court: the Superior Court in Grant County handles probate as a case type under RCW Title 11, and the County Clerk is the filing office. Washington law lets a petitioner file in any county (RCW 11.96A.050(4)), but file where the decedent lived, because venue can be moved there within four months of the notice of appointment and the creditor notice must be published in the county of residence anyway (RCW 11.40.020(2)). Grant County even charges a separate $20 fee to file a creditor notice when the probate went to another county and the decedent lived here.
Can I e-file a probate in Grant County?
Sometimes, and not for everything. The Grant County Clerk runs its own portal, published on the Clerk's page as the Attorney eFiling Login, and its registration page describes access to eFile with the Grant County Superior Court Clerk, with account help at [email protected]. Nothing makes it mandatory: the current Grant County Local Rules contain no electronic filing rule. The limits are published and they matter. Images must be black and white at 300 dpi and no larger than 60 MB each, a filing that carries a fee must be paid first by credit card by calling the Clerk's office, anything received after 4:30 p.m. or on a weekend or holiday is filed the next court day, and orders may not be presented to the court for signing by e-filing. Ex parte presentations may not be emailed or submitted electronically at all. Because the login is published for attorneys and the county states no eligibility rule for self-represented filers, ask the Clerk at (509) 754-2015 before assuming access, and plan on paper at the counter or by mail. Do not be misled by anything published about e-filing at Grant County District Court, a separate court of limited jurisdiction that does not handle probate; none of it applies to a superior court probate.
How do I get a probate order signed in Grant County?
By presenting it ex parte, in person or by mail, with a fee. Most probate orders here, including the order admitting the will and appointing the personal representative, never go on a docket. The county's Superior Court page states that you are not allowed to email your ex parte or submit it electronically, and that an ex parte must be presented in person or mailed to the Clerk's Office along with the required $30 fee, which covers presentation of up to three orders per case per day (RCW 36.18.016(12)). To ask for an in-person ex parte appointment with a judicial officer, email the Superior Court Administrator's Office at [email protected]. For questions about mailing one in, call the Clerk at (509) 754-2015. The ex parte fee travels on a check separate from your filing fee.
Is there a probate docket in Grant County, and when are hearings held?
There is no probate docket. The county's published docket list and LAR 4(a) of the local rules set the Civil Department calendars as protection orders Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., civil motions Friday at 9:00 a.m., and adoptions Friday at 11:00 a.m., with separate criminal, domestic, paternity, dependency, and juvenile dockets, and none of them is a probate calendar. A civil law and motion docket takes matters of no more than ten minutes per side (LCR 7(a)), and summary judgment motions, TEDRA petitions under chapter 11.96A RCW, and anything longer must be specially set with the Court Administrator (LAR 8). Deadlines are strict under LCR 7(b): moving papers filed and served at least nine court days before the argument date, responses at least four court days before, any optional strict reply at least two court days before, and an untimely motion is not placed on the docket. Holidays shift the dockets under LAR 4(b). Ask the Court Administrator's office which calendar a contested probate matter belongs on.
Can I appear by video in a Grant County probate hearing?
Yes, and on the regular dockets you do not need permission. Under LAR 9(a) attorneys and parties may appear in person or virtually through Grant County's virtual platform on all regular dockets and on special set motions, instructions are on the county's Superior Court and video hearings pages, and no special notice or filing is required, though the person appearing virtually carries the risk of a bad connection. Trials, evidentiary hearings, summary judgment hearings, and settlement conferences are conducted in person under LAR 9(b), and appearing virtually at one of those takes a motion noted at least 14 court days ahead with an order and an LR8-I Virtual Appearance Notice. One trap: if you appear virtually, clean copies of your proposed orders must reach the court at least one court day before the hearing rather than being handed up in the room (LCR 8).
How do I look up a Grant County probate case online?
Use Odyssey Portal, the public case search for Washington superior courts, which covers Grant County and which the Clerk's own page links to. The statewide index at dw.courts.wa.gov will also find a case, but it carries its own notice that dockets and case status may be inaccurate and directs users to Odyssey Portal or the court of record. The public search needs no account; registered access for an agency or law firm takes a master registration form and a confidentiality agreement filed with each participating county clerk plus a $25 annual registration fee per agency or law firm, and Laserfiche WebLink access for law firms takes a confidentiality agreement and a subscriber user agreement. Probate cases are indexed as superior court civil cases and document images are not guaranteed, so for the file itself use the Clerk's copy request form or call (509) 754-2015.
Are there local Grant County probate forms?
Yes, though not the ones people expect. Washington publishes no statewide probate form set, so the petition, the order admitting the will, the oath, and the notices are drafted documents (the courts.wa.gov forms index has no probate category, verified July 2026). What Grant County's Clerk does publish is the scaffolding: a Probate and Estate Case Information Cover Sheet for a new case, a Pleading Cover Sheet for a caption that does not comply with GR 14, a formatting requirements checklist restating GR 14, CR 10, and LCR 7, and blank Motion, Declaration, Order, Notice of Hearing, Notice Re Virtual Hearing, and Confidential Information Sheet forms. The Superior Court posts local court forms LAR-A, LAR-B and LR8-A through LR8-I, including the LR8-I Virtual Appearance Notice. Read the formatting checklist first, because under CR 5(e) the Clerk may refuse a document that is not in proper form. WashingtonLawHelp publishes the plain-language packets, including the small estate affidavit kit (RCW 11.62.010).
How much does it cost to file probate in Grant County?
$290 to open the probate, set by statute and the same in every Washington county: a $200 filing fee plus a $40 surcharge and a $50 surcharge (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)), and Grant County's own fee schedule effective June 11, 2026 prints the same $290 total for an Estate (Probate) filing, as a $200 filing line plus $90 in surcharges with the same statutory cites. Budget for the county's other probate lines too: $30 each time you present ex parte orders, up to three per case per day (RCW 36.18.016(12)); $5 for issuance of the letters, which includes one certified copy, and $5 for each additional certified copy (RCW 36.18.016(9)); $5 for the first page plus $1 per page thereafter for other certified copies (RCW 36.18.016(4)(a)); and the cost of publishing the creditor notice. Three local rules apply: the filing fee, the ex parte fee, and the certified copy fee must be separate checks, all fees are paid in advance (RCW 36.18.060), and there are no refunds. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34, and the Clerk charges no ex parte fee to present that motion and order. Confirm the current schedule with the Grant County Clerk.
Where is the creditor notice published for a Grant County estate?
In a legal newspaper in the county where the estate is being administered, once each week for three successive weeks (RCW 11.40.020(1)). The Grant County Clerk posts the county's approved legal newspapers under RCW 65.16.070, and the list matters here because the Grant County Journal in Ephrata closed in June 2023, leaving the county seat without an approved paper of its own. The remaining approved papers are the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake, which publishes daily, the News Standard in Coulee City, the Quincy Valley Post-Register, which changed to monthly publication in 2024, and The Sun Tribune for the Royal City area. Publication frequency decides how long three successive weekly publications take, so confirm the schedule and cost with the newspaper before you rely on a date, because first publication starts the four-month period for creditor claims (RCW 11.40.051). If the probate was filed somewhere other than the county where the decedent lived, publication still goes in the county of residence and the notice is filed where the case was commenced (RCW 11.40.020(2)).
Do I have to travel to Ephrata to settle an estate in Grant County?
Usually less than you would expect, but not never. The petition and the later filings can be mailed to the Grant County Clerk, PO Box 37, Ephrata, WA 98823, an ex parte presentation can be mailed in with the $30 fee rather than presented at the counter, certified copies can be requested with the Clerk's copy request form, and a personal representative granted nonintervention powers administers and closes a solvent estate without returning to court for supervision (RCW 11.68.011). Where an appearance is needed, LAR 9(a) lets you appear through Grant County's virtual platform on the regular dockets with no special notice or filing. What still happens in the courtroom in Ephrata is the contested end of things: trials, evidentiary hearings, summary judgment hearings, and settlement conferences are in person under LAR 9(b). Call the Clerk at (509) 754-2015 before mailing original documents, including the original will.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.