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Lewis County, WA Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Superior Court in Lewis County, sitting in the Law and Justice Center in Chehalis. 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 county's own description of the court is three full-time elected judges, in Departments 1, 2, and 3, who sit on all matters, plus one superior court commissioner who hears family law, dependency, domestic violence, and juvenile cases, so a probate matter is heard by a judge. The court publishes a quarterly docket judge rotation, so the department hearing the Friday civil docket changes every three months |
| Filing office | The Lewis County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court. This is the office that takes the petition, receives the original will, issues letters, and keeps the county's estate records. The county describes the Clerk as one of several independent elected officials under the Washington Constitution (Article IV, Section 26) and as the administrative and financial officer of the Superior Court |
| Courthouse | Law and Justice Center, 345 West Main Street, Chehalis, WA 98532. The Clerk's counter is on the second floor; the Superior Court and Court Administration are on the fourth floor. The courts.wa.gov directory gives the cross street as West Main at Pacific. Lewis County District Court, a court of limited jurisdiction that does not handle probate, is on the third floor of the same building, so ask for the Clerk on the second floor |
| Mailing address | Lewis County Clerk, 345 W Main St, MS: CLK-01, Chehalis, WA 98532-4802. CLK-01 is the county's internal mail stop code for the Clerk's Office, not a room number: the street address is the same as the courthouse, and the mail stop is what routes a probate filing to the right counter |
| Phone | (360) 740-2704, the Lewis County Clerk's line. Related published numbers: the Records Clerk at (360) 740-2756 for copies and records requests, and Superior Court Administration at (360) 740-1333, extension 2 or 3, for video appearance questions and judicial approvals. The Clerk's Office does not publish a separate probate line |
| Fax | (360) 748-1639, the County Clerk's fax, confirmed on the courts.wa.gov directory entry for Lewis County. The Superior Court's own fax is a different number, (360) 740-2603, so use the Clerk's number for clerk business, and ask before faxing anything you intend as a filing |
| Lewis County publishes no single general mailbox for the Clerk's Office. It publishes mailboxes by function: [email protected] for ex parte orders sent electronically, [email protected] to confirm a motion for argument, [email protected] for records requests, and [email protected] for bench copies and Court Administration. The Clerk's website also carries a contact form. Do not email a filing to any of these without asking first | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., per the Clerk's own pages. No lunch closure and no separate end-of-day filing cutoff is published; call (360) 740-2704 to confirm before making the trip, especially near a holiday. Open court files may be reviewed by the public at the Clerk's Office on the second floor during office hours |
| 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). Lewis County's own published clerk fee schedule lists the probate estate filing at $290 under RCW 36.18.020(2)(f). Confirm the current schedule with the Lewis County Clerk |
| Local forms | No local probate pleading forms, and Washington publishes no statewide probate form set either (verified July 2026 on the courts.wa.gov Court Forms index, which has no probate category). Lewis County does publish four local forms on the Clerk's Court Forms page, none of them probate pleadings: a Docket Notice, a Note for Trial/Arbitration, a Declaration of Jurisdictional Testimony, and a general Cover Sheet on which you list the documents you are submitting. Two more county forms matter in an estate: the Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet, which is required to email an order to the Clerk, and the Records Request Form |
| E-filing | Available and not required. The Lewis County Clerk's Office accepts electronic filing through eFileWA, the Tyler Technologies portal, for superior court case filings; there is no charge for the service itself, though filing fees and ecommerce transaction fees apply, and Tyler provides the technical support. The county's adopted local rules, effective September 1, 2019, contain no e-filing rule, and the Clerk states that local clerk policies are still being developed, so nothing here requires an attorney or a self-represented filer to e-file. Some documents cannot be e-filed at all, and for probate the important one is a WILL: the original will is filed in person or mailed after the case is opened. New cases filed with a GR 34 fee waiver order and new cases seeking immediate relief also cannot be e-filed |
| Case search | Lewis County Superior Court records are searched on the Odyssey Portal (https://odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov/odyportal), which the county's own Court Records page names as the search for its cases; the county points to https://dw.courts.wa.gov/ for other Washington counties, and that statewide index carries its own notice that dockets and case status may be inaccurate. Lewis County also sells an Odyssey Portal subscription that lets a subscriber view all case information and non-sealed documents in cases in which they are a party (portal access fee change effective February 1, 2017). Probate and guardianship files are open to the public unless sealed by the court |
| Hearing dates | The civil motion docket and the guardianship docket are heard on Friday, and the county's local rules direct that all civil motions be heard on the civil docket (LCR 3(A)(1)). LCR 3(A)(3) lists the Friday motion department as ex parte, adoptions, and other confidential matters at 9:00 a.m., the civil motion docket and relocations at 9:30 a.m., and the guardianship docket at 11:00 a.m.; the court's posted schedule effective June 2024 shows the same Friday judge times plus a daily ex parte time on the commissioner's calendar. A matter that needs more than a docket slot is scheduled through Court Administration |
| Remote appearance | By WebEx, arranged in advance. The court publishes a separate WebEx link for each judicial officer on its Video Appearance Links page. For the Friday civil docket the court encourages participants to appear by video conference as much as possible, and on the guardianship docket video appearance is preferred though a personal appearance is allowed. Some hearings require appearing in person, and confidential matters need a link obtained from Court Administration at (360) 740-1333, extension 2 or 3, after the court approves |
| Website | https://lewiscountywa.gov/offices/clerk/ (the Lewis County Clerk: hours, fee schedule, court forms, eFiling, ex parte, records) and https://lewiscountywa.gov/offices/superior-court/ (Lewis County Superior Court: local court rules, the posted court schedule, the docket judge rotation, video appearance links). The courts.wa.gov directory entry is https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/orgs/280.html |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything with the Lewis 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 more here than it looks, because the Clerk's electronic filing portal will not accept a will and the probate document order the county publishes expects the petition, the certified death certificate, and the oath to arrive together.
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, while a house in Chehalis or Centralia, timber or farm ground in the county, or a cabin near Packwood 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 Lewis County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, is the single probate filing office for all of Lewis County, at one counter on the second floor of the Law and Justice Center at 345 West Main Street in Chehalis. There is no branch counter and no second courthouse. The office serves the entire county: Chehalis, the county seat and courthouse city, Centralia, the county's largest city, and the smaller incorporated places of Morton, Mossyrock, Napavine, Pe Ell, Toledo, Vader, and Winlock. Most residents of Lewis County live outside any city, 51,140 of 86,550 by the Washington Office of Financial Management's April 1, 2026 estimates, in communities such as Packwood, Randle, Onalaska, Salkum, Adna, and Glenoma and across the timber country between the Interstate 5 corridor and Mount Rainier. Estates from every part of the county are filed at this one counter, in person, by mail to the Clerk at 345 W Main St, MS: CLK-01, Chehalis, WA 98532-4802, or electronically through eFileWA.
The building holds more than the Superior Court, and that matters when you walk in. The Clerk's Office is on the second floor, the Superior Court and Court Administration are on the fourth, and Lewis County District Court, a court of limited jurisdiction that has no probate authority, is on the third. A probate petition goes to the Clerk on the second floor. Lewis County Superior Court has three departments and three judges who sit on all matters, and the court publishes a quarterly docket judge rotation, so the department that hears the Friday civil docket changes every three months. That affects who signs your order, not where you file.
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)). Lewis County's own fee schedule shows how routine that second situation is: it carries a $20 line for filing a notice to creditors here when the probate itself was filed in another county where the decedent resided. So if the person who died lived in Lewis County, file with the Lewis County Clerk. 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 in the order the Clerk expects. Washington has no statewide probate form set, so the petition, the order, the oath, and the notices are drafted documents rather than fill-in forms, and Lewis County publishes no local probate pleading forms. The county does publish a document order the Clerk applies to a new probate: the petition for probate of the will or for letters of administration, then the certified copy of the death certificate, then the oath, then any additional documents. WashingtonLawHelp publishes the plain-language packets a self-represented filer can work from, including the small estate affidavit kit.
- File with the Lewis County Clerk, and handle the will separately. You have three ways in: at the counter on the second floor of the Law and Justice Center, 345 West Main Street in Chehalis, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; by mail to the Lewis County Clerk, 345 W Main St, MS: CLK-01, Chehalis, WA 98532-4802; or electronically through eFileWA, the portal the Clerk's Office accepts for superior court case filings. One rule governs the most important paper in the file: a will cannot be e-filed, and the county's own instruction is that the original will is filed in person or mailed after the case is opened. Two other exclusions catch new probates: a new case filed with a GR 34 fee waiver order, and a new case that asks for immediate relief, both have to come in another way. Call (360) 740-2704 before you mail an original will.
- Pay the filing fee. 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 Lewis County's own clerk fee schedule prints the same figure for a probate estate filing. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34, though a new case filed with a waiver order goes in on paper rather than through the portal. eFileWA itself is free, but the filing fee and an ecommerce transaction fee apply to a submission through it; the county's Point and Pay channel, online or at 1-866-923-6534, is for copies and other clerk fees and needs a cause number, so it is useful once the case exists. The small estate affidavit route under RCW 11.62.010 opens no court case, though the Lewis County Clerk charges $20 to file one.
- 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 Lewis 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)); Lewis County probate notices to creditors run in the legal notices of The Chronicle in Centralia, which carried current Lewis County estate notices when checked in July 2026. 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).
- Get the order signed, by email or on the Friday docket. Many probate orders are presented ex parte rather than argued. Lewis County takes them electronically: complete the county's Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet, pay the $30 per case charge for presentation of an ex parte order through Point and Pay or at 1-866-923-6534, enter the receipt invoice number on the form, attach only the orders, and email it to [email protected]. The motion and supporting documents must already be filed and accepted first. If your matter is argued instead, it goes on the Friday docket: LCR 3(A)(1) sends all civil motions to the Friday civil docket, and LCR 3(A)(3) sets the Friday motion department at 9:00 a.m. for ex parte, adoptions, and other confidential matters, 9:30 a.m. for the civil motion docket, and 11:00 a.m. for guardianships. Note the motion at least seven court days out, confirm it with the Clerk by noon two court days out at [email protected], and get bench copies to the judge the day you file, in person to Court Administration or by email to [email protected]. To appear remotely, use the WebEx link the court publishes for the assigned judicial officer; the court encourages video appearance on the Friday civil docket.
- 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 Lewis County Clerk issues certified copies. 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: the county's schedule charges $5 for issuance and a certified copy of letters of administration, guardianship, or testamentary and $5 for a certificate of qualification (RCW 36.18.016(9)), and $5 for the first page of any certified copy plus $1 for each additional page (RCW 36.18.016(4)). Certified copies cannot be sent by email.
- 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.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Lewis County
Lewis County publishes no local probate pleading forms, and Washington publishes no statewide probate form set either. That is worth stating plainly, because filers 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 Washington probate pleadings, the petition, the order admitting the will, the oath, the notice of appointment, and the declaration of completion, are drafted by the filer or the attorney. The Lewis County Clerk's own Court Forms page says the same thing in effect: it lists four local forms, none of them probate pleadings, and then sends filers to courts.wa.gov, the King County Law Library, and WashingtonLawHelp.
Three county forms do come up in an estate. The Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet is required to email a proposed order to the Clerk, and it is where the $30 charge and the Point and Pay receipt number are recorded. The general Cover Sheet on the Court Forms page is a transmittal sheet captioned for the Superior Court of Washington in and for Lewis County on which you list the documents you are submitting. The Records Request Form is how you order copies out of a probate file. The GR 34 fee waiver forms are on the courts.wa.gov forms pages, and note that a new case filed with a fee waiver order cannot go through eFileWA. Ask the Lewis County Clerk at (360) 740-2704 what the office wants on intake before you file.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Lewis County Clerk court forms (lewiscountywa.gov) | The county's four local forms: the Docket Notice, the Note for Trial/Arbitration, the Declaration of Jurisdictional Testimony, and the general Cover Sheet for listing the documents you submit. None is a probate pleading, and the page itself points filers to the statewide and self-help sources below |
| Lewis County Clerk ex parte (lewiscountywa.gov) | The Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet and the instructions for emailing a proposed order to [email protected] after paying the $30 charge (RCW 36.18.016(12)) |
| Lewis County Clerk eFiling (lewiscountywa.gov) | The eFileWA portal the Clerk accepts for superior court filings, the document order the Clerk applies to a new probate, and the list of documents that cannot be e-filed, which includes wills |
| Washington Courts court forms (courts.wa.gov) | The statewide case cover sheets that accompany a new superior court case 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) |
| Lewis County Superior Court local rules (lewiscountywa.gov) | The adopted local court rules effective September 1, 2019, which set the Friday motion dockets, the noting and confirmation deadlines, and the bench copy rule, plus any rule amendments published for comment |
Fees
The $290 to open a probate is statutory and identical in every Washington county (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)), and Lewis County's own published clerk fee schedule prints it that way. What makes Lewis County worth a separate look is the set of probate-adjacent line items the Clerk publishes alongside it, several of which come up in an ordinary estate: presenting an ex parte order carries a charge, and the affidavit and will-filing routes that open no probate case carry small ones. The figures below are from the Lewis County Clerk's own fee schedule as read in July 2026; the page carries no effective date, so confirm the current schedule with the Clerk before you write a check. Fees are payable in advance (RCW 36.18.060), and paying online or by phone through Point and Pay adds a 2.95 percent service fee with a $2 minimum.
| Item | Charge in Lewis County |
|---|---|
| Opening a probate estate | $290, the statutory total: $200 plus a $40 surcharge and a $50 surcharge (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)). The county's schedule lists the probate estate filing at $290 under RCW 36.18.020(2)(f). Fee waivers are available under GR 34 |
| Presentation of an ex parte order | $30 per case (RCW 36.18.016(12)). This is the charge on the county's Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet, and it must be paid before the order is emailed to the Clerk |
| Letters and certificates | $5 for issuance and a certified copy of letters of administration, guardianship, or testamentary, and $5 for a certificate of qualification, both under RCW 36.18.016(9); $2 to execute a certificate with or without a seal (RCW 36.18.016(5)); $4 plus copies for an authenticated or exemplified copy |
| Copies of the file | $5 for the first page of a certified copy plus $1 for each additional page, and the whole document must be certified (RCW 36.18.016(4)); $0.50 per page for a plain copy, including a copy emailed without a seal; $5 per device for copies on electronic storage media. Certified copies cannot be provided by email |
| Small estate affidavit | $20 to file (RCW 11.62.010, RCW 36.18.050). The affidavit route opens no court case, so this is a filing charge, not a case fee, and the $100,000 statewide ceiling and 40-day wait are covered on the Washington state page (RCW 11.62.010) |
| Filing a will with no probate | $20 to file a will after death where no probate is contemplated (RCW 36.18.012(7)), and $20 for the will repository, which holds the will of a living person (RCW 11.12.265, RCW 36.18.016(28)) |
| Creditor notice for a probate filed elsewhere | $20 to file a notice to creditors in Lewis County when the probate itself was filed in another county where the decedent resided (RCW 36.18.050, RCW 11.40.020(2)) |
| Disputes over an estate | $290 to file a petition contesting a will or a petition objecting to a nonjudicial resolution (RCW 36.18.020(2)(g)); $290 for a trust and estate dispute resolution act petition (RCW 11.96A.090); $20 for a nonjudicial probate dispute filed within an existing case (RCW 11.96A.220); $290 for a nonprobate notice to creditors where no probate is filed (RCW 11.42.010(3)(a)) |
| Incidentals worth budgeting | Actual postage plus a $2 handling fee on anything the Clerk mails; $50 for a check returned for insufficient funds (RCW 36.18.016(24)); $25 for a video recording of a proceeding on CD; the 2.95 percent Point and Pay service fee, $2 minimum, on card payments; and the cost of publishing the creditor notice, which is set by the newspaper and not by the Clerk |
Timeline
- Day one: file the petition. A probate can be opened at the counter, by mail, or through eFileWA on any business day the Clerk's Office is open, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. The Clerk's Office does not publish a filing cutoff earlier than closing, and no filing-to-appointment wait is published either, so ask when you file what to expect.
- Most orders: no docket date at all. An order that can be presented ex parte does not wait for a hearing day. Send it to the Clerk with the county's Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet and the $30 charge paid, after the underlying motion and supporting documents are filed and accepted, and the Clerk routes it to a judicial officer. The court's posted schedule effective June 2024 also shows an ex parte time on the commissioner's calendar each weekday, and LCR 3(A)(3) puts ex parte, adoptions, and other confidential matters at 9:00 a.m. in the Friday motion department.
- Seven court days before argument: note and serve the motion. Under LCR 5(A) a party filing any motion serves and files it no later than seven court days before the date noted for argument, which the rule illustrates as Wednesday 5:00 p.m. of the preceding week for a Friday docket. All documents supporting the motion are filed and served with it, along with a note for the motion docket identifying the matter, the parties, and the date and time.
- Two court days before, by noon: responses and confirmation. Any party opposing the motion files responsive documents and serves copies by noon two court days before argument (LCR 5(B)). The same deadline applies to confirming: under LCR 3(A)(4) all motions are confirmed for argument through the Clerk's Office by noon two court days before the scheduled argument, by email to [email protected], and a motion that is not confirmed will not be stricken without the consensus of both parties and the court.
- One court day before, by noon: replies. Reply documents are filed and served by noon one court day before argument, and no additional documents are filed or served after that (LCR 5(C)). Bench copies of everything go to the judge or commissioner who will hear the matter on the day the documents are filed, marked with the officer's name and the hearing date, delivered to Court Administration or emailed to [email protected] (LCR 5(D) and the court's bench copies page). A 2026 amendment to LCR 5 that would lengthen the response and reply windows was published for comment under GR 7, with a comment period that closed June 10, 2026; the county still publishes the 2019 rules as its adopted set, so use these deadlines and check the local rules page before you rely on them.
- Friday: the docket. The civil motion docket and the guardianship docket are heard Friday, and LCR 3(A)(1) directs that all civil motions be heard on the civil docket. LCR 3(A)(3) sets the Friday motion department at 9:00 a.m. for ex parte, adoptions, and other confidential matters, 9:30 a.m. for the civil motion docket and relocations, and 11:00 a.m. for the guardianship docket. Hearings on motions do not include live testimony and argument may be limited in time unless other arrangements are made with the Court Administrator (LCR 5(A)).
- Four months after first publication of the creditor notice: the claim period closes. Publication runs once each week for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper in the county (RCW 11.40.020(1)), and the four-month bar under RCW 11.40.051 runs from first publication, not from filing. Book the publication early, because this is usually the deadline that sets how long an estate stays open.
Local nuance
Lewis County-specific considerations
The most consequential Lewis County quirk is what the Clerk's electronic filing portal will not take. The Clerk's Office accepts eFileWA, the Tyler Technologies portal, for superior court case filings, and the county publishes a document order for a new probate: the petition for probate of the will or for letters of administration, then the certified copy of the death certificate, then the oath, then any additional documents. Directly underneath that sequence the county prints the instruction that the original will is filed in person or mailed after the case is opened, and the Clerk's separate list of documents that cannot be e-filed names wills outright. Two more exclusions catch new probates: a new case filed with a GR 34 fee waiver order, and a new case that requests immediate relief. So the practical Lewis County pattern is a hybrid, an electronic case opening followed by a paper will, and a filer who assumes the portal handles everything will have an incomplete file.
Nothing in the county's adopted local rules requires e-filing. The rule set the Washington Courts local rules index points to for Lewis County is the county's own, effective September 1, 2019, and it contains no electronic filing rule at all; the Clerk's eFiling page says local clerk policies will be developed and updated as needed. That is the opposite of the larger counties that make e-filing mandatory for attorneys by local rule, so in Lewis County an attorney and a self-represented filer are on the same footing and either can file on paper. A separate 2026 amendment to LCR 5, which would lengthen the response and reply windows, was published for comment under GR 7 with a comment period that closed June 10, 2026; the county still publishes the 2019 set as its adopted rules, so check the local rules page before relying on a deadline.
Getting an order signed is its own local process, and it is a paid one. Lewis County accepts ex parte submissions by email, but only through its own cover sheet: the motion and supporting documents must already be filed and accepted, only the orders are attached, the $30 per case charge for presentation of an ex parte order (RCW 36.18.016(12)) has to be paid first through Point and Pay or at 1-866-923-6534, and the receipt invoice number goes on the form before it is emailed to the Clerk. The same form is where you order the certified copies of letters you will need for banks and title companies. Two other local details are worth knowing: the court's docket judge rotates by department every quarter, with the rotation posted through 2028 as of July 2026, so the judge who signs an order early in a probate may not be the one who hears a motion later in it; and the Law and Justice Center stacks the Clerk on floor 2, the Superior Court on floor 4, and Lewis County District Court, which has no probate authority, on floor 3.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means for a Lewis County estate |
|---|---|
| Electronic filing accepted through eFileWA | The Lewis County Clerk's Office now accepts electronic filing for superior court case filings through eFileWA, the Tyler Technologies portal, and publishes a document order for a new probate along with a list of documents that cannot be e-filed. The list includes wills, so the original will still comes in on paper after the case is opened. The county states that local clerk policies are still being developed and updated as needed, and the adopted local rules contain no e-filing rule |
| Ex parte orders accepted by email | Proposed orders can be submitted to the Clerk electronically using the county's Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet, most recently revised June 12, 2026, emailed to [email protected] with the $30 per case presentation charge paid in advance through Point and Pay (RCW 36.18.016(12)) |
| Proposed 2026 amendment to LCR 5 | Lewis County Superior Court published a redline amendment to LCR 5 for comment under GR 7, with a comment period that ran May 11 to June 10, 2026 and has closed. It would lengthen the response and reply windows for noted motions. The county still publishes the local court rules effective September 1, 2019 as its adopted set, so confirm the current deadlines on the court's local rules page before you note a motion |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Lewis County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Chehalis or Centralia 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 Lewis 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, the certified death certificate, and the oath go to the Lewis County Clerk on the second floor of the Law and Justice Center or through eFileWA, and the original will follows in person or by mail once the case is open. | 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 Lewis County Clerk. 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); the Lewis County Clerk charges $20 to file one. If a probate is needed, an out-of-state filer has two remote routes: eFileWA for the petition, or mail to the Lewis County Clerk at 345 W Main St, MS: CLK-01, Chehalis, WA 98532-4802. Either way the original will has to reach the Clerk in person or by mail after the case is opened, because a will cannot be e-filed, and later orders can be presented by email with the county's ex parte cover sheet and the $30 charge. | 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 or through the portal. |
| 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 Lewis County house and distribute the proceeds without returning to court for approval (RCW 11.68.011). If an order does need a judge's signature, it is either presented to the Clerk with the ex parte cover sheet or noted for the Friday civil docket at least seven court days out and confirmed by noon two court days out (LCR 5(A), LCR 3(A)(4)). | 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 |
|---|---|
| Lewis County Clerk (lewiscountywa.gov), (360) 740-2704 | The filing office for probate: hours, the counter on the second floor of the Law and Justice Center at 345 West Main Street in Chehalis, the MS: CLK-01 mailing address, the fee schedule, the local court forms, the eFiling and ex parte pages, and records requests. Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice |
| Lewis County Superior Court (lewiscountywa.gov), (360) 740-1333 | The court's own pages: the local court rules, the posted court schedule, the quarterly docket judge rotation, the WebEx video appearance links, and the bench copy instructions. Court Administration answers scheduling and video appearance questions at extension 2 or 3 |
| Lewis County Clerk fee schedule (lewiscountywa.gov) | The county's own line-by-line charges with the RCW citation for each, including the $290 probate estate filing, the $30 ex parte order presentation, the $5 letters and certificate lines, and the $20 small estate affidavit filing |
| Odyssey Portal (odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov) | The public case search the county names for Lewis County Superior Court records. Probate cases appear as superior court civil cases; a paid county subscription is what lets a party view non-sealed documents in their own case |
| Lewis County Clerk court records (lewiscountywa.gov), (360) 740-2756 | How to view and order copies from a probate file: probate and guardianship records are open unless sealed, open files can be reviewed at the counter, and the Records Request Form goes to [email protected] |
| WashingtonLawHelp (washingtonlawhelp.org) | 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). The Lewis County Clerk links it from its own court forms page |
| Washington Courts case search (dw.courts.wa.gov) | The statewide pointer index across municipal, district, superior, and appellate courts, which the county uses for counties other than Lewis. Useful for finding a case number, but its own notice warns that case status may be inaccurate |
| Washington Courts court forms (courts.wa.gov) | The statewide case cover sheets and the GR 34 fee waiver forms. There is no statewide probate forms category |
| Washington Courts court directory (courts.wa.gov) | The government directory of superior court and county clerk addresses, phones, and faxes, including the separate Superior Court, County Clerk, and district court listings for Lewis County and their floors in the Law and Justice Center |
| Timberland Legal Aid free legal clinics (timberlandlegalaid.com), (360) 425-2579 | Free first-come, first-served clinics the court announces for residents of Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, and surrounding counties. The published service list is family law, protection orders, minor guardianships, tenant and housing matters, and contracts and miscellaneous civil issues, and does not name probate, so ask whether an estate question qualifies before you go |
| Northwest Justice Project CLEAR, 1-888-201-1014, nwjustice.org | 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 |
| Washington State Bar Association, find legal help (wsba.org) | Lawyer referral and public resources for finding a Washington probate attorney who covers Lewis County |
| Washington State Law Library (courts.wa.gov), (360) 357-2136 | Legal reference help by phone and email for anyone in the state, useful because Lewis County has no county law library of its own; the Clerk's court forms page sends filers to the King County Law Library instead |
When to hire an attorney
Many Lewis 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 timber land, farm ground, 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 contested matter has to be noted seven court days out, confirmed with the Clerk by noon two court days out, and argued on the Friday docket with bench copies delivered the day the papers are filed (LCR 5, LCR 3), and a lawyer who already works that calendar will not miss a step. The Lewis County Clerk can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Washington probate attorney serving Lewis 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, Lewis County real estate, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Washington route fits your estate settlement 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 nonintervention powers, or a small estate affidavit, ready to file with the Lewis County Clerk at the counter in Chehalis, by mail, or through eFileWA.
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 Lewis 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 Lewis County?
With the Lewis County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, at the counter on the second floor of the Law and Justice Center, 345 West Main Street in Chehalis, by mail to the Lewis County Clerk, 345 W Main St, MS: CLK-01, Chehalis, WA 98532-4802, or electronically through eFileWA. Washington has no separate probate court: the Superior Court in Lewis County handles probate as a case type under RCW Title 11, and the County Clerk is the filing office. Watch the floors, because three courts and offices share the building: the Clerk is on the second floor, the Superior Court is on the fourth, and Lewis County District Court, which has no probate authority, is on the third. 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)).
Can I e-file a probate in Lewis County?
Yes, and no rule makes you. The Lewis County Clerk's Office accepts electronic filing through eFileWA, the Tyler Technologies portal, for superior court case filings; there is no charge for the service itself, though filing fees and ecommerce transaction fees apply. The county's adopted local rules, effective September 1, 2019, contain no e-filing rule, so an attorney and a self-represented filer are on the same footing here and either can file on paper. The catch matters more than the choice: a will cannot be e-filed, and the county's own instruction with its probate document order is that the original will is filed in person or mailed after the case is opened. A new case filed with a GR 34 fee waiver order, and a new case asking for immediate relief, also cannot go through the portal. Call the Clerk at (360) 740-2704 before you mail an original will.
How much does it cost to file probate in Lewis 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)). Lewis County's own clerk fee schedule prints the same figure. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34. Lewis County does publish local charges around the edges of an estate, and they add up: $30 for presentation of an ex parte order (RCW 36.18.016(12)), $5 for issuance and a certified copy of letters or for a certificate of qualification (RCW 36.18.016(9)), $5 for the first page of a certified copy plus $1 per additional page (RCW 36.18.016(4)), $0.50 per page for plain or emailed copies, $20 to file a small estate affidavit, $20 to file a will after death with no probate contemplated, actual postage plus a $2 handling fee on mailed items, and a 2.95 percent Point and Pay service fee with a $2 minimum on card payments. Publishing the creditor notice is a separate cost set by the newspaper.
When are probate hearings heard in Lewis County?
On Friday, when a hearing is needed at all. The county's local rules put the civil motion docket and the guardianship docket on Friday and direct that all civil motions be heard on the civil docket (LCR 3(A)(1)). LCR 3(A)(3) sets the Friday motion department at 9:00 a.m. for ex parte, adoptions, and other confidential matters, 9:30 a.m. for the civil motion docket and relocations, and 11:00 a.m. for the guardianship docket, and the court's posted schedule effective June 2024 shows the same Friday times plus an ex parte time on the commissioner's calendar each weekday. Hearings on motions do not include live testimony and argument may be limited in time unless other arrangements are made with the Court Administrator. Probate itself is heard by a judge: the county describes its three elected judges as sitting on all matters and its commissioner as hearing family law, dependency, domestic violence, and juvenile cases. The docket judge rotates by department every quarter, and the court posts the rotation through 2028.
What are the deadlines for noting a probate motion in Lewis County?
Three fixed windows, all from the county's local rules. Under LCR 5(A) you serve and file the motion no later than seven court days before the date noted for argument, which the rule illustrates as Wednesday 5:00 p.m. of the preceding week for a Friday docket, with all supporting documents and a note for the motion docket filed at the same time. Responses are due by noon two court days before argument (LCR 5(B)) and replies by noon one court day before, after which nothing further is filed (LCR 5(C)). Separately, under LCR 3(A)(4) every motion has to be confirmed for argument through the Clerk's Office by noon two court days before the hearing, by email to [email protected], and a motion that is not confirmed will not be stricken without the consensus of both parties and the court. Bench copies go to the judge or commissioner on the day the documents are filed, marked with the officer's name and the hearing date, delivered to Court Administration or emailed to [email protected]. A 2026 amendment to LCR 5 that would lengthen the response and reply windows was published for comment and the comment period closed June 10, 2026, so check the court's local rules page before you rely on a date.
How do I get an ex parte probate order signed in Lewis County?
By email, using the county's own cover sheet and paying first. Complete the Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet from the Clerk's ex parte page, confirm that the underlying motion and supporting documents have already been filed and accepted, attach only the proposed orders, pay the $30 per case charge for presentation of an ex parte order (RCW 36.18.016(12)) through the county's Point and Pay site or at 1-866-923-6534, enter the receipt invoice number on the form, and email the package to [email protected]. The same form is where you order certified copies of the letters and note whether they should be emailed or mailed, and it warns that certified copies cannot be provided by email. If your matter needs argument instead of a signature, it goes on the Friday docket.
Can I appear by phone or video in a Lewis County probate hearing?
By video, if you use the right link. The court's video appearance platform is WebEx and it publishes a separate meeting link for each judicial officer on its Video Appearance Links page, so you have to join the link for the officer actually hearing your matter, which the quarterly docket judge rotation may have changed. For the Friday civil docket the court encourages participants to appear by video conference as much as possible, and on the guardianship docket video appearance is preferred though a personal appearance is allowed. Some hearings require appearing in person and confidential matters need a link obtained from Court Administration at (360) 740-1333, extension 2 or 3, after the court approves. The court also publishes conduct rules for video hearings and expects the same behavior as in the courtroom.
How do I look up a Lewis County probate case online?
Use the Odyssey Portal, which the county's own Court Records page names as the search for Lewis County Superior Court records; the county points to dw.courts.wa.gov only for other Washington counties, and that statewide index carries its own notice that dockets and case status may be inaccurate. Probate and guardianship files in Lewis County are open to the public unless sealed by the court, and open files can be reviewed at the Clerk's counter on the second floor during office hours. Free portal searching shows case information; to see non-sealed documents in a case you are a party to, Lewis County sells an Odyssey Portal subscription with its own registration form and confidentiality agreement. For copies, use the county's Records Request Form to [email protected] or call the Records Clerk at (360) 740-2756.
Are there local Lewis County probate forms?
No probate pleading forms, and no statewide ones either: the courts.wa.gov forms index has no probate category (verified July 2026), so the petition, the order, the oath, and the notices are drafted documents. Lewis County's Clerk does publish four local forms, none of them probate pleadings, a Docket Notice, a Note for Trial/Arbitration, a Declaration of Jurisdictional Testimony, and a general Cover Sheet for listing the documents you are submitting, and its own forms page sends filers on to courts.wa.gov, the King County Law Library, and WashingtonLawHelp. Two other county forms do come up in an estate: the Ex Parte Electronically via the Clerk cover sheet, which is required to email an order to the Clerk, and the Records Request Form. The GR 34 fee waiver forms are on the courts.wa.gov pages, and WashingtonLawHelp publishes the plain-language packets, including the small estate affidavit kit for the route that opens no court case (RCW 11.62.010).
Do I have to travel to Chehalis to settle an estate in Lewis County?
Usually not more than once, and sometimes not at all. The petition can be filed through eFileWA or mailed to the Lewis County Clerk at 345 W Main St, MS: CLK-01, Chehalis, WA 98532-4802; later orders can be presented to the Clerk by email with the county's ex parte cover sheet and the $30 charge; certified copies can be mailed to you for actual postage plus a $2 handling fee; 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, the court encourages video appearance on the Friday civil docket through the WebEx link published for the assigned judicial officer. The one thing that cannot be done remotely is the will: it cannot be e-filed, so the original has to reach the Clerk in person or by mail after the case is opened.
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.