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Mason County, WA Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Superior Court in Mason 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. Mason County has its own resident bench rather than a shared judge: the courts.wa.gov directory lists three Mason County superior court judges and two court commissioners. Many routine probate orders are signed by a judge or court commissioner on the afternoon ex parte docket rather than at a contested hearing |
| Filing office | The Mason County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court. This is the office that takes the petition, lodges the will, issues letters, collects the filing fee, and keeps the county's estate records. The Clerk is a separately elected county officer, described on the county's own page as an elected position provided by the Washington State Constitution |
| Courthouse | Mason County Courthouse, 419 North 4th Street, second floor, Shelton, WA 98584. The courts.wa.gov directory prints the same address as 419 N 4th St, Fl 2. Mason County District Court at 414 West Franklin Street and Shelton Municipal Court at 525 West Cota Street are different courts and do not handle probate |
| Mailing address | PO Box 340, Shelton, WA 98584, the County Clerk's box, which is where probate filings and clerk correspondence go. Watch the box number: Mason County Superior Court and Court Administration use PO Box X and Mason County District Court uses PO Box O, so a petition mailed to either of those reaches an office that cannot file it |
| Phone | (360) 427-9670, extension 346, the Mason County Clerk's Office. That is the extension the county gives for clerk business everywhere it publishes one, including the local rules, the confirmation page, and the 2026 docket schedules. Extension 537 is the clerk's jury line and extension 348 reaches Superior Court Administration, which is a different office from the Clerk |
| Fax | None for filing. The courts.wa.gov directory lists no fax for the Mason County Clerk or the Superior Court, and the Clerk's Office states on its own Services page that fax filings are not accepted and that it does not accept email or fax requests for information. Plan on the counter, the mail, or the phone |
| Limited and specific. [email protected] is the office mailbox for confirming a contested hearing, named in the local rules (LSPR 94.04(1.2)) and on the county's 2026 docket schedules. The Clerk's Order Copies page takes records research requests by email as well. There is no published general mailbox for filing, and email is not a filing channel here | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed from noon to 1:00 p.m. for lunch, per the county's own 2026 Mason County Offices Business Hours sheet (last printed December 30, 2025), which lists the same 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. courthouse hours under Resolution 12-13. The lunch closure matters if you are driving in from Belfair, Hoodsport, or Matlock, so call (360) 427-9670, extension 346, before making the trip |
| 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). Mason County's own schedule prints the same figure as its probate and guardianship filing fee (Mason County Clerk Fee Schedule, updated July 29, 2025). The county also charges $30 for processing an ex parte order and $20 to file a will where no probate is opened. Confirm the current schedule with the Mason County Clerk |
| Local forms | No local probate forms. Washington publishes no statewide probate form set either (verified July 2026 on the courts.wa.gov Court Forms index, which has no probate category), so the petition, the order, the oath, and the notices are drafted documents. The county's Superior Court forms page publishes a Blank Motion, a Blank Order, and a Notice of Hearing for non-family-law matters that a probate filer can use, and the rest of its local forms are mostly family law, criminal, or arbitration documents. One local requirement is real: under LSPR 94.04(10.1) every oath of a proposed personal representative must carry specific added language, quoted in the forms section below |
| E-filing | None published for a probate filing. Mason County's local court rules contain no electronic filing provision, the Clerk's Office says fax filings are not accepted, and the county's Bench Copies page says bench copies must be delivered or mailed to Court Administration on paper and cannot be emailed. A probate petition is filed on paper at the counter or by mail to PO Box 340. Two narrow email uses exist: confirming a hearing, and sending a proposed order when you are appearing remotely at a scheduled hearing. Ask the Clerk's Office at extension 346 before assuming any electronic option |
| Case search | Mason 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 own site links the portal along with its registration paperwork. 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. The Clerk's Services page states that Mason County case documents are not viewable online, so for the documents themselves order copies from the Clerk |
| Hearing dates | Published by calendar, not by request. The county's 2026 Domestic Dockets schedule sets adult guardianship and probate matters for Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom LL1, and the 2026 Civil Dockets schedule sets the civil docket at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays except holidays and on Tuesdays after a court holiday. The ex parte docket runs Monday to Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and Friday at 3:00 p.m., with all paperwork provided to the Clerk's Office by 2:00 p.m. that day. A contested matter must be confirmed by 10:00 a.m. two court days before the docket, by calling the Clerk's Office at extension 346 or emailing the confirmation mailbox (LSPR 94.04(1.2)), and argument is limited to ten minutes per side (LSPR 94.04(1.4)). Calendars change, so check the current schedule before noting a matter |
| Remote appearance | Allowed at your discretion for most probate matters. The county's Superior Court page states that civil, domestic, probate, and guardianship proceedings may be attended in person or virtually at the party's discretion unless the court requires an in-person appearance, and that afternoon ex parte dockets may likewise be attended in person or virtually. Probate and guardianship jury trials are in person, and bench trials are in person unless the court approves otherwise in advance. Get the current Zoom information from the Clerk's Office at extension 346 or Court Administration at extension 348 |
| Website | https://www.masoncountywa.gov/departments/superior_court_clerk/index.php (the Mason County Clerk's own pages, with services, the fee schedule, copy ordering, and Odyssey access) and https://www.masoncountywa.gov/departments/superior_court/index.php (the Superior Court's pages, with the docket calendars, the local court rules, and the remote appearance policy). The courts.wa.gov directory entry for Mason County is at https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/orgs/282.html |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything with the Mason 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. Identify the estate first so you, and if needed your attorney, file the right papers once. That is worth real effort in Mason County, because the Clerk's counter closes for lunch, the probate docket sits on one weekday morning, and the ex parte cutoff is 2:00 p.m., so a missing document usually costs you a day rather than an hour.
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 Shelton, a waterfront cabin on Hood Canal, timberland outside Matlock, or any other Mason County 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 Mason County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, is the single probate filing office for all of Mason County, at one counter on the second floor of the Mason County Courthouse at 419 North 4th Street in Shelton. There is no second location and no branch counter. The office serves the entire county, including Shelton, the county seat and the only incorporated city, and the unincorporated communities that make up the rest of it: Belfair and the North Mason area at the head of Hood Canal, Hoodsport and Lilliwaup along the canal's western shore, Union, and Matlock and the timber country to the west. The county's own directory routes all of those communities to the courthouse switchboard, with a separate local number for Belfair. Estates from every part of the county are filed at this one counter, in person or by mail to the County Clerk at PO Box 340, Shelton, WA 98584. Two other courts sit nearby and neither handles probate: Mason County District Court at 414 West Franklin Street and Shelton Municipal Court at 525 West Cota Street.
Mason County has its own resident superior court bench, so unlike the twelve Washington counties that share a judge across county lines, nothing about scheduling here depends on a rotation between courthouses. The courts.wa.gov directory lists three Mason County superior court judges and two court commissioners, and the court publishes its dockets a year at a time on its Court Calendars page. For probate that means two calendars matter. The court's published motion calendars include a probate and guardianship calendar (LSPR 94.04(1.1) of the Mason County Superior Court local court rules), and the 2026 domestic docket schedule sets adult guardianship and probate matters for Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom LL1. Separately, an ex parte docket runs Monday to Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and Friday at 3:00 p.m., and that is where most routine probate orders are presented, with all paperwork provided to the Clerk's Office by 2:00 p.m. on the day of the hearing (LSPR 98.01). The rules warn that the schedule may change and that incorrectly scheduled matters may be stricken, so check the current calendar before you note a matter for hearing.
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 Mason County, file with the Mason 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 to Mason County's format, and put the required oath language in. Washington has no statewide probate form set and Mason County publishes no local probate forms, so the petition, the order, the oath, and the notices are drafted documents. The local rules set the format: mandatory forms where applicable, GR 14 format, GR 31(e), 12 point or larger type, single sided and double spaced, black or dark blue ink if handwritten, and illegible documents will not be considered (LSPR 94.04(2.1)); the Clerk's own filing-format page repeats the GR 14 requirements, including letter-size paper, printing on one side only, a three-inch top margin on the first page, and no colored pages or highlighting. One Mason County requirement catches out-of-county filers: under LSPR 94.04(10.1) every oath of a proposed personal representative or administrator given under RCW 11.28.170 shall include this additional language: "I am qualified under RCW 11.36.010 to serve as a Personal Representative as I am not a corporation, a minor, a person of unsound mind, or a person who has been convicted of any felony or of any crime involving moral turpitude."
- File with the Mason County Clerk. Take the papers to the clerk's counter on the second floor of the Mason County Courthouse, 419 North 4th Street in Shelton, open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed from noon to 1:00 p.m., or mail them to the County Clerk at PO Box 340, Shelton, WA 98584. Mason County publishes no e-filing service for a probate and does not accept fax filings, so this is paper at the counter or by mail. Address the mail carefully: the Superior Court and Court Administration use PO Box X and the district court uses PO Box O, and neither can file your petition. Call (360) 427-9670, extension 346, before you mail original documents, including the original will, and ask then what the office wants on intake.
- 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 Mason County's own fee schedule prints the same figure. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34. The county publishes a card payment portal for superior court fees, and the Clerk's Office requires payment in advance for clerk services such as copies and research and states that it does not take personal checks for those services, so ask at extension 346 what the office accepts for the filing fee itself before you mail a payment. The small estate affidavit route under RCW 11.62.010 opens no court case, so it 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 Mason 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)); in Mason County that weekly newspaper is the Shelton-Mason County Journal, published in Shelton since 1886, which runs the county's public notices and legals and takes notices by email. Confirm the publication 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 your order signed, on the right docket. Most routine probate orders in Mason County are presented ex parte rather than at a contested hearing. The ex parte docket runs Monday to Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and Friday at 3:00 p.m., and under LSPR 98.01 the pleadings for a new or a pending matter, meaning the petition, the motion, and the proposed order, must be filed with the Clerk's Office by 2:00 p.m. on the day the ex parte hearing will be held; late filings are heard only at the judicial officer's discretion, and agreed orders on pending matters may simply be presented at the docket. A contested matter goes on a regular docket instead: adult guardianship and probate matters are set for Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. on the county's published 2026 schedule, the civil docket runs at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays and on Tuesdays after a court holiday, and a contested matter must be confirmed no later than 10:00 a.m. two court days before the docket by calling the Clerk's Office at (360) 427-9670, extension 346, or emailing [email protected] (LSPR 94.04(1.2)). Argument is limited to ten minutes per side (LSPR 94.04(1.4)), motions and supporting documents must be filed and served before 4:30 p.m. six court days before the calendar day with responses due by noon three court days ahead and replies by noon two court days ahead (LSPR 97.01(2)), and bench copies go to Court Administration on paper at or before filing (LSPR 97.01(3)). To appear remotely, probate and guardianship proceedings and the ex parte dockets may be attended in person or virtually at your discretion unless the court requires you in the room, and current Zoom information comes from the Clerk's Office at extension 346 or Court Administration at extension 348.
- 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 Mason 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: a certificate of qualification or a certified copy of letters is $5 (RCW 36.18.016(9)), and Mason County's schedule charges $5 for the first page of a certified copy plus $1 for each additional page (RCW 36.18.016(4)(a)). If you order copies by mail rather than at the counter, the Clerk adds a $3 postage surcharge and asks for 72 hours on emailed requests.
- 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 and will go back on a Mason County docket to get there.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Mason County
Mason County publishes no local probate 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). 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 statewide Case Information Cover Sheet on the courts.wa.gov forms pages is the near-universal form filed with a new superior court case; Mason County's local rules do not add a county cover sheet of their own, so ask the Clerk's Office at (360) 427-9670, extension 346, what it wants on intake.
One Mason County requirement is genuinely local and easy to miss. Under LSPR 94.04(10.1) of the Mason County Superior Court local court rules, the following additional language shall be included in all oaths of a proposed personal representative or administrator of an estate provided under RCW 11.28.170: "I am qualified under RCW 11.36.010 to serve as a Personal Representative as I am not a corporation, a minor, a person of unsound mind, or a person who has been convicted of any felony or of any crime involving moral turpitude." An oath that omits it does not comply with the local rule, so put it in before you present the appointment papers on the ex parte docket.
What the county does publish is a small set of generic superior court forms that a probate filer can use, and the local rules and calendars that govern the filing. The Superior Court's forms page carries a Blank Motion, a Blank Order, and a Notice of Hearing for non-family-law matters, plus the September 1, 2023 local court rules; the rest of its forms are mostly family law, criminal, or arbitration documents. Note that the county's courthouse facilitator, in Room 201 on the second floor, is a Family Law Facilitator: the office's own page says it assists only with domestic and minor guardianship matters and cannot help with adult guardianships, adoptions, or other civil matters, so it is not a probate resource. The GR 34 fee waiver forms are on the courts.wa.gov forms pages if you cannot afford the $290 filing fee (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)), and 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).
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Mason County Superior Court, forms and rules (masoncountywa.gov) | The county's own Superior Court pages: the Court Forms document center with the Blank Motion, Blank Order, and non-family-law Notice of Hearing, the September 1, 2023 local court rules, the remote appearance policy, and the bench copy rule |
| Mason County Superior Court court calendars (masoncountywa.gov) | The published 2026 docket schedules, including the Wednesday 9:00 a.m. adult guardianship and probate setting, the civil docket, and the Ex Parte Dockets sheet with the 2:00 p.m. paperwork cutoff |
| Mason County Superior Court local court rules (courts.wa.gov) | The current adopted local rules as published by the Administrative Office of the Courts: LSPR 94.04 on probate motion calendars, confirmation, format, and the required oath language; LSPR 97.01 on motion deadlines and bench copies; LSPR 98.01 on the ex parte docket |
| Washington Courts court forms (courts.wa.gov) | The statewide Case Information Cover Sheet 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) |
| Washington Courts directory: Mason County (courts.wa.gov) | The government listing that confirms the Mason County Clerk's street address, PO Box 340 mailing address, and extension 346 office line |
Fees
The $290 that opens a probate is statutory and identical in every Washington county, but Mason County publishes its own Superior Court Clerk fee schedule, updated July 29, 2025, and a few of its lines are county choices that a Mason County estate will actually hit. The most consequential is the ex parte fee: state law says a clerk may collect $30 for processing ex parte orders (RCW 36.18.016(12)), and Mason County charges it, which matters because the ex parte docket is where most routine probate orders here get signed. Confirm every figure with the Mason County Clerk before you write a check, and note that the Clerk's Office requires payment in advance for clerk services and states that it does not accept personal checks for those services.
| Item | Mason County charge |
|---|---|
| Opening a probate or guardianship case | $290, the statutory total: a $200 filing fee plus a $40 surcharge and a $50 surcharge (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)). Mason County's schedule prints it as the probate and guardianship filing fee. Fee waivers are available under GR 34 |
| Processing an ex parte order | $30. State law makes this optional for the county, and Mason County collects it (RCW 36.18.016(12)). Budget for it on each order you present at the afternoon ex parte docket |
| Filing a will where no probate is opened | $20, and the county lists it twice, once as a will filing and once as a will repository filing. Filing a will or codicil under chapter 11.12 RCW is a $20 fee by statute (RCW 36.18.016(27)). This is not a probate: it lodges the document without opening a case |
| Filing a nonjudicial probate document | $20 on the county's schedule. Ask the Clerk's Office which filings it applies this line to before you rely on it |
| Contesting a will | $290, the same total as opening a probate (a $200 fee under RCW 36.18.020(2)(g) plus the same $40 and $50 surcharges) |
| Certificate of qualification or certified copy of letters | $5 (RCW 36.18.016(9)). This is the document banks and title companies ask for, so order more than one |
| Certified copy of a filed document | $5 for the first page plus $1 for each additional page, priced per document (RCW 36.18.016(4)(a)) |
| Plain copies | 50 cents per page for a filed document and 25 cents per page for a document that is not filed, and 50 cents per page for clerk's papers |
| Copies ordered by mail | Add a $3 postage surcharge, per the Clerk's Order Copies page, which also asks for 72 hours on requests sent by email and lets you come to the counter at 419 North 4th Street if you need copies faster |
| Records research | $30 per hour with a half-hour minimum on the county's schedule (RCW 36.18.016(11)). For a case opened before 1996 the Clerk asks for a prepaid $30 minimum research fee plus $30 per hour after that, on top of the copy cost |
| Returned payment | $40 for a payment returned unpaid |
| Creditor notice publication | Not a court fee. Publishing the notice to creditors once each week for three successive weeks (RCW 11.40.020(1)) is billed by the newspaper, so get a quote from the Shelton-Mason County Journal before you commit to a date |
Recent updates
| Change | What it means |
|---|---|
| Mason County Clerk fee schedule updated July 29, 2025 | The county's current published Superior Court Clerk fee schedule carries that date. It prints the probate and guardianship filing fee at $290, matching the statutory total (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)), and sets out the local lines a probate filer meets, including the $30 ex parte order fee and the $20 will filing fee. Ask the Clerk's Office for the current sheet before you write a check |
| Local court rule amendments proposed, comment period closed June 16, 2026 | Mason County Superior Court published proposed amendments to its local court rules with a track-changes version and a chart, and accepted public comment until the close of business on June 16, 2026. The rules described on this page are the adopted September 1, 2023 set as published by the Administrative Office of the Courts, so check the county's Superior Court page for a newer version before relying on a calendar, deadline, or format rule |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Mason County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Shelton 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 Mason 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 Mason County Clerk at the courthouse in Shelton, and the appointment order is usually presented on the afternoon ex parte docket with the oath carrying the language LSPR 94.04(10.1) requires. | 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 Mason 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). If a probate is needed, a filer living out of state can mail the petition to the Mason County Clerk at PO Box 340, Shelton, WA 98584, and order certified copies of the letters by mail for $5 each plus the county's $3 postage surcharge, so the case can be opened without flying into Washington. Where an appearance is needed, probate matters and the ex parte dockets may be attended virtually at the party's discretion. | 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. |
| 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 Mason County house and distribute the proceeds without returning to court for approval (RCW 11.68.011). If a sibling or another heir objects, the matter becomes a contested hearing, which goes on the county's Wednesday 9:00 a.m. adult guardianship and probate docket and must be confirmed by 10:00 a.m. two court days ahead, with argument limited to ten minutes per side. | 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 |
|---|---|
| Mason County Clerk, Clerk of the Superior Court (masoncountywa.gov), (360) 427-9670 extension 346 | The filing office for probate: the counter on the second floor at 419 North 4th Street in Shelton, the PO Box 340 mailing address, the fee schedule, copy ordering, and Odyssey access. Clerk staff can give you a case's status, the file to review, printed general information on procedure, and court schedules, and the office says plainly that it cannot give legal advice or tell you what to put in a document |
| Mason County Superior Court (masoncountywa.gov), (360) 427-9670 extension 348 | The court's own pages: the 2026 docket calendars including the Wednesday probate setting and the ex parte dockets, the September 1, 2023 local court rules, the bench copy rule, and the policy on attending probate matters virtually. Court Administration is a separate office from the Clerk and does not take filings |
| Mason County Clerk, ordering copies of court records (masoncountywa.gov) | How to get certified copies of the letters and other filed documents, with prices, the $3 postage surcharge, the 72-hour turnaround on emailed requests, and the extra research fee for cases opened before 1996. Court case records fall under GR 31 rather than the Public Records Act |
| Mason County Superior Court local court rules (courts.wa.gov) | The current adopted local rules from the Administrative Office of the Courts, including the probate and guardianship motion calendar, the confirmation deadline, the pleading format rules, the required personal representative oath language, and the ex parte docket rule |
| 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). Named on the Superior Court's own Legal Resources handout |
| Washington Courts self-help (courts.wa.gov) and court forms | The statewide self-help pages and the forms index, with the Case Information Cover Sheet and the GR 34 fee waiver forms. There is no statewide probate forms category. Both are named on the county's Legal Resources handout |
| Odyssey Portal (odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov) | The public case search for Washington superior courts, including Mason County, and the system the Clerk's own Odyssey page points to. Probate cases appear as superior court civil cases; document coverage varies, so order copies from the Clerk for the documents themselves |
| Washington Courts case search (dw.courts.wa.gov) | 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 and directs users to Odyssey Portal or the court of record |
| Northwest Justice Project CLEAR, 1-888-201-1014, nwjustice.org | Free civil legal aid intake for low-income Washington residents; callers 60 and over can use CLEAR Sr at 1-888-387-7111. Both numbers appear on the Mason County Superior Court Legal Resources handout. CLEAR targets basic-needs civil problems, so ask whether an estate matter qualifies |
| Washington State Bar Association, find legal help (wsba.org), 1-800-945-9722 | Lawyer referral and public resources for finding a Washington probate attorney who covers Mason County. The Clerk's Office separately refers callers to the Thurston County Bar lawyer referral program at (360) 923-4844 |
| Washington State Law Library (courts.wa.gov), (360) 357-2136 | Legal reference help by phone and email for anyone in the state, useful because Mason County lists no law library among its departments |
| Shelton-Mason County Journal, public notices and legals (masoncounty.com), (360) 426-4412 | The county's weekly newspaper, published in Shelton since 1886, where the notice to creditors is published once each week for three successive weeks (RCW 11.40.020(1)). Notices are submitted by email; confirm the schedule and cost before you rely on a date |
When to hire an attorney
Many Mason 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 waterfront property, timberland, 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). Mason County's local rules are a practical reason too: the required oath language under LSPR 94.04(10.1), the 2:00 p.m. ex parte cutoff, the ten-minute argument limit, and the confirmation and motion deadlines under LSPR 94.04(1.2) and LSPR 97.01 are the kind of detail a lawyer who appears on these dockets handles without a second trip to Shelton. The Mason County Clerk can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice, and the county's courthouse facilitator handles family law and minor guardianship matters only, not probate. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Washington probate attorney serving Mason 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, Mason 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 nonintervention powers, or a small estate affidavit, ready to file with the Mason County Clerk at the counter in Shelton or by mail to PO Box 340.
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 Mason 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 Mason County?
With the Mason County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, at the counter on the second floor of the Mason County Courthouse, 419 North 4th Street in Shelton, or by mail to PO Box 340, Shelton, WA 98584. Washington has no separate probate court: the Superior Court in Mason 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)). Mason County District Court and Shelton Municipal Court do not handle probate.
Do I have to e-file probate in Mason County?
No. Mason County publishes no e-filing service for a superior court probate: the county's local court rules contain no electronic filing provision, the Clerk's Office states that fax filings are not accepted, and the county's Bench Copies page says bench copies must be delivered or mailed to Court Administration on paper and cannot be emailed. A probate is filed on paper at the counter at 419 North 4th Street or by mail to PO Box 340. Email has two narrow uses here: confirming a contested hearing at [email protected], and sending a proposed order when you are appearing remotely at a scheduled hearing. Odyssey Portal is a case search and registration system, not a filing system. Because clerk technology changes, ask the Clerk's Office at extension 346 what it currently accepts.
When are probate matters heard in Mason County, and how do I confirm a hearing?
On a published calendar, and you confirm with the Clerk before a deadline that is easy to miss. The court's local rules list a probate and guardianship motion calendar (LSPR 94.04(1.1)), and the county's 2026 domestic docket schedule sets adult guardianship and probate matters for Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom LL1; the civil docket runs at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays except holidays and on Tuesdays after a court holiday. Most routine probate orders never go on a morning docket at all, because they are presented on the ex parte docket, which runs Monday to Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and Friday at 3:00 p.m. A contested matter must be confirmed no later than 10:00 a.m. two court days before the motion, by calling the Clerk of the Court at (360) 427-9670, extension 346, or emailing [email protected], and that applies to hearings set by notice of issue, by court order, and to matters that were administratively continued (LSPR 94.04(1.2)); if the deadline falls on a court holiday, confirm before 10:00 a.m. on the last court day before it. A matter that is not confirmed may be heard at the end of the calendar only if the court allows it and everyone agrees, a confirmed matter cannot be continued without the court's permission, and argument is limited to ten minutes per side (LSPR 94.04(1.4)). Calendars change from year to year and the rules warn that incorrectly scheduled matters may be stricken, so check the current schedule on the county's Court Calendars page before you note a matter.
What is the 2:00 p.m. ex parte deadline in Mason County?
It is the local cutoff for getting an order signed that afternoon. Under LSPR 98.01 of the Mason County Superior Court local rules, a party filing a new matter with a request for an ex parte order, or bringing a request on a pending matter, must file the pleadings with the Clerk's Office by 2:00 p.m. on the day the ex parte hearing will be held; the county's own Ex Parte Dockets sheet repeats that all paperwork, meaning the petition, the motion, and the proposed order, must be provided to the Clerk's Office by 2:00 p.m. Late filings are heard only at the judicial officer's discretion, so a petition handed over at 3:00 p.m. usually waits for the next day's docket. Agreed orders on pending matters may simply be presented at the time of the ex parte docket.
Can I appear by phone or video in a Mason County probate?
Yes, and for most probate matters it is your choice. The county's Superior Court page states that civil, domestic, probate, and guardianship proceedings may be attended in person or virtually at the party's discretion unless the court requires an in-person appearance, and that the afternoon ex parte dockets may also be attended in person or virtually at the party's discretion. The limits are trials: probate and guardianship jury trials are held in person, and bench trials are held in person unless the court approves a virtual hearing in advance. Get the current Zoom information from the Clerk's Office at (360) 427-9670, extension 346, or Court Administration at extension 348, rather than reusing an old meeting link, because the county's meeting details change.
Are there local Mason County probate forms?
No local probate 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. The county's Superior Court forms page does publish a Blank Motion, a Blank Order, and a Notice of Hearing for non-family-law matters that a probate filer can use, along with the September 1, 2023 local court rules. One local requirement is mandatory: under LSPR 94.04(10.1) every oath of a proposed personal representative or administrator given under RCW 11.28.170 must include the added language stating that the person is qualified under RCW 11.36.010 and is not a corporation, a minor, a person of unsound mind, or a person convicted of any felony or crime involving moral turpitude. The local rules also set the pleading format (LSPR 94.04(2.1)) and say illegible documents will not be considered.
How much does it cost to file probate in Mason 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)). Mason County's own fee schedule, updated July 29, 2025, prints the same $290 as its probate and guardianship filing fee, so there is no county add-on to that figure. Two local lines do add up: Mason County charges the optional $30 fee for processing an ex parte order that RCW 36.18.016(12) allows, which matters because most probate orders here are signed on the ex parte docket, and it charges $20 to file a will where no probate is opened (RCW 36.18.016(27)). Budget separately for certified copies of the letters, which are $5 for a certificate of qualification or certified copy of letters (RCW 36.18.016(9)) and $5 for the first page plus $1 per additional page of a certified copy (RCW 36.18.016(4)(a)), and for publishing the creditor notice. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34.
How do I look up a Mason County probate case online?
Use Odyssey Portal, the public case search for Washington superior courts, which covers Mason County and is the system the Clerk's own site points 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. Do not expect the documents: the Clerk's Services page states that Mason County case documents are not viewable online, and the office answers information requests by telephone and U.S. mail rather than by email or fax. To get a document, order a copy from the Clerk, at 50 cents a page for a filed document or $5 for the first page of a certified copy plus $1 per additional page, with a $3 surcharge if it comes by mail.
Where is the creditor notice published for a Mason 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)). In Mason County that weekly newspaper is the Shelton-Mason County Journal, published in Shelton since 1886, which runs the county's public notices and legals and takes notices by email at its Shelton office, (360) 426-4412. 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)). 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).
Do I have to travel to Shelton to settle an estate in Mason County?
Often not, or not more than once. The petition and the later filings can be mailed to the Mason County Clerk at PO Box 340, Shelton, WA 98584, with payment for the $290 filing fee (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)); certified copies of the letters can be mailed back to you for $5 each plus the $3 postage surcharge; probate and guardianship proceedings and the ex parte dockets may be attended virtually at the party's discretion; and a personal representative granted nonintervention powers administers and closes a solvent estate without returning to court for supervision (RCW 11.68.011). Two cautions if you file by mail. Watch the box number, because the courthouse uses more than one: Superior Court and Court Administration take mail at PO Box X and the district court at PO Box O, and neither can file a probate petition. And call the Clerk's Office at (360) 427-9670, extension 346, before you send original documents, including the original will, to ask what payment the office accepts, because the Clerk requires payment in advance for services and says it does not take personal checks for those. If you do come in, the counter is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed from noon to 1:00 p.m., and anything you want signed on that afternoon's ex parte docket has to be filed by 2:00 p.m. Travel matters most for a trial: probate jury trials are held in person, and bench trials are in person unless the court approves otherwise in advance.
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.