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Pend Oreille County, WA Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Superior Court in Pend Oreille 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. Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties share three superior court judges (RCW 2.08.065) as the Tri-County Judicial District, which the court's own pages describe as established by Chapter 65, Section 2, Laws of Washington 1981 and served by three judges elected to four-year terms, with a court commissioner appointed by the judges. The court is divided into three numbered departments (LAR 1 of the counties' joint local rules, cited on this page as LAR and LCR) |
| Filing office | The Pend Oreille County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court. The county describes the office as one of the elected officials provided by the Washington State Constitution, ex officio clerk of the Superior Court and the court's official record keeper. This is the office that takes the petition, lodges the will, issues letters, and keeps the county's estate records. A shared bench changes nothing about where you file: filing stays with the Pend Oreille County Clerk in Newport |
| Courthouse | Pend Oreille County Hall of Justice, 229 South Garden Avenue, Newport, WA 99156. The county states the Hall of Justice houses the Superior Court, the county's district court, the Juvenile Office, and the Prosecutor's Office. Other county offices sit in a different building, the Old County Courthouse at 625 West 4th Street, so go to South Garden Avenue for a probate filing. Superior Court Administration for the three counties is a separate office at 215 South Oak Street, Room 209, Colville, WA 99114 |
| Mailing address | PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156-5020, the County Clerk's box, which is where probate filings and clerk correspondence go. Newport has several county boxes and they are not interchangeable: the courts.wa.gov directory lists PO Box 5030 for the county's district court and PO Box 5050 for Juvenile Court, and the Auditor, in the Old County Courthouse, uses PO Box 5015. Address probate mail to the Pend Oreille County Clerk at PO Box 5020 |
| Phone | (509) 447-2435, the Pend Oreille County Clerk in Newport, published by both the county and the courts.wa.gov directory. Two other numbers in the same building do not handle probate: (509) 447-4110 is the county's district court, a court of limited jurisdiction, and (509) 447-4021 is Juvenile Court. For scheduling and calendar questions the Tri-County Superior Court Administration office in Colville is (509) 684-7527 |
| Fax | (509) 447-2734, published on the county's own Clerk page and in the courts.wa.gov directory, which lists the same number for the Superior Court and the County Clerk. Do not plan on faxing a filing: the Clerk's fee schedule has no fax filing line, and it does charge extra for providing noncertified copies by fax or email. Ask the Clerk before sending anything by fax that you intend as a filing |
| None published for the office. The county's Clerk pages and staff directory listing give a phone number only, with no general office mailbox, and the courts.wa.gov directory lists no email for the Pend Oreille County Clerk. Call (509) 447-2435 rather than emailing, and note that the county's website moved to the pendoreille.gov domain, so older contact details for this office circulate out of date | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed from noon to 1 p.m., per the county's own Clerk page, which states that the Hall of Justice is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the Superior Court Clerk's Office is closed from noon to 1 p.m. This is a one-counter office with a small staff, so call (509) 447-2435 before making a trip to Newport. Superior Court Administration in Colville is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, and its own page directs filers to the individual County Clerk's site for clerk hours. Viewing court files at the courthouse is free |
| 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). The Pend Oreille County Clerk's own fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026, prints the estate probate line at the same $290 total, though its columns break the total down differently, as a $250 filing line plus a $40 judicial surcharge. Fees are paid in advance, and the schedule also lists the in forma pauperis waiver for financial hardship (RCW 36.18.022). Confirm the current schedule with the Pend Oreille County Clerk |
| Local forms | No local probate forms, and no statewide probate form set either (verified July 2026 on the courts.wa.gov Court Forms index, which has no probate category). The Clerk does post a short set of general civil documents that a probate filer can use: a Pend Oreille County coversheet, a blank order, a declaration, a Note for Hearing, and the Note for Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness that LCR 40(a) makes mandatory when a contested matter is set for trial. None of them is probate-specific, and the Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens local rules impose no case cover sheet requirement and contain no probate rule, so ask the Clerk what the office wants on intake |
| E-filing | Available, which is unusual for a rural Washington county, and it is the Clerk's own service rather than a statewide or district system. The county's E-Filing page states that electronic filings are accepted at the Pend Oreille County Clerk's Office and that an electronically filed copy constitutes an original for all court purposes. Documents must be prepaid at $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after, be PDF, 8.5 by 11 inches, portrait, with no embedded videos, and the filer keeps the original for 60 days after the case is complete (GR 17). A free Box account is required to submit, and a confirmation email follows. Documents that carry filing fees may be e-filed if payment is made first. One limit matters most in probate: original wills and negotiable instruments may not be filed by e-filing transmission, so the original will goes to the counter or in the mail |
| Case search | Three layers. The Clerk states that all cases and documents filed since January 1, 1996 are available as computer images, viewable online or at the Clerk's Office at 229 South Garden Avenue, with older cases on microfiche or the office computer; probate and guardianship is one of the record types listed, and viewing files at the courthouse is free. Pend Oreille County is also one of the counties covered by Odyssey Portal, the current public case search for Washington superior courts (https://odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov/odyportal). The statewide index at https://dw.courts.wa.gov/, which the Clerk's own page links for a name or case number search, reaches superior court cases too, but it carries its own notice that dockets, judgments, document links, and case status may be inaccurate and directs users to Odyssey Portal or the court of record. Document images and coverage vary, so for records in a Pend Oreille County case contact the Clerk at (509) 447-2435 |
| Hearing dates | Published weekly, which is rare in a small county. The county's own Superior Court calendar page states that Pend Oreille Superior Court is held every Thursday, with the criminal docket at 9 a.m., juvenile at 10 a.m., protection orders and dependency at 11 a.m., and civil, probate and guardianship at 1:30 p.m., and it directs readers to the calendar date to see which judge is hearing the docket. A commissioner docket runs every other Friday and covers juvenile, child support, and protection order matters, not probate. Motions and other pre-trial proceedings are scheduled on a Law and Motion Docket unless arranged in advance through the court administrator, and the calendar is posted on the court's website, which parties are advised to check along with the County Clerk or the Court Administrator before noting a motion (LAR 2). Motion papers are served and filed no later than nine court days before the date you want the motion considered, opposing papers by 10 a.m. four court days ahead, and a strict reply by 10 a.m. two court days ahead (LCR 6(d)(2)) |
| Remote appearance | Available, and arranged rather than automatic. The Pend Oreille County Clerk publishes a Zoom link and meeting ID for remote superior court hearings, along with toll-free dial-in numbers, and the county's own Note for Hearing form carries the same Zoom information and the Tri-County Superior Court online calendar. The shared court's site separately publishes a WebEx video hearings page, so follow the notice of hearing in your own case and ask the Clerk which platform your hearing uses. The shared court also allows telephonic appearance except for protection orders and dispositive motions such as summary judgments, supplemental proceedings, and motions for dismissal, and to use it you call the Clerk's office in the county where the hearing will take place for the conference call-in number. LCR 77(o) still requires the court's advance approval before a matter is heard by conference call, and a witness may not testify remotely without prior court approval (LCR 43(a)(4)) |
| Website | https://www.pendoreille.gov/superior-court-clerk (the Pend Oreille County Clerk's own pages, with hours, phone, the fee schedule, the e-filing service, the county's superior court docket schedule, and the records policy) and https://www.stevenscountywa.gov/superiorcourt (the Tri-County Judicial District's Superior Court pages for Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties: calendars, video hearings, bench copies, scheduling, forms, and self-representation). The courts.wa.gov directory entry for Pend Oreille County is at https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/orgs/285.html. Note that the county's old pendoreilleco.org address no longer resolves to the Clerk's page |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything with the Pend Oreille 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, because the county runs the length of the Pend Oreille River from Newport to the Canadian border and the counter is at the far southern end of it.
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 Newport, timber or riverfront ground along the Pend Oreille, or any other real property generally requires a probate in the superior court so that a personal representative has authority to sign a deed. Property held in trust or restricted status on the Kalispel Reservation is a separate question handled by the federal government, so check the status of reservation land early. 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 Pend Oreille County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, is the single probate filing office for all of Pend Oreille County, at one counter in the Pend Oreille County Hall of Justice at 229 South Garden Avenue in Newport. There is no second location and no branch counter. The office serves the entire county: Newport, the county seat, at the south end on the Idaho line, the towns of Cusick, Ione, Metaline, and Metaline Falls up the river to the north, and the unincorporated communities and rural country in between, among them Usk, Dalkena, Diamond Lake, Sacheen Lake, Blueslide, Tiger, and Ruby, out to the Selkirk high country and the Canadian border. Estates from every part of the county are filed here, in person at the counter, by mail to PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156, or through the Clerk's own electronic filing service, except that an original will cannot be e-filed and has to reach the counter or the mail.
Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties share three superior court judges (RCW 2.08.065) as the Tri-County Judicial District, which the court's own pages describe as established by Chapter 65, Section 2, Laws of Washington 1981, with the judges elected to four-year terms and a court commissioner appointed by them. That is an administrative fact about the bench, not about the counter: you do not file in Colville or Republic. A Pend Oreille County estate is filed with the Pend Oreille County Clerk, keeps a Pend Oreille County case number, and stays in the Pend Oreille County records. What the shared bench changes is scheduling, and here the county publishes more than most. Pend Oreille Superior Court is held every Thursday, with civil, probate and guardianship matters called at 1:30 p.m., and the county's calendar page shows which judge is hearing the docket on a given date; a commissioner docket every other Friday covers juvenile, child support, and protection order matters rather than probate. Motions and other pre-trial proceedings go on a Law and Motion Docket unless arranged in advance through the court administrator, and parties are advised to confirm docket dates and times with the posted calendar, the County Clerk, or the Court Administrator before noting a motion (LAR 2). The shared court runs a master calendar system in which virtually all matters are heard on the published dockets, and a special setting happens only at a judicial officer's direction. Court administration itself sits at 215 South Oak Street, Room 209, Colville, and that is also where working copies of dispositive motions go at the time of filing, regardless of which county the motion was filed in (LCR 6(d)(2)(B)).
The Kalispel Reservation lies along the east bank of the Pend Oreille River near Usk and Cusick, and it changes which court settles part of an estate there. Property held in trust or restricted status for a deceased Indian owner is probated by the United States Department of the Interior rather than by the Superior Court: the Bureau of Indian Affairs assembles the estate package, and the Office of Hearings and Appeals determines the heirs, under the American Indian Probate Reform Act amendments to the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 and following) and 43 CFR part 30. The Kalispel Tribe also operates its own tribal court, which hears estates under the Tribe's Law and Order Code on its own timetable; a notice to creditors in a Kalispel Tribal Court estate is published in the same Newport newspaper that carries the county's legal notices. The same person's other property, a bank account, a vehicle, or fee land held outside trust status, still passes under Washington law and can still require a probate with the Pend Oreille County Clerk, so ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Tribe about the reservation property and the Pend Oreille County Clerk about the rest.
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 Pend Oreille County, file with the Pend Oreille 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. If the estate includes trust or restricted property on the Kalispel Reservation, that part goes to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior instead, under 25 U.S.C. 2201 and following and 43 CFR part 30.
- Prepare the papers. 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 Pend Oreille County publishes no probate-specific form of its own. The Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties joint local rules impose no case cover sheet requirement and contain no probate rule, which is worth knowing before you assemble a packet. What the Clerk does post is a set of general civil documents you can use: a Pend Oreille County coversheet, a blank order, a declaration, a Note for Hearing for setting a hearing, and the Note for Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness that LCR 40(a) makes mandatory when a contested matter is set for trial. WashingtonLawHelp publishes the plain-language packets a self-represented filer can work from, including the small estate affidavit kit.
- File with the Pend Oreille County Clerk. You have three routes. Take the papers to the clerk's counter in the Pend Oreille County Hall of Justice, 229 South Garden Avenue in Newport, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed from noon to 1 p.m.; mail them to the Pend Oreille County Clerk, PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156; or e-file them through the Clerk's own service, which accepts PDF documents 8.5 by 11 inches in portrait orientation, requires a free Box account, charges $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after, and treats the electronically filed copy as an original for all court purposes, with the filer keeping the paper original for 60 days after the case is complete (GR 17). The original will is the exception: original wills and negotiable instruments may not be e-filed, so the will itself goes to the counter or in the mail. Call (509) 447-2435 before you mail original documents, 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)). The Pend Oreille County Clerk's own fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026, prints the same $290 total for an estate probate. Fees are paid in advance, and documents that carry a filing fee can be e-filed only if the payment is made first. The county publishes a card payment route by phone and online through a third-party processor with a convenience fee, and a mailed check or money order goes to the Pend Oreille County Clerk at PO Box 5020. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34, and the schedule also lists the in forma pauperis waiver for financial hardship (RCW 36.18.022); presenting that motion and order carries no ex parte fee. The small estate affidavit route under RCW 11.62.010 opens no court case, but the Clerk does charge $20 to file the affidavit here.
- 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 Pend Oreille 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)); Pend Oreille County's weekly legal newspaper is The Newport Miner, published in Newport. Confirm the county's current list of approved legal newspapers with the Clerk and 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 on a court date if your matter needs one. Many probate orders never reach a contested hearing. Under LCR 54(f)(3) a routine ex parte or stipulated order based on the record in the file may be presented by mail addressed to the Clerk, with self addressed stamped envelopes for the return of conformed or rejected orders and the ex parte fee submitted before presentation, which the Clerk's schedule sets at $30 per presentation for up to three orders per case per day. The joint rules also provide an ex parte docket held according to the Judicial District's online calendar, on which only uncontested matters are heard, with a five minute slot reserved at least two hours ahead and the documents provided when the slot is reserved; the rule names the Stevens County counter for that reservation even though it governs all three counties, so ask the Pend Oreille County Clerk which route applies to your Newport setting. Anything argued is called on a docket: the county publishes a Thursday superior court schedule with civil, probate and guardianship matters at 1:30 p.m., motions go on a Law and Motion Docket unless arranged in advance through the court administrator, and you should confirm the date with the posted calendar, the Clerk, or the Court Administrator before noting a motion (LAR 2). File and serve motion papers no later than nine court days before the date you want the matter considered, with opposing papers due by 10 a.m. four court days ahead and a strict reply by 10 a.m. two court days ahead (LCR 6(d)(2)); working copies of a dispositive motion go to the judge at 215 South Oak Street, Room 209, Colville at the time of filing (LCR 6(d)(2)(B)). To appear remotely, use the Zoom link and meeting ID the Clerk publishes, follow the notice of hearing in your case, or ask the Clerk for the conference call-in number, keeping in mind that telephonic appearance is not allowed for dispositive motions or supplemental proceedings and that a conference call needs the court's advance approval (LCR 77(o)).
- 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 Pend Oreille 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 Clerk's schedule charges $5 for a certificate of qualification and $5 for a certified copy of letters, with additional copies $5 each (RCW 36.18.016(9)), $5 for the first page of any other certified copy plus $1 for each additional page (RCW 36.18.016(4)), and $2 for executing a certificate with or without a seal.
- 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 Pend Oreille County
Pend Oreille County publishes no probate-specific form, 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 accessing 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 Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties joint local rules, effective September 1, 2025, contain no case cover sheet provision and no probate rule, so there is no mandatory local probate cover sheet of the kind several other Washington counties impose. What the Pend Oreille County Clerk does post, on its Court Records, Forms and Fee Schedule page, is a short set of general civil documents that a probate filer can use: a Pend Oreille County coversheet, a blank order, a declaration, a Note for Hearing, and a Note for Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness. Two of those matter most. The Note for Hearing is the county's own form for setting a hearing, and it carries the court's Zoom information and the Tri-County Superior Court calendar address on its face. The Note for Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness is the mandatory form LCR 40(a) requires when a contested matter is ready to be set for trial. The office also posts a confidential information sheet and the statewide format and style rules, both of which are family law documents rather than probate forms.
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 the Clerk's own schedule lists the in forma pauperis waiver for financial hardship as well (RCW 36.18.022). WashingtonLawHelp publishes the practical self-help packets, including the small estate affidavit kit for the no-court-case route under RCW 11.62.010. Ask the Pend Oreille County Clerk at (509) 447-2435 what the office wants on intake before you file, because a one-counter office can tell you in one call.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Pend Oreille County Clerk, court records, forms and fee schedule (pendoreille.gov) | The Clerk's own page: the fee schedule effective June 11, 2026, the coversheet, blank order, declaration, Note for Hearing, and Note for Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness, and the records search links |
| Pend Oreille County Clerk, electronic filing (pendoreille.gov) | The Clerk's own e-filing service: what it accepts, the per-page charge, the free Box account requirement, and the rule that original wills and negotiable instruments may not be e-filed |
| Local rules for the superior courts of Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties (courts.wa.gov) | The current adopted joint local rules, effective September 1, 2025, from the Administrative Office of the Courts: docket scheduling under LAR 2, motion timing under LCR 6, ex parte presentation under LCR 54(f), trial setting under LCR 40(a), and conference calls under LCR 77(o) |
| Washington Courts court forms (courts.wa.gov) | The statewide case cover sheets and the GR 34 fee waiver forms. There is no probate category here, which is the point: Washington has no statewide probate forms |
| WashingtonLawHelp (washingtonlawhelp.org) | Plain-language Washington probate self-help, including the guide to managing a small estate yourself and the small estate affidavit packet (RCW 11.62.010) |
| Washington Courts directory: Pend Oreille County (courts.wa.gov) | The government listing that confirms the Pend Oreille County Clerk's street address, PO Box, phone, and fax |
Fees
The $290 that opens a probate is statutory and identical statewide, but the Pend Oreille County Clerk publishes its own fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026, and it has a probate and guardianship section, so several charges a probate filer actually meets are set out locally. Two are easy to overlook. Electronic filing is not free here: the Clerk charges $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after. And presenting an order ex parte carries $30 per presentation for up to three orders per case per day, which matters because the joint local rules let you mail a routine ex parte or stipulated order to the Clerk with self addressed stamped envelopes and the ex parte fee paid in advance (LCR 54(f)(3)), making that $30 the price of moving an estate along from a distance. Fees are paid in advance. Confirm amounts with the Clerk at (509) 447-2435 before you pay, because the county's records page and its current fee schedule state copy charges slightly differently.
| Item | Pend Oreille County charge |
|---|---|
| Opening a probate | $290 total: a $200 filing fee (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f)) plus a $40 surcharge ((5)(c)) plus a $50 surcharge ((6)). Statutory and the same in every Washington county. The Clerk's own schedule prints the same $290 total, breaking it down as a $250 filing line plus a $40 judicial surcharge. Fee waivers under GR 34, and the schedule also lists the in forma pauperis waiver for financial hardship (RCW 36.18.022) |
| Electronic filing | $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after (RCW 36.18.016(20)), paid before the documents are submitted. A convenience fee applies to electronic payments. Original wills and negotiable instruments cannot be e-filed at all |
| Ex parte presentation of an order | $30 per presentation, for up to three orders per case per day, with an exception for up to four orders on entry of final orders. This is the fee LCR 54(f)(3) requires you to submit before presenting a routine ex parte or stipulated order to the Clerk by mail. There is no ex parte fee for presenting a motion and order to proceed in forma pauperis |
| Certificate of qualification, or a certified copy of letters | $5 each, with additional copies $5 each (RCW 36.18.016(9)). The schedule lists the certificate of qualification and the certified copy of letters of administration, testamentary, or guardianship as separate lines |
| Copies of a document | A certified copy is $5 for the first page plus $1 for each additional page (RCW 36.18.016(4)); a copy without a seal is $0.50 per page on the current schedule, though the Clerk's records page lists a lower rate for emailed copies, so confirm; executing a certificate with or without a seal is $2, and an authenticated or exemplified certificate is $2 for each seal on top of the certified copy fee. Viewing a file at the courthouse is free |
| Small estate affidavit | $20 to file (RCW 11.62.010). The affidavit route opens no court case, but this county charges to file the affidavit with the Clerk |
| Filing a will with no probate | $20 to file a will after death where no probate is contemplated, and $20 to deposit a will with the Clerk before death (RCW 11.12.265, RCW 36.18.016(28)) |
| Notice of probate, probate filed in another county | $20 (RCW 11.40.020(2)). A nonprobate notice to creditors where no probate is filed is $290, the same total as a probate filing |
| Contesting a will or trust, or admitting a rejected will | $290 each (RCW 36.18.020(2)(g) with the surcharges), as is a petition objecting to a nonjudicial resolution. A nonjudicial resolution petition, agreement, or memorandum filed in an existing case is $20 |
| Records research, payments, and recordings | $30 per hour, or part of an hour, for searching records and issuing a written report; $25 for a returned payment and $50 for a stop payment; $25 per court day for a copy of the recording of a court proceeding; $10 for a copy of the local court rules |
Publication of the creditor notice is not a court fee. It is billed by the newspaper, and in Pend Oreille County that newspaper is The Newport Miner, so ask the paper for its current rate and the Pend Oreille County Clerk for the county's current list of approved legal newspapers before you commit to a publication date.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means for a Pend Oreille County probate |
|---|---|
| Pend Oreille County Clerk's fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026 | The Clerk's current schedule prints the estate probate line at $290, which retires the lower total that older sources still circulate, and it sets out the charges a probate filer actually meets: $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after to e-file, $30 per presentation to process an order ex parte, $5 for a certificate of qualification or a certified copy of letters, $20 to file a small estate affidavit, and $20 to file a will after death with no probate. Fees are paid in advance. The statutory components of the $290 are a $200 filing fee plus a $40 surcharge and a $50 surcharge (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)); the county's schedule reaches the same total with a $250 line and a single $40 judicial surcharge line, so confirm the current figure with the Clerk |
| County website moved to the pendoreille.gov domain | The Clerk's pages, the fee schedule, the e-filing service, and the superior court docket schedule now live at pendoreille.gov, and the county's older pendoreilleco.org address no longer resolves to the Clerk's page. Older directories and third-party sites still circulate the retired link, so start from the county's current Superior Court Clerk page |
| Local rules for the superior courts of Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, effective September 1, 2025 | The current adopted joint rule set. For a probate filer the working-copy rule matters most: the hard-copy and electronic-copy subsections of LCR 6(d)(2)(B) were rescinded effective September 1, 2025, leaving the requirement that working copies of dispositive motions go to the judge at 215 South Oak Street, Room 209, Colville at the time of filing, regardless of which county the motion was filed in. The set still contains no case cover sheet requirement and no probate-specific rule |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Pend Oreille County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Newport 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 Pend Oreille 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 Pend Oreille County Clerk at the Hall of Justice in Newport, and the original will goes to the counter or in the mail even if the rest is e-filed. | 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 Pend Oreille 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), though the Pend Oreille County Clerk charges $20 to file the affidavit here. If a probate is needed, an out-of-state filer can mail the petition to the Pend Oreille County Clerk at PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156, or e-file the papers other than the original will through the Clerk's service, pay by mail or by card through the county's payment processor, and later present a routine order by mail with self addressed stamped envelopes and the $30 ex parte fee (LCR 54(f)(3)), so the case can be opened and moved without flying into northeastern Washington. | 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 by e-filing. |
| 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 Pend Oreille County house and distribute the proceeds without returning to court for approval (RCW 11.68.011). Any hearing is called before one of the three judges who serve Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties, on the county's Thursday civil, probate and guardianship docket, and can be attended by Zoom. If the property is trust or restricted land on the Kalispel Reservation, that part is handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior instead. | 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 |
|---|---|
| Pend Oreille County Clerk (pendoreille.gov), (509) 447-2435 | The filing office for probate: hours, the counter at 229 South Garden Avenue in Newport, the PO Box 5020 mailing address, the fee schedule, the e-filing service, the county's superior court docket schedule, and the records policy. Clerk staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice |
| Pend Oreille County superior court calendar and docket (pendoreille.gov) | The county's own published schedule: superior court every Thursday, with civil, probate and guardianship matters at 1:30 p.m., and the calendar date showing which judge is hearing the docket |
| Tri-County Judicial District Superior Court (stevenscountywa.gov), (509) 684-7527 | The shared court for Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties: calendars, scheduling instructions, video hearings, bench copies, forms, and a self-representation page collecting links for people without a lawyer |
| Tri-County Superior Court calendar (calendarwiz.com) | The Judicial District's online calendar, the address the county's own Note for Hearing form prints for checking docket dates. The joint local rules post the Law and Motion Docket and the ex parte docket schedule here (LAR 2, LCR 54(f)(4)), so check it before noting a Newport hearing |
| Local rules for Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties (courts.wa.gov) | The current joint local rules, effective September 1, 2025, from the Administrative Office of the Courts: docket scheduling, motion timing, ex parte presentation by mail, trial setting, and conference calls |
| 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 Juvenile Court listings for Pend Oreille County |
| 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) |
| Odyssey Portal (odysseyportal.courts.wa.gov) | The public case search for Washington superior courts, including Pend Oreille County. Probate cases appear as superior court civil cases; document coverage varies |
| Washington Courts case search (dw.courts.wa.gov) | The statewide pointer index across municipal, district, superior, and appellate courts, and the search the Clerk's own records page links. 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 |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs, probate (bia.gov) | The federal probate process for trust or restricted property of a deceased Indian owner, which reaches Kalispel Reservation land along the Pend Oreille River near Usk and Cusick. Heirs are determined by the Office of Hearings and Appeals rather than by the Superior Court (25 U.S.C. 2201 and following, 43 CFR part 30). The Kalispel Tribe also operates its own tribal court for estates under the Tribe's code |
| 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 Pend Oreille County |
| Washington State Law Library (courts.wa.gov), (360) 357-2136 | Legal reference help by phone and email for anyone in the state. This matters here because the Pend Oreille County Law Library, reached through the County Clerk's Office, is available to attorneys and is not open to the public |
When to hire an attorney
Many Pend Oreille 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, riverfront or lakefront property, a mining or utility interest, a business, or property in Idaho or British Columbia has to be valued or divided, when the estate includes trust or restricted property on the Kalispel Reservation and the federal and state processes have to run side by side, 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). Distance is its own reason: the county reaches from Newport to the Canadian border, and a lawyer who already appears on the Tri-County court's dockets can present an order without an extra trip. The Pend Oreille County Clerk can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice, and the county law library is open to attorneys rather than to the public. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Washington probate attorney serving Pend Oreille 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, Pend Oreille 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 Pend Oreille County Clerk at the counter in Newport, by mail, or through the Clerk's e-filing service.
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 Pend Oreille 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 Pend Oreille County?
With the Pend Oreille County Clerk, the Clerk of the Superior Court, at the counter in the Pend Oreille County Hall of Justice, 229 South Garden Avenue in Newport, or by mail to PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156. Washington has no separate probate court: the Superior Court in Pend Oreille 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)). Watch the address: Newport has several county PO Boxes, and probate goes to the Clerk's box, PO Box 5020.
Can I e-file a probate in Pend Oreille County?
Yes, mostly. The Pend Oreille County Clerk publishes its own electronic filing service and states that electronic filings are accepted at the office and that an electronically filed copy constitutes an original for all court purposes. Documents must be prepaid at $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after, be PDF, 8.5 by 11 inches, portrait, with no embedded videos, and you keep the paper original for 60 days after the case is complete (GR 17). A free Box account is required to submit, and you get a confirmation email. Documents that carry a filing fee, including the petition that opens the probate, may be e-filed if the payment is made first. The exception matters in probate: original wills and negotiable instruments may not be filed by e-filing transmission, so the original will has to reach the counter or the mail. This is the Clerk's own service, not a statewide system, so confirm the current process at (509) 447-2435 before you rely on it.
Can I file a Pend Oreille County probate by mail?
Yes, mail is a normal way to file here. Send the papers to the Pend Oreille County Clerk, PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156, with payment for the $290 filing fee (RCW 36.18.020(2)(f), (5)(c), (6)) by check or money order, or pay by card through the county's payment processor, which adds a convenience fee. The joint local rules also let you present a routine ex parte or stipulated order by mail addressed to the Clerk later in the case, with self addressed stamped envelopes for the return of conformed or rejected orders and the ex parte fee submitted in advance, which the Clerk's schedule sets at $30 per presentation (LCR 54(f)(3)). Call (509) 447-2435 before you mail original documents, including the original will, and confirm what the office needs on intake.
When does the superior court hear a Pend Oreille County probate?
On the county's published Thursday schedule. The Pend Oreille County Clerk's calendar page states that Pend Oreille Superior Court is held every Thursday, with the criminal docket at 9 a.m., juvenile at 10 a.m., protection orders and dependency at 11 a.m., and civil, probate and guardianship at 1:30 p.m., and it directs readers to the calendar date to see which judge is hearing the docket. Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties share three superior court judges (RCW 2.08.065) as the Tri-County Judicial District, and the shared court runs a master calendar system in which virtually all matters are heard on the published dockets, with a special setting only at a judicial officer's direction. Motions and other pre-trial proceedings go on a Law and Motion Docket unless arranged in advance through the court administrator, and the local rules tell parties to confirm docket dates with the posted calendar, the County Clerk, or the Court Administrator before noting a motion (LAR 2). Motion papers are served and filed no later than nine court days before the date you want the matter considered (LCR 6(d)(2)(A)). Many probate orders never need a docket date at all, because a routine order can be presented ex parte by mail or on the ex parte docket, where only uncontested matters are heard (LCR 54(f)).
Can I appear by phone or video in a Pend Oreille County probate?
Yes, if you arrange it. The Pend Oreille County Clerk publishes a Zoom link and meeting ID for remote superior court hearings, along with toll-free dial-in numbers, and the county's own Note for Hearing form carries the same Zoom information and the Tri-County Superior Court calendar address. The shared court's site separately publishes a WebEx video hearings page, so follow the notice of hearing in your own case and ask the Clerk which platform your hearing uses rather than assuming. Telephonic appearance is allowed for most civil matters, but not for protection orders or dispositive motions such as summary judgments, supplemental proceedings, or motions for dismissal, and to use it you call the Clerk's office in the county where the hearing will take place for the conference call-in number. Two limits are worth knowing: LCR 77(o) requires the court's advance approval before a matter is heard by conference call, with the time arranged through the court administrator, and a witness may not testify remotely without prior court approval (LCR 43(a)(4)).
How do I look up a Pend Oreille County probate case online?
Start with the Clerk's own records, then the statewide systems. The Pend Oreille County Clerk states that all cases and documents filed since January 1, 1996 are available as computer images, viewable online or at the Clerk's Office at 229 South Garden Avenue, with older cases on microfiche or the office computer, and probate and guardianship is one of the record types listed. Pend Oreille County is also covered by Odyssey Portal, the public case search for Washington superior courts. The statewide index at dw.courts.wa.gov, which the Clerk's page links for a name or case number search, will find a case too, but it carries its own notice that dockets, judgments, document links, and case status may be inaccurate and directs users to Odyssey Portal or the court of record. Viewing a file at the courthouse is free; copies are charged by the page, so for the file itself contact the Clerk at (509) 447-2435.
Are there local Pend Oreille County probate forms?
No probate-specific ones. Washington has no statewide probate form set 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 Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens counties joint local rules also impose no case cover sheet requirement and contain no probate rule. What the Clerk does post is a set of general civil documents a probate filer can use: a Pend Oreille County coversheet, a blank order, a declaration, a Note for Hearing that carries the court's Zoom information, and the Note for Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness that LCR 40(a) makes mandatory when a contested matter is set for trial. 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).
How much does it cost to file probate in Pend Oreille 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)). The Pend Oreille County Clerk's own fee schedule, effective June 11, 2026, prints the same $290 total, and it also sets out the charges a probate filer meets next: $5 for the first page and $1 for each page after to e-file, $30 per presentation to process an order ex parte, $5 for a certificate of qualification or a certified copy of letters with additional copies $5 each (RCW 36.18.016(9)), $5 for the first page of any other certified copy plus $1 per additional page (RCW 36.18.016(4)), $20 to file a small estate affidavit, and $20 to file a will after death with no probate. Fees are paid in advance, and a convenience fee applies to electronic payments. A filer who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to waive it under GR 34 or under the schedule's in forma pauperis line (RCW 36.18.022). Budget separately for publishing the creditor notice, which the newspaper bills.
Where is the creditor notice published for a Pend Oreille 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)). Pend Oreille County's weekly legal newspaper is The Newport Miner, published in Newport, which carries the county's superior court legal notices. Legal newspapers are approved by petition and order in the superior court, and the Pend Oreille County Clerk keeps the county's current list, so confirm it with the Clerk and confirm the schedule and cost with the newspaper before you rely on a date, because first publication starts the four-month period for creditor claims (RCW 11.40.051). If the probate was filed somewhere other than the county where the decedent lived, publication still goes in the county of residence and the notice is filed where the case was commenced (RCW 11.40.020(2)); the Clerk charges $20 to file that notice when the probate is in another county.
Do I have to travel to Newport to settle an estate in Pend Oreille County?
Often not, or not more than once. Most of the paperwork can be mailed to the Pend Oreille County Clerk at PO Box 5020, Newport, WA 99156, or e-filed through the Clerk's own service, with the original will the exception that has to arrive on paper. A routine order can be presented ex parte by mail with self addressed stamped envelopes and the $30 ex parte fee (LCR 54(f)(3)), a personal representative granted nonintervention powers administers and closes a solvent estate without returning to court for supervision (RCW 11.68.011), and where an appearance is needed the Clerk publishes a Zoom link and meeting ID for remote hearings and the shared court allows telephonic appearance for most civil matters by arrangement. Distance matters most for a contested matter, which is called in the courtroom in Newport on the Thursday civil, probate and guardianship docket.
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.