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Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Brooke Pinto
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 1
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 5
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To declare an emergency with respect to the need to amend Chapter 3 of Title 20 of the District of 8
Columbia Official Code to amend the definition of abbreviated probate , to authorize the 9
Register of Wills to refer proceedings to the Court to determine if one or more personal 10
representatives should be appointed and the will be admitted to probate , and to strike the 11
reference to will admission in transfers by affidavit; to amend the Strengthening Probate 12
Amendment Act of 2024 to clarify that the act applies to estates for whom the decedent 13
died on or after March 21, 2025; and to allow for notice of request for formal probate, 14
notice from a foreign personal representative of a decedent who owned any property 15
located in the District of Columbia, and notice of appointment to interested persons, 16
creditors, and unknown heirs in a legal periodical or newspaper of general circulation in 17
the District. 18
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 20
resolution may be cited as the “Strengthening Probate Administration Emergency Declaration 21
Resolution of 2026”. 22
Sec. 2. (a) The District’s probate system has long been criticized for being outmoded, 23
having not been updated since 2001. Economically vulnerable residents are encumbered by an 24
outdated and antiquated system while enduring the loss of a loved one. The D.C. Estate 25
Administration Working Group (“Working Group”) produced an extensive joint report in 26
February 2022 outlining the need to modernize the District’s probate system. In addition to 27
District residents having to face an arcane and outdated system, the Working Group observed 28
that 97% of small estates (those valued at $40,000 or less) are pursued by pro se litigants, that is, 29
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those who are not represented by legal counsel. Last, the District’s outdated and complex District 30
probate system has caused assets and property to languish and remain irretrievable to 31
beneficiaries due to system inefficiencies. 32
(b) Because an inefficient probate system contributes to economic uncertainty and wealth 33
loss for District residents, on December 17, 2024, the Council passed on final reading the 34
Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024, effective March 21, 2025 (D.C. 35
Law 25-302; 72 DCR 780) (“Strengthening Probate Act”), which proposed to modernize and 36
update the legal and administrative processes and procedures around probate for District 37
residents and estate lawyers, consistent with the recommendations of the Working Group’s 2022 38
report. These important updates included: 39
(1) Allowing certain letters of appointment designating personal representatives to 40
be issued by the Register of Wills, instead of relying only on judges to issue these letters; 41
(2) Streamlining the publication notice requirement; 42
(3) Raising the maximum threshold for “small estates”; 43
(4) Increasing allowable reimbursement rates for funeral expenses; 44
(5) Allowing for transfers of small estates by affidavit; 45
(6) Increasing homestead and family exemption allowances; and 46
(7) Adding a fee waiver provision for personal representatives. 47
(c) The Strengthening Probate Act requires technical amendments in order to be 48
implemented. The current statutory language has proven inadministrable and unclear, leading to 49
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delays in appointing personal representatives and precluding access to decedents’ estate assets. 50
Important pieces of the law are, practically speaking, suspended. 51
(d) In particular, the Strengthening Probate Act needs to be amended to establish 52
administrability in probate processes and obviate delays in the timely appointment of personal 53
representatives. This emergency legislation would: 54
(1) Restore language that was unintentionally removed regarding the nature of 55
probate proceedings; 56
(2) Authorize the Register of Wills or the Court to issue letters of administration 57
and appoint personal representatives, so that if a petition is deemed insufficient by the Register 58
of Wills, it may be submitted to a judge for review and appointment; 59
(3) Clarify that the Strengthening Probate Act applies to estates for whom the 60
decedent died on or after March 21, 2025; 61
(4) Strike a reference to a will being “duly admitted to probate” in the transfer by 62
affidavit section, in order to allow individuals to transfer by affidavit in the event that the probate 63
process does not need to be initiated, which aligns with the law’s purpose of allowing for 64
property transfer external to the probate process; and 65
(5) Clarifies the legal periodicals requirements. 66
(e) Given that the Council is due to recess in the coming month, the legislative process 67
will take further time to move permanent technical fixes for this law. Emergency legislation is 68
necessary to allow the Strengthening Probate Act to actually be implementable, preventing 69
delays and access to estate access issues for a law already in effect. These changes represent an 70
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urgent and necessary correction and clarification, and the emergency nature of this legislation is 71
justified by the immediate need for the courts to administer probate and to ensure that District 72
residents can pursue probate and benefit from an updated and modernized system. 73
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 74
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the 75
Strengthening Probate Administration Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 be adopted after a 76
single reading. 77
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 78