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_________________________ ________________________ 1
Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Brooke Pinto 2
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 7
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 12
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To declare an emergency with respect to the need to amend Chapter 3 of Title 20 of the District of 18
Columbia Official Code to amend the definition of abbreviated probate , to authorize the 19
Register of Wills to refer proceedings to the Court to determine if one or more personal 20
representatives should be appointed and the will be admitted to probate , and to strike the 21
reference to will admission in transfers by affidavit; and to amend the Strengthening 22
Probate Amendment Act of 2024 to clarify that the act applies to estates for whom the 23
decedent died on or after March 21, 2025. 24
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 26
resolution may be cited as the “Strengthening Probate Administration Emergency Declaration 27
Resolution of 2026”. 28
Sec. 2. (a) The District’s probate system has long been criticized for being outmoded, 29
having not been updated since 2001. Economically-vulnerable residents are encumbered by an 30
outdated and antiquated system while enduring the loss of a loved one. The D.C. Estate 31
Administration Working Group (“Working Group”) produced an extensive joint report in 32
February 2022 outlining the need to modernize the District’s probate system. In addition to 33
District residents having to face an arcane and outdated system, the Working Group observed 34
that 97% of small estates (those valued at $40,000 or less) are pursued by pro se litigants, that is, 35
those who are not represented by legal counsel. Last, the District’s outdated and complex District 36
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probate system has caused assets and property to languish and remain irretrievable to 37
beneficiaries due to system inefficiencies. 38
(b) Because an inefficient probate system contributes to economic uncertainty and wealth 39
loss for District residents, on December 17, 2024, the Council passed on final reading the 40
Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024, effective March 21, 2005 (D.C. 41
Law 25-302; 72 DCR 780) (“Strengthening Probate Act”), which proposed to modernize and 42
update the legal and administrative processes and procedures around probate for District 43
residents and estate lawyers consistent with the recommendations of the Working Group’s 2022 44
report. These important updates included: 45
(1) Allowing certain letters of appointment designating personal representatives to 46
be issued by the Register of Wills, instead of relying only on judges to issue these letters; 47
(2) Streamlining the publication notice requirement; 48
(3) Raising the maximum threshold for “small estates”; 49
(4) Increasing allowable reimbursement rates for funeral expenses; 50
(5) Allowing for transfers of small estates by affidavit; 51
(6) Increasing homestead and family exemption allowances; and 52
(7) Adding a fee waiver provision for personal representatives. 53
(c) The Strengthening Probate Act requires technical amendments in order to be 54
implemented. The current statutory language has proven inadministrable and unclear, leading to 55
delays in appointing personal representatives and precluding access to decedents’ estate assets. 56
Important pieces of the law are, practically speaking, suspended. 57
(d) In particular, the Strenthening Probate Act needs to be amended to establish 58
administrability in probate processes and obviate delays in the timely appointment of personal 59
representatives. This emergency legislation would: 60
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(1) Restore language that was unintentionally removed regarding the nature of 61
probate proceedings; 62
(2) Authorize the Register of Wills or the Court to issue letters of administration 63
and appoint personal representatives, so that if a petition is deemed insufficient by the Register 64
of Wills, it may be submitted to a judge for review and appointment; 65
(3) Clarify that the Strengthening Probate Act applies to estates for whom the 66
decedent died on or after March 21, 2025; and 67
(4) Strike a reference to a will being “duly admitted to probate” in the transfer by 68
affidavit section, in order to allow individuals to transfer by affidavit in the event that the probate 69
process does not need to be initiated, which aligns with the law’s purpose of allowing for 70
property transfer external to the probate process. 71
(e) Given that the Council is due to recess in the coming month, the legislative process 72
will take further time to move permanent technical fixes for this law. Emergency legislation is 73
necessary to allow the Strengthening Probate Act to actually be implementable, preventing 74
delays and access to estate access issues for a law already in effect. These changes represent an 75
urgent and necessary correction and clarification, and the emergency nature of this legislation is 76
justified by the immediate need for the courts to administer probate and to ensure that District 77
residents can pursue probate and benefit from an updated and modernized system. 78
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 79
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the 80
Strengthening Probate Administration Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 be adopted after a 81
single reading. 82
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 83