Who Inherits a D.C. Rowhouse When There Is No Will

The most common assumption about dying without a will in the District is that the surviving spouse gets everything. Under D.C. Code 19-302 that is true in exactly one situation, and it is not the situation most married homeowners are in.

The District also rewrote a good part of its probate code recently. The Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act of 2024, D.C. Law 25-302, took effect on March 21, 2025, and it moved several numbers that families run into in the first month after a death. Here is how the pieces fit.

The spouse’s share depends on who else survived

D.C. Code 19-302 sets the intestate share of a surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner in five scenarios.

The entire estate, if no descendant and no parent of the decedent survives.

Three-fourths, if no descendant survives but a parent of the decedent does. A married couple with no children and a living parent on one side is the case people never see coming. One quarter of the estate goes up the family tree.

Two-thirds, if all of the decedent’s surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the spouse has no other surviving descendants. This is the standard first-marriage-with-children case. The children take a third.

One-half, if all of the decedent’s surviving descendants are also the spouse’s descendants but the spouse has one or more surviving descendants who are not the decedent’s.

One-half, if any of the decedent’s surviving descendants are not descendants of the surviving spouse. Blended families land here.

Whatever is left above the spouse’s share passes under D.C. Code 19-305 to the rest of the chapter, which runs to children in equal shares, then grandchildren, then parents, then siblings and their descendants, then grandparents, then more remote collateral relations.

Why this is worse for a house than for a bank account

An intestate share is a fractional interest, and a rowhouse cannot be divided into two-thirds and one-third.

When the estate’s main asset is District real property and the heirs hold undivided fractional interests, the choices are that somebody buys the others out, everybody agrees to sell, or somebody files a partition action. A partition suit between a surviving spouse and adult stepchildren is a real dispute over a real building, and it consumes the equity that the intestacy statute divided so tidily on paper.

One more consequence follows the property specifically. An estate that holds rental property inherits its compliance posture along with the deed, including any open housing code citations, any pending Office of Administrative Hearings matter, and any rent increase taken while those citations were open. None of that is discharged by a death.

What the 2025 Act changed, and the limit that matters for a house

The Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act moved several numbers that matter in the first weeks.

The small estate threshold went from $40,000 to $80,000. Under D.C. Code 20-351, property subject to administration in the District with a value of $80,000 or less may be administered as a small estate, which is the faster and cheaper track.

The Act also created an out-of-court route that skips administration entirely, and its limits matter here. Under D.C. Code 20-361, a person holding a small asset of the decedent must pay or deliver it to the designated successor on presentation of an affidavit. The route is available only where the decedent’s entire probate estate, less liens and encumbrances and wherever located, exceeds known liabilities but does not exceed $40,000. And a small asset cannot include an interest in real property.

That last clause is the one to read twice. The affidavit procedure is built for landless estates. If the rowhouse is in the estate, this route is closed no matter how modest the rest of the assets are.

Three allowances sit on top of all of it. The homestead allowance is $30,000 under D.C. Code 19-101.02, payable to the surviving spouse or domestic partner, or divided among surviving minor and dependent children where there is no spouse or partner. The exempt property allowance is $20,000 under D.C. Code 19-101.03, taken in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects, with other estate assets making up any shortfall, though not real property. The family allowance is $30,000 under D.C. Code 19-101.05, which the personal representative may disburse as a lump sum in cash or in personalty at fair value, apportioned where there are minor or dependent children outside the surviving spouse’s custody.

The Act also raised the reimbursement limit for funeral expenses.

Note what the small estate threshold is measured against. It is property subject to administration in the District. A house held as tenants by the entirety or with a right of survivorship, a retirement account with a living beneficiary, and life insurance payable to a named person are not part of that number. Families sometimes qualify for the small estate track and never learn it, and families sometimes assume they qualify because they are counting only the checking account.

Who gets appointed, and who cannot be

D.C. Code 20-303 sets the priority order for appointment of a personal representative. A person named in the will comes first, then the surviving spouse or domestic partner, then children, then other relatives in descending order.

The disqualifications in subsection (b) catch people. A person under 18 cannot serve. Neither can a person who has renounced the right in writing, a person with a mental illness as defined in D.C. Code 21-501 or under a conservatorship, or a judge or other official the section excludes. Neither can a person convicted of a felony in the District, or of an offense elsewhere that would be a felony here, and not pardoned on the basis of innocence, where the sentence has not expired or expired within the past 10 years. The section also disqualifies a person who is not a lawful permanent resident, and requires a nonresident to file an irrevocable power of attorney designating the Register of Wills as agent for service of process.

That last group matters for District families with relatives out of state or abroad. The person everyone assumed would handle it may not be eligible, and finding that out after filing costs weeks.

The six-month clock on creditors

Once a personal representative is appointed and notice is first published, D.C. Code 20-903(a)(1) bars claims against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and legatees unless they are presented within 6 months after the date of that first publication. Claims founded on the personal representative’s own conduct or contracts are barred unless an action is commenced within 6 months of when the claim arose.

There are carve-outs. Recorded liens and perfected security interests are untouched, so a mortgage on the rowhouse is not going anywhere. Actions commenced against the decedent before death where the decedent was served are unaffected. And a claim covered by the decedent’s liability insurance survives the bar, with recovery limited to the policy, if the action is brought within the generally applicable limitations period.

The practical point for heirs is that publication starts a clock that favors the estate. Delay in opening the estate is delay in starting it.

What this means on a Monday morning

If a parent or spouse died owning District real property and there is no will, the sequence is straightforward.

Find out how title is actually held. Pull the deed. Tenancy by the entirety and joint tenancy with right of survivorship take the property outside the probate estate entirely, and that single fact decides whether there is an intestacy problem at all.

Total the property subject to administration in the District and see whether it comes in at or under $80,000. If real property is in the estate, the affidavit route is out regardless of the number.

Identify who is eligible to serve, in priority order, before anyone files.

Look at the fractional shares under D.C. Code 19-302 and have the buyout conversation early, while the family is still talking. The alternative is a partition action that resolves the same question on a worse schedule with lawyers on both sides.

And if the property has tenants, treat the transfer to heirs as a transaction with its own compliance history rather than an internal family matter.

For anyone reading this before a death rather than after, the whole chapter is optional. A will, or a revocable trust holding the real property, replaces every default described above with your own instructions. The version of this that costs the least is the version done in advance.

Questions people actually ask

Does my spouse automatically inherit everything in D.C. if I die without a will?

Only if no descendant and no parent of yours survives you. Under D.C. Code 19-302 the spouse’s share drops to three-fourths where a parent survives and there are no descendants, two-thirds in a first-marriage-with-children case, and one-half in the blended-family scenarios.

What is the small estate limit in Washington, D.C.?

$80,000, raised from $40,000 by the Strengthening Probate Administration Amendment Act effective March 21, 2025. The measure is property subject to administration in the District under D.C. Code 20-351, which excludes survivorship property and assets with named beneficiaries.

Can the affidavit procedure be used for a house?

No. Under D.C. Code 20-361 a small asset cannot include an interest in real property, so an estate holding a rowhouse cannot use the affidavit route regardless of value.

How long do creditors have to file claims against a D.C. estate?

Six months after the date of first publication of notice of the personal representative’s appointment, under D.C. Code 20-903(a)(1), with exceptions for perfected liens, suits filed before death, and insured claims.

Can a relative with a felony conviction serve as personal representative in D.C.?

Not if the sentence has not expired or expired within the past 10 years, absent a pardon on the basis of innocence. D.C. Code 20-303(b) also disqualifies persons under 18, persons under a conservatorship, and persons who are not lawful permanent residents, and requires a nonresident to designate the Register of Wills as agent for service of process.

What happens to a rowhouse that passes to several heirs?

Each heir holds an undivided fractional interest. Absent agreement on a buyout or a sale, any co-owner can bring a partition action, and the litigation cost comes out of the same equity everyone is dividing.

What do heirs take on when the estate owns a rental property?

The property’s compliance history comes with it. Open housing code citations, pending Office of Administrative Hearings matters, and any rent increase taken while violations were open all survive the transfer and land on whoever ends up holding the building.

Is a small estate in D.C. faster than full administration?

Yes. The small estate track is designed to be shorter and less expensive, and D.C. Code 20-361 adds an affidavit route for estates not exceeding $40,000. The affidavit route is unavailable if the estate includes an interest in real property.

The Law Office of Jacobie K. Whitley handles District estate administration and the real property questions that come with it, along with the wills and transfer planning that keep families out of the intestacy statute in the first place. If a death has already happened and there is a house involved, the useful first step is a title check and a share calculation before anyone files. You can book an initial consultation.

This article covers District of Columbia law as of September 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here promises a particular result. Intestate shares, small estate eligibility, and allowances depend on the specific family structure, how title is held, and what assets are subject to administration in the District. Jacobie K. Whitley is licensed in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Please talk to a lawyer about your own situation.