Legislature passes AGO-request bill strengthening probate law to protect grieving families

A bill requested by Attorney General Nick Brown to prevent scam artists from profiting off dead strangers' estates passed the Legislature today with bipartisan support and now heads to the Governor's desk for his signature.

HB 2445, sponsored by Rep. Adison Richards, D-Gig Harbor, strengthens state law governing the probate process for handling the estate of a person who dies without a will. It sets clear rules for third parties seeking to become probate administrators, preventing strangers from seizing control of a deceased person's property, siphoning the proceeds, and keeping grieving family members in the dark. The bill passed the state Senate unanimously.

Last year, the Attorney General's Office sued and won against a group of people and their companies who took control of 213 deceased strangers' estates and drained the assets without properly alerting heirs and courts. The judge ordered John B. Elliott, Shanelle Sunde, and their companies to pay more than $7 million in penalties, restitution, legal fees, and costs. The case exposed significant loopholes in Washington law that made it possible for the defendants to become court-appointed probate administrators for estates of people they didn't know in counties where the deceased people had not lived.

"These commonsense updates to the law will protect family members mourning a loved one from the kind of egregious exploitation we discovered through our investigation," Brown said. "I'm grateful to Rep. Richards and other lawmakers for safeguarding the interests of heirs during a vulnerable time, after a family member has passed."

"This new law will protect grieving families from a predatory scam," Richards said. "While the majority of victims were in my district, people in every corner of Washington state could be victimized unless we took strong action to stop it. I'm grateful for the courage of families who spoke out and helped push for this reform."

A grieving father

The change in the law comes as welcome news to Murray Weiks, 83, who lost his son Brendan to COVID in 2020. Weiks said he didn't expect his son's home in Olympia to be worth much because of its poor condition. But Elliott approached him, offering to fix up Brendan's home if Weiks provided $10,000, and Weiks agreed. Weiks said his understanding was that he would be paid that money back right away after the house sold, in addition to profits above the cost of fixing up the house. Elliott's associate, Sunde, applied to Kitsap County Superior Court and was named personal representative of Brendan's estate.

After remodeling the house, Elliott and Sunde sold it for more than $300,000. Elliott promised Weiks $76,000 in inheritance, but Weiks never received it. After struggling to get answers about the inheritance, Weiks sued to kick Sunde off the probate case. Weiks won, but Sunde continued to siphon tens of thousands of dollars out of the Weiks trust account even after being kicked off the probate. Through the AGO's litigation, the trust account was frozen and Sunde was stopped from pocketing any more money. The money remaining in the account - about $22,000 - is finally in the process of being transferred to Weiks.

"It's hard enough to lose a son. He was only 49 years old - and then to be confronted with this kind of shenanigans. They took advantage of a lot of people," Weiks said. "It gives me some light at the end of the tunnel that it wouldn't happen to someone else down the road if there's a law that prohibits something like this."

Changes in the law

Some of the main provisions of the legislation include:

• Giving family members and other rightful trustees 90 days instead of 40 days to petition to be named probate administrator before a third party can petition.
• Setting clear rules about third-party probate administrators' eligibility, compensation, bond, and the number of probates they may file.
• Barring third-party probate administrators from buying any estate asset or profiting from the sale of an estate asset unless approved by the court.
• Increasing transparency and reporting requirements so courts, heirs, and families can stay informed and prevent exploitation.
• Specifying the appropriate venue for court proceedings for third-party probate administrators, preventing filings in unrelated counties.

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