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Finding a will or probate case in District of Columbia

Who holds it: Register of Wills, Probate Division, DC Superior Court, 515 5th Street NW, Room 3141

Last checked against official sources on .

On this page
  1. Older records and indexes
  2. More details
  3. Related records in District of Columbia
  4. Official copies vs look-alike sites
  5. Sources

Fee

Plain copies $0.50 per page; certified copies $5.00 each plus $0.50 per page; triple seal $25.00 plus $0.50 per page; final certificate $10.00; preliminary certificate $1.002

Search

Free docket search online via the court's Portal, or $10 per mailed search by check or money order payable to Register of Wills1

Free search, fee for copies

Older records and indexes

Historic
Wills and probate records 1801-1999 and administration cases 1879-1958 at the DC Archives3

More details

Inspection
Open cases, and open or closed cases up to ten years old, in the file room 8:30-5:00 weekdays; older closed cases are in storage at Suitland or the DC Archives and retrieved on an Archive Case Request Form1
Courts: court system
Two courts serve the whole District: the DC Superior Court (trial court of general jurisdiction) and the DC Court of Appeals. DC has no counties, so there are no county courts4
Courts: statewide case search
Portal (portal-dc.tylertech.cloud/Portal) for Civil, civil Tax, Auditor Master and Probate; eAccess (eaccess.dccourts.gov/eaccess/home.page.2) for Criminal, criminal Tax and Domestic Violence. Both linked from the court's own page5
Courts: fees
Civil: certified copy $5. Family: certified copy $5, photocopy $0.50 per page, record search $10 per name. No fee is stated for online docket search. Criminal Division copy fees are not published6
Death certificates: who holds it
DC Health, Vital Records Division; records from August 18747
Death certificates: fee
$18; VitalChek adds $15.95 (online or phone) or $6.00 (mail)8

The District's own offices, searches and fees: District of Columbia probate and wills.

Official copies vs look-alike sites

A certified copy comes only from the office that holds the record; reports and "research copies" sold by commercial sites are not issued by any District of Columbia office. How to tell an official record source from a paid look-alike.

Rules in other states: probate records and wills in every state. Everything else in District of Columbia: District of Columbia public records guide.

Sources

Every fact above links to the official page it comes from; all 8 sources were checked on November 4, 2026. Fees and rules change, so check the office's own page before you pay or travel.

  1. Request for Probate Searches and CopiesDistrict of Columbia Courts
  2. Probate Division Copy Request FormSuperior Court of the District of Columbia, Probate Division
  3. District of Columbia ArchivesOffice of the Secretary of the District of Columbia
  4. Superior CourtDistrict of Columbia Courts
  5. Superior Court Case SearchDistrict of Columbia Courts
  6. Civil Filing FeesDistrict of Columbia Courts
  7. Death CertificatesDC Health
  8. Vital RecordsDC Health