Except as otherwise provided in RCW 81.80.270, any permit granted or issued to any household goods carrier under this chapter and held by a person alone or in conjunction with others other than as stockholders in a corporation at the time of his or her death is transferable as any other right or interest of the person's estate subject to the following:

     (1) Application for transfer must be made to the commission in a form and contain information prescribed by the commission. The transfer described in the application must be approved if it appears from the application or from any hearing held thereon or from any investigation thereof that the proposed transferee is fit, willing, and able properly to perform the services authorized by the permit to be transferred and to conform to the provisions of this chapter and the requirements, rules, and regulations of the commission, otherwise the application must be denied.

     (2) Temporary continuance of motor carrier operations without prior compliance with this section is recognized as justified by the public interest when the personal representatives, heirs, or surviving spouses of deceased persons desire to continue the operations of the carriers whom they succeed in interest subject to reasonable rules and regulations prescribed by the commission.

     In case of temporary continuance under this section, the successor shall immediately procure insurance or deposit security as required by RCW 81.80.190.

     Immediately upon any temporary continuance of motor carrier operations and in any event not more than thirty days thereafter, the successor shall give notice of the succession by written notice to the commission containing information prescribed by the commission.

[2007 c 234 § 84; 1973 c 115 § 13; 1965 ex.s. c 134 § 2.]