We gave a presentation last week to the Spinnaker Ridge Community Club here in Gig Harbor about basic estate planning and probate. If your organization, club, church group, etc., would like a witty and charming speaker to come talk about Wills and Trusts, give us a call at 253.858.5434 and we can set something up.
If you're a small business owner, it's a good idea to have a lawyer advising your during the life of your business. We have over 20 years' experience helping small businesses and their owners with things like business formation, governance, buy-sell agreements, contracts, leases, and any related litigation. If you own a business or are thinking about starting one, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to find out how we can help. We proudly serve clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
When someone dies, probate proceedings are often necessary, whether they left a Will or not. Probate is the court-supervised process where notice is given to the deceased person's heirs and beneficiaries, creditors are paid, and property is disbursed. Probate is usually necessary because that's the process whereby someone (the "Personal Representative," or "Executor" as it used to be called) has the legal authority to manage the deceased person's assets and debts and can convey title to any real estate or other assets.
If you've been named Personal Representative in someone's Will and have questions about how the probate process works, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to make an appointment.
Americans are a generous people. We have a large number of clients who include charitable gifts as part of their estate plans. These planned gifts can be made while the donor is alive or in their Wills or Trusts after they die. Our clients give to schools, churches, research, the arts, and other causes they believe in. We have years of experience advising clients on charitable gifts and bequests, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Charitable Annuity Trusts, Educational Trusts, Donor Advised Funds, Restricted Fund Agreements, and other vehicles for creating a philanthropic legacy.
If you, your family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers would like to include charitable giving in an estate plan, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to see how we can help. We proudly represent clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
We represent people who've been injured in auto and motorcycle collisions. We'll deal with the at-fault driver's insurance company for you, provide them with details of the collision, the extent of your injuries and treatment, wage loss, how your injuries have affected your life, and negotiate a fair settlement with them to compensate you for your losses, injuries, and pain and suffering. And if settlement negotiations fail or stall, we'll bring a lawsuit on your behalf so you can bring your claim in front of a jury.
If you, a family member, friend, neighbor, or co-worker have been injured in an auto collision and need legal advice, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.
Over the past 20 years, we have served as counsel for nearly 100 small businesses, nonprofit organizations, churches, a mosque, a municipal utility district, and even a couple rock & roll bands, assisting them with their business formation; governance; contract and lease negotiation, drafting, and review; employment issues; real estate and commercial transactions; and any related litigation.
If you are a small business owner or nonprofit organization who needs legal advice, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to see how we can help. We proudly serve clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
When it comes to probate, there are two types of Court supervision. First, with nonintervention powers, a person may, by terms in their Will, relieve their Personal Representative (PR) of all duties imposed under the probate statute, or add duties not imposed by the statute, with the exception of the duty to act in good faith and honest judgment. When a PR is granted nonintervention powers, the PR’s administration of the estate is no longer directly supervised by the court unless a interested party petitions for a report on the affairs of the estate or for a citation in which the Court issues a show cause order to the PR to answer the well-documented allegations of the interested party. The Court may limit or revoke a PR’s non-intervention powers, under appropriate circumstances, or even replace the PR. Adequate reasons for removing a PR are waste of estate assets, embezzlement, mismanagement of estate assets, or any other reason satisfactory to the court. A removed PR must account to the Court for their management of financial assets during their tenure, and deliver all assets and paperwork of the estate to the successor PR. A PR with nonintervention powers may close the probate by filing a Declaration of Completion with minimal reporting to the heirs or beneficiaries.
We encourage PRs with nonintervention powers to keep creditors, heirs, and beneficiaries abreast of estate developments to the extent of their individual needs. Lack of information breeds distrust and injures family harmony.
Secondly, in full intervention probates, a PR seeks permission of the Court for each action they take. These requests are usually brought before the Court in batches, and most probates require two sets of requests. A full intervention PR accounts annually to the Court and heirs or beneficiaries about the affairs of the estate. The full intervention probate is closed by accounting to the heirs and legatees (the final report), which must include the PR’s receipts and canceled checks in the course of a final hearing, at which the Court approves the PR’s accounting and plan of distributing the estate assets (decree of distribution).
If you've been appointed PR of someone's estate and have questions about nonintervention vs. full intervention estates, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to see how we can help.
Drafting a Durable Power of Attorney is an act of love - By detailing how you want your healthcare and finances handled in the event of an emergency, you are sparing your family and friends the unpleasant task of making such decisions in a stressful time.
A general Power of Attorney is a document that grants your chosen representative legal authority to act on your behalf for your financial affairs. This person is often referred to as your agent or your attorney-in-fact. The person is required to act in your best interests. The general Power of Attorney is typically extinguished upon death, revocation, or divorce.
A healthcare Power of Attorney designates the person who will make medical decisions for you in an emergency. Even though you may have set out your wishes in your "Living Will," such documents cannot cover every circumstance. The person who has a Power of Attorney for healthcare is the person who will make decisions not covered by your healthcare directive. In order to create a healthcare Power of Attorney, most states only require that you be at least 18 years old and competent when you create the document. This document takes effect when your doctor declares that you lack the "capacity" to make your own health care decisions. The healthcare Power of Attorney is generally only extinguished upon your death, revocation by you or a court, or upon divorce if the power of attorney was granted to the ex-spouse.
The process of creating a legal document can be a daunting task. If you need legal advice about creating a Durable Power of Attorney, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to see how we can help. We proudly serve clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
The majority of legal claims arising from auto collisions do not reach a jury trial. Typically, they are resolved earlier in the litigation process through a negotiated settlement among the parties. Sometimes an informal settlement can take place before any lawsuit is even filed. Through settlement, the plaintiff agrees to give up the right to pursue any further legal action in connection with the collision in exchange for payment of an agreed-upon sum of money from the defendant or an insurance company. If you are thinking about settling a legal claim after an auto collision, or if you have received a settlement offer from the opposing side, you may want to talk to a lawyer. It’s important to get his or her thorough assessment of the case and opinion about the likelihood of settlement. When meeting with your lawyer, you should consider and discuss the following points:
STRENGTHS OF THE CASE.
* Jury verdicts and settlement outcomes in similar cases;
* Your chances of winning at trial;
* Practical difficulties in trying the case;
* Strengths and weaknesses in your evidence; and
* Strength and weaknesses in your opponent's evidence.
MONEY AND DAMAGES.
* What your lawyer thinks the case may be worth in a range of dollar amounts and what he or she thinks you could receive in damages at trial;
* The minimum amount you will accept to end the case and avoid trial;
* The policy limits of the defendant's insurance coverage; and
* The defendant's own monetary resources.
As a party to the lawsuit, only you can make the final decision of whether to accept a settlement. But keep in mind that opposing counsel is obligated to get the best possible deal for their client, which means offering you as little as possible. Is it a good deal for you, too? That can be a complicated question best analyzed by an experienced lawyer. If you need legal advice about a settlement offer, contact us at 253.858.5434 for a free consultation today.
With the internet, it's easy to find hundreds of samples of legal forms like contracts online for free. Some small business owners wonder why they should spend the money hiring a lawyer to draft a partnership agreement, for example, when they can just as easily fill in the blanks on a form. If you end up in litigation later, you may regret that decision.
A well-drafted contract is key to the successful operation of your business and your business relationships. We can help you craft a contract specific to your situation that takes into account how the courts interpret contracts, how laws regulate contracts, and what standard business practices are in the community. We have the experience to predict potential problem areas and draft your contract to avoid such problems.
One of the most common problems with contracts is the use of vague, ambiguous, or unclear language. Sometimes contracts are so laden with “legalese” that it is virtually impossible to tell what the parties actually intended. This is not an effective contract. Perhaps more importantly, it is one that will be difficult for a court to enforce. Courts will construe unclear language against the party who drafted the contract. Needless to say, that can have expensive consequences for unwary small business owners.
Another problem is the absence of important provisions. How do you terminate the contract? How do you assess damages for breach of contract? Can the contract be assigned? These are just a few considerations that may not appear in a sample form contract. We can discuss options with you to make sure you cover all foreseeable situations.
If you're a small business owner who needs help preparing the contracts that are essential to the operation of your business, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to set up an appointment. We proudly serve clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
If you move to another state, do you need to throw out your estate planning documents—your Will, Trust, Directive to Physicians, and Powers of Attorney? A lot of effort and expense probably went into the preparation of those documents. You probably don’t want to start over from scratch. Unfortunately, for most people it’s a good idea to get a new set of documents that clearly meet your new state’s legal requirements. The good news is that you’ve already done the heavy lifting—you’ve decided which documents you want and the key things you want them to accomplish for your family. It shouldn’t be difficult to get new documents that reflect the wishes you’ve settled on.
In any case, if your estate planning documents are more than a few years old, or if you’ve had any major changes in your family (marriage, divorce, new children or grandchildren) or property since you signed them, it’s probably time for a review anyway.
If you prepared a Will in your old state of residence and it was valid there, then it’s probably valid in your new state as well; most states have laws that explicitly say this. So far, so good. Still, out-of-state Wills pose a couple of possible problems—or at least reasons to think about writing a new Will.
If you’re married and move from a community property state to a common law state, or vice versa, the rules about what you and your spouse own can change. In community property states, spouses generally own together anything they require while they’re married. (There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as property that’s inherited by just one spouse.) In other states, each spouse generally owns whatever is in his or her name. If you move to a community property state, the state may treat all your property as if it had been acquired in the community property state—which may not be what you and your spouse want. It’s a good idea to make new Wills.
Your Personal Representative is the person you name in your Will to wrap up your estate after your death—to collect your property, pay the bills and taxes, and distribute what’s left to the people named in the Will. A few states restrict who can serve as your PR; for example, Florida requires your executor to be related by blood or marriage, or to be a Florida resident. If you’ve recently moved to Florida and your Will names a Washingtonian as PR, the Florida probate court won’t allow that person to serve. Most other states allow out-of-state PRs but impose additional requirements on them. For lots of reasons, it’s often best to have a local PR. So even though your Will is still valid, you may want to make a new one, naming a different person as PR.
A Revocable Living Trust isn’t subject to the same kind of rules as a Will, but you will still want to review it to make sure it complies with any specific rules of your new state, no matter where you signed it. If you acquire real estate in your new state, you’ll want to hold it in the trust, so that it doesn’t have to go through probate at your death.
Some states explicitly accept advance directives (also called living wills) and healthcare powers of attorney that were signed in other states. Others don't have any laws on the subject, which means that healthcare providers in your new states might balk at out-of-state documents. But as a practical matter, no matter what state law says, your family is likelier to have an easier time getting the document accepted if it’s familiar to local medical providers.
Each state has its own forms, and they vary tremendously. Some states, for example, have a combined healthcare directive and power of attorney, so that in one document you both state your wishes for end-of-life care and name someone to carry out those wishes. In other states, the documents are separate. The terminology can be different as well; in some places, you appoint a healthcare “agent,” in others, a “proxy” to act on your behalf.
Finally, if you’ve named a payable-on-death beneficiary for an insurance policy, bank account, retirement plan account, or other asset, it should be valid no matter where you live. Your agreement is with the institution that controls the asset—the bank, insurance company, or retirement account custodian. Just make sure that the institution has up-to-date contact information for both you and the beneficiary you named.
If you have questions about updating your estate planning documents, give us a call at 253.858.5434 to find out how we can help. We proudly serve clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
We've recently learned that Wills for Heroes no longer has an active chapter in Washington. So we're going to do what we can to remedy that. Cops and firefighters (and their spouses) get 50% knocked off their attorney fees for Wills, Powers of Attorney, Trusts, and other estate planning legal services. If you or a loved one is a law enforcement officer or firefighter, give us a call at 253.858.5434 and we'll get you and your family taken care of.
We proudly serve clients throughout Washington and Idaho and are available to meet in person, by phone, or via Skype or FaceTime.
Our office will be closed on Monday, January 2, to celebrate the New Year. And we'll probably go see Rogue One again.
Idaho Clients, Colleagues, & Friends - I will be in Boise January 13-16 and have time to meet with clients or potential new clients in the afternoon on Friday the 13th. Give us a call at 253.858.5434 to set something up!
Our office will be closed December 23-26 to celebrate the holidays, but we'll return and be back at it on December 27. Also, we're closing early today to go see Rogue One. Merry Christmas!
