Happy Sunday! Earlier this week an elderly lady hired us to update her Trust. We’re going to call her Grandma. It was made with her husband, who passed away several years ago. The current state of the Trust splits everything equally amongst the kids. Grandma wanted to give some of her money directly to her grandchildren, who are now all grown (I think the youngest is in their 30s). I told her, “no problem. We can take care of this…
Happy Sunday! I was asked to make a video on Wills vs. Trusts earlier this week, and I realized I hadn’t talked about the difference between the two for a while, so I thought I’d break it down for you. As always, we’re going pretty high level here – so just keep that in mind. Here we go! When it comes to Wills, they are designed to do a couple of different things: 1. Name your Executor (called Person Representative…
Happy Sunday! Hope you remembered to set your clocks back. Let the darkness begin! I thought today I’d get back to some good old fashioned estate planning. As you probably know, we do probates here at the office (not our estate planning clients) and you’d be surprised how often people provide a Will for probate that isn’t valid. And an invalid Will is no good – it’s as if it doesn’t exist. We’ve seen family members accidentally cut out, family…
Happy Sunday! Hopefully you’re having a great weekend and found a way to stay warm and dry. This is literally my least favorite time of the year. :) For that reason, we’re switching it up this week – no estate planning or probate info – just something thoughtful. So if you’re not into that, you have my permission to skip. This weekend we had 8 basketball games (4 in Kent and 4 in Redmond), two play dates, and music lessons….
As we approach the end of the year, there’s one simple — but often overlooked — estate planning move that can make a big difference over time: using your annual gift allowance. What Is the Annual Gift Allowance? Every year, the IRS allows you to give up to a certain amount of money to as many people as you’d like — completely free of gift tax reporting. For 2025, that amount is $19,000 per recipient. That means you can…
One of the questions I hear most often from solo and small firm owners is simple: “How do I know when it’s time to hire a bookkeeper?” The truth is, most attorneys wait far too long — usually until their books are a mess or tax season is looming. But hiring a bookkeeper isn’t just about avoiding stress; it’s a strategic move that frees you to focus on what actually grows your firm. Here are the two clearest signs…
When you travel for business, it’s easy for the lines between work and leisure to get blurry. You might attend meetings, plan strategy, and then squeeze in an activity or two for fun. There’s nothing wrong with that — as long as you clearly separate business expenses from personal ones. I recently had a great reminder of this during a strategic planning trip with my business partner, who also happens to be my wife. A Real Example: The Alligator…
