Probate Attorney Blog

#RichLifeLawyer Show 031: Who Needs Estate Planning Anyway?Many people think estate planning is just for the rich. You would be wrong. Estate planning is and can be for everyone. Rich. Poor. Single. Married. Gay. Straight. Black. White. It makes no difference. There are aspects of estate planning that are necessary for every single type of person out there. Yes, I said NECESSARY. Not helpful. Not nice to have. Necessary. In today’s show I talk about a little bit about what…

Today’s topic is one that gets to the heart of what estate planning is really all about. At the end of the day, do you care where your money goes if it results in your kids and their kids contributing nothing to society? Is it all worth it for you if your kids simply spend the money you give them on worthless vanity items? Or would you rather they use the tools you’ve given them to take advantage of that…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 030: Estate Planning and Your New Home I get asked questions about home ownership and estate planning all of the time. One of the common questions centers around the belief that if and when one purchases a new home that estate planning changes should be made. The answer, as always, is that it depends (and if any attorney tells you you should do something, they are imposing their own values on you). When it comes to the ownership…

Washington Estate Taxes Explained I get asked about this all the time, so I thought it was about time I broke this down for you. The estate tax system in Washington State, at it’s core, is pretty simple. If you die and your estate has more than $2,012,000 in it, then you start paying taxes. Why $2,012,000? It used to be a flat, cool two million, but they decided to start adjusting for inflation. That means if you read this…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 028: Should I Prorate Estate Taxes? A question we get often at the firm is “should I prorate estate taxes?” Because it is such a frequent question (and because it really matters) I thought today would be a great day to answer it. Here are just a couple of topics covered in today’s show: What does it mean to prorate estate taxes? What are my options? What is the best option? What is the worst option? To find…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 027: Designate One Person for All Estate Planning Roles? A common question we get when it comes to naming people to take care of clients’ estate planning needs is whether or not one person can be named to fill all estate planning roles. Traditionally there are several roles that need to be filled to administer an estate: Personal Representative (also known as the executor) Power of Attorney Medical Power of Attorney Guardian Trustee Just to name a few….

#RichLifeLawyer Show 026: Estate Planning and Transfer on Death Designations I run around with a few financial planners and whenever we meet up they tend to pepper me with estate planning questions. Whenever they ask me something I always file it away to talk about here because I know if they are curious about it most other people are too. That’s why when I was asked about transfer on death designations a few weeks ago I knew I had to…