Recent News

The state of Washington recently enacted the covenant homeownership account and program act.  The purpose of the act is to address the state’s “history of housing discrimination due to racially restrictive real estate covenants” of various types. Under the act, one or more special purpose credit programs will be created to provide down payment and… Read More

Transfers of real estate in Washington are subject to state and local real estate excise tax on the consideration given for the transfer of that real estate, unless an exemption from the tax applies. Prior to 2020, the state portion of the tax was 1.28% of the value of the consideration given for the transfer.… Read More

If you are buying or selling real estate, whether residential or commercial, the transaction will most likely include a requirement for the seller to provide the buyer with title insurance. The first step in that process is to get what is usually referred to as a preliminary title commitment or a title report. It is… Read More

The general rule is that the disposition of nonprobate assets is not governed by a will. The disposition is usually governed by the form of ownership, such as joint tenancy with right of survivorship, or a beneficiary designation in the document creating the asset, such as a transfer on death security account with a beneficiary… Read More

In Part 1 of this series of articles on nonprobate assets (See here), I discussed the general definition of nonprobate assets under Washington’s probate and trust law. In Part 2 of this series (See here), I discussed the definition of nonprobate assets in the context of the dissolution or invalidation of a marriage or state… Read More

As I described in a previous post, Washington probate and trust law generally defines a “nonprobate asset” as well as the types of assets that are not included within that definition (See here for previous post). However, the definition of “nonprobate asset” is not consistent for all purposes. RCW 11.07.010 provides, in part, that if… Read More

Under Washington probate and trust law, a nonprobate asset means “those rights and interests of a person having beneficial ownership of an asset that pass on the person’s death under a written instrument or arrangement other than the person’s will.” RCW 11.02.005(13). Examples of such assets provided by the statute include a right or interest… Read More

One form of ownership of property in Washington is joint tenancy with right of survivorship. In this form of ownership, the joint tenants (the owners) own an undivided interest in the entire property, whether it is real estate or personal property. When one of the joint tenants dies, the typical result is that their interest… Read More

Corporations, limited liability companies, and certain types of partnerships, formed in the state of Washington, are required to file annual reports and pay an annual license renewal fee to the Washington Secretary of State (the “Secretary”).  Each year, the Secretary sends notice to the entity that its annual report and fees are due by a… Read More