Statute

Pursuant to RCW 68.50.160, a person has the right to direct how his or her remains are disposed after death.  “Directing” such disposition is best accomplished in writing which includes a description of the method of disposition (i.e. burial, cremation, donation for purposes of research etc.).  The written instructions should be signed and dated while being witnessed by at least one person (over the age of 18, of sound mind, and not in any way beneficially interested in the matter).  Such arrangements are generally not modifiable by survivors and a licensed funeral home or cemetery authority...Read More

The “applicable exclusion amount” is the amount of a deceased person’s estate that passes free of estate tax. This differs from the unlimited marital deduction that applies when one spouse dies and transfers all of his or her interest in property to the surviving spouse. There is an applicable exclusion amount for federal estate tax purposes and an applicable exclusion amount for the state of Washington’s estate tax purposes. Under both federal and Washington law, the applicable exclusion amount is subject to adjustment. For federal estate taxes, the applicable exclusion amount is $11,400,000 for 2019, a slight...Read More

An escrow holder owes fiduciary duties to all parties to the escrow, and owes the same duty of fidelity that an agent or trustee owes to its principles.  Parties to escrows frequently misunderstand these duties.  It is not an escrow holder’s job to sort out ambiguities of a contract between the parties; rather, the escrow holder’s duties are defined by the actual escrow instructions given by the parties.  An escrow holder also cannot prefer one party over the other, or disclose one party’s confidences to the other without consent.  Escrow holders are not to be arbiters of...Read More

In the midst of divorce proceedings, the effect of those proceedings on existing estate planning documents and whether the estate planning documents should be replaced are probably not high on a person’s list of things to consider.  Under Washington law, a Will signed during marriage that gives property or powers to a spouse is revoked as to that spouse when the parties divorce, unless the Will expressly provides otherwise.  However, in Washington, the Will is not revoked as to relatives of that spouse who may be named in the Will.  Sometimes, a Will includes a bequest to...Read More

“I want to gift some money to my kids, and avoid estate tax, but I know you can only give $15,000 in a year.” Clients say this regularly. But the gifting cap is a myth! In the vast majority of cases, the term “gift tax” is a misnomer. Only the very wealthiest are at risk of paying actual gift tax during their lifetimes. This is how gifting and gift tax works in Washington:

Washington estate tax (i.e. death tax) applies to the estate of a single person, or the case of a married couple, the 2^nd spouse...Read More

Getting a divorce is never easy --- but it certainly is less stressful when it is done amicably. In fact, many couples decide that they don’t need the advice of counsel because they are able to agree on the division of assets and liabilities --- and thus they proceed with filing pro se. Further, many couples remain friendly – and sometimes even more so – after the divorce, finding they actually get along better and like each other more outside of the confines of the marital relationship.

In these situations, it is often the case that the spouses do not...Read More

If and when they are adopted, new proposed IRS regulations would reduce the ability to use valuation discounts when valuing transfers of interest between family members in some family LLCs or family limited partnerships. The proposed regulations also expand the instances in which the lapse of certain voting and liquidation rights attached to an interest in a family LLC / family LP will be treated as a taxable gift or bequest. For more information about the formation of family entities, or gifting or selling interest in family entities, call one of the estate planning attorneys at Beresford Booth PLLC.

Beresford...Read More

The lawyers of Beresford Booth harness our expertise to maximize the benefit for our clients in any given situation. This can mean transforming a seemingly dire situation to a positive outcome. We enjoy creating efficient and successful outcomes. Recently, we had a client whose financial position was bleak. His wife had died, leaving property in his hands. He called Beresford Booth PLLC and we helped our client take control of the estate. We quickly realized that as part of the estate, our client and his wife owned a shared property with a partner. We established that...Read More

Stated differently, “a job worth doing is a job worth doing right”. The Washington Statute, RCW 11.12.020, requires that a will to be validly executed, must, among other requirements, be attested by two or more competent witnesses  while in the presence of the testator (person signing their will). In light of these statutory requirements, our office policy is to require the testator to physically come into the office to execute their will. Why are we so particular?  A look at a recent Washington Court of Appeals Division I case in the Estate of Hook, 193 Wn. App. 862 answers this...Read More

The state of Washington imposes a real estate excise tax on transfers of real estate, but exemptions from the tax are available for certain types of transfers.  One exemption has been for distributions from the estate of a deceased person to a will beneficiary when the estate involves probate of a last will and testament or to an heir when there is an “intestate” estate (where no will is involved).  To receive the exemption, documentation in the form of a certified copy of Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration had to be presented to the county when the deed was...Read More