Recent News

For closely-held business owners, the idea of selling your business appears daunting. Where do you start? What do you need to know before beginning the process? Several months ago, we published an article discussing the general process of buying and selling a business. This is a further discussion and includes other issues. There are many… Read More

When a creditor obtains a judgment against a debtor, there are numerous possible avenues for enforcement.  Typical collection efforts may include wage garnishment, bank garnishment, and personal property execution.  Collection strategies depend greatly upon the financial circumstances of the debtor.  One nuanced area of enforcement involves collection efforts against a debtor who is a member… Read More

What is Equitable Indemnity? Sometimes a party’s wrongful act or omission causes the wronged party to enter litigation with an unrelated third party. The common law theory of equitable indemnity says that the separate third party may be entitled to compensation from the initial wrongdoer as an element of damages. In Washington, this rule is… Read More

All limited liability companies embark upon journeys of varying length, activity, and consequence. Eventually, LLCs reach their journeys end and require dissolution. The process of dissolution and the time dissolution requires is different for every LLC, but what really happens with an LLC upon dissolution? Dissolution LLCs dissolve for a multitude of reasons. For example,… Read More

What is the Washington CPA? The Washington Legislature in 1961 enacted the Consumer Protection Act (“CPA”), (RCW 19.86), to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive trade and business practices. Historically, consumers were responsible under the old legal maxim of “caveat emptor,” or “buyer beware,” which required a high level of diligence and investigation on the… Read More

Last month, I wrote an article discussing how The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affected spousal support.  The article briefly outlines how the tax status of alimony changed to tax-neutral. Therefore, under the new tax law, alimony is no longer a tax-deductible expenditure, nor can it be considered income for recipients. This alteration not only… Read More

Property Ownership In Washington, there are multiple ways in which individuals can agree to co-own real property. The most common form of ownership between unmarried parties is as tenants in common.  Tenants in common have great flexibility in how they can divide ownership interests. For example, two owners can own a property evenly, or they… Read More

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… 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… Read More