Recent News

Tax Information for 2014 With the New Year upon us, here is some information that may help you with your taxes.  STANDARD MILEAGE RATES 56¢ per mile driven for use of a car (van, pick up truck, or panel truck) for business purposes. 23.5¢ per mile driven for medical expense purposes or household moving expense purposes. 14¢… Read More

Congratulations to Richard R. Beresford, Bereford Booth lawyer and partner, on his selection as The Rotary Club of Edmonds Daybreakers 2013/14 Professional of the Year!  We are very proud of Dick and of the great work he does for his clients and his community. In honoring Dick with this award, the Rotary Club of Edmonds Daybreakers… Read More

Divorce and family law clients in Washington state often ask whether they will have to pay their spouse child support if they have the children equal time or 50% of the time under a parenting plan or residential schedule.  Like many other family law questions, the answer is, “maybe.” In a recent, December 2013, Court… Read More

In 2013, the State of Washington enacted law to change the “applicable exclusion amount” for Washington’s estate tax.  The “applicable exclusion amount” is the amount that passes free of estate tax.  For the past several years, Washington’s applicable exclusion amount has been $2,000,000.  So, the first $2,000,000 in value of an estate passed free of… Read More

Beginning in 1846, Sarah Josepha Hale (a novelist and notable writer) began a crusade to make the last Thursday in November a Thanksgiving national holiday by writing letters to governors in every state including a letter to President Abraham Lincoln. On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed a nationwide Thanksgiving Day as the last Thursday… Read More

In In re the Marriage of Larson and Calhoun, the Washington State Court of Appeals upheld the trial Court’s award of more than $40,000,000 dollars of the husband’s separate property to the wife in a divorce action to achieve a just result.  The award of Husband’s separate property to Wife consisted of approximately $14,000,000 in… Read More

Serving a defendant is not always easy – he may be hard to locate and may do everything in his power to evade service. You may not be able to find a physical address or he could be living half a world away. So what if you could just serve him somewhere where you’ll know… Read More

Maybe you’re preparing for your college student son or daughter to return from a semester of college for Thanksgiving or winter break. Or maybe you’re planning ahead to send your newly accepted student to his or her freshman year of college next year. Whether your child is attending college in Washington State or out of… Read More

In a Washington probate, the personal representative of the estate usually publishes a notice to creditors of the deceased in a newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks.  However, the personal representative may also give creditors “actual notice”.  “Actual notice” is given by mailing a copy of the notice to the creditor’s last known… Read More