Recent News

There are many possible interests in real estate.  “Fee simple” is the most easily understood, which means ownership of the land itself.  Easements are the right to use land owned by someone else for specified purposes.  Generally, easements are perpetual and run with the land, meaning that they go on indefinitely and transfer to new… Read More

December 16th, 2021 attorney Bill Kessler and real estate agent Zach McDonald discuss what you need to know about co-ownership of real estate in Washington State. Read More

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), passed on January 1st, 2021, becomes effective in 2022 and aims to fight money laundering and other illicit activity. In this week’s blog post, we will outline the CTA and discuss how businesses can comply with its requirements. The Basics Essentially, the CTA requires reporting companies to disclose beneficial ownership… Read More

December 9th, 2021 webinar is hosted by David Tingstad and his guest Garth Jacobson, a retired attorney with many years’ experience presenting, organizing, and moderating legal education (CLE) programs on tax law, corporations, LLCs, and more. They discuss the significant changes to the corporate transparency act and your obligation to report ownership. Read More

Beresford Booth was pleased to volunteer to help our friends at Homage for the Thanksgiving holiday. Sixteen members of the Beresford team participated in the packaging of 600 meals, one meal for Thanksgiving and one additional meal for the following day, serving approximately 300 individuals. For more information about the wonderful work Homage does to… Read More

What is a reserve study?  Community associations, such as condominium associations, homeowners associations, and cooperatives, often have budget planning studies conducted to identify the current financial shape of their reserve fund, a fund meant to ensure the association remains in good repair without the need to impose sudden special assessments, or to seek funding from… Read More

Many non-lawyers have heard the term “due diligence” in the context of real estate, but the term can feel confusing or legalistic.  Due diligence refers to the investigation, research, and analysis which buyers are expected to perform prior to closing on a transaction, to satisfy themselves that the asset they are purchasing will meet their… Read More

Federal law imposes a tax on gifts made in excess of a specific amount in a calendar year to a specific recipient (known as a “donee”).  That tax is usually paid by the donor (the giver) of the gift.  The specific amount is known as the annual gift exclusion.  For the past four years, the… Read More

The “basic exclusion amount” is the amount of a deceased person’s estate that passes free of federal 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 a basic exclusion amount for federal estate… Read More