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One of the most valuable financial benefits available to adoptive families is the federal Adoption Tax Credit. This tax benefit can help offset many of the costs associated with building your family through adoption. For adoptions finalized in 2026, eligible families may claim a federal Adoption Tax Credit of up to $17,670 per child, subject… Read More

Most passive real estate investments begin with a simple promise. Investors contribute capital, the sponsor executes the business plan, and everyone shares the profits generated by the property. Unfortunately, real estate projects rarely unfold exactly as projected. Construction costs increase. Interest rates rise. Lease-up periods take longer than expected. Refinancing opportunities disappear. Operating expenses climb.… Read More

Funeral planning tends to fall into the same category as updating your estate plan, reviewing your insurance, or cleaning out the garage: everyone agrees it should probably happen, and almost everyone would rather do literally anything else. But here’s the thing. Your funeral, memorial, burial, cremation, composting, water-cremation, tree-planting, space-launching sendoff may be the only… Read More

In some cases, marriages end soon after they begin, prompting individuals to consider annulment as an alternative to divorce. In Washington State, a Petition for Invalidity of Marriage serves as the legal equivalent of an annulment. However, this remedy is available only under specific statutory circumstances. RCW 26.09.040 outlines the statutory grounds for obtaining an… Read More

In a recent blog post HERE, I referenced Trimm v. Kelly, No. 86734-2-I, 2025 Wash. App. LEXIS 2666 (Ct. App. Dec. 29, 2025) (unpublished), which adopted a new demand futility test for derivative claims under Washington law. A more thorough review of Trimm’s facts and analysis of Trimm is instructive for practitioners in assessing how… Read More

An easement is a nonpossessory right to use or enjoy someone else’s land. In other words, an easement grants the holder a limited privilege to perform certain acts on someone else’s land without owning that land. It is a right to use, but not own (outright), the land owned by another. There are two major… Read More

In today's webinar, Attorney Samantha Dammrose from our Family Law Group discusses "Child Support: Post-Secondary Support" https://youtu.be/TdGhTzvv1yE?si=BLvYo8FsCp4JTjZh&t=13 Read More

Nearly two thousand years ago, the ancient Roman legal system developed a series of maxims having general applicability in court.  Around the year 161, the jurist Gaius wrote a textbook, “Institutes,” in which he set forth his philosophy of the legal status of persons, things, and civil procedure.  Gaius’s treatise became largely integrated within Roman… Read More

For families considering adoption, the concept of open adoption can feel unfamiliar and overwhelming. Early in the process, uncertainty about the future and the impact of an open relationship drives most of my client’s questions: -Will the birth parents be involved in our child's life forever? -How much contact will we be expected to maintain?… Read More