Recent News

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

Student loans are treated differently than other unsecured debts in bankruptcy.  A debtor seeking to discharge liability for a student loan must demonstrate “undue hardship.”  While this standard is more stringent than for ordinary unsecured debts, the a very high percentage of debtors with lingering student loan debt assume that student loans are by definition… Read More

For decades, Washington State left the its overtime rules essentially unchanged. But recent changes going into effect in July 2020 will dramatically increase the threshold for exemptions to overtime eligibility. When combined with the recent increase in Washington State’s minimum wage of $13.50/hour effective January 1, 2020, these changes will are expected to affect approximately… Read More

In 2013, I wrote an article touting the “Friendly Quiet Title” as a more efficient means of adjusting your boundary line, when compared to a city/county boundary line adjustment (“BLA”). In recent years, the time and money savings of a Friendly Quiet Title have only increased when compared to the BLA. For example, as of… Read More

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act), which was signed into law on December 20, 2019, represents a significant overhaul of retirement rules in more than a decade. Among many important changes, the SECURE Act allows you to use retirement savings to start or grow your family! The SECURE Act allows… Read More

We are pleased to announce Beresford Booth’s expanded Family Formation practice! Beresford Booth now offers experienced legal counseling and advice to help you create your unique family, whether through Adoption or Assisted Reproduction. If you are ready to grow your family in 2020, call Dimitra Scott or Mark Demaray to discuss the right path for… Read More

One of the features of Washington’s new LLC Act is a clarification of the fiduciary duties owed by members and managers. The Act provides that the only fiduciary duties members of a member- managed LLC and a manager of a manager-managed LLC are the duties of loyalty and care. Members in a manager-managed LLC do… Read More

Washington was the first state to enact the new Parentage Act in 2018, based on the 2017 Uniform Parentage Act.   This update to the Parentage Act addresses issues related to same-sex couples, surrogacy, the right of a child to genetic information, de facto parentage, and parentage of children conceived through sexual assault.      Perhaps… Read More

The IRS published the Adoption Tax Credit figures and adjustments for 2020.  The new maximum dollar amount allowed for the tax credit tax in 2020 is $14,300 per child (it was $14,080 in 2019).  The Adoption Tax Credit begins to phase out for those families whose modified adjusted gross income exceeds $214,520, and phases out completely for families with modified adjusted gross… Read More