Recent News

The “applicable exclusion amount” is the amount of a deceased person’s estate that passes free of Washington estate tax.  This differs from the unlimited marital deduction that applies when one spouse dies and transfers his or her interest in property to their surviving spouse.  In 2013, the state of Washington amended the statute concerning the… Read More

When parties enter into a contract, they usually assume the contract will be performed.  But what happens in the event of a breach?  The default is for a dispute to spawn litigation if the parties cannot resolve it on their own.  Ordinarily the non-breaching party must establish with reasonable certainty their actual damages to obtain… Read More

Yesterday, I wrote about the quick progress Washington has seen since the implementation of the “Safe Start Washington” plan.  I focused on (1) the industries re-opened across Washington in Phase 1 and the requirements for businesses operating in those industries, (2) the 8 low density counties that have already advanced to Phase 2, and (3)… Read More

Governor Inslee’s May 4, 2020, amendment to his “Stay Home – Stay Healthy” Order set in motion a re-opening plan called “Safe Start Washington: A Phased Approach to Recovery.”  The Safe Start Washington plan announced that “Phase 1 of reopening Washington begins on May 5, 2020.”  However, as I discussed in my May 5th blog… Read More

Earlier today (May 13), the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released important guidance regarding Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan recipients.  Recipients of PPP loans were required to certify that they applied for the loan in “good faith” in order to avoid criminal prosecution. Today’s guidance places those who received less than $2 million in PPP funds… Read More

This post is the final in a series of three discussing some of the basic principles of Washington LLCs and the default rules of the Washington Limited Liability Company Act, RCW 25.15 (the “Act”).  The previous two posts discussed the “pick your partner” principle and member dissociation and withdrawal.  This final post in the series… Read More

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact almost every facet of daily life in the United States, politicians on the national stage have debated the pros and cons of expanding mail-based voting across the country.  Of course, this has not been an issue in Washington, where state law guarantees that “[e]ach active registered voter of… Read More

The current public health crisis has brought many changes to our lives.  For the time being, we cannot engage socially or play sports as we have in the past. This, however, did not stop Beresford Booth Lawyer Todd Cook from gathering up the youth baseball team he coaches for some virtual practice.  The video below… Read More

Matthew J. Cruz presents on Estate Planning & COVID-19. .pdf download of Matt Cruz's presentation David C. Tingstad speaks about the latest on PPP loan forgiveness. Read More