Trusts, Wills & Probate
Washington State Estate and Inheritance Tax: Your Answers Here If you are searching Google for answers concerning Washington Estate Tax or Washington State Inheritance Tax, you are asking the right questions and your are in the right place. The good news is that by hiring an experienced estate planning attorney early (the earlier the better), you have a good chance…Read More
Is a Will an Estate Plan? If you own real estate in Washington, it may be a "bad" estate plan because your family will have to hire a lawyer and go through the court probate process. Watch our latest video concerning Wills and real estate in Washington: [embed]https://youtu.be/P0_C4wXmQo8[/embed] How to Make an Estate Plan There are several elements to an…Read More
What is the Washington state estate tax rate? Inheritance tax? A common question we receive is: Does Washington State have an inheritance tax or probate tax? In the law, words matter. Therefore, as your read the answers and responses below, the end result might feel the same (i.e. pay a tax); but how you arrive at the result is technically…Read More
Surviving Spouse Rights in Washington. Do I have to file a probate for my spouse? The short answer is “Yes” unless the following applies: The Assets of the deceased are in a trust; or The Assets of the deceased are held as joint tenants with the right of survivorship (property merely held as community property doesn’t count as will be explained later); or The…Read More
Surviving spouse rights in the State of Washington is a confusing topic for a lot of people. Property does not get "automatically" transferred to the surviving spouse. 60% of American citizens do not have an estate plan. Therefore, the vast majority of surviving spouses have to hire a lawyer and go through a formal probate in the State of Washington. …Read More
What is a Power of Attorney and Can It Expire? On January 1, 2017, the State of Washington implemented new laws concerning many different types of Powers of Attorney and specific directions that can be added or limited. If you do not have a Power of Attorney, your timing is good because now would be a great time to get…Read More
Not only are Millennials not talking about end-of-life care with their parents, according to the American Bar Association "Statistical studies show that 55 percent of Americans die without a will or estate plan." In order to save your loved ones completely avoidable additional pain and legal hassles, take the time to begin your estate planning today. Here is the good news....we…Read More
Attorney Christopher A. Benson is rated as "Superb" by AVVO with a rating of 9.5 among all attorneys nationally. Mr. Benson has law office locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Arizona and is admitted to practice in all four States. The goal of estate planning is to give you peace of mind in knowing that you have taken care of…Read More
2 Common Questions: (1) What Is Probate in Washington; And (2) Do I Have To File A Probate For My Spouse or Loved One? If you have recently lost a loved one, we understand what you are experiencing because everyone at our firm has lost someone close to them and then had to handle the details of taking care of…Read More
Three "Big Picture" Questions You Need to Ask When Planning Your Estate When starting down the path of getting your life organized and putting the necessary legal documents in place to take care of events that occur in every person's life, just think about the "Big Picture" at first. What usually prevents people from getting started on estate planning is…Read More