Seattle Wills, Trusts, and Estates Attorneys

A Will as part of the estate plan

Every estate plan should include a Will. If the value of the estate is small, then a simple will may suffice to transfer your assets. If the value of the estate is larger and real estate is involved, it is probably better to have your assets held in trust and have a pour-over will as a back-up. This can accomplish many different goals including the avoidance of probate, lowering estate taxes, and directing the distribution of your property upon your death. If you die with assets outside of the trust, the pour-over will directs the assets to pour into the trust and be distributed in accordance with the trust’s directions.

Other Planning Documents

Your Will serves more purpose than simply deciding who will receive what property. Should you have minor children, your Will provides for who will have custody. In addition to a client, we recommend clients complete both a Health Care Power of Attorney and Durable Power of Attorney which allows a person of your choosing to act on your behalf should you ever become incapacitated.

What you can expect for costs:

Basic Will: $250

Health Care Power of Attorney: $75

Durable Power of Attorney: $75

Living Will/ Health Care Directive: $ 50

Click here for a Will Preparation Questionairre

Trusts

There are two basic types of trusts: revocable and irrevocable. A revocable trust can be altered during the life of the grantor (the person who creates the trust). The assets held in a revocable trust at the decedent’s death are subject to the estate tax. Conversely, an irrevocable trust generally cannot be altered after you create it. The assets held in an irrevocable trust at the decedent’s death are not generally subject to the estate tax.

For larger estates, our firm has experience in using valuation discounts and other advanced tax-advantaged gifting strategies allowed by the Internal Revenue Service. We use specialized trusts and limited liability entities to accomplish this goal.

What you can expect for Costs:

We charge on an hourly basis for trust preparation as trusts vary drastically from simple to extremely sophisticated. After consultation, we will provide you the estimated costs of trust preparation.

Click here for a Estate Planning Questionnaire: (recommended for estates exceeding $1.5 Million in Washington).

Executors and administrators

While our firm can help you develop an estate plan, we also assist executors and administrators in the probate process after a person dies. Probate is the judicial proceeding required to transfer title to the deceased’s heirs or beneficiaries under a will. If you are named as the executor by the terms of the will or would like to become the administrator of the estate of a family member who did not have a will, our firm can help you to become appointed by the probate court. We can also assist you in all subsequent probate court matters and procedures until the closing of the estate.