Everyone knows about income taxes. Some of us are familiar with payroll taxes. But few have a grip on the arcane world of estate and gift taxes. Fortunately, most of us can now continue to ignore this tax. The federal exemption has been set at over $10 million...
Clients come to me with clear ideas about how they expect things to unfold. They develop their estate plan around these expectations. For example, most husbands anticipate that their wife will outlive them. Most parents anticipate they will die before their children....
An elderly client of mine was preparing to leave my office after signing his documents. I asked him where he intended to store them, as originals have to be protected when it comes to estate planning paperwork. He said that he had a safe. I asked whether anyone had...
There are many hurdles to overcome in getting your Will and other estate planning documents done. One of the biggest is the uncertainty of what will occur and how much it will cost. Most people have not had to consult with a lawyer, or if they have, it may have been a...
Growing older brings with it financial challenges. Apart from the normal ones of simply “making ends meet”, come the practical ones such as: “I’m slowing down, shouldn’t I have someone on my bank account with me?” Or, “what if something happens and I’m not able to...
Previously our firm has provided legal fee retainer plans only to our larger HOA and COA Association clients. We are now pleased to offer a new retainer program that smaller Associations may find attractive. This plan is designed to make legal advice and related...
Beginning in 2014 HOAs must now by law (RCW 64.38.035) “make available to each owner of record for examination and copying minutes from the previous Association meeting not more than sixty (60) days after the meeting.” Thus, minutes must be generated and must be...
A recent Washington Supreme Court Case, Bilanko v. Barclay Court Owners Association, Wn.2d (2016) makes it clear that a legal challenge to an improperly adopted amendment to condominium CCRs must be brought within 1 year of the recording of the amendment. In Bilanko...
Most clients I meet with regarding their Will start the conversation saying something like: “This is really just a ‘simple Will’”. From that, I’m supposed to expect that everything in their estate will be “routine”. I can tell you from having met with many clients,...
In 2014 I posted a blog regarding an issue that frequently arises in Condominium and Single Family Residence (“SFR”) planned communities: Can the rental of the units/homes can be prohibited or restricted? That 2014 Blog, which you can read on this website, is still...
