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Springtime is a great time to review your current estate plan or consider creating one.  This year brings a number of opportunities for creating an estate plan, pursuing gifting strategies, and considering philanthropic goals.  Here is a highlight of a few estate planning opportunities for this year: Increased Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Exemptions

Many savvy estate plans include the use of an irrevocable trust that was established many years ago.  However, the very nature of an irrevocable trust means that once the trust agreement is finalized, the terms of that trust cannot be amended or modified.  Over the years, tax laws have changed and, depending on when the

Beneficiary designations are an essential component of every estate plan; however, these designations are often overlooked. As a bit of background, there is a distinction between probate assets and non-probate assets.  Probate assets are distributed according to your will during a probate administration whereas non-probate assets are distributed outside of the probate process and are,

When preparing your estate plan there are a number of things to consider including how to provide for your pets who are an important part of your life and ensuring that they are taken care of after your passing.  There are a couple of options for estate planning for pets that range from including a

One of the most common questions we hear from our clients is “do I need a revocable living trust?”  While in some states a revocable living trust is a vital component of any estate plan due to those state’s probate laws, Washington has very friendly probate laws and a revocable living trust is generally not

One of the most common questions we receive in our Estate Planning practice is “when do I need a personalized estate plan?”  While there are many factors to consider, you will want a personalized estate plan when there is a significant change in your life, or you do not like the default plan created for

Many clients opt to make charitable donations to further charitable intentions and to perhaps help reduce estate tax exposure in the process.  Charities often fulfill needs and perform work that the government does not otherwise provide, and supporting a charity can stretch one’s dollars further as charities can be more efficient with the contributions than