Insight, Analysis, and Perspective for Businesses and Individuals

In today’s online world, more people are turning to the internet as a way to save money and find a do-it-yourself solution. You can watch YouTube videos explaining how to repair items around your house, do your own taxes through programs like TurboTax, and now there are online programs to walk you through the divorce […]

Several recently released cases from the Washington Department of Revenue Administrative Review and Hearings Division provide a good reminder about the reach of the department to collect real estate excise tax (REET) on the transfer of real property. In the first case (Det. No. 16-0350), the petitioner limited liability company transferred a controlling interest in […]

Heirs battling over seemingly “small” personal property items after a loved one has died is a heartbreaking yet familiar scenario in the probate world. While such disputes might seem petty to outsiders, the issue of who gets mom’s favorite purse, dad’s music collection, or even grandmother’s little blue ceramic bowl is often a deeply personal process that can […]

A Special Notice, dated May 24, 2017, from the Washington State Department of Revenue has provided further clarification regarding Business & Occupation (“B&O”) tax and corporate director fees earned within and without the state of Washington. The Notice makes it clear that all compensation received for services rendered as a corporate director may be subject to Washington […]

Seattle elementary school teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau, infamous for her relationship with her 12-year-old sixth grade student back in 1996, recently made national headlines again. After serving multiple jail terms, Letourneau and her student, Vili Fualaau ultimately married in 2005. TMZ recently reported that Letourneau and Fualaau are legally separating. This begs the question, what […]

If you’re currently weathering the stress of a divorce, the last thing you may be thinking about is updating your estate planning documents. Your divorce can have a major impact on your estate plan, however, with implications for you, your children, and those who depend on you. You should consider making the following updates to […]

The most fundamental part of any gifting program is the federal gift tax annual exclusion. This exclusion allows a taxpayer to make a maximum gift of $14,000 (for 2017) each year to an individual free of tax and reporting (i.e., there is no need for the taxpayer to file a gift tax return). This is not a […]

It is important for Washington employers to understand what to do when they receive a notice that an employee’s wages or salary are being garnished. The judgment and garnishment are not the employer’s problem, and there is nothing that an employer can or should do to help their employee. Failure to handle the garnishment properly can have […]

The Huffington Post recently ran the headline “Why We’re All Becoming Independent Contractors.”{http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/why-were-all-becoming-independent-contractors_b_6731760.html}. The article recounts that GM and Uber are valued at $60 billion and $40 billion respectively, but that GM has over 200,000 employees while Uber has a paltry 850 employees. Uber has a simple, but concerning, explanation for this discrepancy – Uber’s […]

Repeal of the federal estate tax has been a cornerstone of President Trump’s tax reform promises. Given the Republicans’ majority sweep in both houses of Congress this past November, repeal efforts that have stalled in the past are now a viable possibility. Although repeal is likely to be on the table legislatively at some point […]

In mid-December 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department issued final regulations affecting all foreign-owned single-member limited liability companies. While these regulations have the potential to increase transparency with respect to the movement of foreign funds, they impose new burdens on the foreign owners of U.S. LLCs. Prior to these final regulations going into effect, the ownership […]

Last September it hit the social media circuit by storm: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were divorcing. The initial documents filed by Jolie were not pretty. Jolie requested sole physical custody of the couple’s children and made multiple allegations about Pitt’s parenting including claims of child abuse. Pitt responded by requesting an emergency order to […]