Beginning January 1, 2025, certain estates can avoid filing a Washington state estate tax return if the deceased person had a surviving spouse and a “qualifying family residence.” Return Filing Threshold; HB 1867 In general, when a Washington resident (or…
Read MoreOn March 19, 2024, Governor Inslee signed Substitute Senate Bill 5787 into law, which adopts the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act (the “Act”). As a result, common estate planning documents such as trust agreements, powers of attorney, healthcare directives,…
Read MoreThere is a common misconception when it comes to estate planning: only people with significant wealth need an estate plan. In fact, an estate plan is simply a set of documents that tells the world what we want to happen…
Read MoreIn an ideal world, we would all die amongst our loved ones with well-formed estate plans in place and all of our finances squarely in order. Unfortunately, the reality is that the end often approaches faster than we hope or…
Read MoreCourt Holds Washington Capital Gains Tax is a Constitutional Excise Tax On March 24, 2023, the Washington Supreme Court (in a 7-2 opinion) held that the controversial capital gains tax enacted by the Washington State Legislature in 2021 (SB 5096;…
Read MoreEarlier this year, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 5132. Among various other changes to Washington trust and estate law, the Bill adopts the Uniform Electronic Wills Act (the “Act”), which allows Washingtonians to create valid digital Wills…
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