Tailored Solutions for Your Unique Needs

Our team of experienced estate planning professionals is dedicated to crafting personalized solutions that reflect your values and aspirations. Whether you seek to establish trusts for your stepchildren or update your will to include them, we are here to guide you every step of the way.

Many people believe that getting a will or estate plan through an online service is the way to go. These plans are cheap and easy to implement. In fact, for many people, they may be all that you need.

But these online plans lack some of the specificity that others need because of complex assets, family structure, or desired distributions they want in their estate plan.

You may also have a hard time not seeing something you need if you use an online service.

For example, if you’ve chosen your sister Mary and her husband to be the guardians of your children should you meet an untimely demise, do you still want your sister to be the guardian if she divorces? What if she goes to jail? Or moves? Or any of a number of things that happen to people.

And what if you want to create a trust for your children until they reach a certain age. Did you know that you can base distribution on many different things that you would like to see happen such as graduation from a university, good grades, marriage, or staying sober?

When we say tailored solutions, we mean that we can discuss exactly what your dreams and hopes are for your loved ones. 

Your estate plan should be a love letter to those you are leaving behind. Something that tells them about your values and your ambition for their future. Even fi that ambition is for them to just be happy.

Call today to set up a case evaluation to find out more about Pacific Northwest Family Law and how we can help you create the protections that match your vision of a brighter future.

Experience working with “His, Hers, and Ours”

From our work in divorce and custody, we understand the unique dynamics and priorities of blended families when it comes to planning for the future of your family. An estate plan created with one of our gifted estate planning attorneys will help you have confidence that your care, love, and concern for your family will be felt even if you are not able to do so yourself.

When it comes to inheritance, blended families create unique challenges. Chances are that you care for your step-children and your own children in equal measure. But did you know that without an estate plan, you may be leaving your biological children without an inheritance?

Without an estate plan in Washington, the majority of your assets are received by your spouse by default. But that means if you spouse then passes away, only his or her children then receive those same assets. What about your children? It was up to you to think ahead and create a plan.

Or what happens if you haven’t remarried and are no longer able to care for your children or assets? The courts are likely to give substantial power to your ex-spouse to make decisions for your children, including use of your assets. It’s even more likely if you pass away.

The result is that if you do not plan today for death or disability, your loved ones may face challenges that you can prevent.

With Pacific Northwest Family Law, we will help you create a plan that protects your family and lets you be the hero your loved ones believe you are.

Will or Trust?

At Pacific Northwest Family Law, we recognize the importance of creating a solid foundation for your family’s future. With our experience and knowledge in estate planning, we help you navigate the complexities of wills and trusts to secure the inheritance and protection your stepchildren deserve.

Many families would be able to have an estate plan that is will based. A will based plan provides for the distribution of assets after death, but does not require any more work until then.

Some benefits of a will based plan:

• Wills are quicker to create and implement
• Wills provide many of the protections for your loved ones
• Will based plans are cost less now

There are some risks with a will based plan:

• A will based plan can cost more of the estate during probate
• Wills are subject to being challenged by heirs
• Wills may incompletely distribute assets through omission or ambiguity
• Wills must be updated regularly (with any new life event such as weddings, births, retirement, selling or buying property, moving, and changes in the lives of proposed trustees, guardians, or personal representatives)

Trusts on the other hand allow you to create a plan and begin implementation now. When you create a trust, it means that you change the ownership of property so that you no longer own things like investment accounts or houses because they are owned by the trust. With certain types of trusts, called living trusts, you still control them and for all intents and practices use them as a trustee.

Some benefits of a trust:

• With a trust, all property is already distributed the way you want it
• When you have a trust, you empower a trustee to act according to your instructions in managing assets
• Trusts allow you to avoid probate and the decisions of a judge to follow your will
• Trusts allow you to move and still keep the same trust without worrying about how it will be interpreted later
• Trustee is required by law to follow instructions in the trust documents
• For a living trust, nothing really changes for your day to day life

Some risks and downsides for a trust:

• Trusts cost more to implement now
• Trusts don’t have a guardian provision for minor children
• If you need to redo the trust, because of changes in your life such as weddings, divorce, birth, or death, you must do so formally through a restatement
• You must make sure to remember that property is owned by the trust, not you, to preserve the protections of a trust

Which plan is right for you? Find out when you hire a Pacific Northwest Family Law attorney to guide you through the planning process.

What estate planning services do you provide?

At Pacific Northwest Family Law, we believe that you should be protected not just in case of death but also disability. That’s why we prepare a full range of documents to help you control your assets and meet your family obligations regardless of your situation.

We prepare the following documents depending on need:

• Will
• Testamentary will
• Simple trust
• Living trust
• Special needs trust
• Power of attorney
• Durable power of attorney
• Healthcare power of attorney
• Living will (also known as a Do Not Resuscitate or DNR)

At what net worth does an estate plan make sense?

Without an estate plan, there are laws that govern how assets are distributed and loved ones are cared for. These laws were created because too many people put off creating a plan of their own before it was too late.

That means, technically speaking, good old Uncle Sam already provided you with an estate plan. And if you trust the government to do what’s right, you’re covered.

However, if you have children, own a home, have life insurance, own a business, have investments, a retirement account, or other assets that may get complicated, you should get an estate plan.

Also, if you are worried about who makes medical and financial decisions for you if you were fell ill and could not make those decisions yourself, you should have an estate plan. These documents empower the people you want to make decisions to make decisions for you. You can also indicate the types of decisions they should make.

How much money should I have to set up a trust?

Trusts are most valuable to people who have complex assets or want a complex distribution of assets.

Trusts can allow you to avoid taxes, speed up the distribution of assets, and create peace of mind that the courts won’t interfere with what you want to happen. 

That said, trusts are going to be most useful when you own a home and have equity in it, have children you still need to provide support for, and/or have complex assets such as a business, retirement, or life insurance.

While not all of these assets go directly into the trust, you can make the trust a beneficiary of these assets and then have them distributed. This can help reduce total taxation if you are near the income thresholds that change year to year depending on who is elected, and ensure that larger assets are not wasted.

Can you assist with creating a will, trust, or power of attorney?

Absolutely, yes. Even better, we can help you decide which is the best tool for you to protect your family and be their hero.

Do you provide ongoing support and updates for my estate plan?

We hope that your experience with us is so great that you will look forward to regular meetings with your attorney. You should consider updates to your will or trust when life events happen such as: 

• Marriage
• Death
• Divorce
• Change in tax code
• Moving
• Buying or selling real estate
• Winning the lottery
• Retirement

How can you ensure that my wishes are carried out after I pass away?

This is where the skill and personal attention of an attorney at Pacific Northwest Family Law comes into play. Our attorneys are experienced at interviewing and discussing the major life goals and events.

Based on careful interviews we can craft language that will withstand challenges and scrutiny of the court.

Because our firm also handles challenges and litigation, we can draw on the experience of attorneys who defend and challenge language in estate plans so that we know what works.

At the end of the day, whether we use a will or a trust as the basis for your estate plan, whether we create a durable power of attorney or healthcare directive, we’ll make sure you get the results you are after.

And, while most attorneys’ native language is legalese, our attorneys are also practiced in plain language explanations of how your estate plan will work so that you understand it and will feel confident that your loved ones will be taken care of.