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Estate Planning

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Asset Protection Definitions: Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

In my previous video I talked about avoiding Washington estate taxes by gifting away assets if your net worth falls between $2-$5.45 million. Now many people don’t like the idea of giving away and losing control of their assets. That’s where a Spousal Lifetime Access Trust comes in. This type of asset protection trust gives you some additional options so the gifted assets are not lost in divorce or to creditors. Watch the video below for some information on these “SLATs.” [Read more…] about Asset Protection Definitions: Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT)

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Washington Estate Taxes

Balancing Washington and Federal Estate Taxes

I recently had a conversation with a family interested in planning to avoid Washington estate taxes. This estate tax is also known as transfer tax or death tax. There is a currently a federal estate tax around $5.5 million and Washington estate taxes for estates above $2 million. People falling in between the $2-$5.5 million have an opportunity to avoid the Washington estate tax if some proper planning is put into place. Check out the video below for more. [Read more…] about Washington Estate Taxes

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Do or do not? The world of online estate planning.

D-I-Y Estate Planning

This is our obligatory comparison of online estate planning versus human estate planning.

Online estate planning documents might work just fine for you. You also might be one of those people who is great at doing his or her own research and following instructions.  You also might not have that much at risk. However, if you aren’t sure whether or not they will work for you, then think of it this way… [Read more…] about Do or do not? The world of online estate planning.

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Estate Planning Definitions: Impact Investing

What is Impact Investing?

Impact investing appears to be all the rage with the tech crowd and has been growing in popularity for the last 2-3 years.  Whether or not it is the right strategy for you completely depends on what your goals are and what you have accumulated so far.

Just to be clear: Impact investing is not the same as “Charitable Giving,” which is when you endow or gift something to a charity, non-profit, or private foundation.

Impact Investing, according to Michael Drexler and Abigail Noble of the World Economic Forum, is “an investment approach intentionally seeking to create both financial return and positive social impact that is actively measured.”

[Read more…] about Estate Planning Definitions: Impact Investing

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Estate Planning Attorney Definitions: Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney Definition

People often call us wanting a “simple will.” It’s on their “to-do” list.  They poked around on the internet, armed themselves with information, and then called us or some other estate planning attorney demanding their simple will.  That’s perfectly okay and they could be right.  Often, though, they are confused about what that simple will actually is, and how other documents, like a power of attorney can be of much greater value.

This may not be what every estate planning attorney considers a simple will, but, for us, it is actually a package of documents. The main documents that make up a simple will package is a Will, Financial Power of Attorney; a Healthcare Power of Attorney; HIPAA Releases; and the Living Will (also known as Healthcare Directives).  We include all of these documents to ensure your health AND your “stuff” are addressed in case of an emergency.  For this post, we will only be focusing on defining the Power of Attorney documents.

What is a Power of Attorney?

[Read more…] about Estate Planning Attorney Definitions: Power of Attorney

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Estate Planning Attorney Definitions: What is a living trust?

What is a living trust?

One of the common questions I receive as a Seattle estate planning attorney is “what is a living trust?” A living trust is a versatile tool. You maintain control over assets while you are alive and you skip probate as you transfer property at your death. It is usually referred to as a revocable living trust. A revocable trust can be changed, modified or terminated by the person who created the trust (known as a trustor or grantor). Compare that to an irrevocable trust, which cannot be terminated or modified without permission from the beneficiary of the trust. [Read more…] about Estate Planning Attorney Definitions: What is a living trust?