Estates, Trusts, and Probate

Estate and Trust administrations in general involve the process of:

• Identifying and taking control of a decedent's assets

• Determining who the decedent's creditors are (if any)

• Paying the decedent's lawful debts

• Properly accounting to heirs for post-death financial activity concerning the decedent's estate

• Filing any tax returns that might need to be filed, and then

• Properly distributing the decedent's assets

The administration is done according to:

• The decedent's Last Will and Testament, or

• The decedent’s Revocable Living Trust, or

• According to the laws of intestate succession if no Will or Trust exists

• In conformity with beneficiary designation forms and account ownership designations on non probate assets 

These activities are handled by the Personal Representative of the estate or the Trustee of the Trust, generally with the assistance of an attorney. 

​"Probate", when necessary, refers to the part of the estate administration process of getting the Personal Representative the necessary authorization from the Court to administer the estate, and then following certain notice procedures.  Probate is not necessary in every estate administration.  The probate step that is required in some estate administrations is just a small part of the estate administration process.  Washington has one of the simplest probate processes of all of the fifty states and probates in Washington, unlike in many other states, are not typically supervised by the Court. Probates can be opened the day the decedent dies and can be closed days later (if the Personal Representative chooses to not go through the creditor's claim process), assuming the Personal Representative can get things accomplished that quickly! Contrary to popular myth, assets are not "frozen" in probate. The Personal Representative can generally sell real estate and stocks and bonds and perform most other tasks beginning the day he or she is appointed by the Court.

Unlike in Washington, the probate laws in some states are very onerous and complex and expensive. In those states, unlike in Washington, great effort should be undertaken to avoid probate, often with the use of a Revocable Living Trust. The use of Revocable Living Trusts can become very involved and complicated and involves the transfer and retitling of the ownership of all of your assets when the Trust is established and transfers again when you die. In Washington, aside from a few “trust mill” law firms that make their living persuading the unwary to place all of their assets into such Revocable Living Trusts (at substantial cost), most estate planning attorneys will tell you that there is not the need to utilize Revocable Living Trusts because of the simplicity of Washington’s probate procedures and because a judge in Washington does not oversee the estate administration. Probate should certainly be avoided when it can be but, as mentioned above, the probate part of an estate administration in Washington is really a small and incidental part of an estate administration. We assist lots of clients, particularly those who move to Washington from another state with an existing and properly funded Revocable Living Trust in place, with the efficient use of Revocable Living Trusts. In some cases the use of Revocable Living Trusts makes great sense and, accordingly, in those cases we are glad to prepare them, or to update existing Revocable Living Trusts. But, contrary to what Revocable Living Trust proponents at the trust mills might tell you, everything that you can purportedly do with a Revocable Living Trust can also be done, and often more efficiently in Washington, with the use of Wills, a Community Property Agreement, a Durable Power of Attorney and the proper titling of assets and naming of beneficiaries.

Types of Estate/Trust administrations we handle:

• Estate Administrations Without Probate

• Probate Estates

• Trust Administrations

• Ancillary Probates For Nonresident Decedents