We are an estate planning law firm here to guide and serve you in your estate planning journey.
Seattle Estate Planning
No matter what stage of life you're at, we're committed to assisting you through every phase of your estate planning journey.
You may be a busy parent with minor children wondering if the house will ever be clean again, you may be enjoying retirement on a beach somewhere far warmer than Seattle, or, perhaps you’re somewhere in between. Wherever you are, we believe that you deserve an estate plan that is strong, holistic, and most importantly, one that actually works when it matters most!
Below are some common goals that families have when considering their estate plan:
Avoiding Probate
Choosing guardians for minor children
Giving children asset protection from creditors and predators
Protecting family wealth from the Washington Estate Tax
Ensuring a smooth transition for loved ones after death
Whatever your personal goals may be, we recognize that estate planning can be a difficult, confusing, and complex topic. At Insightful Estate Planning, our mission is to turn complex estate planning strategies into simple, straightforward, and dare we say...fun...conversations. After all, you are creating a plan to leave a legacy that can protect your family for generations to come, and that is certainly something to celebrate!
Common Estate Planning Tools
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The Revocable Living Trust (sometimes called the Living Trust, Revocable Trust, Intervivos Trust, or Grantor Trust) is a very powerful estate planning tool that gives the grantor (you) lots of flexibility to personalize and uniquely tailor the instructions to align with your personal values and goals.
One common misconception is that a Revocable Trust is really only for wealthy individuals. This is simply not true! Anyone can benefit from a Revocable Trust. The question is, what are your goals? If some of your goals include avoiding Probate, saving Washington Estate Taxes where possible, or protecting your beneficiaries, then a Revocable Trust may be a great fit for you!
Yes, you read that right. A well drafted and funded Revocable Trust avoids Probate! “Funded” means assets are properly titled into the name of the Trust.
Another lesser-known fact is that Washington State is unique in that it imposes an estate tax after someone dies. If your combined net worth is anywhere near $3,000,000, this may affect you. There is a $3,000,000 Washington estate tax exemption, however anything over that amount will be subject to an estate tax. For many married couples, a Revocable Trust can be drafted to double this exemption, and protect up to $6,000,000 before an estate tax would be due.
This means that a Revocable Living Trust can be drafted in a way that can result in estate tax savings of over $400,000!! Leaving more money for your children, and less for the government.
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The Last Will is perhaps the most common estate planning tool. It serves two basic purposes: it appoints a personal representative over your estate, also known as the executor of the estate, and it instructs who your beneficiaries are.
One common misconception about Wills is that they avoid probate, and this is not true. To the contrary, a Will virtually guarantees probate. If avoiding probate is one of your goals, then a Revocable Trust may be a better fit for you.
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So which is better, a Will or a Revocable Trust? The honest answer is that one is not objectively better than the other, they simply accomplish different goals. Depending on what your specific needs are, one document will fit you better than the other.
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The Financial Power of Attorney is a legal document that appoints who will control your finances if you cannot control them yourself. This will ensure that your bills are paid and your finances are in order.
A Financial Power of Attorney can come in different flavors, the two most common being a Durable Power of Attorney and a Springing Power of Attorney.
A Durable Power of Attorney will typically give the financial representative authority immediately upon signing, and remain in place even if the grantor becomes incapacitated. The benefit here is that there are no hoops that a financial representative must jump through in order to help the grantor.
A Springing Power of Attorney will typically come into effect if a specific condition outlined within the document is met. For example, it may require that two doctors conclude that the grantor is no longer able to manage their finances before the financial representative can step in to help.
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The Healthcare Power of Attorney is a legal document that establishes who can speak to doctors and other medical professionals on behalf of the grantor, should the grantor not have the ability to do so for themselves.
An important thing to know is that the healthcare representative cannot overrule the grantor’s own personal decisions about their healthcare. If, however, the grantor is in a circumstance where they cannot speak to a doctor on their own, the healthcare representative will have the ability to advocate for the grantor and make medical decisions on their behalf.
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The Healthcare Directive is sometimes called the Living Will or end of life document and should not to be confused with a DNR (do not resuscitate) order. This is a very narrowly defined estate planning document. It establishes that if a certain set of health circumstances are present (for example, a permanently vegetative state, and an incurable injury, disease, or illness), the grantor’s life should not be artificially prolonged.
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Washington State imposes an estate tax after someone dies. While there is a $3,000,000 Washington estate tax exemption, anything over that dollar amount is subject to an estate tax. This means that if your combined net worth (cash accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, stock, personal property, real property, business interests, and life insurance policies) is greater than $3,000,000, there may be a significant estate tax due before your family can inherit your wealth.
If your goal is to avoid estate taxes and save as much money as possible for your family and future generations, then Insightful Estate Planning has many solutions for you. Some of these solutions may include Irrevocable Trusts, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Testamentary Charitable Trusts, Generation Skipping Trusts, and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts, just to name a few.
Our Estate Planning Process
1. Introductory Call
Schedule your free consultation with an estate planning attorney to review your goals and strategize the best estate plan for you and your family.
2. The Building Blocks
Conduct a design meeting with your estate planning attorney to draft an estate plan personally tailored to align with your values and your goals.
3. Fine Tuning
You will receive a personalized video walk-through of your estate plan to watch on your own time and on your own schedule. If you have questions or if there are changes you would like to make, your attorney will make these changes.
4. The Finish Line
Perhaps the most important part, the signing ceremony! With the final documents prepared and ready for your signature, you will sign your estate planning. You will also receive electronic copies of your estate plan.
Areas We Serve
We work with families all across the greater Seattle area, from as far south as Tacoma to as far north as Bellingham, and everywhere in between.
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Our goal is to conduct your signing ceremony within 6 weeks after your initial consultation. Of course, if you have exigent circumstances that necessitate a quicker turnaround time, we are happy to work with you to make that happen.
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We believe that you should know how much you are paying for your estate plan ahead of time, and there shouldn’t be any surprises along the way.
This is why we offer our estate planning services at a no nonsense flat fee. No surprises. While we cannot share your exact fee here on this website because it depends on the type of estate planning structure you choose that best fits your goals, for most families our common estate planning flat fees range from $2,500 to $7,000. For more advanced planning, the fee can be significantly higher.
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Yes!!! We offer our services fully remotely if that is your preference. Your consultation and design meeting can be done over video. While your signing meeting needs to be completed in person, we are happy to coordinate an estate planning signing at the comfort of your own home.
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Excellent question. Each estate planning document that we create serves its own specific purpose. This is why we believe in holistic estate planning. Picking some documents and excluding others can leave gaps in an estate plan. What if the document we decide should be excluded happens to be the one document that we wish we had available?
For example, someone may decide that they do not want a Healthcare Power of Attorney but do want a Financial Power of Attorney. If they end up in the hospital and cannot speak to a doctor, then their Financial Power of Attorney will not help them no matter how good it is.
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You certainly can! However, our only question would be, “why?”
The most common response we hear is that it may be cheaper than working with an estate planning attorney. In our experience, families (your children or spouse) can spend tens of thousands of dollars, and sometimes even more, unwinding and “fixing” a poorly drafted “DIY” (do it yourself) estate plan created through an online software.
All estate planning documents are not created equal. A document is only as effective as the instructions it contains. A good estate plan should contain clear answers during a time that the grantor cannot speak for themselves.
A poorly drafted estate plan will provide nothing more than a false sense of security.
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Our recommendation is that you do not store your estate planning documents in a safety deposit box in a bank or in a safe that only you can get into. Safety deposit boxes can be very tricky to access without you, and it may be very difficult to get into a locked safe.
It may be best to store your documents somewhere on a bookshelf, or in a filing cabinet. Keep them somewhere where they can be easily accessible when it matters most.
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We can tell you every three years, or every five years, as is commonly recommended on the internet. Unfortunately what typically happens is that by the time three years come around, people forget about their estate plan, and life goes on. This is dangerous, because an outdated estate plan may not reflect someone’s current values and goals.
Our recommendation is always the same: make it a goal to review your estate plan each year.
In the perfect world, your estate planning attorney will reach out to you to remind you to review your estate plan each year. While the world is far from perfect, at Insightful Estate Planning we do our best! We check in with our clients on an annual basis, reminding them to take some time to review their estate plan.