NEWS FROM THE DESK: JANUARY 2020

By January 14, 2020 March 4th, 2020 No Comments

Welcome to a new decade! We hope that 2020 brings you much joy, success and fun. If you need assistance with forming a new business, drafting contracts or finally fulfilling your New Year’s resolve to create or update your estate plan, we would be happy to help!

With the new year comes a new limit for federal estate tax. The federal estate tax exemption will increase to $11.58 million per individual, up from $11.4 million in 2019. For Washington residents, our state estate tax exemption will remain at $2.193 million per individual. The annual gift tax exclusion for 2020 will be $15,000 (the same as it was for 2019).

Last month, I enjoyed my seventh year moderating the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Best Of CLE program. Sherry also attended the webinar with her cat Chinook. Sadly, I am unsure as to whether Chinook will receive continuing legal education credits despite her strong interest in the program!

   

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Recent Updates from Our Blog

An Executor Has Dominion – But not Superpowers

If you are an executor of an estate with nonintervention powers, you may think that gives you authority to do anything on behalf of the estate. But as Stacey points out in this blog post through the example of a court case, there are limits to what you can – and cannot – do.

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Resolve to Review Your Account Beneficiary Designations

It’s the end of a year – and a decade – and it’s a great time to review your beneficiary designations, states Sherry in this timely blog post. She suggests you take just one hour to review all of your accounts to confirm that the beneficiaries listed match your current wishes.

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New year resolution concept with different plan and goals, with New year and Christmas decorations, copy space

Resolve 2020

To “resolve” to do something means “to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something).” Tis the season for resolutions, so why not resolve to make sure that your estate will be in order once you are no longer around? In many past blog posts, Stacey has discussed the challenges that arise when someone dies without a Will, and in this post she makes clear the mess (both emotionally and financially) that is left behind if someone passes away without this important document in place.

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