Clemencia Castro-Woolery, partner, Ledger Square Law
“When I walk out the door of my office, I’m in my community, not a crowded elevator or parking garage.”
“I love working here,” said Castro-Woolery, a longtime Lakewood resident. “The community, especially the local Bar community, is far more collegial than in King County. It makes it much easier to negotiate deals and settle disputes.”
Being in Pierce County isn’t just about the legal stuff, she said. It’s also about having opportunities to make her community a better place. Castro-Woolery has served on boards for multiple organizations, including the YWCA Pierce County, Asia Pacific Cultural Center, and more. She was also board chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce amid the pandemic and in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the ensuing racial protests.
“It was momentous in terms of the changes we made,” she said. Those changes included altering the Chamber’s mission statement to emphasize it as an antiracist organization. “We helped make the South Sound the most equitable and inclusive place to do business in Washington state.”
On Jan. 3, 2022, Jason Whalen was appointed by the Lakewood City Council to the position of Mayor. Whalen is Lakewood’s fifth Mayor since the City’s incorporation in 1996.
Mayor Whalen was elected as a member of the Lakewood City Council in 2009. He is an Army veteran and a longtime participant in local government and service clubs. He is the President-elect of the Lakewood Rotary Club and is a former President of the Tacoma-Pierce County Economic Development Board. He has also served on the Pierce County Charter Review Commission and Lakewood Planning Advisory Board. His wife and three daughters were present to observe his appointment.
The “Hand of Ivan” took a vacation to the Lakewood History Museum for the City of Lakewood’s 25th Anniversary celebration on Saturday, 25, 2021. Ledger Square Law partner and City of Lakewood Deputy Mayor Jason Whalen (right) joined the director of the Ivan Foundation, Earl Bogert (left), at the exhibit featuring Ivan the Gorilla’s life and times at the B & I in Lakewood.
Please join us on Thursday, November 21, 2019 from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm for an opportunity to meet and view the works of our newest artist, Karen Luke Fildes as well as mingle with local business owners, community leaders and artists. Wine & light appetizers will be served.
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest by a pair of self-professed nature lovers, Karen Luke Fildes has spent the past two decades dedicating her love, respect and awe for the natural splendor of the Northwest, using oil and canvas. Her works have been displayed at galleries and exhibits in the Northwest, Canada and Europe. She is a recipient of Pierce County Arts Commission’s Margaret K. Williams Award for Excellence in the Arts and is approaching her goal to complete 1000 landscapes studying water and atmosphere. She seeks rhythm and tone as if music is the heart of her brush.
Probate is the legal process through which property and other assets pass from you to your dependents after you die (thanks Google). When done properly, the beneficiaries of the estate can rest easy knowing that the decedent’s last wishes were honored, state law was followed, and that the potential for future claims against the estate and executor have been curtailed.
For a decedent with a clear and concise estate plan, the administration of the estate can often be seamlessly directed with few decisions subject to discretion or debate. However, even the most sophisticated among us have left gaps in our estate plan resulting in more challenges in estate administration. This is completely normal, not uncommon, but exactly why probate is so important.
At Ledger Square Law, P.S., we regularly help our clients work through both simple and complex estate administration. Below is summary of the typical steps we’ll take together:
The Six Steps in Probate
Step One: We obtain all the relevant information from you regarding the decedent and his or her estate planning documents and assets.
Step Two: We file a petition with the court and the court appoints the appropriate individual as the Personal Representative or Administrator of the Estate. In some cases, the court supervises this person’s administration activities, and in other cases this person is entitled to administer the estate without probate court supervision.
Step Three: We provide notice of the estate administration to heirs, beneficiaries, and creditors. The legal process also requires us to publish notice in a newspaper.
Step Four: We wait 4 months for any claims against the estate. During that time, we work with you to create an inventory of the assets of the estate and take steps to ensure these assets are preserved and maintained during the probate process.
Step Five: After any claims against the estate are resolved, you distribute all of the assets of the estate in accordance with the Will or the laws intestate, (that is, if Decedent had no Will). These laws simply set forth who gets the Decedent’s assets if he or she passes without a Will. Of note, the entire probate process is basically the same in instances where no Will exists.
Step Six: We close the Estate. Sometimes, this merely requires the filing of documentation with the Court, and sometimes we need to ask the Court’s approval to close the estate.
Best of all, you will not have to learn these laws or procedures. That’s our job. We’ll do all the paperwork, prepare all the legal documents, and guide you through the probate process step by step. During this time, we want you to focus on doing the important work of grieving and caring for the people around you who have also lost a loved one.
Of course, there can be many nuances to this process based on the unique circumstances of each case, but the framework for estate administration remains by and large the same. In addition to what is laid out above, it is important to understand some of the basic concepts relevant to probate:
Non-probate Assets. You may have heard there are some assets of the estate that are not subject to probate and which pass outside of the probate process altogether. These assets are referred to as non-probate assets, and typically include the decedent’s investment accounts, life insurance, and assets held in trust. These non-probate assets are often gifted via transfer on death designations and are transferred outside of probate directly to the beneficiaries named per the applicable designation. While these assets pass directly to the named beneficiaries outside of the probate process, they will often be included in calculating the gross estate for estate tax purposes and could be subject to claims against the estate.
Estate Tax. The dreaded estate tax is top-of-mind for most when preparing their estate planning documents, and certainly becomes even more relevant when administering a decedent’s estate. Any property transferred at death is subject to both Federal Estate Tax and Washington State Estate Tax. However, these taxes only apply to estates over a certain size of the respective 2019 exemption thresholds as noted below:
Federal Estate Tax threshold is $11.4 Million, and the
Washington
State Estate Tax threshold is nearly $2.2 Million
While we do not provide tax advice, we will help you
determine whether there is a taxable estate and outline the next steps.
Community Property Agreements and Probate. When our grandparents or parents lose their spouses, the probate process can be avoided if the parties have a Community Property Agreement (“CPA”) in place. Pursuant to Washington State Law, the disposition of the decedent’s interest in community property occurs by operation of law if the parties have a CPA. As a result, typically no probate action is required. Nevertheless, the surviving spouse must still take certain steps to ensure proper transfer of the decedent’s assets, and depending on the language of the CPA, separate action may be required for disposition of separate property. If this is the situation you find yourself in, we will prepare the necessary documentation and make sure all appropriate steps are taken.
While there are many nuances to the probate process, please know you can rely on our experience and common sense to help facilitate and complete the process with the decedent(s) and your best interests in mind.
Written by Conor McCarthy at Ledger Square Law. Conor McCarthy is an experienced Real Estate and Estate Planning attorney who has spent nearly 15 years helping his clients navigate and resolve complex transactions and disputes. Click here to learn more about Conor’s specialized estate planning services.
Whether you’re just starting to think about estate planning, or you need to make modifications or learn more about a family member’s estate plan, the estate planning attorney’s at Ledger Square Law, P.S. are here to help. During the estate planning process (read more here), we execute documents that outline the administration or distribution of your estate upon your death. Most estate plans fall into the following two categories: a Last Will and Testament or Living Trust.
Last Will and Testament Your Last Will and Testament (“Will”) directs the disposition of your assets upon your death. In your Will, you may make specific bequests of certain property you would like to give to specific people. In addition, for personal property, your Will also incorporates a separate list that you can create and modify at any time (on your own), in order to direct belongings to loved ones. In addition to your specific bequests, your Will also makes provisions for your ‘residuary’ estate, that is the remainder of your estate.
Will everything be given to your children equally? Do you want to make any charitable gifts?
Your Will answers these questions as you deem fit. Your Will
also identifies the Personal Representative of your estate, as well as your
immediate family members, and whether or not any provision is made for your
family. For married couples, a Community Property Agreement is typically drafted
contemporaneously with the Will. A Community Property Agreement allows for the
disposition of the decedent’s interest in the community estate to his or her
surviving spouse by operation of law, and without the need for probate.
Many Wills often include trusts called testamentary trusts. A testamentary trust will typically be included within your Will for the benefit of a spouse, minor children, pets, and/or utilized as a tool to address or mitigate future estate tax burdens. A testamentary trust is funded at the time of your death with the assets that are directed to that trust as set forth in your Will.
For example, you may have a Will that establishes that your entire residual estate (after making any specific bequests) will go into a trust for your minor children, to be utilized for their benefit in accordance with the instructions you put into the trust, until the final distribution thereof.
In addition, while
your Will does not generally address the disposition of non-probate assets,
such as your investments, life insurance, and retirement accounts, we’ll review
these accounts with you and make sure you have the appropriate transfer on
death beneficiary designations in place as part of your retirement plans.
The basic Will estate plan for a married couple will include the following documents: a Last Will and Testament (one Will for each spouse), a Community Property Agreement, a General Durable Power of Attorney, a Health Care Power of Attorney, and a Health Care Directive (optional).
A Living Trust: During your Lifetime A Living Trust accomplishes the same objectives of the typical Will, but in a completely different way. With a Living Trust, all of your assets are immediately put into trust, and you continue to manage all of your assets as the creator (or settlor) of the trust, despite transferring all of your property into the trust. During your lifetime, you can modify and/or revoke the trust in your discretion (hence, making the trust ‘revocable’).
A Living Trust: At the Time of your Death At the time of your death, the trust then becomes irrevocable and cannot typically be modified. Subsequently, the individual you have identified as the successor trustee in your Living Trust becomes essentially the executor of the trust, and then distributes the assets of the estate directly to the beneficiaries you have identified therein. Living Trusts are typically favored by individuals who desire to avoid the probate process involved with administering a Will.
A Living Trust: Making Estate Administration Efficient Living Trusts generally increase the chances that your estate plan will remain private, and sometimes allow for a more stream-lined transfer of assets upon death. Though Living Trusts are prepared to avoid the necessity of a Will, a Pour – Over Will is typically created (along with the Living Trust) to ensure that any of the decedent’s assets that have not been properly transferred to the Trust, end up being directed to the Living Trust upon the decedent’s death. Though often characterized as a tool to increase the efficiency of estate administration, the Living Trust requires more front-end administration in order to make sure that all of your property is properly held by the trust. Moreover, Living Trusts (like all trusts) are subject to laws governing administration (which come along with their own sets of rules and requirements).
(Note: Even where there is
no probate, a Will has to be filed with the Court).
The basic Living Trust estate plan for a married couple will
include the following documents: a Living
Trust (jointly for both spouses), a Pour – Over Will(s) for each spouse, a General
Durable Power of Attorney, a Health Care Power of Attorney, and a Health Care
Directive (optional).
During our initial consult, our estate planning attorneys will help you determine whether you need a Last Will and Testament or a Living Trust. Whichever document best suits your needs for how to handle your estate after you pass, the attorneys at Ledger Square Law, P.S. are here to help you.
Written by Conor McCarthy at Ledger Square Law, P.S.. Conor McCarthy is an experienced Real Estate and Estate Planning attorney who has spent nearly 15 years helping his clients navigate and resolve complex transactions and disputes. Click here to learn more about Conor’s specialized estate planning services.
View the address in full below to see Mayor Victoria Woodards speak on the theme “Our Destiny in Motion”. The event will open with dancers from the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (TUPAC). There is also ceremonial drumming by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and a performance by the Tacoma Refugee Choir.
Congratulations to Mayor Whalen! 
Ledger Square Law 