Skilled Assistance For Estate Administration Matters

Even if your loved one created a comprehensive estate plan detailing their wishes for passing on assets, there are still legal details you must attend to after they pass away. At Third Street Law in Marysville, our estate administration lawyers can assist you with the legal matters related to finalizing an estate.

Carrying Out Your Loved One’s Wishes

After a loved one passes away, their estate must be administered and finalized. The process involves gathering their assets, paying any outstanding debts and distributing the remaining assets to their beneficiaries or heirs. These steps can vary depending on what estate planning tools your loved one used.

For example, if the deceased had prepared a Revocable Living Trust (RLT), and you are named “trustee,” you have duties that are partly defined by the trust, and partly by state law. Trusts do not manage themselves. Despite the promise of saving probate, much of the same work is required of a trustee as would be of an executor under a will. There are notices to be prepared, assets to be inventoried, debts to be dealt with and items to be sold. The law places a substantial legal duty on a trustee, which you must be very careful to fulfill in accordance with law.

Probate functions similarly to the trust administration process, except with judicial oversight. Under Washington’s probate laws, probate may not be necessary, and alternative, simpler processes may be available. In most cases involving real property, probate will be required.

For more than 25 years, we have helped family members administer the estates of loved ones in accordance with their wishes and the law. We can assist with various probate and trust administration matters, including:

  • Counseling for administrators and executors of estates
  • Collecting and valuing assets
  • Paying debts and creditors
  • Preparing and filing state and federal estate taxes
  • TEDRA litigation
  • Distributing assets to beneficiaries

Offering Counsel And Support

Our attorneys recognize how overwhelming grief can be after the profound loss of a loved one. Let our firm attend to the legal matters involved in settling your loved one’s estate. Start the process with a no-cost initial consultation. Arrange yours by email or by calling 360-547-1872.