Practice area · 02
Taxes planned for, not discovered.
Estate and gift taxes reward the families who plan early and penalize those who wait. The work here is to find the exposure now — and structure around it while the options are still open.
Overview
Washington has its own estate tax, and its threshold sits far below the federal one. Estates that would never approach the federal exemption can still owe the state — something many families learn only after the fact.
Good tax planning isn't one dramatic move. It's a set of coordinated decisions — how assets are titled, when gifts are made, which structures hold which property — made deliberately over years.
Where it helps, the work coordinates directly with your CPA and financial advisor, so everyone is working from the same plan.
What this covers
Strategy that starts well before the paperwork.
Estate tax exposure analysis
A clear estimate of where your estate stands against state and federal thresholds — today, and at likely growth.
Washington estate tax planning
Structures and credit strategies aimed squarely at the state's lower threshold.
Lifetime gifting programs
Annual exclusion gifts and larger strategic transfers, documented properly the first time.
Charitable structures
Charitable remainder trusts, donor-advised funds, and gifts that reduce tax while supporting causes you care about.
Life insurance & liquidity
Making sure liquidity exists where the tax bill will actually land — not in the wrong entity or the wrong hands.
Advisor coordination
One plan, shared with your CPA and advisors, so titling, gifts, and filings all point the same direction.
How the work is done
Numbers first, documents second.
Before anything is drafted, the exposure is quantified: what the estate looks like today, what it's likely to look like at transfer, and what specific structures would change. You see the math before you see the paperwork.
Strategies are chosen for your facts — not because they were fashionable at a seminar. If the honest answer is that your estate sits under the threshold and simple documents will do, that's the answer you'll get.
Next step
Find out where you actually stand.
An exposure review is a straightforward look at your assets, titling, and growth trajectory — and what, if anything, the tax picture calls for. Most people leave surprised at how concrete the answer is.
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