It is exceedingly common for an older parent to add a child to one or more financial accounts. Whether to start helping immediately with managing their day-to-day finances (like staying on top of the bills) or maybe just as precaution against potential future disability or incapacity, they go into their bank or brokerage and request…

Back in the 2021-2022 legislative session, the Washington State Legislature passed ESSB 5096 (now codified at RCW 82.87), commonly known as the Washington State capital gains tax. This bill created a 7% tax on the sale or exchange of long-term capital assets such as stocks, bonds, business interests, or other investments and tangible assets. Challenges…

In honor of the close of Women’s History month, it seemed a good time to share a quick primer on the origins of community property law in Washington State and its connection to women in Washington. What is community property? Community property is property owned by both spouses equally. Separate property is property owned only…

I frequently find that my estate planning clients come into our initial meeting with a decent understanding that end-of-life care directions are an important part of a complete estate plan, but that they often have a confused sense of how end-of-life care directions are actually documented. This is understandable as the central document for end-of-life…

When applying for Medicaid for yourself or on behalf of your spouse, it can be easy to forget that life insurance is an important asset that can impact financial eligibility. Generally speaking, term life insurance is an exempt resource and doesn’t count toward the Medicaid resource limits (the $2,000 resource limit for the applicant and,…

Michael Kleps practices in the areas of Wills, Trusts, Estates and Elder Law. He is back full time at Carmichael Clark, P.S. after a nine month sailing adventure on the east coast US, Bahamas and Cuba. His family found living and traveling on a 30’ sailboat to have quite a learning curve between keeping an…