In no other area of the law is your relationship with your attorney more important than in Estate Planning.  Some of the most intimate and important aspects of a client’s personal life will likely be addressed in your contacts with an estate planning lawyer.  Your comfort, trust and confidence in that attorney is essential.

Many of Karr Tuttle Campbell’s clients are with us for decades. The relationship commonly extends into multiple generations of the same family.  So, when we enter an attorney-client relationship, we consider trust a key element.  That is the nature of our business.  We regard estate planning to be life planning because it touches on so many aspects of your family’s being.  Thus, it is vital that your attorney be a counselor in every sense of the word.

Whether your focus is on minimizing taxes, protecting wealth for future generations, implementing a business succession plan, or simply taking care of your last wishes, our attorneys have the knowledge and experience necessary to help you fulfill your vision of the future.  Karr Tuttle Campbell maintains a full-service Estate Department, which draws on the aggregate skills of the department attorneys, several of whom are also certified public accountants.  Our combined expertise enables us to handle all facets of estate planning, tax planning, and estate and trust administration and settlement. 

Our services include:

Essential Estate Planning

• Wills
• Revocable living trusts
• Durable powers of attorney
• Health-care directives and proxies
• Directives for the disposition of remains

Advanced Planning Techniques

• Irrevocable life insurance trusts
• Grantor retained annuity trusts
• Qualified personal residence trusts
• Special-needs trusts

Gift, Estate, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxation

• Advice and planning to minimize taxation

Income Tax Services and Return Preparation

• Personal
• Fiduciary
• Partnership
• Corporate
• Charitable

Family Business and Succession Planning

Family Capital Management Planning

• Multigenerational planning, using family limited-liability companies (LLCs) or family-run corporations integrated with family trusts and gifting strategies

Charitable Gift Planning

• Charitable remainder and lead trusts
• Donor-directed funding
• Private family foundations (formation and administration)
• Nonprofit corporations
• Public charities

Guardianship Matters

• Guardian ad litem services
• Guardian services
• Representation of those instituting guardianship proceedings

Trusts and Estates Disputes

• Trust and probate litigation
• Will contests

Probate and Trust Settlement and Administration

Planning for Retirement

• The planned use of life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance
• Retirement benefits and maximization of positive tax treatment

Domestic Partnership Agreements and Representation

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

Leaders in the community, Karr Tuttle Campbell estate planning lawyers include trustees and board members of local bar associations and the American College of Trusts and Estates Council. Practice group members frequently speak for professional organizations and make presentations to county and state bar associations. We have testified as expert witnesses and served as mediators in estate disputes and have assisted the court as special masters with particular cases.

Our attorneys give back to our community through involvement in charitable and philanthropic organizations representative of our area of practice, such as following:

• Senior Services
• Washington Planned Giving Counsel Executive Board
• University of Washington Planned Giving Advisory Board
• Gilda’s Club
• KCTS Planned Giving Advisory Board
• Community Home and Health Care Services
• American Cancer Society Planned Giving Advisory Board
• Seattle University Planned Giving Advisory Board