Olympia Estate Planning Lawyer

Trusted Olympia estate planning lawyers with over 10 years of experience.

Setting up an estate plan in Olympia, WA, involves more than picking a will template off a website. You need documents that fit your family, your assets, and the way Washington taxes estates. Our firm has spent over a decade drafting these plans for Washington residents. Our founder, Robert Franco, focuses his practice on estate planning and probate, and we operate on a flat-fee model so clients see the cost before any drafting begins. Reach an Olympia, WA estate planning lawyer at our firm by contacting us today.

Estate Planning Lawyer Olympia, WA

An estate plan is a set of written legal instructions for what happens to your property, your children, and your medical decisions when you can't speak for yourself. The standard package for an Olympia resident usually includes a will, a power of attorney, a health care directive, and one or more trusts depending on what you own and who you want to provide for.

The estate tax piece catches a lot of people in this state. Washington imposes its own estate tax, and the threshold where it kicks in is significantly lower than the federal one. That means Olympia families with a home, retirement savings, and life insurance can find themselves over the line without realizing it. An Olympia estate planning attorney can structure a plan that reduces or eliminates that exposure and keeps the estate moving smoothly when the time comes. Without an estate plan, Washington's intestacy rules step in to decide who inherits and in what proportions. Those defaults rarely match what someone would have chosen on their own, particularly for unmarried partners, blended families, and clients who want to provide for stepchildren or charities.

Types of Estate Planning Cases We Handle in Olympia

Estate planning isn't a single document. It's a set of pieces that work together, and the right combination depends on your family and your goals. Below are the matters we handle most often for Olympia clients.

• Wills. A will sets out who inherits your property and who raises your minor children if you and your spouse both pass. We draft wills that meet Washington's formal signing and witness requirements so they hold up if anyone tries to contest them.
• Revocable Living Trusts. A revocable living trust keeps your estate out of probate, preserves privacy, and lets you stage out inheritances over time. These are particularly useful for blended families and clients with property in more than one state.
• Irrevocable Trusts. When asset protection or aggressive tax planning is the goal, an irrevocable trust may be the right choice. Once signed, these are difficult to change, but they offer protections a revocable trust can't.
• Special Needs Trusts. A child or relative receiving Medicaid, SSI, or other benefits can lose eligibility from a direct inheritance. A special needs trust lets you provide support without disrupting the benefits they rely on.
• Powers of Attorney. A durable power of attorney names someone to make financial decisions for you if you can't. We draft documents that go further than the standard form by addressing gifting, trust authority, and digital accounts.
• Health Care Directives. Also known as a living will, this document records your wishes for medical care when you can't communicate them. It takes the guesswork off the shoulders of family members during the hardest moments.
• Estate Tax Planning. Washington's estate tax threshold is much lower than the federal one. Married couples have planning tools that let them use both spouses' exemptions, but those tools have to be set up before the first death.
• Trust Administration. When someone dies with a trust in place, the successor trustee has to administer it. We advise trustees on fiduciary duties, distributions, and tax filings, and we step in if disputes arise.
• Probate. Some estates require court involvement, and Thurston County Superior Court handles probate filings for Olympia residents. We represent personal representatives through the full process, from petition to final accounting.

Why Choose Eastside Estate Planning for Estate Planning in Olympia, WA?

Substantive Tax Background

Robert Franco founded our firm and has practiced estate planning law for over a decade. He completed his J.D. at Lewis and Clark Law School in 2013 and earned an LL.M. in Tax Law from the University of Washington in 2018. The LL.M. is a graduate-level degree that very few estate planning attorneys hold.

Robert is admitted in Washington and serves on the Tax Section of the Washington State Bar Association. He's also a member of the Cardozo Society of Washington State. The tax training informs how the firm builds plans for couples, how retirement accounts get coordinated with trust documents, and how gifting decisions are evaluated. We also stay current with changes to Washington tax law, which the legislature has revisited in recent years and which directly affects how plans are structured.

Predictable Flat-Fee Pricing

Hourly billing makes clients hesitant to ask questions. The clock running on every phone call discourages exactly the kind of conversation estate planning requires. We bill on a flat-fee basis, with pricing published openly before you ever reach out. You see what your plan costs before you commit, and there's no second invoice at the end.

Understanding Estate Planning Cases

Key Estate Planning Documents and What They Do

Most plans rest on the same handful of documents, each doing a different job. Missing or inconsistent pieces are what cause the problems we see when families come to us after a death.

• Last will and testament. Directs the distribution of probate assets and names guardians for minor children.
• Revocable living trust. Holds assets during your life, avoids probate at death, and can stage out inheritances rather than handing them over at once.
• Durable power of attorney. Designates a financial agent if you become incapacitated.
• Health care directive. Documents your wishes for medical care and end-of-life decisions.
• HIPAA authorization. Allows named individuals to access your medical records.
• Beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by designation, not by will, and have to be aligned with the rest of the plan.

Important Aspects in Your Estate Planning Case

The questions that drive plan design are rarely about how much money is involved. Family structure and asset complexity matter more. Two Olympia clients with similar net worth often end up with completely different documents.

• Whether you own property in more than one state
• Whether you have children from a prior relationship or a blended family
• Whether anyone in the family has special needs or capacity concerns
• Where your estate sits relative to Washington's estate tax threshold
• Whether you own a business, rental properties, or other complex assets
• How you want minor children's or grandchildren's inheritances structured

Estate Planning Case Timeline

For most clients, the process moves faster than expected. The typical timeline from initial meeting to fully executed documents is a few weeks. Larger or more complicated estates take longer, but the sequence stays the same.

• Initial consultation to identify goals and family circumstances
• Review of assets, account titling, and beneficiary designations
• Drafting based on the plan we agree on
• Review meeting where we walk through each document
• Signing appointment with witnesses and a notary
• Funding instructions for any trust, including retitling assets

What to Bring to Your Estate Planning Consultation

You don't have to bring much. A few items help the first conversation move efficiently and give us enough to start advising.

• A general list of your assets and approximate values
• Current beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies
• Any existing estate planning documents, even older ones
• Names of people you might appoint as executor, trustee, or guardian
• Questions or concerns specific to your family

The consultation generally runs about an hour. By the end, you'll know what your plan should contain and what it costs. Plans drafted years ago often need updating after life events such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a beneficiary, a business sale, or a significant inheritance. We review existing documents during a consultation and tell you whether updates are warranted. There's no expectation of a same-day decision, and we encourage clients to take time before moving forward.

Washington Legal Resources for Estate Planning

Olympia residents who want to do their own research have several reliable starting points. These don't replace a consultation with an attorney, but they help with background.

• The Washington State Legislature publishes the Revised Code of Washington, where state statutes can be searched.
• The Washington Courts self-help center has general information for people working through legal matters without a lawyer.
• The Washington Department of Revenue maintains a page on the state estate tax.
• The IRS estate tax overview explains the federal framework that runs alongside the state tax.
• The Washington State Bar Association offers public legal resources and a lawyer referral service.

Reach Out to Eastside Estate Planning to Schedule a Consultation

We offer free initial consultations and flat-fee pricing on estate planning matters. The first meeting covers your family, your assets, and what you want your plan to accomplish. You leave with a clear sense of what to expect, what to pay, and what the next steps look like. Contact us to schedule a time.