Trust Lawyer Seattle, WA
A trust keeps your estate out of probate court, keeps your family's affairs private, and gives you control over how assets get distributed even after you're gone. Some trusts also protect inheritances from creditors, divorces, or a beneficiary's own financial mistakes.
Our Seattle, WA trust lawyer works to meet your family's goals. Founder Robert Franco has practiced estate planning and probate law for more than ten years, and his tax background helps when the planning involves trust-based tax strategies or complex beneficiary situations. We offer free consultations and flat-fee pricing on most estate planning services, so you know the cost before we start. Reach out to learn how a trust can protect your legacy.
Why Choose Eastside Estate Planning for Trust Planning in Seattle, WA?
Over a Decade of Washington Trust Experience
Robert Franco has practiced estate planning and probate law for more than ten years. He is admitted to the Washington State Bar and holds an LL.M. in Tax Law from the University of Washington School of Law, along with a J.D. from Lewis and Clark College. Robert is also a member of the Cardozo Society of Washington State and the Washington State Bar Association's Tax Section. Trusts touch tax, property law, and fiduciary law at the same time, and that tax background changes how we draft and fund them.
Tax-Aware Drafting, Coordinated with the Rest of Your Plan
Most trust work gets handled by general estate planners. They tend to outsource the tax questions and draft the trust in isolation. Robert's LL.M. in Tax Law changes that dynamic for the better. The drafting decisions that matter most in a trust (retirement account beneficiary language, gifting provisions, generation-skipping issues, Washington estate tax exposure) are tax questions first and trust questions second. A trust also only works when it's coordinated with your will, power of attorney, and beneficiary designations, which is how we build every plan. As an estate planning lawyer in Seattle, WA, Robert works both sides of that equation with every client.
Flat-Fee Pricing on Most Services
Trust work requires thoughtful drafting and real conversation, not billable time. Flat-fee pricing means you know what the trust will cost before we start, and we have the time to draft it right.
Client Feedback That Speaks to the Work
★★★★★
"Robert and Christina did a fantastic job preparing our Trust and Healthcare directive documents. Very knowledgeable in Trust law and asked us all the right questions to assure a great final product." Cliff Van Pelt
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Trusts We Draft in Seattle
Trusts come in more varieties than most people realize. The right one depends on what you're trying to accomplish, who the beneficiaries are, and how much flexibility you want to keep. These are the main kinds of trusts we draft.
- Revocable living trust. The workhorse of modern estate planning. A revocable living trust lets you control your assets during life, avoids probate at death, and keeps the details private. You can change it any time before you lose capacity or die, which makes it the right starting point for most families. For married couples, a joint revocable trust can avoid two separate probates.
- Irrevocable trust. Once signed, an irrevocable trust generally cannot be undone. The trade-off is that assets transferred into it are removed from your estate for tax purposes and protected from most creditors. These are useful for larger estates and specific planning goals, but they require careful thought before signing.
- Special needs trust. A special needs trust holds assets for a beneficiary with a disability without disqualifying them from Medicaid, SSI, or other benefits tied to financial resources. This is specialized drafting and one wrong clause can cost the beneficiary public assistance.
- Charitable trust. Charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts let clients support causes they care about while providing for family and reducing tax exposure. We structure charitable giving to fit alongside the rest of your plan.
- See-through trust for retirement accounts. IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts need specific language if the trust is going to be the beneficiary. Without it, your beneficiaries may lose years of tax deferral.
- Custodial trust. Washington recently added a custodial trust option that provides a safety net for beneficiaries who lose capacity. It's a newer tool but the right choice in specific situations.
Washington Legal Requirements for Trusts
Washington trust law is codified primarily at RCW 11.98, the Washington Trust Act. Revocable trusts have their own chapter at RCW 11.103. Understanding how these statutes apply is what separates a trust that actually does what you want from one that fails when it matters.
Creation requirements. Under RCW 11.98.011, a valid trust requires a trustor with capacity to create it, an intent to create the trust, identifiable trust property, and ascertainable beneficiaries, with limited exceptions for charitable and certain other trust types. A trust not created by will generally must be in writing and signed by the trustor.
Revocable versus irrevocable. Under RCW 11.103.030, a trust is presumed irrevocable in Washington unless the instrument expressly states that it is revocable. This is the opposite of what many clients assume, and it's a drafting issue that trips up form documents from other states.
Trustee duties to beneficiaries. Under RCW 11.98.072, once a trust becomes irrevocable (usually at the trustor's death), the trustee must notify qualified beneficiaries within 60 days. The trustee must also keep beneficiaries reasonably informed about the trust and respond promptly to requests for information.
Dispute resolution. Washington has a specific framework for trust and estate disputes under RCW 11.96A, the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (TEDRA). TEDRA allows for both judicial and nonjudicial resolution, which can save significant time and cost compared to standard court litigation.
Important Aspects of a Seattle Trust Case
A trust only works if the details are right. These are the essential components we work through with every client.
Funding the Trust
A trust doesn't protect anything until assets are actually transferred into it. A signed document sitting in a drawer while the house stays titled in your individual name is a common and costly mistake. We handle funding during the planning process so the work is complete when you sign, not six months later when something has already gone wrong. Funding includes re-titling real estate, updating account ownership, and reviewing beneficiary designations.
Choosing the Right Trustee
The trustee runs the show once you're gone or incapacitated. For some families the right trustee is a spouse or an adult child. For others, a corporate trustee avoids family conflict and brings investment discipline. There's no single right answer, and we talk through the fit with every client.
Naming Successor Trustees
One trustee is never enough. We recommend naming at least one successor, and often two, to cover the possibility that the first choice cannot serve when the time comes. Co-trustee arrangements can work in some situations, but they introduce coordination issues that have to be addressed in the document up front rather than worked out after a problem arises.
Coordination with Other Documents
A trust doesn't live in isolation. It needs to work alongside your will (typically a pour-over will), your power of attorney, your healthcare directive, and your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance. A trust that isn't coordinated with these documents often fails to accomplish what the family actually wanted. We review every document together before anything gets signed.
Keeping the Trust Current
Life changes. Marriage, divorce, a child's struggles, a new grandchild, a business sale, or a move to another state can all mean the existing trust needs updates. We recommend updating your trust after any major life event rather than waiting for a routine review.
Tax-Sensitive Drafting
Trust drafting and tax planning intersect constantly. The wrong language can cost beneficiaries years of tax deferral on retirement accounts, create unintended estate tax exposure, or trigger avoidable income tax. Robert's LL.M. in Tax Law means these issues are on the table from the first draft rather than discovered later, when the options to fix them have narrowed considerably.
Contact Eastside Estate Planning
If you would like to see if trust meets your estate planning goals, our firm can help. Our Seattle team will walk you through what kind of trust fits your situation, who the right trustee is, and how the document coordinates with the rest of your plan. Free consultations and flat-fee pricing on most services mean there is no financial risk in starting the conversation.
After your initial meeting, you will know what your estate plan will look like, what it will cost, and how long it will take to complete. We typically respond to new inquiries within one business day, and evening appointments are available. Contact us to schedule your consultation and take the next step toward protecting your assets and your legacy.