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DalynneSingletonGourley LawGroupADVANCEDPROBATEISSUES WITHRESOLUTIONSNOT TAUGHT INLAW SCHOOL

BASICS LEARNED IN LAWSCHOOL Estate planning, Wills,Powers of Attorney andDirectives Estate Planning Wills - Testacy/Intestacy Simple Trusts CommunityProperty / SeparateProperty Powers of Attorney Directives

RCW 11 Probate & Complicated Issues Estates: Wills, Trusts – Whether Valid, Omitted Spouses Intestacy, Testacy Probate – Notice and Hearing;Intervention & Non-Intervention Trusts – Revocable, Non-Revocable, Testamentary Trusts –No Assets, Intent, Conflicts Incapacitated Heirs and Minors PR/Administrator or Heir “Bad Influence” Creditor Claims – wrongful death, pending litigationagainst decedent or on behalf of decedent, personalinjury claims of decedent prior to death Creditor filed EstatesADVANCED PROBATE ISSUESDALYNNE SINGLETON, GOURLEY LAW GROUP

Advanced Issues with deceased defendant or deceasedplaintiff, Wrongful death, personal injury claims. Focus of my practice in probate Deceased defendant – plaintiff attorneys hire me to openprobate for DD, serve as Administrator, accept service of tortlitigation and be named as defendant SOL for creditor claims 4 mos to 2 years after death SOL for claims against insurance 3 years or other SOL; RCW11.40.060 limits to insurance policy limitsDeceased plaintiff – wrongful death, survival claims, personalinjury while living claims Appoint Administrator to bring those claims Open probate for plaintiff’s attorneys and appoint familymember to bring claims; Administrator then signs feeagreement with plaintiff’s counsel.Wrongful death / survival claims Administrator brings claims BUT does not make unilateraldecision on distributions If agreement by all parties, TEDRA agreement can beutilized If no agreement, then requires Court approval or mediation

WILL WITH OMITTED SPOUSESAXTON CASE

Saxton Estate, Snohomish County No. 20-4-00067-31 Omitted spouse RCW 11.12.095 TEDRA arbitration, TEDRA Agreement Will provides everything to sibling sister, Sarah Decedent married. When Will was executed, goingthrough divorce, living with Silvana. Family of decedent believed spouse omittedintentionally Widow Silvana wanted full share as omitted spouse Silvana owned 2 homes, she claimed she lived withDecedent in small apt in a garage on his property Sarah and siblings claimed Silvana lived in largecabin on adjoining property

RCW 11.12.095 Omitted Spouse or Omitted Domestic Partner. (1) If a will fails to name or provide for a spouse or domestic partner of the decedent whom the decedentmarries or enters into a domestic partnership after the will's execution and who survives the decedent,referred to in this section as an "omitted spouse" or "omitted domestic partner," the spouse or domesticpartner must receive a portion of the decedent's estate as provided in subsection (3) of this section, unless itappears either from the will or from other clear and convincing evidence that the failure was intentional. (2) In determining whether an omitted spouse or omitted domestic partner has been named or provided for,the following rules apply: (a) A spouse or domestic partner identified in a will by name is considered named whether identified as aspouse or domestic partner or in any other manner. (b) A reference in a will to the decedent's future spouse or spouses or future domestic partner or partners, orwords of similar import, constitutes a naming of a spouse or domestic partner whom the decedent latermarries or with whom the decedent enters into a domestic partnership. A reference to another class such asthe decedent's heirs or family does not constitute a naming of a spouse or domestic partner who falls withinthe class. (c) A nominal interest in an estate does not constitute a provision for a spouse or domestic partner receivingthe interest. (3) The omitted spouse or omitted domestic partner must receive an amount equal in value to that which thespouse or domestic partner would have received under RCW 11.04.015 if the decedent had died intestate,unless the court determines on the basis of clear and convincing evidence that a smaller share, including noshare at all, is more in keeping with the decedent's intent. In making the determination the court mayconsider, among other things, the spouse's or domestic partner's property interests under applicablecommunity property or quasi-community property laws, the various elements of the decedent's dispositivescheme, and a marriage settlement or settlement in a domestic partnership or other provision and provisionsfor the omitted spouse or omitted domestic partner outside the decedent's will. (4) In satisfying a share provided by this section, the bequests made by the will abate as provided in chapter11.10 RCW.SAXTON V. SAXTON

Court appointed Sara as PR of SP and Silvana asPR of CP Silvana continued to live in home w/o payingmortgage or rent for many months, drove SPtruck – very adversarial situation. TEDRA filed by Silvana; counter claims made bySarah. Snohomish County Cause No. 20-4-00603-31 J. Castleberry, retired, arbitrator for TEDRA Full day arbitration resulted in settlement, TEDRADecision and subsequent AgreementSAXTON TEDRA ARBITRATION

Silvana Omitted Spouse This was always admitted by Sarah, only argument was what% of estate would be distributed to Sarah – 0 to 50% Silvana ordered to pay rent, not allowed to live in home w/opayingSarah counterclaims Entitled to rent from Silvana; kept PR from renting; pay utilities Silvana obstructed PR from coming to property and doinginventory Land, mobile home, apartment Silvana took the truck and used as her own – no right Silvana – Motion for Reconsideration – denied except forattorney fees awarded to both parties. TEDRA Agreement

Bassett Estate, King County County No. 18-4-06439-0 TEDRA filed to appoint DS as PR, King County Cause No.19-4-12801-9 SEA DS as PR attempted to gather assets, made contactwith all 3 heirs – Roger, Ralph, Susan Ralph lived in Estate home – Seattle property worthmillions Issued subpoena duces tecum to banks for statementssince 2017. Corrected deed recorded to Ralph individually whenintent was to Ralph as TrusteeMotion for Instructions from Court - needed guidance.

Motion for Instructions Filed in TEDRA proceeding DS as PR needed guidanceRelief Requested: 1. A Guardian ad Litem should be appointed forRalph D. Bassett; 2. The real property and home should be transferredby deed to the proper parties; 3. The home should be sold in order to providedistributions; 4. The PR should be paid out of the Bassett accounts;and 5. Ralph D. Bassett should be removed/replaced asTrustee of the Bassett Trust.

DS appeared. Ralph did not appear, later claimedhe could not get into correct courtroom due totelephonic hearing Court ordered: On appointment of GAL, court reserved pendingpossible Guardianship Home to be transferred to proper parties by deed Home sold and any monies for Ralph held pendingGuardianship action to protect Ralph’s PR paid out of Bassett accounts Ralph removed as Trustee and Roger appointed asTrustee for Ralph’s SN Trust and RKB Trust (husband ofFrancis) Ralph called the court a few hours after hearing andcourt ordered me to speak with him, which I did.BASSETT ESTATE & GUARDIANSHIP

Guardianship filed: GAL appointed. Dr. & GAL reports filed. Ralph represented by counsel: noAgreement for any Guardian.Hearing on Guardianship: DS moved for mediation pursuantTo RCW 11.88.090 – Court ordered mediation.BASSETT GUARDIANSHIP MEDIATION

RCW 11.88.090 - Guardianship Hearing with GAL report – Ralph objectedto Guardian of any Kind; Parties ordered to mediation Retired Comm. Watness with JAMS Motion to disqualify DS denied – Ralph’s counsel made oral motion duringhearing. RCW 11.88.090: Guardian ad �Notice of and statement by guardian ad litem—Hearingand notice—Attorneys' fees and ee. (Effective until January 1, 2022.) (2) Prior to the appointment of a guardian or a limited guardian,whenever it appears that the incapacitated person or incapacitatedperson's estate could benefit from mediation and such mediation wouldlikely result in overall reduced costs to the estate, upon the motion of thealleged incapacitated person or the guardian ad litem, or subsequent tosuch appointment, whenever it appears that the incapacitated personor incapacitated person's estate could benefit from mediation and suchmediation would likely result in overall reduced costs to the estate, uponthe motion of any interested person, the court may: (a) Require any party or other person subject to the jurisdiction of thecourt to participate in mediation; (b) Establish the terms of the mediation; and (c) Allocate the cost of the mediation pursuant to *RCW 11.96.140.

Mediation held to resolve all issues: Comm. Watness, retired, JAMS, was mediator Heirs, PR and Ralph with attorney participated byZoom Issues: Guardianship; Home to be sold; Trusts,payment of fees for PR; closing estate, tax returns TEDRA Agreement reached Update: Home to be sold but in area for new railsystem so market value will increase substantially.Waiting until 2022.BASSETT MEDIATIONTEDRA AGREEMENT

Maynard Estate, King County No. 20-4-05674-7 KNT Opened estate as “interested person” in order to provide foroffer to purchase real estate/home by Terence who hired DS DS appointed Administrator of Estate; provided notice todaughters (2) of hearing. No hearing – both consented. One daughter Harmony glad to have Estate opened One daughter Desiree hated having Estate opened Intestacy: 50/50 to daughters. Desiree had been living in home for 5 years, rent free, paidsome of the RE taxes and paid utilities. Claimed to haveunsigned Will, was very uncooperative during probate Home/property was used as a garage/auto repair shop inKent, WA; a lot of clean up, removal of personal property. Several classic and not so classic automobiles titled indecedent’s name at home; over 11 vehicles with titletransfersMAYNARD ESTATE

MAYNARD ESTATE

Maynard Estate: As Administrator: Gather assets. Had home and vehicles appraised;sold for market value. Septic issues arose. SDT tobanks – Desiree spent monies in account personally– charged against her 50/50 inheritance Rec’d offer from client at above market value forhome. Put monies in IOLTA Trust account. Prepared Inventory and Full Accounting. No debt. Charged rent to Desiree and provided credit for REtaxes paid; clean up property charged to Desiree Made distributions to heirs after payment ofAdministrator fees/costs

OTHER ADVANCED PROBATE ISSUED: Minor grandchildren named in Will to receive RE.Need to appoint a custodian. RCW 11.114.030 Estate of Joe Abb Brown, King County Cause No.19-4-00838-31 Home in Everett left to 2 grandchildren - 378k Verified Petition to Appoint Custodian for MinorGrandchildren to Receive Real PropertyInheritance by Will & Prepare DeedCOURT REQUIRED HEARING IN PERSON WITHPROPOSED CUSTODIAN PRESENT.

DOCUMENTS PROVIDED1Powerpoint Presentation2Saxton Last Will3Saxton Petition4Saxton Response to Petition5Saxton TEDRA Summons and Petition6Saxton Response to TEDRA Petition and Counterclaims7Saxton TEDRA arbitration decision8Saxton Order Granting in part Mtn for Reconsideration9Bassett Last Will & Testament10Bassett TEDRA Petition11Bassett Order Appointing Successor PR12Bassett PRs Motion for Instructions13Bassett Order on PRs Motion for Instructions14Bassett TEDRA Agreement15Maynard Petition16Brown Petition to Appoint Custodian

ADVANCED PROBATE ISSUES DALYNNE SINGLETON, GOURLEY LAW GROUP RCW 11 Probate & Complicated Issues Estates: Wills, Trusts -Whether Valid, Omitted Spouses Intestacy, Testacy Probate -Notice and Hearing; Intervention & Non-Intervention Trusts -Revocable, Non-Revocable, Testamentary Trusts - No Assets, Intent, Conflicts Incapacitated Heirs and Minors