NW Legacy Law

08/20/2026

Chadwick Boseman died in 2020. He was 43. He didn't have a will.

Six years later, his estate is back in a California courtroom. His brothers have asked a judge to remove his widow from handling it.

We don't know the details of that family, and it isn't our place to guess. But the shape of it is familiar.

When someone dies without a will, the state's statute decides two things. Who inherits, and who is put in charge. In Washington that's RCW 11.04. In Oregon it's ORS 112.

Those are reasonable rules, written for strangers. They don't know that one child lives nearby and one doesn't. They don't know about the second marriage, or which sibling has always been the peacemaker.

What we see most often isn't a fight about money. It's a fight about who gets to decide.

That part you can settle in advance, in writing, while everyone can still talk about it calmly.

If you've been meaning to name the person who would be in charge, or you named someone years ago and aren't sure it still fits, that's a conversation worth having.

08/19/2026

The life insurance form asked for a name. You wrote your daughter's. She's nine.

That's one of the most common gaps we see, and it's an easy one to miss.

Here's what usually happens. A life insurance company generally can't hand money to a minor. So the court gets involved, appoints someone to hold it, and supervises the account until your child turns 18. On her 18th birthday, whatever is left is hers. All of it. At once.

Most parents don't intend that. They filled out the form quickly, years ago, and moved on.

A few things worth knowing.

Your will doesn't control this. The beneficiary form does. If the two disagree, the form usually wins.

A custodial account can push the age out somewhat. In Washington the age can be set as high as 25 when it's specified at the time the account is created.

A trust gives you the most say. You choose the ages, what the money can be used for, and who's in charge of it.

None of this requires a complicated plan. It requires reading one form.

If you'd like help checking yours, reach out.

08/18/2026

Malcolm-Jamal Warner signed a family trust in 1996. He was 26 years old. Nearly two decades later, he married. His daughter is nine. The trust he signed at 26 never met either of them.

Reporting says it leaves most of the estate to his mother, with the rest going to other relatives. His widow filed suit last month over promises she says were made in their prenuptial agreement. That case is ongoing, and those are allegations, not findings.

We're sharing this because it's the most common problem we see, and it has nothing to do with bad drafting. A trust is a picture of your life on the day you sign it. Then things move. You marry. A grandchild arrives. You sell the business. Someone you named as trustee passes away, or moves, or you grow apart. The document doesn't notice any of that.

A question worth sitting with: what's different about your family now compared to the year you signed your documents?

If the honest answer is quite a lot, that's not a failure. It means the plan is due for a look. That's a short conversation, and we're glad to have it.

08/12/2026

If there's no valid will, Washington and Oregon each have one written for you. It's called the intestacy statute, and it decides who inherits, in what shares, and who gets appointed to handle everything. The court follows it. It doesn't know your family.

That applies to more people than you'd guess. A recent national survey found 56% of American adults have no estate planning documents at all. Will ownership dropped this year, from 31% to 26%.

The most common reason people give isn't cost or complexity. It's that they haven't gotten to it.

So here's one small step for this month, not the whole project.

Pull out what you already have. A will from 2009. A trust from before the grandkids. A beneficiary form you filled out at a job you left years ago.

Read the names on it. Ask whether they're still the right names.

That's the whole assignment. If the answer is no, or you're not sure, that's a good reason to have a conversation.

We're glad to be the second set of eyes.

08/11/2026

Almost everything that burns can be replaced. Your original will is the exception.

Deeds are recorded at the county auditor's office. Birth and marriage certificates come from the Department of Health. Your insurance company has your policy. All of that can be reissued.

The signed original of your will is different. In Washington, if it can't be found, the court often starts from the assumption that it was destroyed on purpose. A copy can sometimes be admitted, but it takes extra proof and extra time.

Here's a smaller version of that question, and one you can answer tonight.

Could you put your hands on your original will in ten minutes?

If not:

1. Find the original will, trust, and powers of attorney.
2. Write down where they are, and tell the person named to act for you.
3. Ask your attorney whether they keep an original or a certified copy on file.

You don't need to move anything. You need to know where it is.

If you're not sure what your documents say or where they are, we're glad to help you sort it out.

07/16/2026

Washington's Lottery reached $1 billion in sales as Lottery Week kicked off, the third time in four years, with proceeds supporting scholarships and early learning.

Most of us will never see a jackpot, but plenty of Clark County families do receive sudden money: an inheritance, a home sale, a life insurance payout.

Windfalls without a plan tend to shrink fast, and they can create tax and family complications nobody expected.

A current estate plan tells sudden money where to go and keeps it protected once it arrives.

Want to schedule a Strategy Session with an attorney to discuss more about your specific situation? Call or find us at

Compassionate estate planning and settlement services in Vancouver, WA. Protect your legacy with personalized legal guidance. Schedule your consultation today.

07/14/2026

Did you know Washington just became the first state in the country to start paying long-term care benefits?

As of July 1, the WA Cares Fund pays up to $36,500 per person for things Medicare usually won't touch: a home care aide, a wheelchair ramp, meals, rides to appointments.

Two things families should know:

$36,500 helps, but full-time care can use it up in months. It's a head start, not the whole answer.

And if you're thinking about moving out of state, there's now a choice to make about keeping your benefits. It doesn't happen automatically.

The best long-term care plan is the one made before anyone needs it. If your parents worked in Washington, this applies to them too.

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07/12/2026

It's almost midnight when the knock comes. Level 3. Go now.

Ten minutes. You grab the kids, the dog, the phone chargers. Photos if you're lucky.

Families along the Rogue River lived that this week. So did families near Chelan.

Oregon's evacuation checklist has a line most of us skip past: bring your important documents. Deeds. Birth certificates. Insurance. Wills.

So here's a ten-minute job for this weekend: put your estate documents in one place (a fireproof box or a single labeled folder) and tell one person where it is.

That's it. That's the whole assignment.

Fire season runs through October. Your future self will be glad you did it in July.

A rapidly growing wildfire near the intersection of U.S. 97 and Chelan Hills Acres Road in Orondo prompted evacuations, road closures

06/18/2026

The house you worked your whole life to pay off could be the very thing that turns your kids against each other.

Our area home values keep climbing, which means your home is likely the largest asset you will ever pass down, and the messiest one if you leave it to a will alone.

A will sends it straight into probate: months of delay, your finances on public record, and siblings forced to negotiate over the place they grew up in.

Plenty of families never fully recover from that fight.

A trust or the right titling skips probate entirely and sends the home to the people you choose, on your terms, with nothing left to argue over.

Curious about learning more contact our amazing team who can support you as you make these important decisions.

05/22/2026

Your homeowners' insurance covers your house if a tree falls on it.

This policy doesn't cover your furnace when it fails in January. That bill can run $8,000-$12,000. Most people discover this gap when they're already in the middle of the problem.

We see the same thing with estate plans.

The document looks complete. The notary signed it. But the beneficiary form on the retirement account still names an ex-spouse. The trust was funded once and never updated after the refinance. The gap only shows up under pressure — when it's too late to fix it easily.

When did you last review your plan — financial, insurance, and estate documents together?

A Strategy Session will be a discussion with one of our attorneys to examine what changes may be needed. Schedule one at www.NWlegacylaw.com