[WSBAPT] Pierce County Referral - TEDRA

[John McCrady]

I highly recommend:

Robert L. Michaels

[cid:image001.png at 01D01623.D8181DF0]
1515 Dock Street, Suite 3
Tacoma, WA 98402

253-627-1091 office
253-627-0123 fax
bobm at smithalling.com<mailto:bobm at smithalling.com>


John McCrady
Counsel
Puget Sound Title Company
5350 Orchard Street West
University Place WA 98466
253-476-5721

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Bratt
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 3:02 PM
To: wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com
Subject: [WSBAPT] Pierce County Referral - TEDRA

Hello Listmates:

I spent a rather sad hour talking to a client earlier this week.

Client is the daughter of a recently deceased woman, who lived in Pierce County.  She had a Revocable Living Trust and a Pour Over Will.  The Will has been admitted to probate in Pierce County, with non-intervention powers.  The Trust appears to have possibly been prepared by a "Living Trust Mill," and it is unclear to me how much of the mother's property (including a residence) was actually transferred to the trust.

Executor/Trustee position is being filled by an older sibling of my client.  Although personal property belonging to my client remains in the mother's house (from times when my client was spending time caring for her mother), Executor/Trustee unilaterally changed the locks soon after the death, is occupying the residence, and states that he will be selling assets as he wishes, perhaps to his own household members (at bargain prices), and that he does not consider it fair that another sibling (who was left out of the Will and the Trust) is not getting anything and that he intends to remedy that.  He has granted the "left out" sibling access to the residence to "take what you wish," while refusing to allow entry to the residence to my client, even to retrieve her own stuff.

In the meantime, my client is having enough trouble adjusting to her mother's death, and does not want to stir up a lot of controversy - she doesn't want family conflict.  I already told her that if she wants to protect her rights, she will probably be viewed as a rabble-rouser (or worse) and will be subject to much animosity and name-calling, so she better make up her mind.

What makes it more difficult for her is that the sibling named to serve as Executor/Trustee had been "on the outs" with his mother for the last several years of her life, but the mother never got around to changing the trust or her will.  My client "knows" that her mother did not want this sort of result.

Notwithstanding her reservations about saying anything, she is open to talking to someone in Pierce County regarding TEDRA to try to bring this matter back where it should be before it is too late.

I feel my client needs someone with a gentle touch in leading her in the right direction, as opposed to someone set on conquering the world, taking no prisoners, since my client appears to be on the edge of despair because of the short time that her mother has been gone.  At the same time, while she is sensitive, I feel my client is capable of dealing with a realistic assessment of her situation and to set her expectations, accordingly.

Any referrals/recommendations?

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Doug Bratt

Douglas J. Bratt
Lawyer

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Office: (360) 213-2040
 Fax: (360) 213-2030



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