[WSBAPT] Need release for contaminated property

[Sam Furgason]

John,

I’m not taking new clients, and this is not my area of practice anyway,
but … As I understand the law, anyone in the chain of title can be held
responsible for environmental cleanup, so the decedent’s estate has
exposure. I don’t know if the WA two-year statute can be used to protect
the estate, so the government may be able to chase down the other heirs to
the extent of what they received, but the property owners are primarily
liable. Perhaps an indemnity contract backed by insurance would help.
Passage of time from the estate’s closing could dissuade pursuing the
heirs, depending on how deep their pockets are. 

 

The way that I have tried to protect those downstream is to have the
estate place the real property into an LLC prior to distribution (assuming
a business purpose is present, which appears to be the case here). The LLC
interest then passes out to the beneficiary, so the beneficiary is never
directly the owner of the property. My intent is that any cleanup
liability is limited to the assets of the LLC. It’s not a bad idea to have
commercial property in an LLC anyway, for the “limited liability”
protection it provides. Of course that is an additional layer of
complexity (one more tax return, for example), and the formalities must be
followed to avoid having the LLC and members treated as the same. 

S  

 

From: wsbapt-owner at lists.wsbarppt.com
[mailto:wsbapt-owner at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of john at llllaw.net
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 2:15 PM
To: wsbapt at listserv.nethelps.com
Subject: [WSBAPT] Need release for contaminated property

 

Counsel;

 

My client’s sibling desires to take high value commercial property as his
share of an estate.   The commercial property has been used in ways that
may (or may not) require environmental remediation in the future.  

Client wants to ensure that the estate, and other beneficiaries, are
released from any future liability for environmental issues.

 

Anyone want to take on this release  - contract?   

 

Please contact me off line.

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

John Llewellyn

 

John G. Llewellyn, PLLC

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