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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Hello Fellow List-Serv Colleagues:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I am dealing with a client, named to be PR in his Decedent mother’s Will, related to a relatively small investment account, in the sole name of the Decedent mother, maintained at a brokerage company whose main office is outside the State of Washington (but which has branch offices located in this State). The small size of the investment account mirrors the small size of the entire probate estate, putting the probate estate value at well under $100,000.00. We were finally able to convince the brokerage house that the Washington Small Estates Affidavit method should suffice as opposed to the company’s earlier insistence that we automatically had to produce “Letters.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>So, when I turned to RCW 11.62.010 (2), it struck me that subsections (h) and (i) are at variance one with the other. According to (h), the “Claiming Successor” is to give ten days’ notice to all of the “other successors” that we are going to placing the claim with the brokerage company, for the investment account contents, as a Claiming Successor.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>However, subsection (i) requires that we include in the Affidavit a statement that we have written authority from “all other successors who have an interest” in the property the claiming successor wants to obtain, for the benefit of himself and the other “takers” under the Will. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>What happens if one of those “takers” has a free flowing life-style and is not often available, on short notice, and might not even receive the ten day notice because of frequent moves, and, thus, will certainly not be available to sign “written authority.” It appears that that would leave us out in the cold, since the Claiming Successor client could not swear that he has written authority from all of the other successors. Why require a ten day notice period if nothing occurs if one of the “other successors” does not respond to the notice? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>That leads me to think that each of the four separate “takers” under the will might have to be a “claiming successor” as to a one-quarter interest in the investment account, but if all four people have to jump through those hoops, the total cost might easily match the costs of a “shell probate,” filed for the sole purpose of obtaining Letters Testamentary.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Have I missed something in my reading of the statute?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>And, why is it that the smallest, seemingly insignificant, assets in an Estate take much longer, and much more money, to deal with than any other assets?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thanks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Doug Bratt<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"'>Douglas J. Bratt</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"'>Lawyer</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img width=176 height=179 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D0301D.749BD960" alt="Envelope scaled Foster"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Office: (360) 213-2040 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> Fax: (360) 213-2030<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message may contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received this message by mistake, please do not review, disclose, copy, or distribute the email. Instead, please notify us immediately by replying to this message or telephoning us. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>NOTE:</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>I do not use encrypted email. Messages sent to or from my office via email are not secure and may not be protected by attorney-client privilege. This email address is not monitored at all times. If your matter is urgent, please phone my office during regular business hours.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>TAX ADVICE NOTICE: IRS Circular 230 requires us to advise you that, if this communication or any attachment contains any tax advice, the advice is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding federal tax penalties. A taxpayer may rely on professional advice to avoid federal tax penalties only if the advice is reflected in a comprehensive tax opinion that conforms to stringent requirements. Please contact us if you have any questions about Circular 230 or would like to discuss our preparation of an opinion that conforms to these IRS rules.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>