Practice Areas

Charity Anastasio,
Attorney at Law, PLLC

Practice Areas

Estate Planning documents generally include a will, medical and financial power of attorneys, and a health care directive (sometimes called a living will).

A will gives you control over who inherits your assets. Without a will, Washington laws of intestate control who inherits. Because of how the law is structured, if you wish to have a same sex partner inherit, or protect the inheritance of children from a prior marriage, a will may be especially important.

A will also allows you to:

control how and when your heirs receive your assets,

choose a person to administer your estate (a Personal Representative),

choose a guardian for minor children, and

create a Special Needs Trust for disabled heirs that receive government benefits.

A medical power of attorney gives power to a chosen individual to act on your behalf, if you are unable to, regarding medical decisions. A financial power of attorney does the same thing with regards to financial decisions. Each can become effective when you sign them, or only upon disability. Both will terminate at death. They are inexpensive alternatives to guardianship. (If you become incapacitated without a power of attorney, a court may appoint a guardian. This can be expensive.)

A health care directive stipulates that if you are in a terminal condition or permanent unconscious condition, you refuse life sustaining treatments.

Probate

The probate process is for settling the affairs of a deceased family member or friend. There are different procedures for an estate governed by a persons’ will, where there is no will, where there is a trust, and where it is a “small estate” (no more than $100,000 in assets).

Family Law

A myriad of issues fall under the practice area of family law. Some of the more common issues that domestic partners, married couples, or non-married couples may encounter is a need to establish or modify a Parenting Plan (who is with the children when), child support, divorce, protection orders, and legal separations. Contracts between spouses and the basic tenants of community property law may be involved.

Compassion and a mindset of collaboration are newer approaches to resolving family law issues that have promising results. Unbundled services (assistance to pro se clients; ghost writing and review of client’s documents) can minimize costly processes in some instances.

Elder Law
Special consideration is necessary when doing estate planning, if there is a likelihood you or your spouse will require long term care. Often called Medicaid planning, special planning techniques can be employed to minimize economic effects on a well spouse and deplete assets, where applicable.