11033 NE 24th Street, Suite 200, Bellevue, WA 98004 | Phone: 425-637-3019 ext. 3010 | Fax: 425-454-4289

Washington Estate, Probate and Tax Attorney

Madeline Gauthier has been an estate, probate and tax attorney in Bellevue for fourteen years, following three years as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Washington. She is a graduate of Gonzaga University Law School and the University of Florida's Graduate Tax Program. Her book "Where There's A Will, There's A Way!" has been well received by clients as an introduction to estate planning. She has appeared numerous times as a guest speaker on various radio talk shows, teaches a course on writing Last Wills each year for the Washington State Bar Association and has been a lecturer at Golden Gate University's Tax School (Seattle branch).

Call Madeline Gauthier at 425-637-3019 ext. 3010 to schedule an appointment. Gauthier & Associates, located in Bellevue, Washington offers services in the following areas:

Estate Planning

We will develop a comprehensive estate plan for you and your family. Our primary goal is to provide you with tailored documents, so that at your passing or during your disability, the people and causes you love are cared for the way you would do it yourself. As a part of that goal, we aim to minimize estate taxes, and preserve assets from catastrophic health care costs. However, the first and only real question in preparing your estate plan, is how you would care for the ones you love.

Estate planning:

  • provides you the opportunity to make your wishes known
  • determines who will carry out your wishes both during your lifetime and after your death
  • allows you to maintain independence and control over personal and health care decisions as well as over financial decisions
  • ensures that your assets are protected from long-term care
  • helps minimize your estate taxes and the expenses associated with probate
  • ensures your estate assets are distributed according to your wishes
The following are some of the services that are available:
  • preparation of wills
  • revocable and irrevocable trusts
  • trusts to care for children
  • durable powers of attorney and health care directives
  • life insurance trusts, living trust, Medicaid trusts
  • prenuptial agreements and separate property agreements
  • complex estate tax planning
  • estate tax planning for foreign spouses
  • charitable gifting plans
  • beneficiary designations (life insurance, 401K's, etc.) to match your Will or Living Trust

Probate Services

At the time of passing, we open the probate case with the court and work with the Personal Representative to carry out the Decedent's wishes. Most of the time, this is a smooth and cost efficient process. Occasionally, we have challenges from the IRS. Sometimes family members challenge the will, or those outside the family make claims against the estate (domestic partners or creditors). We are prepared to handle the probates with conflicts, including trial, as well as the easily transitioned probates.

Photography by: http://www.jbbphotography.com