Wills & Foundational Plans
Everyone needs the same four or five documents, and most people don't have them. We build the foundational estate plan: a will that says who gets what and who raises your children, the powers of attorney that let someone act if you can't, and a health care directive that speaks when you can't. Done right, it keeps your family out of court.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
3
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Wills and estate-planning attorneys for Bellevue and Seattle families
Oseran Hahn builds the foundational estate plan every adult needs and most put off: a valid Washington will, a durable power of attorney for finances, a health care directive and medical power of attorney, and the community property agreement and beneficiary coordination that decide what passes outside probate. We draft these documents so they're enforceable under Washington law, reflect what you actually want, and work together rather than at cross-purposes. This is the plan that names a guardian for your children, an agent for your affairs, and a path that keeps your family out of a courtroom.
A foundational plan is a small set of documents that each do one job, and they have to be drafted to work together. We write the will that directs your property and names a guardian for your children. We prepare the durable power of attorney that lets someone manage your finances if you can't. We draft the health care directive that speaks for you in a medical crisis. We set up the community property agreement and titling that pass assets outside probate. And we keep the plan current as your life changes.
The will and what it controls
A will is the document that says who receives your property, who administers your estate, and, if you have minor children, who raises them. Washington has strict execution rules: a will must be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by two people (RCW 11.12.020), and the state does not recognize a handwritten, unwitnessed will, so a document that would be valid elsewhere can fail here. We draft the will, add the self-proving affidavit (RCW 11.20.020) that lets it be admitted to probate without tracking down the witnesses years later, name your personal representative with nonintervention powers so the estate isn't supervised by the court, and nominate a guardian for your children under RCW 11.130. Without a will, Washington's intestacy statute (RCW 11.04.015) decides who inherits, and a court decides who raises your kids.
Durable power of attorney for finances
If you can't manage your own affairs, someone has to, and the only way to choose that person yourself is in advance. We prepare the durable power of attorney under Washington's Uniform Power of Attorney Act (RCW 11.125), naming the agent who can pay your bills, manage your accounts, handle your property, and deal with the IRS if you become incapacitated. We tailor the powers to what you actually want the agent to be able to do, decide whether the authority is effective immediately or springs into effect on incapacity, and build in the safeguards that prevent abuse. The alternative to a durable power of attorney is a court-supervised guardianship, which is slower, public, and far more expensive.
Health care directives and medical decisions
A medical crisis is the worst time for your family to be guessing, and the law gives you tools to decide in advance. We prepare the durable power of attorney for health care that names who makes your medical decisions if you can't, and the health care directive, or living will, that states your wishes about life-sustaining treatment under Washington's Natural Death Act (RCW 70.122). We include the HIPAA authorization your agent needs to actually get your medical information, and we address the disposition of your remains (RCW 68.50) so that decision isn't left to a dispute. Without these, Washington's default surrogate hierarchy (RCW 7.70.065) decides who speaks for you, which may not be who you'd choose.
Community property, titling, and what avoids probate
Much of what you own may pass outside your will, and a plan that ignores that is only half a plan. Washington is a community property state, and we use the community property agreement (RCW 26.16.120), a Washington tool that can vest all community property in the surviving spouse at the first death without probate. We coordinate how your assets are titled and how your beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts are set, because those nonprobate assets (RCW 11.11) pass by their own terms regardless of the will. Where it fits, we use a transfer-on-death deed (RCW 64.80) to pass real estate outside probate. The goal is a plan where the documents and the titling tell the same story.
Keeping the plan current
An estate plan is right for the life you had when you signed it, and life moves. We review and update plans after the events that change them: a marriage or divorce, a new child or grandchild, a move into or out of Washington, a death in the family, or a significant change in assets. Washington law automatically revokes the provisions of your will that benefit a former spouse on divorce (RCW 11.12.051), but it doesn't fix everything a divorce should change, and an outdated beneficiary designation will override your will regardless. We keep the will, the powers of attorney, the directives, and the beneficiary designations aligned, so the plan still does what you intend years after you signed it.
Sixty years of Pacific Northwest estate work, much of it for families we've represented across generations, means we draft the foundational documents knowing how they read when they're finally needed, usually at the hardest moment a family faces.
Plain documents your family can use.
An estate plan only works if the people left behind can follow it. We draft in language an agent, a personal representative, and a court can act on without a fight, and we explain what each document does before you sign it.
The whole plan, not just the will.
A will alone leaves gaps: incapacity, medical decisions, nonprobate assets. We build the will, the powers of attorney, the health care directive, and the titling together, so there's no hole the plan forgot to cover.
Estate planning and probate under one roof.
We don't just write the plan; we're the ones who administer it when the time comes. Drafting with the probate and trust-administration side in view means we write documents that actually work when they're used, not just when they're signed.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
Do I need a will if I'm married and everything is jointly owned?
Usually yes. A community property agreement can pass your shared assets to your spouse without probate, but a will still does things nothing else does: it names a guardian for your minor children, directs your separate property, says what happens if you and your spouse die together, and controls anything the survivorship arrangements miss. Married couples need a coordinated plan, not just joint title.
What happens if I die without a will in Washington?
Washington's intestacy statute (RCW 11.04.015) decides who inherits, in fixed shares that may not match what you'd want, especially in blended families or where you'd want to provide for someone the statute doesn't. If you have minor children and no surviving parent, a court decides who raises them, without your input. Dying without a will doesn't mean the state takes your property, but it does mean the state's rules, not yours, control it.
Is a handwritten will valid in Washington?
Generally no. Washington requires a will to be signed and witnessed by two people; it does not recognize holographic, or handwritten and unwitnessed, wills executed here. A handwritten will valid in another state may be honored if it met that state's law, but you shouldn't rely on it. A properly executed Washington will, with a self-proving affidavit, is the document that actually works without a fight.
What's the difference between a will and a living trust?
A will directs your property but goes through probate, the court-supervised process of settling an estate. A revocable living trust can hold your assets and pass them to your beneficiaries without probate, and it manages assets if you become incapacitated. Both have a place, and the right foundational plan uses one or the other depending on your assets and goals. We help you choose rather than sell you the more expensive option by default.
Who makes my financial and medical decisions if I become incapacitated?
Whoever you name, if you've named someone. A durable power of attorney designates who handles your finances and a health care power of attorney designates who makes your medical decisions, both effective if you can't act for yourself. Without them, your family has to petition a court for guardianship, which is slow, public, and expensive. The documents that prevent that are part of every foundational plan we build.
When should I make or update my estate plan?
Make one as soon as you have assets, a partner, or children, which for most people means now. Update it after marriage, divorce, a new child, a move to or from Washington, a death in the family, or a meaningful change in what you own. The documents are far cheaper to prepare than the court proceedings their absence creates, and the worst time to discover a plan is out of date is when it's finally needed.
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A will, the powers of attorney, and a health care directive, drafted to keep your family out of court.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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