In this Season One finale, estate attorney Derek Jensen goes solo to break down Washington State's changing tax landscape and why most families remain dangerously unprotected despite the new laws.
On July 1st, Washington's top estate tax rate drops from 35% to 20%. That sounds like good news. But the exemption is also pulling back, the gap between Washington's $3M threshold and the federal $15M exemption hasn't changed, and an estimated 100,000–150,000 Washington households are still caught in the middle.
Derek unpacks Washington's “Tax Stack” — the only state in the country with estate tax, capital gains tax, and an income tax all aimed at accumulated wealth. He shares why outdated plans are quietly creating expensive problems, what a “right-sized” plan actually looks like at 35 versus 55, and what three forces (the $124 trillion wealth transfer, rising fiscal pressure, and UBI policy) tell us about where this is all heading.
And he ends where the show began: with his own family, the lake property, and a confession — that even after years of advising families through this, he's still in the middle of it himself.
“You don't wait for consensus. You don't wait for the perfect legislative environment. You started anyway.”
Resources mentioned: WashingtonEstateTax.com: calculator, Washington tax breakdown, what changed July 1st
Learn more about Who Gets What?: https://whogetswhat.fm/
This podcast is presented by Jensen Estate Law and produced by Marguerite Productions.
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