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Questions Answered by Brent Bowden
1 Answer | Asked in Contracts and Real Estate Law for Washington on
Q: We purchased a 57 acre farm solely for farm use. Neighbor across the street states she has an easement.

Seller provided a notarized statement regarding the entire property being farm use only. No documentation anywhere to be found prior to sale of property regarding any easements. Deed received after occupancy of home states there is indeed an easement. The date is also signed by the seller stating... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Apr 17, 2018

Usually easements and other issues like that are discovered and disclosed as part of the title search and title insurance process. Did you get title insurance? If you did, and if the title insurance missed the easement for some reason, they may compensate you. Your insurance company may also try to... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Real Estate Law and Estate Planning for Washington on
Q: Who gets property after death.

My mom died 4years ago and her home was in her and her deceased husband's name. She had no will. She was remarried at the time of her death but the home was never in my step dads name. My stepdad recently passed away and has no kids so who does the house go to?

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Apr 16, 2018

Under Washington intestacy laws (which govern in the absence of a will), your surviving spouse inherits all of your community property and half of your separate property if you have surviving children.

Your situation is somewhat complicated. The first question is who inherited her previous...
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1 Answer | Asked in Landlord - Tenant for Washington on
Q: Does a tenant need to state an exact move out date on a 20 day notice, and also can a text be considered a 20 day notice
Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Apr 3, 2018

It is very difficult to give any detailed answers regarding your specific situation without reviewing the lease and getting more of the details, but in general, the point of giving notice is to let the landlord know when you will be ending the lease. I am not aware of any specific case law or... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Landlord - Tenant for Washington on
Q: Can my landlord move into my home to bypass Notice of Entry requirements?

My landlords (married) have been conducting themselves with complete disregard for the law and I have insisted that they stop entering without notice (they do it daily, they live across the street).

They were enraged and declared on the phone that they would "fix the problem" by... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 24, 2018

Your landlord cannot move into an area that you have the exclusive right to possess.

However, your landlord could potentially move into a portion of the house if it isn't part of your lease. For example, if your house is rented room by room and you only rent one of the rooms they...
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2 Answers | Asked in Estate Planning, Family Law and Probate for Washington on
Q: My mother in-law wasnt informed about her father's death. Found out through Google. She was his only child. What to do?

He remarried when she was 3. No other children. The wife prevented contact and cut off contact with his daughter when he became ill with Alzheimer.

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 7, 2018

I would suggest that the first thing she do is try to figure out if her father's estate was probated and whether he had a will.

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1 Answer | Asked in Estate Planning and Real Estate Law for Washington on
Q: What does a reconveyance mean? A mortgage trustee recorded a reconveyance with us as grantees.
Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

Did you recently pay off your mortgage or refinance? That is the document the bank files to release their lien on the property.

1 Answer | Asked in Estate Planning and Probate for Washington on
Q: If there are two beneficiary's on a will, and one is also the executor, can said executor keep all the money?

My mother & I are two beneficiaries on my Grandparents Will, they passed, and the estate is ready to be closed, but she is saying since we were not allocated a set amount of money she can invest it all and keep it for herself. is this legal? can she make it so I get nothing since they... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

The executor has to follow the will. So it would depend on what the will said. It would be very strange for the will to not specify the share of the estate that each of you were to receive.

For example, wills commonly say something to the effect of: "to my children, but if my children...
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1 Answer | Asked in Landlord - Tenant for Washington on
Q: If I have a landlord that wants me to pay my last months nths rent of my lease in full, when she knows I’m only gonna

Be here until the 12. Then wants to keep my deposit until one month later because of damage or cleaning. She lives in the same house as me, so she can see that there are no damages or cleanliness no to be done. She has threatened to kind close me out and lock the doors, take my clothes out throw... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

Depending on how your lease is structured, you may owe the full months rent even if you move out on the 12th. That is a difficult question to answer without seeing the lease. There are specific laws dictating how long your landlord can keep your deposit. RCW 59.18.280... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Business Law and Real Estate Law for Washington on
Q: Our lawyer formed three separate LLCs for our three rental buildings, but never put the LLCs on the titles. Concerning?

For our three separate rental buildings, we paid a lawyer to form three separate LLCs. However, those LLCs were never put on the property titles. He never advised us to do so, nor did he advise us to update contracts with our tenants with the new LLC information, so our tenants still write us... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

From the information provided, it does not seem like the LLCs are doing anything. Ideally, you would want the LLC to own the rental property, to be the landlord in the lease, and to be depositing the rent into the LLC account.

1 Answer | Asked in Real Estate Law for Washington on
Q: Question about: Deed of Trust versus Quit Claim Deed and Tenants in Common.

I owned a home for 16 years, after my divorce I had to refinance to get the ex off the loan. I had a mutual friend (boyfriend) that offered to co-sign on the loan. I had a Tenants in Common contract in place. And, we both signed a Deed of Trust and a Quit Claim Deed at closing. The... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

It would be very hard to answer this question without knowing more about what his basis is for claiming he owns 50%. Regardless of the strength of his claim, he can certainly try to assert he is entitled to 50%.

1 Answer | Asked in Estate Planning for Washington on
Q: Trust to protect primary residence?

A friend of mine have real estate in WA state which is our primary residence ..she owns this property free and clear.

She does not have any other property.

I heard that one can create a trust to protect our real estate ..can you shed light on what type of trust she should create?... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

I think a little more information is necessary to answer this question. Most importantly, what is it that you are hoping to protect the property from?

1 Answer | Asked in Estate Planning, Real Estate Law and Probate for Washington on
Q: The estate of my mother (me-only child) is being sued regarding her real estate , there is no estate, what do I do?

My mother passed June 1, 2015, I got served with court papers February 18, 2018 regarding real estate property which she did own but it got foreclosed-- the sherriff's office got involved.(date escapes me right now) Then she rented an apartment for two years but in an out of the hospital and... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

There is not enough information provided to really answer this question, I would recommend speaking to a probate attorney. They are going to need to know at least whether there was a probate, who the personal representative was, whether this creditor was known or notified of probate, whether there... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Estate Planning and Probate for Washington on
Q: My roommate passed away, left an 8 year old daughter and no will. Does the guardian have right to assets?

My roommate has passed away and has left behind her 8 year old daughter, whom her father has full custody of. My roommates mother is trying to capitalize on her assets and become the personal representative of her estate. Can she do this? We know that she will not give remaining assets to my... View More

Brent Bowden
Brent Bowden
answered on Mar 6, 2018

It isn't clear from the question whether the father was still married to your roommate. If he was, he would be first preference for Personal Representative if he wanted to be, but, if not, the mother is likely the first preference. RCW 11.28.120... View More

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