In United States v. Windsor (June 26, 2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, violated the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.…
Read MoreWashington has adopted minor changes to RCW 62A-9A (Washington’s version of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC Article 9) regarding secured transactions) through Substitute House Bill 1115. The changes I point out here deal with the debtor’s name and additional information as…
Read MoreThe City of Seattle’s relatively recent Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance (Seattle Municipal Code (“SMC”) 22.214) requires most landlords that provide rental housing to be registered with the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development between 2014 and 2016,…
Read MoreAs part of the recent second special legislative session, the Washington state legislature made several changes to the Washington state estate tax, effective for persons dying after January 1, 2014. Other changes were designed to limit the impact of the…
Read MoreIn a recent decision, the Washington Court of Appeals reinforced the rule that where a purchaser of real property has notice of a defect, the purchaser must make further inquiry of the seller. If the purchaser fails to do so,…
Read MoreIf you have a business in Seattle, you might have to change how you do background checks. The Seattle City Council passed a new ordinance restricting criminal background checks on applicants for employment. Employers will no longer be able to…
Read MoreEach person may exclude from income up to $250,000 of capital gain on the sale of the person’s principal residence (known as the “gain exclusion,” governed by Internal Revenue Code § 121). A married couple may exclude up to $500,000…
Read MoreOn May 21, 2013, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law an act that generally prohibits an employer from requiring an employee or applicant to disclose information related to their social media account. If an employer violates the act, an employee…
Read MoreThe City of Seattle has published a new Frequently Asked Questions document (FAQ) concerning its Paid Sick Time and Safe Time Ordinance (the Ordinance). The Ordinance requires employers to provide paid sick/safe time (PSST) to their employees who work within Seattle…
Read MoreHow many years after a taxable gift may the IRS audit the gift? Taxpayers are often surprised to learn that when a gift tax return is not filed, or when a filed gift tax return does not “adequately disclose” a…
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