Full-Service Law Firm Based in Everett, Washington

Tuohy Minor Kruse PLLC

2821 Wetmore Avenue
Everett, Washington 98201-6789
USA

(425) 259-9194

www.tuohyminorkruse.com

Contact Deane Minor

Law Firm Overview

Tuohy Minor Kruse PLLC is a full service law firm based in Everett, Washington. We provide our clients with quality legal work in a broad variety of civil and domestic legal matters. Our law firm serves clientele throughout the central and northern Puget Sound area.

From straightforward issues to complex litigation, we can provide you with the confidential advice you need to maneuver through your particular issue, be it:

-a divorce or other family law matter
-an adoption
-business or real estate issue
-an estate planning or probate matter
-a personal injury

We strive to keep our clients fully informed of the status of their matter, by telephone, e-mail, mail, or fax. Our goal and focus is to provide you with exceptional, courteous service in your time of need.

Year this Office was Established: 1983

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Modifications; 3rd Party Custody; Powers of Attorney; International Adoption.

Practice Areas Description

Our areas of practice include:

- Divorce & Family Law

• Legal Separation
Unlike divorce, a legal separation does not put an end to the marriage. During a legal separation, you have a court order that outlines the rights and responsibilities of each spouse while they are living apart. You remain legally married while choosing to live separate lives. Issues that can be addressed in a separation agreement are division of assets and debts, child custody and child support, visitation schedules and spousal support.

• Modifications
Whether you are paying or receiving child support, the new law has caused substantial changes, including increases in amounts. The law in Washington State allows child support to be adjusted every two years on anytime that a parent’s income has changed substantially, or upon the enactment the new law. Contact us to review your child support situation and make sure you are paying or receiving what the law allows.

• Child Support
Circumstances may change after a settlement for child custody or child support is reached. Fortunately, we can make adjustments to post-decree orders. After the court's approval of a final parenting plan, issues can arise which may lead the court to change the parenting plan to better fit the children's best interests. We can help you identify what changes to the parenting plan are necessary, and accomplish the appropriate revisions. The statutes relating to child support orders allow for modifications in cases where one of the parties loses employment or finds more lucrative employment. In extreme cases, our clients have the right to a contempt hearing if the other party fails to follow the parenting plan or pay court-ordered child support.

• 3rd Party Custody
If you have become the primary caregiver for a child or children and can show cause for legally replacing the natural parent(s), it is possible to file for third party custody under Washington State law. Our attorneys will vigorously press your case in court to illustrate why the child should be formally placed in your care.

• Parentage/Paternity
While both parents may acknowledge paternity and maternity, if there is any doubt now or likely to be doubt in the future, parentage needs to be legally determined. Most parentage actions involve establishing paternity. In some cases there may be a need to establish maternity. As a father, by establishing paternity, you can assure your rights to parenting time including visitation and the opportunity to primary residential custody. Paternity also obligates the father to support the child financially. If you are the mother of a child and need to establish paternity, our lawyers can explain the process and your rights. We can also work with you and the father to establish a parenting plan (residential schedule) and child support.

• Trials/Motions
We are experienced trial attorneys and will represent you in all "in court" actions as needed in your particular case.

- Adoption Law

We can help you navigate what can be complicated issues, both emotionally and legally, in the area of adoption. Our firm has experience with more than two thousand nine hundred (2,900) adoptions over the past twenty-five years. We can shepherd you through this important process.

• Foster Parent
The practice of foster parent adoption is growing. A child's foster family often is the placement of choice when that child becomes legally free for adoption. This is especially true when the child or children in question have special needs and when a strong attachment has grown between foster parent and child during the course of the foster care placement.

• Relative Placement
There is a preference under state law for a dependent child to be placed with a relative when the child’s birth parents are incapable of providing proper parenting. Sometimes the Department of Social and Health Services (“DSHS”) fails to fully consider relatives as placement resources for dependent children. If your niece, nephew or grandchild is “in the system” as a foster child, we can help make sure your voice is heard and due consideration is given to placement of a family member with you. Involvement early in the process increases your chances to continue to remain a part of your loved one’s life.

• DSHS Disputes & Litigation
Our firm is experienced in resolving disputes with state agencies like DSHS. If we cannot negotiate a satisfactory resolution, we have the experience to litigate your case in Juvenile Court. If you feel your point of view is not respected or “heard” by the social worker making critical decisions about a child you cherish, we can assist in ensuring that your voice will be heard by the judge who will ultimately decide placement.

• Step-Parent
A common form of adoption is by a step-parent who assumes moral, financial and legal responsibility for his/her spouse’s child, and in the process, the non-custodial parent is released from all parenting responsibilities. The procedure is fairly straight forward when the adoption is not opposed by the non-custodial parent. In addition, the Homestudy required is less extensive and therefore less expensive than with other types of adoption.

• International Adoption
International Adoption is another way to build your family. In some countries, such as China, the international adoption is finalized in the country of origin, so once you come home with your child, he or she is already legally yours. With adoptions from those countries, our firm’s role is to assist in the “re-adoption” process whereby the adoptive family obtains a decree of adoption under Washington law and a Washington birth certificate.

• Private, Unrelated Parties
A private adoption exists when the adoptive parents hope to adopt a child they already know or adopt through an individual birth mother and do not have to go through an adoption agency to acquire an adoptive child. This type of adoption may exist in a variety of cases such as where a child of family friends is orphaned or when one knows of an acquaintance who can no longer take care of their child and is hoping to have the child adopted.

• Agency Adoptions
If you are working with an agency to find the right child for your family, either domestically or internationally, we can assist in finalizing the adoption.

- Estate Planning

It is advisable to review your estate plan at least every five years. To give one example, the trust you established for a grandchild when the grandchild was sixteen years of age might require a longer or shorter duration when viewed five years later. It is also advisable to review your estate plan whenever significant events occur in your family, including the following: births, deaths, divorces, and drug or alcohol problems. We are experienced in helping you sort through the specific and personal issues that require an approach that is unique to your estate plan.

- Business Representation

We provide legal counsel in a broad range of areas, including entity formation, business acquisitions and sales; business and financial contracts; personnel policies; and employment contracts.

• Business Formation
We will help you as you start a new business with its entity formation and incorporation. If you have an existing business, we can assist you and advise you on succession planning. In addition, we work with your accountants and financial planners to address any legal issues that arise with your business to protect your assets in a comprehensive manner.

• Contracts
We will help you create contracts that will allow you to confidently carry out your business.

• Alternative Dispute Resolution and Litigation
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) includes Mediation and Arbitration, both of which can be a cost effective way to resolve a business conflict. If, mediation and/or your conflict could be resolved through arbitration then litigation, maybe your only recourse. We have the experience to assist you in all of these facets of conflict resolution.

- Real Estate

We provide full service in real estate matters, including purchase and sale, development, leasing and management and dispute resolution. We provide general legal counsel, negotiation and drafting, and litigation/arbitration. Examples are:

. Purchase and Sale Agreements, Residential and Commercial;
. Landlord/Tenant Representation;
. Commercial and Residential Representation, Leases and Evictions;
. Boundary Disputes;
. Easements;
. Business representation;
. Construction & Lien Law;
. Foreclosures and Forfeiture;
. And many other real estate matters.

- Auto & Personal Injury

If you have been involved in a vehicle accident, you need a personal injury attorney who will fight the insurance company, its adjusters, and its attorneys to make sure you are reasonably and fairly compensated for your damages. At Tuohy Minor Kruse PLLC, we fight for your rights and remedies - from lost wages to medical bills, other expenses/losses, and pain and suffering. This includes compensation for not only the personal injury, but the pain, discomfort, suffering, disability, disfigurement, and anxiety already experienced, and reasonably probable to be experienced in the future as a result of the personal injury. In addition, the injured victim should recover reasonable expenses of medical care, treatment, and services, and any lost earnings due to the personal injury.