Effective immediately (as of 10/5/2023), McKell Graff, PLLC are are only taking court-appointed dependency cases. We are no longer accepting private pay family law, estate planning, mediation, or elder law cases. In-person consultation in court-appointed dependency cases are by appointment only.
Meredith McKell Graff, the founder of McKELL GRAFF, PLLC, has experienced the trauma, cost, and potential unfairness of contested family law matters first hand. In the years following that experience, she has committed herself to learning alternate methods of resolving disputes in order to help other people avoid situations like hers. Her husband and law partner, Eugene McKell Graff, shares this philosophy.
The Graffs believe in “reality-based” legal representation, that is, in addition to their duty to advocate, they also strive to counsel their clients about the risks involved with contested litigation: financial, emotional, and decisional. Of course, settlement is not always possible or even advisable in every case, particularly if the result would cause harm or be manifestly unjust. However, in every case the Graffs refuse to act as “hired guns” for parties whose goal is to “spend down” the other party or “make the other party’s life a hell” via the legal process, particularly in the family law context.
As a general rule, the Graffs encourage that their clients have the goal of settling their legal matter at the earliest, most-advantageous juncture, before emotions run so high that settlement is next to impossible. However, if trial is necessary, the Graffs have substantial trial experience and are effective litigators.
McKELL GRAFF CURRENTLY PROVIDES COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL IN DEPENDENCY COURT IN CLARK & COWLITZ COUNTIES.
❖ Last Will and Testament, Codicils
❖ Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts
– Special Needs Trust
– Educational Trust
– Trusts for Medicare Planning
❖ Durable Power of Attorney (medical and/or financial)
– Immediate
– Deferred until Incapacity
❖ Advanced Directive – including medical power of attorney and living will
❖ Guardianships and/or Conservatorships
❖ Five Wishes
❖ Ethical Wills – may include a letter or document a person writes that describes his or her personal values, beliefs, and other insights for his or her descendants. An ethical will can communicate a parent’s hopes and wishes, as well as regrets and apologies, to his or her children and grandchildren.
These can be letters, personal histories, or stories that are passed down from one generation to the next that preserve life lessons learned and values cherished during a person’s lifetime.