Carol Vaughn

Carol Vaughn was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1986. She has a litigation practice focusing on guardianships, trusts, probates and vulnerable adults. She is a graduate of Smith College (1983; magna cum laude) and Harvard Law School (1986). Ms. Vaughn was a legal aid attorney with Evergreen Legal Services and Northwest Justice Project before joining Thompson & Howle. In 2003, she was awarded a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship from Harvard Law School. While at Thompson & Howle, Carol Vaughn and Suzanne Howle have co-counseled the following cases before the Washington Court of Appeals: Estate of Kessler, 95 Wn. App. 358; 977 P.2d 591 (1999) (will contest); Estate of Whitehead, 2007 Wn. App. Lexis 1827 (Slayer Statute; represented family of victim); and Estate of Smaldino, 151 Wn. App. 356, 212 P.3d 579 (2009) (contempt finding against opposing counsel in probate litigation against former personal representative for breach of fiduciary duty and failure to account);Estate of Haviland, 2011 Wash. App. LEXIS 1564 (published opinion; successfully invalidated will for undue influence); Estate of Haviland, 161 Wn. App. 851; 251 P.3d 289 (2011) (successfully argued that recent amendments to RCW 11.84 apply prospectively to a petition filed after the effective date of the amendments, even though the decedent was financially exploited and died prior to the effective date of the amendments); Estate of Benson, 160 Wn. App. 1014; 2011 Wash. App. LEXIS 514 (unpublished; successfully defended Estate and surviving spouse against partnership claims and established that estate was community property). She is admitted to practice in the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She has been asked to speak at legal seminars and law school classes on a variety of topics including “Recovering Assets from and Executing Judgments Against Former Fiduciaries,” elder law for public interest lawyers, and the Vulnerable Adult Protection Act. She also serves on the WSBA Amicus Curiae Brief Committee. 

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