Estate planning company to pay $14M for ‘scare tactics’

SEATTLE (AP) — A King County judge has ruled that a company that provides estate planning services must pay more than $6.1 million to 1,100 people in Washington state because it used “scare tactics” to pressure people to buy its products. Texas-based CLA Estate Services, Inc. and CLA USA must also pay $6.5 million in civil penalties and more than $1.8 million in attorney’s costs and fees. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson had sued the company in 2018. According to a news release from Ferguson, the company must make restitution payments ranging from $450 to approximately $80,000, plus interest.