Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

CLE on IRA Compliance Issues Including IRA Trust Violations

The American Bar Association will sponsor a CLE entitled, IRA Compliance Issues Including IRA Trust Violations, on Jun. 11, 2013 from 9:00 am - 12:45 pm. Provided below is a description of the event:

WHY ATTEND?

Government reports from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Government Accountability Office reveal a significant amount of noncompliance from taxpayers who make excess contributions to IRA accounts and from taxpayers who fail to receive required minimum distributions.

The IRS is developing a significant long-term compliance initiative to reduce this growing noncompliance involving retirement accounts. This strategy includes the development of techniques to identify individuals who are not in compliance. The initiative will also include education components and outreach programs.

Seymour Goldberg, the featured speaker at this program, is well known and highly respected for his expertise in retirement distribution planning and compliance. He will provide the guidance practitioners need to effectively advise their clients. As a BONUS, his just written manual for the American Bar Association, IRA Guide to IRS Compliance Issues Including IRA Trust Violations, will be given to registrants as part of the course materials at no extra cost.

PROGRAM TOPICS INCLUDE:

• Commencement of the IRS audit initiative in fiscal 2013 on IRA noncompliance
• (including outreach initiatives)
• Statute of limitations involving IRA penalties
• Professional responsibility and ethics issues
• Tax preparer responsibility and Circular 230 issues
• Personal liability of the fiduciary for debts to the U.S. Government
• Early distribution penalty violations
• Required minimum penalty violations
• Waiver distribution procedure of the required minimum penalty
• Excess contribution violations .
• Important IRA distribution tax trap to know about
• IRA trust checklist and practitioner tips
• Disclosure issues and IRA trust violations
• And much more. . . .

CLE on Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries

The American Legal Institute will be hosting a CLE in Langham, Boston entitled, Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries, July 18-19, 2013.  A description of the CLE is below:

Why You Should Attend

Estate planners, litigators, and corporate fiduciary counsel all want to know what impact (if any) the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 will have on their clients.

This advanced CLE course goes beyond basics and delves into topics that specifically affect beneficiaries and fiduciaries, while offering registrants solutions to their most pressing concerns through small roundtable discussions and networking opportunities.

Experienced planning chairs Steve Fast and Bob Whitman, and the rest of the nationally known faculty panel, provide two full days of knowledge, insight, and even a bit of humor as they update you on all the current law developments affecting beneficiaries and fiduciaries.

What You Will Learn

The go-to program for estate and trust administration professionals is back by popular demand! Get the latest insight on the issues, including strategies for addressing current challenges for unhappy beneficiaries and concerned fiduciaries. Expert faculty of seasoned practitioners from across the country will examine: 

• Emerging fiduciary issues and how to pick (or be picked as) the best lawyer for the job
• Hot topics in tax, ethics, and estate and trust administration
• What you don’t (but should!) know about income taxation of estates and trusts
• The current fiduciary litigation landscape—and what you should do differently
• Perils of the lawyer-trustee
• The emboldened beneficiary
• Deposition devils and details
• Decanting illusions
• “Side letters” to trustees
• The intersection of the prudent investor and business interests
• Failing facility – drawing the lines on diminished capacity
• Using taxes to settle disputes
• Ethics analysis (one hour)
• Your issues, one-on-one

Faculty will reserve time throughout the program to address your questions.

Registrants at the live program have the opportunity to take part in small, focused, and interactive discussions during breakfast.

Live Webinar on Family Wealth Transfers

The American Bar Association will be hosting a Trust & Estate Webinar entitled, What’s the Encore:  Correcting and/or Amplifying Family Wealth Transfers on June 6, 2013 from 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM CT.  A description of the webinar is below:

During this session our panelists will cover the application and management of wealth transfer strategies that provide some benefit to the grantor and/or the grantor’s spouse.

They will discuss the following strategies:

• Creative planning with loans and/or annuities owed by an IDGT to the grantor;
• Additional wealth transfer strategies available when gift tax exemption is exhausted, and;
• Strategies to preserve a basis adjustment upon the grantor’s death.

CLE on Beneficiary Designation Problems

The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law will sponsor a CLE entitled, When Good Benes Go Bad or Missing Beneficiary Designation Problems with Qualified Plans and IRAs: How to Identify, Avoid and Fix Them, on May 22, 2013. Provided below is a description of the event:

PANELISTS:
Robert S. Keebler, Keebler & Associates, LLP, Green Bay, WI
Kristen M. Lynch, Fowler White Burnett, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

PROGRAM INFORMATION

TextIt is currently estimated that there are over Five Trillion Dollars currently invested in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and that these assets comprise approximately 10% of all household financial assets. IRAs, and a staggering amount of tax-deferred employee benefit accounts (which are eligible at some point be rolled into the IRAs) now constitute a meaningful part of estate planning and post mortem planning discussions. Both IRA assets and plan assets are supposed to pass by way of beneficiary designation . . .and yet there is an ever-increasing number of situations in which the beneficiary designation does not appear to name the intended beneficiary, has some execution flaw, or has completely gone missing.

The purpose of this informative webinar is to provide some background on Federal and common State laws that impact IRAs and qualified plans, as well as contractual issues.

The speakers will discuss the types of beneficiary problems that can arise and will discuss various options and approaches towards correcting the problems or mitigating the damage caused, including:

• The impact of ERISA and REA on plan beneficiary designations;
• The deadlines after death within which actions should be taken;
• How to preserve or salvage tax deferral/life expectancy if possible;
• Spousal IRA concerns – community property, divorce settlements, elective share;
• Undue influence and beneficiary disputes – or the IRA version of a will contest;
• Post-mortem possibilities if the named beneficiary has “Special Needs”;
• The issues presented when trusts are named or utilized inappropriately;
• The constant balance between best possible tax deferral and getting the IRA into the right hands; and
• Best practices 

Register now for this program using your ABA ID (00954888).

24th Annual Estate Planning and Probate Drafting Course

The State Bar of Texas is presenting the 24th Annual Estate Planning and Probate Drafting Course in Houston, TX on October 24-25, 2013.  The course provides 13 hours of MCLE credit, including 2 hours of ethics.  A description of the course is below:

Course Highlights

• Decanting panel
• Drafting for Trust Modifications and Private Letter Ruling Requests
• Pretrial Drafting for Will Contests, Guardianship Disputes and Fiduciary Litigation
• Drafting Fiduciary Powers for Trust Protectors and Independent Trustees
• Drafting for Marital Deduction Planning in 2013

Course Amenities

• Coffee and breakfast provided each morning
• Lunch provided both days
• Complimentary wireless Internet connection in the meeting room
• Convenient access to electrical connections - bring your laptop!
• Networking Social on Thursday night

For those that can’t make it to the live course, a video replay will be shown in Dallas, TX on November 21-22, 2013.

Invitation to a Primer for Attorneys & Planners on Purposeful Trusts & Gifts in Philadelphia on June 20, 2013

The following announcement is posted as a courtesy to the Purposeful Planning Institute:

Are you looking for ways to better assist your clients in transitioning their wealth—not just their financial wealth but all of those other dimensions of a family’s wealth? Have you noticed how energized clients get when they discover the power of an ethical will, a family legacy letter, or an expression of donor intent? Have you considered the possibility there might be a “Better Way” to create wills and trusts than the standard forms and boilerplate used today? What if there was a way to create legal instruments which not only satisfy what the Third Restatement of Trusts describes as a best practice for 21st century will and trust drafting but to have your clients give testimonials like this about the outcomes of their planning experience:

When I sat down in the attorney’s conference room and read the documents my husband and I had created with the help of our planning team, I broke into tears. These were tears of joy. I never knew until that moment that it was possible for my yet unborn grandchildren to hear my voice through my will and to know how much we loved them and how much we wanted to make sure our financial wealth would become a positive influence in their lives—A female client, Denver, Colorado

The Primer on Purposeful Trusts & Gifts Workshop on June 20th in Philadelphia is a ½ day interactive and intensive workshop designed for 10 to 16 professionals who assist clients in the design, drafting or administration of trusts.

This workshop will teach you simple but effective ways we can make sure that the will and trust documents we produce for our clients will help create the most positive impact possible in the lives of beneficiaries and inheritors. This experience will arm you with stories, knowledge and processes which will not only transform the way you think about the design and drafting of trusts and wills but HOW you and your clients work together to produce those estate planning documents.

Workshop participants will be eligible for 3.5 - 4 hours of continuing professional education credits. For more information on the Primer on Purposeful Trusts & Gifts and other workshops hosted by the Purposeful Planning Institute please visit www.purposefulplanninginstitute.com/primer or contact us at info@purposefulplanninginstitute.com.

CLE on Trust Modifications by Agreement

The Illinois State Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section is offering a 1.5 MCLE Hour webcast entitled, Virtual Representations: Trusts Modifications by Agreement, on Thursday, May 30, 2013 from 12:30 -1:30 pm. Below is a description and highlights of the event as provided by the Illinois State Bar Association: 

The Illinois virtual representation statute allows a trustee and certain beneficiaries to modify an irrevocable trust by nonjudicial agreement without the burden and expense of going to court. Join us via the Internet from the comfort of your home or office for this live webcast to learn what changes can be made by virtual representation agreements, whose consent is required, and the best practices in drafting and implementing virtual representation agreements.

CLE on International Trust and Estate Planning

The ALI-CLE is sponsoring a live course/telephone seminar entitled, International Trust and Estate Planning, from Thursday October 10, 2013 to Friday October 11, 2013 at the Revere Hotel Boston Common in Massaschusetts. Provided below is description of the event:

In the course of more than 14 hours of instruction, the tax and reporting rules relating to foreign trusts and trusts established by foreign grantors are discussed in depth, as are the regulations and procedures implementing them. The complementary tax regimes affecting foreign corporations with U.S. shareholders also are examined. New this year is a segment on international philanthropy analyzing taxation of direct gifts to overseas recipients as well as a session on unique estate planning concerns for Canadian clients.

Other topics include:

• Income, gift, and estate taxation of nonresident aliens after the 2010 legislation;
• Marital planning for the non-citizen spouse;
• Recent developments with voluntary disclosure of offshore financial accounts;
• The opportunities and pitfalls of expatriation after the 2008 HEART Act changes; and
• U.S. immigration and nationality concerns relevant to high-net-wealth persons moving to and from the United States;
• “Inbound” and “outbound” grantor trusts

As in prior years, time is devoted to a discussion of the practical and ethical issues that arise in dealing with international clients in an increasingly regulated world. Time is reserved throughout the program to address registrants’ questions.

Update on CLE on Skills Training for Estate Planners

The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and New York Law School will sponsor a CLE entitled, 2013 Skills Training for Estate Planners, from July 17-19, 2013. The deadline to register is June 28, 2013. Provided below is a description of the event:

For over 15 years, the Skills Training for Estate Planners CLE program has provided lawyers with a strong educational experience focused on the fundamentals of estate planning. This year the program has added a NEW Advanced Topics course of study, focused on current topics of interest and importance to experienced estate planning lawyers.

This intensive three-day course is an excellent opportunity for experienced lawyers to further expand their knowledge and skills in estate planning. The outstanding faculty includes experts in all aspects of estate planning, and the topics they will cover include:

Business Planning

• Family business planning
• Chapter 14 implications
• Valuation theory and practice
• QSSTs versus ESBTs
• Use and drafting of buy sell agreements
• Income tax exit strategies

Trust Considerations

• Use and drafting of split interest trusts
• Generation skipping transfer tax planning
• Impact of Section 2036 on drafting and planning
• Estate freezes, GRATs and sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts
• Life insurance trust planning
• The numbers of estate planning

Important Considerations

• Retirement planning and deferred compensation
• Planning for residences/vacation homes
• Planning for the multinational client
• Income tax considerations for taxable estates
• Ethical considerations

CLE on Creating Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law will sponsor a teleconference entitled, Creating A Domestic Asset Protection Trust, on Tuesday May 7, 2013 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EST. Provided below is the description the event:

In 1997 Alaska and Delaware became the first two states to adopt self-settled asset protection trust legislation. Twelve other states have since adopted some form self-settled asset protection legislation, the most recent being Ohio. Domestic asset protection trusts have become an important component of many clients' wealth preservation and estate planning.

This program will address some of the key aspects of domestic asset protection trust planning including:

• Selection of a trust jurisdiction;
• Intake and funding of domestic asset protection trusts;
• Common uses of domestic asset protection trusts;
• Drafting a domestic asset protection trust; and
• Administering a domestic asset protection trust.

CLE on Multistate Estate and Gift Planning

The American Law Institute will sponsor a CLE entitled, Multistate Estate and Gift Planning.  The telephone seminar and audio webcast will be held on April 23, 2013, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET.  Provided below is a description of the event:

Our expert faculty panel will guide you through the tax and non-tax considerations when dealing with multistate issues by reviewing substantive and procedural differences among states, and providing planning techniques and tips.  Topics include:

• Overview of which states have estate or gift taxes
• Determination of taxes based on domicile, location of assets, and location of beneficiaries
• How elective shares, bequests to a former spouse, community property, homestead protection, and prenuptial agreements can override estate planning documents
• State law restrictions on the ability to choose trustees (corporate or individual), executors, and others who will make investment, distribution or administrative decisions
• Deciding primary jurisdiction and which state’s law applies
• And more!

Please click here for more information or to register.

CLE on Skill Training for Estate Planning

The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and New York Law School will sponsor a CLE entitled, 2013 Skills Training for Estate Planners, from July 15-19, 2013. Provided below is a description of the event:

These CLE programs, sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and New York Law School, will be held at New York Law School in the Tribeca neighborhood of downtown Manhattan. They will fill up quickly – early registration is advised!

Fundamentals: July 15 - 19, 2013

An intensive estate planning program for young or transitioning lawyers new to the practice.

Advanced Topics: July 17 - 19, 2013

An intensive estate planning program for experienced estate planning lawyers seeking to increase their knowledge and skills.

Reminder: CLE on Asset Protection Trusts

The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law will sponsor a teleconference entitled, Asset Protection Trusts: How Real Is Your Protection? A View of From the Trust's Buster's Perspective, on Tuesday April 16, 2013 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EST. Provided below is the description the event:

Litigation is on the rise for more and more clients. Success in any type of litigation does not end with the judgment - often, that is only the beginning. How does the successful litigant collect when the defendant has trasnferred his assets into an asset protection trust?

Our panelists will walk through issues including the following:

• Vulnerable areas for asset protection trusts;
• For debtors, how to bolster trust weaknesses and guard against challenges;
• For creditors, how to exploit weaknesses to "bust the trust;" and
• Specific issues related to Domestic Asset Protection Trusts.

CLE on Advance Directives For LGBT Adults

The ABA will sponsor a 1.5 hour live webinar and teleconference entitled, Advance Directives and Estate Planning for LGBT Adults, on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 from 1:00-2:30 PM EST. Provided below is a description of the event:

This program will give an overview of the unique issues that arise when doing advance care and estate planning for same-sex couples, including relationship recognition, document preparation, financing elder care, and the impact of possible changes in the legal landscape.  

Not only will the program address the basics of estate planning but the panelists will also discuss Medicaid spousal impoverishment protections, transfer tax concerns, and employer sponsored retirement plans.  Finally, the program will conclude with a discussion on the possible changes in the legal landscape, including the CMS letter allowing states to extend spousal impoverishment protections to same-sex couples and the pending DOMA case in the Supreme Court.

CLE on Basic Estate Planning

The Illinois State Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section is offering a 6.25 MCLE Hour, including 1.75 hours PMCLE credit, CLE entitled, Basic Estate Planning Bootcamp, on Thursday, April 25, 2013 from 8:50 - 4:45 pm. Below is a description and highlights of the event as provided by the Illinois State Bar Association: 

Learn the essentials of the initial client meeting, the appropriate use of advanced directives and the ethical considerations in the estate planning process. Don’t miss this opportunity to update your basic knowledge of wills, trusts, and formulating your client’s estate plan. Trusts and estate professionals, new attorneys, small and closely-held business counsel, financial planners and accountants with beginning to intermediate experience who attend this seminar will:

• Learn how to obtain relevant information during the initial client meeting;
• Be better prepared to draft dispositive provisions in a will;
• Understand how to personalize a client’s will;
• Learn to recognize potential gift and estate tax issues;
• Understand the importance of funding trusts;
• Learn to recognize potential gift and estate tax issues;
• Be able to avoid the various pitfalls that may arise throughout the estate planning process; and
• Better understand the ethical considerations in estate planning, including engagement letters, identifying conflicts, and complying with the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.

CLE on Family Planning for Family Business Owners

Starting on Wednesday, July 10, the ABA presents the CLE entitled Estate Planning for the Family Business Owner. The CLE will go through Friday, July 12 in Chicago, Illinois. There will be a live course and a live video webcast. The course details, available on the website, are below: 

Do not miss the ONLY in-depth, national program specifically tailored for estate planners who represent family business owners! Plus, get a “behind the scenes” look at business succession planning issues! This annual advanced course, comprising more than 18 hours of instruction, including one hour of ethics, covers various aspects of the closely-held family business, from choice of entity to estate administration. By the end of this course, you should be better prepared to recognize and evaluate family business issues and, in so doing, become better skilled at designing customized succession plans for your family business clients. Expert faculty will cover the hottest topics facing estate planning attorneys, including:

Planning foundations for the family business owner: pre-formation planning, mission statements, accommodating family relationships, outside board advisors, drafting fundamental formation documents Best practices for planning Buy-Sell agreements Qualified retirement plan/IRA issues New planning paradigms in light of ATRA and further legislative proposals Incorporating charitable planning, including charitable gifts involving S corporations And much more!

CLE on Multistate Estate and Gift Planning

On Tuesday, April 23, 2013, the ABA is hosting a telephone seminar and audio webcast entitled Multistate Estate and Gift Planning. The telephone seminar and webcast is from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern.  Topics will include: 

• Overview of which states have estate or gift taxes
• Determination of taxes based on domicile, location of assets, and location of beneficiaries
• How elective shares, bequests to a former spouse, community property, homestead protection, and prenuptial agreements can override estate planning documents
• State law restrictions on the ability to choose trusts (corporate or individual) executors, and others who will make investment, distribution or administrative decisions
• Deciding primary jurisdiction and which state's law applies
• And more! 

Please click here for more information. 

CLE on Asset Protection Trusts

The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law will sponsor a teleconference entitled, Asset Protection Trusts: How Real Is Your Protection? A View of From the Trust's Buster's Perspective, on Tuesday April 16, 2013 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EST. Provided below is the description the event:

Litigation is on the rise for more and more clients. Success in any type of litigation does not end with the judgment - often, that is only the beginning. How does the successful litigant collect when the defendant has trasnferred his assets into an asset protection trust?

Our panelists will walk through issues including the following:

• Vulnerable areas for asset protection trusts;
• For debtors, how to bolster trust weaknesses and guard against challenges;
• For creditors, how to exploit weaknesses to "bust the trust;" and
• Specific issues related to Domestic Asset Protection Trusts.

CLE on Estate Planning for Same Sex and Unmarried Couples

The ALI-CLE is sponsoring a telephone seminar and audio webcast entitled, Estate Planning and Beyond for Same Sex and Unmarried Couples, on Friday April 12, 2013 from 12:30 - 2:00 pm EST. Provided below is description of the event:

Same sex and unmarried couples, as well as their counsel, face considerable legal challenges when designing estate plans.

The course will guide practitioners on key components of an effective estate plan, highlight scenarios and set ups to avoid, and provide guidance on important parenting and family-planning considerations.

Topics Include:

• Medical directives, power of attorney and HIPAA issues
• Beneficiary designations
• Estate planning and tax considerations to circumvent unequal tax treatment for same sex and unmarried couples
• Establishing parenthood in adoption and in the emerging field of third party reproduction

CLE on the Fundamentals of Medicare/Medicaid

ABA Health Law Section, Commission on Law and Aging and Center for Professional Development will sponsor a 1.5 hour live webinar and teleconference entitled, Fundamentals of Medicare/Medicaid on Thursday, March 28, 2013 from 12:00-1:30 PM EST. Provided below is a description of the event:

This program will address the basic structure, payment methodologies and coverage of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  The concepts addressed in this course are critical to efficiently researching issues and advising health care clients on legal compliance with program requirements.  A health care client’s failure to fully understand the requirements of the Medicare and Medicaid programs can result in significant legal consequences ranging from civil penalties to criminal prosecution.

This program will help you gain an understanding of the types of health care services covered by the Medicare and Medicaid programs, how these services are paid, and the differences in how each program is regulated and administered.  The speakers will guide you through various strategies and resources for researching the often complicated questions raised by health care clients participating in multiple federal health care programs.