This set included 13 programs on 1 USB. All material in this set was recorded at the 2018 Annual Meeting held March 7-11, 2018 in San Antonio, TX
Seminar A: State Law Pitfalls: Don’t Step in It When Your Client Steps Across State Lines
With clients more mobile than ever, this session will focus on drafting to avoid common problems due to differences among state laws. Topics covered will include ademption, lapse, pretermitted children, forced share, and other issues in drafting and administration.
Speakers: Gerry W. Beyer, Lubbock, TX Jocelyn Margolin Borowsky, Wilmington, DE Katherine E. Ramsey, Richmond, VA
Seminar B: Elder Financial Abuse: The Crime of the 21st Century (Ethics)
As the tradition of the close-knit, multigenerational family vanishes in America, an epidemic of elder financial abuse is sweeping the country. ACTEC Fellows must be leaders in the profession’s efforts to combat this crime. We must approach this responsibility, as we do with all others, with knowledge and insight. Good intentions are not enough and may be counterproductive. Through the use of hypotheticals, the panel will discuss the practical tools that are available and the ethical obligations that arise when we confront elder financial abuse by caregivers, family members, strangers, and professional advisors, as well as the increasing problem of financial abuse through technology. The panel will consider the cutting-edge issues of how such tools and obligations apply when elder clients already have been financially abused and the crucial distinction between an elder’s own “bad judgment” and actual financial abuse by others.
Moderator: Keith Bradoc Gallant, New Haven, CT
Speakers: Kristen M. Lewis, Atlanta, GA Professor Mary F. Radford, Atlanta, GA Peter S. Stern, Palo Alto, CA
Seminar C: New Partnership Audit Rules: Why They Are so Important for Estate Planners
New rules that revolutionize partnership audits for years beginning in 2018 have not only had procedural but also substantive effect. Contrary to publicity when enacted, these rules apply to partnerships of all sizes. Those who are partners in the year in which the audit is being conducted (the Adjustment Year Partners) may bear the audit tax burden even though those who were partners in the year being audited (the Review Year Partners) received the benefits. Because (surprisingly) the Review Year Partners (who might not be partners anymore) may control that process, Adjustment Year Partners need protection. Also, affected partnerships may bear tax at higher rates than those that applied to the Review Year Partners.
This seminar will discuss the procedural and substantive tax consequences of being subjected to this regime; who qualifies to elect out of the regime, including how common estate planning tools can affect eligibility; and provisions to include in partnership (or operating) agreements to address conflicts between Review Year Partners and Adjustment Year Partners and to control the audit process
Speakers: James Calzaretta, Chicago, IL Steven B. Gorin, St. Louis, MO T. James Lee, Phoenix, AZ
Seminar D: One Will to Rule Them All (or Not!)
The program will address the topics of international will-drafting and international estate administration, a complex matter, which must take into account conflict of laws rules, procedural questions and practical matters. The practitioner also has to consider whether a US last will and testament will be recognized in a foreign probate proceeding, whether a situs will or international will should be used, and what can be done to simplify the foreign proceedings. The panel will provide practical case studies involving various important foreign jurisdictions and hands on advice for clients with foreign assets.
Speakers: Tina Wüstemann, Zurich, Switzerland Clare Maurice, London, England Christian von Oertzen, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Michelle B. Graham, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Seminar E: Powers of Appointment: From Snoozy to Sexy
Recent times have seen resurgent interest in powers of appointment. We use them to keep long-term, dynastic trusts evergreen and responsive to changing family, tax, and economic landscapes and to transform old, tired assets into assets with new, exciting income tax basis! We have seen powerholders become trustee or trust director substitutes and beneficiaries held in check by the possible detrimental exercise of a power of appointment. Our panel will focus on these uses and more with an emphasis on the practical consequences and potential pitfalls for families and trustees, covering both the tax aspects and the all-important state law issues, including creditor rights, that we must keep in mind in our planning and drafting.
Speakers: Turney P. Berry, Louisville, KY Tami Conetta, Sarasota, FL Neil T. Kawashima, Chicago, IL
Seminar F: Pre-Contest Planning (Ethics)
The panel will explore techniques that may discourage challenges to your client’s estate-planning documents, including steps the planner should take, or avoid taking, to assure that the client’s wishes have a better chance of surviving than the deceased client did.
Speakers: Frederick R. Franke, Jr, Annapolis, MD Vivian Lee Thoreen, Los Angeles, CA
Seminar G: iWills 2.0
Millennials are known as the “disruption generation”. Now they are bringing that disruption to your law practice – the electronic will. Lawyers have been preparing wills on computers for decades, printing them out, and having clients sign the printed version. Is it such a quantum leap to have the documents signed, witnessed, and stored electronically? The Uniform Laws Commission is drafting a model law to address electronic will issues. A similar effort is underway in the UK. Our panelists will engage in a spirited examination of the policy issues that both favor and challenge the move toward electronic wills and execution and the changes in the current law that would be necessary to align wills with today’s technological advances
Speakers: Robert B. Fleming, Tucson, AZ Susan D. Snyder, Chicago, IL Bruce Stone, Coral Gables, FL Suzanne Brown Walsh, Hartford, CT
Seminar H: Nothing is Certain but Death and Taxes - Well, Maybe Just Death
Legal and practical challenges are evolving with respect to funeral arrangements and the disposition of human remains. Those issues permeate estate planning and administration and sometimes result in litigation that might have been avoided with proper planning. The considerations include: how and when to discuss these issues with your clients; how and when an individual can provide directions and designate a funeral agent; which directions are binding; how to handle disputes about the interpretation or implementation of documents providing directions, including choice of law problems; what to do when the next of kin disagree with each other or disagree with the decedent’s wishes; the ownership and disposition of burial plots; conflicts about obituaries, services, cremation, and burial; the use of prepaid arrangements and similar techniques; the fees of attorneys and service providers; and a host of related topics such as exhumation, disinterment, cremation, cryonic preservation, and anatomic gifting. The panel will address the surprising variation among the states and the unexpected issues that arise when an individual dies in a state other than the state of residence. The practical aspects of these issues will be examined so you can better advise your clients and improve the likelihood that the decedent’s wishes will be honored.
Speakers: Robert W. Goldman, Naples, FL Susan M. Holzman, Roseland, NJ Professor Tanya Marsh, Wake Forrest University, School of Law, Winston-Salem, NC
Seminar I: The GoFundMe Revolution: What Happens Once the Money Has Been Raised?
Individual fundraising has gone digital. The practice of setting up a bank account and asking for help on the local news for a sick child or a family in need has transitioned to fundraising sites like gofundme.com, and pleas for contributions are now spread on social media. As a result, the funds raised are exponentially greater than in the past. However, the legal, tax, and fiduciary issues affecting the money raised remain murky and largely unregulated. Canada has adopted a uniform law to regulate these funds, and the Uniform Law Commission is beginning work on a similar uniform law for the United States. This panel will explore the current status of these funds, including tax issues and coordination with special needs planning, the potential future regulation, and the ways that planners can advise clients who wish to set up or participate in this type of fundraising.
Speakers: Professor Karen E. Boxx, Seattle, WA Mary Alice Jackson P.C., Austin, TX Karin Prangley, Chicago, IL
Symposium I: 9100 Relief: Jumping Through the Hoops When You Learn You Have an “Oops!”
“9100 Relief” for missed or mishandled tax elections is broader, more frequently needed, and thus a lot more useful than many estate planners might realize. Attendees will hear how to discover mistakes, whether a 9100 doover is the answer, and how to obtain it. The panelists will share tips about dealing with the National Office of the IRS and tips about dealing with the parties and professionals involved when they have that “Oops!” moment.
Speakers: Ronald D. Aucutt, Tysons Corner, VA Beth Shapiro Kaufman, Washington, DC Douglas L. Siegler, Washington, DC
Symposium II: On the Road Again: Situs and the Resident Trust
Should your trust pack up and hit the road? Is change of situs a must if there are taxes to be saved? Where are your trustees? Where is your trust administration? What was the residence of your settlor/grantor? What other contacts does your trust have to a state that may subject it to that state’s fiduciary income tax? The panelists will use fact patterns drawn from recent cases and developments to help identify ways trustees can minimize or avoid state fiduciary income tax – and at the very least seriously consider these issues. They will address the different approaches taken in determining a “resident” trust for income tax purposes and when a state may no longer impose its income tax on a trust. What checklist might practitioners and trustees use in considering these issues? How does due process, the commerce clause, and jurisdiction play a role? Does a trustee and/or trustee’s counsel have surcharge/liability exposure for paying state fiduciary tax that could otherwise be avoided? What weight can/should you give non-tax issues?
Speakers: Richard H. Greenberg, Woodbridge, NJ Richard W. Nenno, Wilmington, DE Margaret E.W. Sager, West Conshohocken, PA
Hot Topics
Panelists will review and discuss the most recent developments, cases, and rulings in the estate-planning area.
Speakers: Turney P. Berry, Louisville, KY Kimberly E. Cohen, Boston, MA
Annual Tractman Lecture by R. Hugh Magill
R. Hugh Magill is an Executive Vice President of Northern Trust Corporation, Chicago, where he serves as Chief Fiduciary Officer and Global Director of Trust Services. In this capacity, he is responsible for Northern’s fiduciary services to clients nationally and internationally.
Prior to joining Northern Trust in September 1989, Hugh practiced law privately in Chicago, and worked in the Trust Department at The First National Bank of Chicago where he served as Assistant to the Chief Investment Officer. Magill received a B.A. degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and a J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was named a distinguished alumnus in 2005.
Hugh is a member of the Chicago, Illinois and American Bar Associations, the Chicago Estate Planning Council, and the Christian Legal Society. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Minnesota and admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council and a faculty member of the American Banker’s Association National Trust School. He has lectured for the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, the Heckerling Institute, the Notre Dame Institute, the Kasner Institute, the Northwestern University Center for Family Enterprise, regional bar associations and estate planning councils, and Northern Trust on estate and charitable planning, trust management, family governance, and fiduciary risk management.
He is a trustee of the Covenant Board of Pensions and Benefits, and he serves on the Boards of the Block Museum of Art, Ministry Mentors, the Chicago Sunday Evening Club, and several foundations. He serves on the Editorial Board of Trusts & Estates magazine, has authored articles for Trusts & Estates, Trust & Investments, and Wealth magazines, and in 2017 was inducted into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame where he holds the designation of Accredited Estate Planner® (Distinguished). Hugh is an Eagle Scout and has served as a Scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America. He and is wife are the parents of three adult children and reside in Winnetka, Illinois.
