This set included 12 programs on 23 CD. All material in this set was recorded at the 2016 Annual Meeting held March 17-20, 2016 in Las Vegas, NV
Seminar A: “I Get a Kick Out of You” Understanding and Avoiding Tax Penalties
This session will examine a wide variety of civil and even criminal penalties that can be imposed upon taxpayers and their advisors in the context of income and transfer taxes, how to mitigate the risk of the imposition of these penalties and the various defenses available when such penalties are sought by the Service. Among the penalties that will be discussed are those imposed for the failure to file tax returns, the failure to pay tax when due, negligence, substantial understatements of valuation or tax liabilities, and fraud, as well as the penalties that can be imposed upon return preparers and appraisers.
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Seminar B: “Strangers in the Night” Middle of the Night Calls: What do you do when you get the urgent call? (Ethics)
It is the middle of the night and you are suddenly awakened by someone calling you about an urgent, can’t-wait-until-the-morning estate matter. The call may touch on immediate changes to an estate plan, an urgent need for a medical consent for a client or family member, a matter involving a person or decedent overseas, or someone who is in immediate danger or jeopardy. What do you do? Through the use of case studies, our panel will provide practical advice and guidance to address the emergency situation, in the context of legal and ethical strategies.
Seminar C: “The Best is Yet to Come” Preview of Issues Encountered in the Upcoming New Edition of the ACTEC Commentaries on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Ethics)
The 5th Edition of the ACTEC Commentaries is about to be published. The new edition adds Commentaries to four more Model Rules in areas including multi-disciplinary practice, advertising, delegation of work to non-lawyers, and imputation of conflicts of interest. Existing Commentaries have been expanded to address recent developments such as FATF and elder abuse statutes. In addition to this new material, we will discuss some recurring ethical issues such as representation of multiple generations, the challenges posed by clients with diminishing capacity, concurrent representation of fiduciary and beneficiary, and the attorney acting as fiduciary.
Seminar D: “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” Are You Rolling The Dice on Trustee Fees? Drafting, Understanding, and Enforcing Reasonable Compensation for Trustees
This seminar will discuss the elements that should be considered in determining reasonable compensation for a trustee and drafting compensation provisions into the trust agreement, the effect of multiple trustees on fees, ethical considerations for compensating the attorney also serving as trustee, and litigation issues in trustee compensation disputes.
Seminar E: “My Way” What is the Donor’s Best Charitable Game?
Private foundations, supporting organizations and donor advised funds each offer unique benefits suited to particular charitable players and philanthropists. This program will cover the house rules of these different options to help you lead your philanthropic clients to the right table for their game.
Seminar F: “The September of My Years” Setting Up Your Estate Planning and Probate Practice So You Can Retire With Ease
We are reminded throughout our careers by financial planners that it is never too early to start financially planning for retirement. In addition to the financial planning, retiring with ease also requires implementing policies and procedures in our practice long before we plan to retire, whether practicing with a firm or as a solo practitioner. This seminar will review the ethical obligations when an attorney retires or closes a practice, and will review a checklist of the other legal and practical issues which can help make retiring or closing a practice easier. This program will also examine planning issues in the event of death or disability of the attorney, addressing preservation of practice value, protection of clients, managing files and original documents, and reducing the administrative burden on the practitioner’s family.
Seminar G: “L.O.V.E” The ABC’s of Estate Planning Acronyms and Service Marks
While to some it may seem basic, estate planners and clients face a bewildering array of different types of trusts that are often designated by an acronym such as a GRIT or a GRAT or title that has a Service Mark such as the “Supercharged Credit Shelter Trust.” This session will look at both well-known acronyms and less well-known acronyms in the trust and estate field and examine the advantages and disadvantages. Among the types of trusts and planning techniques to be discussed are: The Supercharged Credit Shelter Trust; ILITS (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts); SLATs (Spousal Limited Access Trusts); GRATs (Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts) and its cousin, the GRUT (Grantor Retained Unitrust); GRITs (Grantor Retained Income Trusts); QPRTs (Qualified Personal Residence Trusts); IDGTs (Irrevocable Defective Grantor Trusts); BING (Beneficiary Irrevocable Grantor Trusts); DINGs (Delaware Irrevocable Nongrantor Trusts); Charitable techniques such as CRTs (Charitable Remainder Trusts) and CLTs (Charitable Lead Trusts).
Seminar H: “Night and Day”: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: Unconscious Bias In Law Practice
Scientists estimate that as much as 80% of our thoughts are unconscious and automatic. Unconscious attitudes and beliefs are shaped by all kinds of influences – some of which we wouldn’t agree with or accept on a conscious level. Yet, these unconscious thoughts leak into our decision-making and can have a profound impact in the workplace and the practice of law. In this interactive session, we will learn how to recognize our own unconscious biases and practical ways to interrupt those biases so that we can make better decisions and serve our clients more effectively.
Symposium I “For Once in My Life” You Can Take It with You — Assuring Compliance with Decedent’s Wishes in an Era of Litigation and Flexibility
This panel discussion will focus on the many ways estate plan objectives can be modified and frustrated post-death, and strategies to avoid those changes. Topics will include the current state of In Terrorem clause enforcement; the role of arbitration clauses in wills and trusts; judicial intervention through construction of ambiguities and reformations; the growing use of Non-Judicial Settlement Agreements through Virtual Representation statutes; Total Return and Directed Trust Conversions; Decanting; and Disclaimers. The panelists will discuss policy issues arising in locking in planning objectives opposed by beneficiaries and the courts, as well as trends in the use of preventive measures to defeat statutory modification remedies, like Decanting. The panel will also discuss the role Judges play in determining intent and how planners can assist with that task.
Symposium II: “Someone to Watch Over Me” Personal Assistants, Nannies, Caregivers, House Managers, Gardeners and Drivers: 21st Century Household Employee Issues
Legal liability for mishandling the hiring and firing process of household and family office employees is as much a threat to a family’s wealth as a poorly designed will, trust or prenuptial agreement. Estate planners often are closest to the family and the most knowledgeable about what is happening in the evolving life of the family as its wealth creates more complexity. We cannot be experts, but we can help our clients understand this issues. Presented by an ACTEC Fellow who is now the head of a family office along with an employment lawyer and an immigration lawyer, this symposium will give you the tools to spot common issues and answer client questions. Among other things, the symposium will address good practices in hiring household employees, determining whether a potential household employee is authorized to work in the United States, how wage and hour laws apply to household employees, managing risk and a client’s liability for the negligent acts of an employee.
Hot Topics: “It Was a Very Good Year” – The Best of the List-Serv
Trachtman Lecture
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