This set included 11 audio programs on 1 USB. All material in this set was recorded at the 2020 Annual Meeting held March 6-8, 2020 in Boca Raton, FL
Hot Topics
The panel will discuss recent developments in Washington and across the nation that may impact the trust and estate practice — a can’t miss event!
Moderator: Cynda C. Ottaway
Speakers: Todd Angkatavanich Keri D. Brown
Seminar A: Loose Lips Might Sink Ships - The Ethics of Disclosures and Testimony by Estate Planners: Tips, Tools and Trade Secrets (Ethics)
Have you ever received a letter or subpoena requesting a copy of your client’s estate planning file or affidavit, deposition or trial testimony?
Few estate planners consider the ethics and practical impact of taking proper steps when receiving a subpoena that requests their client’s estate planning file or related testimony. Fellows will gain the perspective of both planners and litigators on a drafting attorney’s role in a will or trust contest. This seminar will examine ethical issues that arise in deposition and trial testimony when estate planning files are sought in discovery as well as applicable privileges and potential conflicts. The panel will discuss differences between privileged and confidential information, who ‘owns’ the attorney-client privilege before and after death, when being proactive may get you into hot water, practical strategies in responding to discovery requests and best practices for maintaining and producing file materials and providing testimony.
Speakers: Kim D. Fetrow Shaheen I. Imami Leiha Macauley
Seminar B: Thinking of Naming a Foreign Person as a Fiduciary? Think Twice. Beneficiaries Living Abroad? Check Thrice.
Advising Clients Who Want to Name a Foreign Individual as Fiduciary of their Estate Plan or when a Beneficiary Resides Abroad
This session is for Fellows who have wondered if they can name a client’s foreign relative or friend as executor, guardian, trustee, beneficiary or agent. Panelists will discuss practical considerations when clients wish to name a foreign person or resident in their estate planning documents and examine the implications of naming a foreign person as an executor, guardian for minor children or as an agent under a financial Power of Attorney or an Advance Health Care Directive. The seminar will also cover issues and planning considerations when beneficiaries reside abroad and how that may impact a client’s estate plan. Panelists will address pitfalls in drafting, practical advice on when a client should avoid naming a foreign person and tax issues and reporting that can occur if planning is done incorrectly.
Speakers: Lyat Eyal Michelle B. Graham Patrick Francis Harney Kevin E. Packman
Seminar C: When ART and 23andMe® Shake the Family Tree: Updating Estate Plans for Changing Families
DNA test kits may have been one of the most popular 2019 holiday presents, but the gift can go awry when unexpected genetic relations are revealed. With assisted reproductive technology (ART), we can now have three biological parents, fertile decedents and remaining embryos after a client is deceased. DNA test kits and ART can intersect to disclose the identity of previously anonymous egg and sperm donors. Whether these advances bring welcome additions to the family tree or tear a family apart, the estate planning implications of this new breed of potential heirs need to be part of the estate planner’s arsenal. The panel will discuss the status of ART children and new-found genetic heirs in interpreting old trusts and drafting new ones, changing laws regarding property rights to reproductive material and considering how our documents and client meetings need to adapt to account for these groundbreaking, scientific advances.
Speakers: Sarah Moore Johnson Professor Kristine S. Knaplund Joshua S. Rubenstein
Seminar D: Lawyer Well-being — Forrest Gump and the Practice of Law: Did you know that Stress Reducing Techniques for Lawyers are also Life Enhancing Strategies? (Substance Abuse/Mental Health/Ethics)
The prevalence of high suicide rates, depression, substance abuse and poor physical health in the legal profession is well documented and shocking. The American Bar Association’s recent National Task Force Report on Lawyer Well-Being will be the starting point for this important discussion, which will include simple, tried and true techniques to help reduce the stress we commonly experience in the practice of law, with a focus on mindfulness. There are steps — often small — that we can take to minimize the negative aspects of practicing law, including techniques to better manage clients and technology that can improve our health rather than destroy it. The presentation will focus on these techniques for practicing lawyers, versus more general presentations on well-being that are often irrelevant to our profession.
Speakers: Louis S. Harrison Michaelle D. Rafferty M. Allison Taylor
Seminar E: Retirement and Estate Planning after the SECURE Act
The SECURE Act, enacted on December 20, 2019, is the most important development in the retirement plan area in many years. This Act changes the game for both retirement planning and estate planning for retirement assets. The panel will analyze the new law and explore how to approach planning under the SECURE Act, why planners will still need to know the pre-SECURE Act version of the rules, how to plan with trusts as retirement plan beneficiaries and why flexibility will be more important than ever. The discussion will consider charitable planning with retirement plan assets under the SECURE Act and existing planning techniques that still make sense.
Speakers: Natalie B. Choate Steven E. Trytten
Seminar F: Just Because You Are Still Alive Doesn’t Mean You Cannot Probate Your Will: Ante-Mortem Probate as the Ultimate Will Contest Prevention Technique
The panel will discuss pre-mortem probate as the ultimate will contest prevention technique. Fellows will learn not only how to litigate pre-mortem cases but how and when attorneys in nonpre-mortem states may be able to use the technique to proactively resolve anticipated will and trust contests. Panelists will discuss strategies for enactment of pre-mortem statutes by state legislatures and useful techniques to overcome obstacles.
Speakers: Professor Gerry W. Beyer Michael M. Gordon Sally H. Mulhern
Seminar G: Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) Conundrums: Issues in Making and Managing Charitable Gifts
While UPMIFA has passed the 10-year mark, attorneys continue to encounter questions about the Act that are not easily answered. The Reporter for the Act and two Fellows experienced in working with individual donors and charities will examine vexing issues related to spending, investing and modifying funds governed by UPMIFA and will discuss when UPMIFA rules do and do not apply and where uncertainties lie.
Speakers: Reynolds T. Cafferata Erik Dryburgh Professor Susan N. Gary
Seminar H: Having Your Cake and Eating it, Too – Transfer Planning for the Moderate ($11 Million+) Estate
With higher estate exemptions available, how can our high — but not ultra-high — net worth clients hedge their risk by gifting assets to trusts while remaining assured they can access them in the future? The panel will discuss self-settled trusts and other devices to utilize the increased exemptions while retaining access to the ‘gifted’ assets — having your cake and eating it, too.
Speakers: Jocelyn Margolin Borowsky Barry A. Nelson Gideon Rothschild
Symposium: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You: The Impact of Unconscious Bias on the Practice of Law (Elimination of Bias/Ethics)
Despite our best intentions, research shows we all have it – unconscious bias. Our attitudes and beliefs are shaped by myriad of influences, some of which we would not agree with or accept on a conscious level. Yet these unconscious thoughts affect our decision-making and have profound consequences in the legal profession. They impact our relationships with clients, colleagues and judges, among others. The key is to learn how to recognize our unconscious biases and develop practical ways to interrupt them, helping us be better lawyers and human beings. In this interactive session, attendees will engage in a competitive game and visualization exercise, as well as create their own personal action plans to recognize and interrupt unconscious bias. Fellows will learn how some law firms are combatting unconscious bias on an organizational level using inclusion nudges and bias interrupters. Attend the afternoon workshop for a deeper dive on these cutting-edge efforts.
Speakers: Kathleen Nalty Stephanie L. Terry Perry
ANNUAL JOSEPH TRACHTMAN MEMORIAL LECTURE: Truth, Transparency and the Right of Privacy
Spanning fifteen years, ACTEC President 2013-2014, Duncan E. Osborne, has been at the forefront of ACTEC’s and the American Bar Association’s interaction with the federal government and international regulators regarding the role of lawyers in battling money laundering, terrorist financing and governments’ relentless push for transparency. In that capacity, Duncan has also studied the evolution of transparency in modern society. In this Internet age, as Fortune 500™ companies collect, manipulate and sell personal data on individuals, not only is the right of privacy under siege, significant threats to our democratic systems continue to emerge. In his 2020 Joseph Trachtman Lecture, Duncan will consider transparency in the broader context of how civilized society will conduct itself amid pressures and vast resources to make previously private — even confidential — information readily available in the marketplace.
Not eligible for CLE credit.
