People don't like to contemplate their own deaths, but they do need to consider what will happen to their assets when they die. Tax issues, medical decisions, and a wide range of planning documents make the process even more complicated. But you can give your clients peace of mind by creating effective wills and trusts that carry out all of their wishes.

Order today to learn the fundamentals of preparing estate planning documents, including wills, trusts, and ancillary documents such as powers of attorney. Discover the pros and cons of using various types of documents, as well as the tax ramifications involved. Tackle the ethical issues related to estate planning, both from the attorney's perspective and from that of the client who must make end-of-life medical decisions. Have the skills and information you need right at your fingertips!

1. Fundamental Principles of Will Drafting
2. Using Living Trusts and Powers of Attorney as Estate Planning Tools
3. Basic Tax Considerations - What You Need to Know in Order to Choose the Appropriate Plan
4. Ethics and Estate Planning
5. Planning Methods to Control Medical Treatment

Continuing Education Credits:   

Continuing Legal Education

Credit Hrs    State    Credit Approval Expiration

* denotes specialty credits

1. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF WILL DRAFTING
   9:00 - 10:30, Harris J. Resnick
   1. Selecting the Vehicle - Initial Advice to the Client
   2. Checklist for Gathering Client Information
   3. The Statutory ABCs: What is Required?
   4. Methods of Designating Fiduciaries
   5. Disinheritance and No Contest Clauses - Will They Stand?
   6. Protective Clauses for Minors, Incompetent Persons and Beneficiaries With Special Needs
   7. Building Flexibility Into the Plan - Checklist of Special Provisions
   8. Practical Pointers With Sample Forms
   9. Developing a Document Preparation System
2. USING LIVING TRUSTS AND POWERS OF ATTORNEY AS ESTATE PLANNING TOOLS
   10:45 - 11:45, Jack J. Hetherington
   1. Common Elements in Trust Agreements
   2. The Revocable Living Trust - Why You Should Use It
   3. Disadvantages of Revocable Living Trusts
   4. Sample Pour-Over Will and Living Trust Agreements
   5. Durable Powers of Attorney
3. BASIC TAX CONSIDERATIONS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE PLAN
   12:45 - 2:00, Garrett C. Spangler
   1. Tax Considerations of Drafting Living or Testamentary Trusts
   2. Marital Deduction Planning - Qualifications and Basic Formula Approaches
   3. Estate and Gift Taxes
   4. Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxes
   5. Income Tax - Ramifications of Trusts
4. ETHICS AND ESTATE PLANNING
   2:00 - 3:00, Elliot M. Olen
   1. Selected Ethical Rules Affecting the Estate Planner
   2. Who's Your Client? Conflict of Interest
   3. Competency - A Word to the Wise
   4. Practice Before the IRS
   5. Attorney Fees
5. PLANNING METHODS TO CONTROL MEDICAL TREATMENT
   3:15 - 4:30, Elliot M. Olen
   1. What a Living Will Can and Cannot Accomplish
   2. Picking Up Where a Living Will Ends - Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care/Health Care Proxy
   3. Preserving Your Client's Dignity Through the Patient Self-Determination Act
   4. Anatomical Gifts - Making the Difficult Decisions During Life and Upon Death

JACK J. HETHERINGTON is a sole practitioner in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, where he concentrates in the areas of elder law, estate planning and Social Security benefit claims. He is an author and panelist on elder law and Social Security programs for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Mr. Hetherington is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and is certified by the National Elder Law Foundation in elder law. He also is a member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives; the Pennsylvania (member, Elder Law Section) and Bucks County (member, Legal Affairs of Older Persons Committee and chairman, Orphans Court Committee) bar associations; and the Bucks County Estate Planning Council. Mr. Hetherington earned his B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania, his J.D. degree from Gonzaga University School of Law and has completed the American Trial Lawyers Association Advanced College program.

ELLIOT M. OLEN is sole proprietor of a boutique law practice begun in 1978 and maintained since in the Oxford Valley area. An honors with distinction graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he earned his law degree from the Washington College of Law, American University, Washington D.C. Commencing practice (adjunct to a Common Pleas clerkship until 1979) in civil disputes and contract areas of general practice, and continuing emphasizing: commercial real estate ceases and transactions, closely held business transactions and contract work, and estate and trust planning and administration, as well as litigation involving these matters in the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. Mr. Olen has state and federal appearances predominate in original jurisdiction (with some appellate) work throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. Probate litigation handled is primarily in Bucks County (the rest in the Northern to Western suburbs). He is a member of all local and state bars and bar associations, and a past or former board member, officer and/or solicitor for several non-profit organizations. Mr. Olen previously lectured for community organizations on estate related issues; and for National Business Institute on basic estate planning and oddities and challenges in probate law. He has served as private, BCCP, and USDC EDPa. arbitrator in hundreds of cases. Mr. Olen represents petitioners, respondents, interveners, and witnesses in PEF matters, often involving real estate or business twists such as disposition impediments and "family intrigue". Probate service includes routine administration and incident contracts/closings, and a broad range of litigation issues. His complex probate litigation includes fiduciary and subsidiary fiduciary misconduct removal and surcharge issues; professional negligence; lost and ambiguous wills; discretionary accounting; partition; declaratory judgment; non-probate beneficiary challenges; accelerating distribution; and death tax issues.

HARRIS J. RESNICK is a sole practitioner with Resnick Elder Law. He concentrates his practice in the areas of guardianships and disability planning, end of life legal issues, special needs trusts, medicaid planning and estate administration. Mr. Resnick teaches elder law at Penn State, Abington Campus. He has lectured on elder law topics for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Drexel University School of Nurses, Neumann College, and the Montgomery Bar Elder Law Committee. Mr. Resnick is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Pennsylvania Bar Association (Elder Law Section, past member governing council) and the Delaware and Montgomery Bar Elder law committees. He earned his B.A. degree, cum laude, from the University of New York at New Paltz and his J.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

GARRETT C. SPANGLER is an attorney with The Erb Law Firm, PC. His primary practice area is tax law, with a specific focus on estate planning, probate and estate administration, elder law and gift tax planning. In addition, Mr. Spangler dedicates a portion of his practice to internet law issues. He is an adjunct faculty member of Delaware Valley College, located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he teaches federal income taxation and federal corporate taxation to the business and accounting students. Mr. Spangler earned his J.D. and LL.M. degrees from Temple University School of Law, where his area of concentration was tax and business law. He also served as an intern to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, authoring summaries published by the Court for the Commerce Court Case Management Opinion Project. Inducted as a member of Temple's Rubin Public Interest Law Honor Society and recently recognized by The First Judicial District of Pennsylvania for his commitment to pro bono representation in the greater Philadelphia area, Mr. Spangler continues to stay involved in the community by providing free tax preparation to qualified individuals with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and volunteering with Philly VIP. Prior to joining The Erb Law Firm, he served as a law clerk under the Honorable Albert J. Cepparulo at the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County and worked with Dechert, LLP as a consultant attorney on various matters. Mr. Spangler is an avid blogger of tax and estates issues at erblawg.com and a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey State bar associations.

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