Do you have a solid understanding of proper procedures surrounding estate administration? Do you feel confident that you can overcome the wide array of challenges you may face while working with each estate's unique requirements? Gain a comprehensive understanding of the estate planning process with this invaluable instruction so you can easily organize and manage your responsibilities. Order today!

1. Foundations of Estate Administration Defined
2. Preparing to Begin the Administration Process
3. Considerations for Collecting the Assets, Preparing the Inventory and Handling Claims Against the Estate
4. Being Thorough to Close the Estate Without a Hitch
5. Understanding Tax Procedures to Avoid Problems Later
6. Ethical Challenges in Estate Administration
7. Common Issues To Be Prepared for in Litigation and Probate

Continuing Education Credits:   

Continuing Legal Education

Credit Hrs    State    Credit Approval Expiration

* denotes specialty credits

1. FOUNDATIONS OF ESTATE ADMINISTRATION DEFINED
   8:30 - 9:15, Heidi Baxter
   1. Identifying Probate and Non-Probate Assets
   2. Understanding the Various Forms of Administration
   3. Considerations for the Small Estate
   4. Knowing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Informal Administration and Complying With the Procedures
2. PREPARING TO BEGIN THE ADMINISTRATION PROCESS
   9:15 - 10:30, Heidi Baxter
   1. Understanding the Laws of Intestacy and How They Affect the Estate
   2. Knowing What to Get Out of the Client Interview
   3. Determining the Survivors' Immediate Needs
   4. Examining the Safe Deposit Box: Identifying Important Documents
   5. Locating the Will and Knowing What to Do Next
   6. Considerations in Appointing and Counseling the Personal Representative
   7. Practical Tips for Obtaining Information Concerning Assets
   8. Renunciations and Election of Statutory Share
   9. Using Disclaimers Correctly
   10. Notice Requirements
3. CONSIDERATIONS FOR COLLECTING THE ASSETS, PREPARING THE INVENTORY AND HANDLING CLAIMS AGAINST THE ESTATE
   10:45 - 11:45, Richard Wills
   1. Obtaining the Tax ID Number, Opening the Estate Bank Account, & Canceling Utility & Other Accounts
   2. Whether or Not to Prepare an Inventory, & If So, How
   3. Sending Notice to DSHS
   4. Whether or Not to File & Publish a Notice to Creditors
   5. Whether or Not to Send Actual Notice to Creditors, & If So, When
   6. Handling Creditor's Claims
   7. Whether or Not to Allow or Reject a Claim, & If So, How
   8. Defending a Petition to Allow a Rejected Claim
   9. Dealing with Underwater Assets, eg, Homes, Cars, Etc.
   10. Handling an Insolvent Estate
4. BEING THOROUGH TO CLOSE THE ESTATE WITHOUT A HITCH
   12:45 - 1:35, Douglas N. Kiger
   1. Alternative Methods: Knowing Your Options
   2. Timing of Distributions: How Long Do Beneficiaries Have to Wait Until They Get Their Money?
   3. Steps Involved in Transferring Jointly-Held Assets
   4. Transferring Other Probate and Non-Probate Assets
   5. Considerations for Handling Distributions to Minors and Trusts
   6. Ensuring Thorough Accounting and Settlement of the Estate
   7. Compensation and Discharge of the Personal Representative
5. UNDERSTANDING TAX PROCEDURES TO AVOID PROBLEMS LATER
   1:35 - 2:25, Norman H. Roberts
   1. Overview of Tax Compliance and Post-Mortem Planning: What You Need to Know
   2. What You Need to Know to Prepare the Decedent's Final Income Tax Return
   3. Filing Requirements for Federal and State Estate Tax Returns
   4. How the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Affects Your Clients
   5. Handling Distribution to Minors and Trusts
   6. Accurate and Inclusive Valuation of Assets
   7. Determining Alternatives for the Surviving Spouse: Disclaimers, Rights and Options
6. ETHICAL CHALLENGES IN ESTATE ADMINISTRATION
   2:40 - 3:40, Corey T. Denevan and Carla Calogero
   1. Determining Who the Client Is
   2. Representing An Estate: Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
   3. Informing the Client of the Status of the Estate
   4. Filing Claims: Why it is Imperative to Meet the Deadlines
7. COMMON ISSUES TO BE PREPARED FOR IN LITIGATION AND PROBATE
   3:40 - 4:40, Jason T. Dennett
   1. Title and Discovery of Assets
   2. Contested Claims and Contingent Liabilities
   3. Marital Agreement Concerns
   4. Contested Wills and Alternatives: Is it Valid to Disagree?

HEIDI BAXTER is a partner at Baxter Law PLLC. Her practice focuses on estate planning, probate, business and corporate law, maritime and admiralty law, and civil litigation. Ms. Baxter has spent the last four years practicing at the Seattle office of an Alaska based law firm doing estate planning, probate, business and corporate law, maritime personal injury defense, maritime regulatory law, commercial transactions, workers' compensation, truck accident defense and general civil litigation. She earned her B.S. degree, with honors, from the United States Coast Guard Academy and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law. Ms. Baxter is a member of the Washington (Real Property and Probate & Trust Sections) and King County bar associations, as well as the Mother Attorney Mentoring Association of Seattle.

CARLA CALOGERO joined Aiken, St. Louis & Siljeg, P.S., in Seattle as an associate in 2010 after graduating cum laude from Seattle University School of Law. Ms. Calogero's practice focuses on guardianship, elder and special needs law; probates and trusts; fiduciary responsibilities; benefits advocacy; estate, advance care, long-term care and end-of-life planning; and administration and litigation related to those matters. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the King County Bar Association, and the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Guardianship and Elder Law Section of the King County Bar Association. Ms. Calogero regularly volunteers her services at the King County Elder Law Clinic, Washington First Responders Wills Clinic, the King County Superior Court Ex-Parte/Probate Department Review Calendars and the Loren Miller Bar Association Estate Planning Clinic. She holds a master's degree in bioethics from the University of Washington and a master's degree in education from Western Washington University. Before going to law school, Ms. Calogero was a Seattle public high school biology teacher as well as a bioethics instructor and curriculum author.  

COREY T. DENEVAN is a shareholder in the Seattle law firm of Aiken, St. Louis & Siljeg P.S., where his areas of practice include the representation of fiduciaries and other parties in connection with trusts, guardianships, probate proceedings and commercial litigation. He previously has spoken for the Washington State and King County bar associations. Mr. Denevan earned his B.A. degree from Augustana College and his J.D. degree from the University of Missouri - Columbia, School of Law. He is a member of the Washington State, South Dakota, American and King County (Elder Law Section) bar associations. Mr. Denevan is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court and the Western District of Washington.

JASON T. DENNETT is a shareholder in the Seattle law firm of Carlson & Dennett, P.S. Mr. Dennett focuses his practice on commercial litigation, and trust and estate litigation. He is a member of the Washington State and King County bar associations. Mr. Dennett earned his B.S. degree from the University of Oregon and his J.D. degree from the University of Oregon School of Law.

DOUGLAS N. KIGER is an attorney and shareholder with the Tacoma law firm of Blado Kiger Bolan, P.S., where he has been a member since 1996. Mr. Kiger practices in the areas of real estate, business and commercial law, contracts, construction law, wills and estate planning, probate, family law, litigation, and appeals. He is admitted to practice in all courts of the state of Washington and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Mr. Kiger earned his J.D. degree, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law and received an American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in writing while attending. He earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Redlands, California. Mr. Kiger is a member of the Washington State (Business Law Section) and Tacoma-Pierce County bar associations, and is a former member of the Washington State Bar Association (Young Lawyers Division, Legislative Committee).

NORMAN H. ROBERTS is a certified public accountant with Smith & Just, PS, in Seattle. He has more than 26 years of experience in the accounting and financial field, and 6 years of experience in construction management and sales. As a principal and shareholder in the firm, Mr. Roberts coordinates large projects within the firm and specializes in planning and compliance in the estate, trust and gift area, litigation support, as well as business and personal tax preparation and planning. He earned his B.A. degree and M.B.A. degree from the University of Washington, and his Masters of Science from Golden Gate University. Mr. Roberts is a member of the Estate Planning Council of Seattle, the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the CPA Tax Round Table.

RICHARD WILLS is the founder of Washington Probate PLLC. He primarily focuses his practice on estate planning and probate. Washington Probate opens and assists in the administration of approximately 200 probates annually, and prosecutes and defends probate disputes, predominantly PR removals and replacements. Mr. Wills earned his S.B. degree from MIT, his Ph.D. from Caltech and his J.D. degree from UCLA. While in California, he was elected president of the Gift & Estate Tax Section, and a trustee of the Tax and Real Property, Trust & Probate sections of the Los Angeles County Bar. Mr. Wills also has presented and published papers in the area of estate planning and probate. While in Washington, he served as an intake attorney for the Probate Delinquency and Contempt Calendar of the King County Superior Court for two years.

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