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. Living Trusts 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. Medical Decision Making in West Virginia

Continuing Education Credits:   

* denotes specialty credits

1. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF WILL DRAFTING
   9:00 - 10:45, Staci Norman Criswell
   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. LIVING TRUSTS AS ESTATE PLANNING TOOLS
   11:00 - 12:00, William H. Scharf
   1. Basic Elements of Trust Agreements
   2. The Nonprobate Revolution
   3. Advantages of Revocable Living Trusts
   4. Disadvantages of Revocable Living Trusts
   5. Role of Durable Powers of Attorney and Pour Over Wills
3. BASIC TAX CONSIDERATIONS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE PLAN
   1:00 - 2:15, Andrew L. Ellis
   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
   2:30 - 3:30, Andrew L. Ellis
   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. MEDICAL DECISION MAKING IN WEST VIRGINIA
   3:30 - 4:30, Christopher J. Winton
   1. West Virginia Health Care Decisions Act
   2. Living Wills (Forms Included)
   3. Medical Powers of Attorney (Forms Included)
   4. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Form Included)
   5. Guardian or Conservator

PRESENTERS

ANDREW L. ELLIS is an attorney with Dinsmore & Shohl LLP. Mr. Ellis is a member of the firm's corporate department. His practice focuses on estate administration, estate planning, business planning, taxation and general litigation. Mr. Ellis is a member of The West Virginia State Bar (Probate Committee) and the Charleston Estate Planning Council. He earned his B.A. degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College, his LL.M. degree from the University of Denver and his J.D. degree from the University of Denver College of Law.

STACI NORMAN CRISWELL is an attorney at the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, where her practice is concentrated in estate and tax planning. Ms. Criswell's practice focuses on large and complex estates and trusts. She was vice president and personal trust specialist with BB&T Wealth Management, where she administered complex personal trust and fiduciary relationships, and advised clients and staff regarding fiduciary standards, principles, and applicable laws and regulations. Prior to her position with BB&T Wealth Management, Ms. Criswell was an associate with a local law firm where her practice focused on wills, trusts and estates. She earned her B.A. degree from West Virginia University and her J.D. degree from West Virginia University College of Law. Ms. Criswell is admitted to practice in West Virginia and Virginia. She is a member of the Charleston Estate Planning Council, The West Virginia State Bar (Probate Committee, and State and Federal Taxation Committee) and the John A. Field, Jr. American Inn of Court.

WILLIAM H. SCHARF is the founding member of William H. Scharf PLLC. Mr. Scharf is a Charleston attorney practicing in the areas of tax and estate planning. He has frequently lectured for the West Virginia Continuing Legal Education Program and The West Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Scharf has written several articles relating to taxation, including "Buy-Sell Agreements Can Endanger a Corporation's NOL Carryovers," 18 Estate Planning Magazine 22, and has contributed to the West Virginia Practice Handbook chapter on "Administration of Decedents' Estates" (1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003). He is past-president of the Charleston Estate Planning Council and a member of The West Virginia State Bar (member, Probate Committee) and the American Bar Association (member, Taxation Section). Mr. Scharf earned his A.B. degree, cum laude, from Georgetown University and his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

CHRISTOPHER J. WINTON is the managing member of the Charleston law firm of Ray, Winton & Kelley, PLLC, where he practices in the areas of estate planning and administration, business planning, taxation, and civil litigation. He is a frequent lecturer to professional and business groups on wills and trusts, ethics, litigation and insurance, and co-wrote "Laying Claim: A Practitioner's Guide to Will Contests in West Virginia," published in 96 West Virginia University Law Review 123 (1993). Mr. Winton is a member of The West Virginia State Bar (Probate Committee), Charleston Estate Planning Council and the American Bar Association (member, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law sections). He earned his B.A. degree, with high distinction, and his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia.

MODERATORS

June 5 - Martinsburg

NATHAN P. COCHRAN is a litigation attorney in the Law Office of Richard G. Gay, L.C., in Berkeley Springs. His areas of practice include planning, zoning, employment law, and trust and estate litigation. Mr. Cochran is a former participant in seminars nationwide on risk avoidance for non-profit corporations and entities, and a former assistant prosecutor for Berkeley County, West Virginia. He earned his B.S. degree from Bob Jones University and his J.D. degree from Washington & Lee School of Law. Mr. Cochran is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the state of West Virginia. Specifically, he is admitted to the Western District Court of Pennsylvania, the Northern and Southern Federal District Courts of West Virginia, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

WILLIAM CRICHTON VI is an attorney with Crichton & Crichton, where his main areas of practice are construction, personal injury, environmental and estate law. He has served as mental hygiene commissioner for Wood County, West Virginia. Mr. Crichton graduated from Wake Forest University and from the West Virginia College of Law.

DANIEL A. OLIVER is a sole practitioner in Morgantown, West Virginia. He has extensive experience as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association and in private arbitration, developing specialized knowledge regarding the coal industry and the postal industry. Mr. Oliver also has been successful as a mediator, both in domestic relations matters and in civil litigation matters. In 2005, he successfully represented an international pharmaceutical company in a six day jury trial. In addition to his public practice, Mr. Oliver has been a worker's compensation hearing examiner for the state of West Virginia and has been a lecturer at West Virginia University for more than 30 years, teaching both business law and sports law.

ROBYN RUTTENBERG is an attorney in Wheeling, West Virginia, where her main areas of practice are family law, wills, trusts, probate, residential real estate and personal injury. She is a member of the Ohio County Bar Association and The West Virginia State Bar. Ms. Ruttenberg is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, and Northern and Southern districts of West Virginia. She earned her B.A. degree from Washington & Jefferson College and her J.D. degree from West Virginia University.

VICKIE L. HYLTON is a sole practitioner in Fayetteville, West Virginia, where her main areas of practice are real estate, wills and powers of attorney. She earned her B.S. and B.A. degrees from Mountain State University, and her J.D. degree from West Virginia University.

NATALIE E. CORRIGAN is an attorney in the Huntington office of the law firm of Campbell Woods PLLC. She practices in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration; commercial transactions; taxation; and real estate. Ms. Corrigan earned her bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Transylvania University and her J.D. degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law. She was admitted to the Kentucky Bar Assoication in 2003, and The West Virginia Bar in 2010. Ms. Corrigan also has been a certified public accountant since 2008.

Please refer to Continuing Education Credit FAQ for general information about seeking credit for your participation in one of our continuing education programs.

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