California Probate and Trust Administration

Agenda / Content Covered

1. California Probate Process and Overview
   8:30 — 9:30, Vincent Casiano
   1. Review of the Probate Timeline
   2. Forms of Administration
   3. Deadlines to be Aware of
   4. Documents Used in the Probate Process
   5. Information Gathering
   6. Laws of Intestacy
   7. Initial Petition and Notices
   8. Sample Forms, Letters and Documents
2. Assets, Creditor Claims and Debt Considerations
   9:30 — 10:30, David Humphrey
   1. Marshalling Probate and Non-Probate Assets: Key Procedures
   2. Properly Ensure ALL Debt is Located and Handled
   3. Required Public Notices to Creditors
   4. Priority and Payment Determinations for Claims
   5. Contested Claims and Prescribed Claims
   6. Appropriately Dealing with Creditors
   7. Insolvent Estates
   8. Sale of Assets to Satisfy Creditors
3. Distributions, Final Accounting and Closing the Estate
   10:45 — 12:00, Michael Freedman
   1. Documents Needed to Close the Estate
   2. Proper Transfer and Timing of Distributions - Probate and Non-Probate Assets
   3. Distributions in Kind
   4. Distribution to Minors, Surviving Spouse and Trusts
   5. Disposition of Unclaimed Assets
   6. Fees for Personal Representatives and Attorneys
   7. Annual Accounting Requirements and Format
   8. Final Accounting Checklist
   9. Estate Closing Procedures
4. Tax Issues in Probate Administration
   12:00 — 12:30, Neal Jannol
   1. State and Federal Tax Considerations
   2. Tax Deadlines and Extensions
   3. Essential Tax Forms and Returns
   4. Deductions and Exemptions
   5. Income Tax and Basis Adjustment for Decedent's Assets
   6. Real Property Tax Considerations
5. Trust Taxation Issues
   1:00 — 1:30, Neal Jannol
   1. Tax Returns: Annual and Final
   2. Tax Consequences of Trustee's Actions
   3. Real Property Taxes
   4. Income Taxation
   5. Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxes
   6. Tax Consequences of Paying Retirement Benefits to Trusts
   7. Tax Basis in the Assets
6. What You Need to Know About Trusts
   1:30 — 2:30, Vincent Casiano
   1. Types of Trusts and Their Purpose
   2. Jurisdiction
   3. Duties and Powers of the Trustee
   4. Valuation of Assets
   5. Funding a Trust
   6. Communication with Beneficiaries
   7. Amending and Modifying the Trust
   8. Trust Administration Checklist
   9. Sample Forms and Documents
7. Accounting/Distributions in Trust Administration
   2:45 — 3:10, David Humphrey
   1. Notices of Proposed Actions
   2. Uniform Principal and Income Act
   3. Trust Provisions Concerning Distributions
   4. Managing, Selling and Distributing Property and Assets
   5. Investing Assets
   6. Distinctions Between Trust Fiduciary Accounting and Income Tax Accounting
   7. Determining Trustee Fees
   8. Communication with Creditors
   9. Distribution to Beneficiaries
   10. Trust Termination
8. Ethics and Estate Administration
   3:10 — 4:10, Neal Jannol
   1. Breach of Fiduciary Responsibility
   2. Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
   3. Confidentiality
   4. Fee Agreements

Accreditation Details:

VINCENT M. CASIANO is the founder of The Casiano Law Firm, where his practice is focused on preserving wealth from one generation to the next through innovative estate and long-term care planning strategies. Mr. Casiano's practice is split between transactional work in estate planning, elder law, special needs trust planning, long-term care planning, Medicaid/Medi-Cal planning, probate, and trust administration with a litigation practice encompassing estate litigation (will and trust disputes), financial elder abuse, and disputed conservatorship proceedings. He is a frequent lecturer on these subjects. Mr. Casiano is a member of the State Bar of California. He is a founding member of WealthCounsel's Advisor Forum, a charter member of the Academy of Special Needs Trust Planners, and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Mr. Casiano has also served as a past chair of the San Diego County Bar Association's Elder Law Section, and was a fellow of the ABA's Real Property, Probate, and Trust Section. He earned his B.S. degree from the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler and his J.D. degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

MICHAEL E. FREEDMAN is the principal attorney at the Freedman Law Firm, APC, where he practices estate planning, administration, and litigation, as well as elder law litigation. Most recently, Mr. Freedman successfully defended a client in a petition for interpretation, reformation, accounting, and removal of trustee. He also won a $280,000 verdict against a professional trustee who mishandled family trust fund. Mr. Freedman is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a court appointed judicial arbitrator for the San Francisco County Superior Court. Mr. Freedman is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Section; and the State Bar of California Trust and Estates Section. He earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from State University of New York and his J.D. degree from Temple University School of Law.

DAVID V. HUMPHREY JR. is a partner in the Rancho Mirage firm of Cosgrove, Cosgrove & Humphrey, Attorneys at Law. Mr. Humphrey is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust & probate, as certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. His extensive experience in trusts, probates, estates, and conservatorships ranges from estate planning for estates of all sizes: from small estates to complex trust and estate litigation for estates in excess of $50 to $100 million. Mr. Humphrey’s representation has also included representation of trusts and estates for certain deceased entertainment industry professionals and personalities. He is on the Riverside County Court Appointed Counsel Specialist list for trust, estate, and conservatorship matters. Mr. Humphrey is a member of the Desert Bar Association and is the current president of the Desert Estate Planning Council. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of Southern California and his J.D. degree from Suffolk University Law School. Mr. Humphrey is licensed to practice in the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western federal districts of California; and the State of California superior courts.

NEAL B. JANNOL is a sole practitioner in Los Angeles at the Law Office of Neal B. Jannol. He has been an attorney for more than 20 years and concentrates his practice on sophisticated estate and tax planning for individual clients, the representation of individual and corporate fiduciaries, and the administration of estates and trusts. Mr. Jannol's experience includes drafting revocable and irrevocable trusts, business succession planning, premarital planning, charitable gift planning, and all aspects of estate administration and probate procedures. He is a member of the State Bar of California. Mr. Jannol earned his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles and his J.D. degree from the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.