Agenda / Content Covered

All times are shown in Eastern time

1. CLIENT SCREENING AND INTAKE
   10:00 - 10:30, Sarah J. Barnes
   1. Clarifying Goals and Forecasting Needs
   2. Assessing Current and Future Assets and Debts
   3. Dealing with Family Dynamics: Past, Present and Future
   4. What to Look for in Reviewing Existing Estate Plans
   5. Sample Info Gathering Forms and Checklists
   6. Determining Your Overall Estate Plan Strategy
      1. For an Estate not Subject to Estate Tax
      2. For an Estate Potentially Subject to Estate Tax
      3. For an Estate Subject to Estate Tax
2. KEY ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE WILLS
   10:30 - 11:30, Sarah J. Barnes
   1. Establishing Statutory Framework
   2. Types of Wills
   3. Testator's Competency - Verifying and Documenting
   4. Beneficiary Designations and Distributions in Retirement Plans and Life Insurance
   5. Titling Assets
   6. Sample Will Provisions
   7. Updating Will Documents
3. BASIC TAX PLANNING
   11:45 - 12:45, T. James Lee
   1. Estate Tax Update
   2. Step-Up Basis of Various Assets
   3. Gift Tax and Exclusions
   4. Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax
   5. Planning for the Final Income Tax Return
   6. Trust Taxation Basics
   7. Disclaimer Trusts
   8. Crummey Powers and the IRS
   9. Typical Creditors and How to Deal with Them
   10. Simple Tips for Minimizing Tax Burden
   11. Tax Treatment of Trusts
4. DOCUMENTING LONG-TERM CARE, INCAPACITY AND END-OF-LIFE DECISIONS
   1:15 - 1:45, Louis A. Silverman
   1. Medicaid Planning Overview
   2. Long-Term Care Options and Planning in a Nutshell
   3. Special Needs Trusts
   4. Advance Medical Directives
   5. Powers of Attorney
   6. DNR Orders and Organ Donation Considerations
5. TRUSTS 101
   1:45 - 2:45, T. James Lee
   1. Types, Goals and Functions of Trusts
   2. Major Laws Governing Trust Creation and Administration
   3. Who are the Main Parties? Their Duties and Responsibilities to a Trust
   4. Revocable vs. Irrevocable
   5. Choosing Trust Situs
   6. Trust Funding Basics
6. WHO IS THE FIDUCIARY?
   3:00 - 4:00, Louis A. Silverman
   1. Personal Representatives and Trust Officers: Powers and Duties
   2. Helping Clients Pick the Fiduciary(ies)
   3. Your Contact with the Personal Representative
   4. Trust Protectors and Advisers
   5. Fiduciary Liability
      
7. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
   4:00 - 5:00, Sarah J. Barnes
   1. Defining Who Your Client is from the Start
   2. Handling Clients with Diminishing Mental Capacity
   3. Lawyers Acting as Fiduciaries
   4. Estate Status Updates for Clients - Why it Pays Off and How to do it Efficiently
   5. Practicing Before the IRS
   6. Getting Paid: Billable/Non-Billable Hour and Retainer Agreements
   7. Preventing Unauthorized Practice of Law by Legal Staff

Accreditation Details:

SARAH J. BARNES is an attorney with Zerbst & Kluck, SC, where she practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, elder law and guardianships. Her practice includes drafting powers of attorney, wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, and administration of estates. Ms. Barnes also serves as a court-appointed guardian ad litem for children and individuals in guardianship matters. She earned her B.A. degree from Edgewood College and her J.D. degree from Marquette University Law School. Her professional memberships include the State Bar of Wisconsin, Dane and Sauk County bar associations, Legal Association of Women, and the Madison Estate Planning Council. Ms. Barnes is admitted to practice in Wisconsin.

T. JAMES LEE is a shareholder and director in the Phoenix office of Fennemore Craig, P.C., and chairs the firm’s private wealth preservation (trusts and estates) practice group. He is certified as a trust and estate specialist by the State Bar of Arizona, and practices in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate administration, charitable giving, business design and structuring, international taxation, and commercial transactions. Mr. Lee serves on Arizona’s Estate and Trust Advisory Commission and is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Utah State Bar, the ABA's Committee on Estate and Gift Taxes (Taxation Section), and is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Lee is actively engaged with local and international charitable organizations. He earned a B.A. degree in business management from Brigham Young University, with distinction, as the top business school graduate in the area of entrepreneurship. He graduated, with honors, in 1996 from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, and served on the Editorial Board of the BYU Law Review. Mr. Lee is listed in Best Lawyers in America under Tax Law and Trusts & Estates, Southwest Super Lawyers in Estate Planning and Probate, and is ranked in Chambers and Partners under Private Wealth Law.

LOUIS A. SILVERMAN has been practicing law in Arizona since 1981. From 1981 through 2005, Mr. Silverman’s practice included many aspects of litigation, including family law, civil litigation, and personal injury and wrongful death. In addition, he included estate planning and estate administration. Mr. Silverman has narrowed his practice focus to estate planning, estate administration, and probate law. He accomplished this transition through affiliations with professional estate planning associations, ongoing continuing education, and accepting only estate planning and estate administration matters. In 2015, Mr. Silverman became board-certified in estate and trust law by the State Bar of Arizona. His practice emphasizes estate planning, which includes wills and trusts and other estate planning devices, and trust administration and probate, which includes death probate, guardianship, and conservatorship. Mr. Silverman has served as judge pro tem on the Maricopa County Superior Court. He is a member of WealthCounsel and is a past member of the Elder Law, Mental Health and Special Needs Planning Section of the State Bar of Arizona. Mr. Silverman is on the Board of Trustees of Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and past president of the Board of Directors of Tempe Leadership. He is a frequent speaker on National Business Institute’s educational panels and also lectures to local groups on estate planning issues. Mr. Silverman earned his B.S. degree in business from Arizona State University and his J.D. degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston. He is admitted to practice in the state courts of Arizona and Texas, the U.S. District Court for Arizona, and the Western District of Texas.