Agenda / Content Covered

1. INITIAL FILING IN PROBATE COURT AND ESTATE TIMELINE
   8:30 - 9:15, Ann H. Larkin
   1. Small Estate Administration
   2. Probate Court Procedure
   3. Estate Timetable/Checklist
   4. Formal vs. Informal Probate Administration
   5. Opening the Estate
      1. Petition for Probate and Administration and Notice of Hearing
      2. Required Notices (to Creditors, Heirs, DHS, IRS)
      3. Sample Forms
   6. What the Personal Representative Needs to Know and Do
   7. When is Ancillary Administration Necessary?
2. LAW OF INTESTATE SUCCESSION
   9:15 - 10:15, William D. Ashwell
   1. Who Can Inherit - Degrees of Kinship and Order of Inheritance
   2. Determining the Share Size
   3. Exceptions and Bars to Inheritance
3. INVENTORY AND APPRAISEMENT
   10:30 - 11:15, Ashley E.. Nimitz
   1. Locating Insurance Policies, Deeds and Other Ownership Documents
   2. Obtaining a Tax ID and Marshaling Property
   3. Preparing the Inventory and Appraisal Forms
   4. Dealing with the Probate Referee
   5. Managing Decedent's Assets During Probate
   6. Handling Common Valuation Issues
   7. When to Hire a Valuation Specialist or Appraiser
4. PROBATE PROPERTY VS. NON-PROBATE ASSETS
   11:15 - 11:45, Rachel H. Snead
5. HANDLING CLAIMS AGAINST THE ESTATE
   12:15 - 12:45, Ann H. Larkin
   1. Required Creditor Notice
   2. Determining Priority of Claims
   3. Allowing and Rejecting Claims, and Paying Them
   4. Handling Lawsuits Against the Estate and the Decedent
   5. Insolvency Issues
6. TAX REPORTING AND POST-MORTEM TAX MATTERS
   12:45 - 1:30, Kimberly Turner
   1. Final Tax Returns Timeline, Forms and Filing Procedure
   2. Requesting Deadline Extensions
   3. Income Tax Considerations in Probate
      1. Selecting a Tax Year: Calendar or Fiscal?
      2. Decedent's Final Income Tax Return
      3. Estate Income Tax Return
      4. Tax on Income Earned by Estate after Decedent's Death
      5. Beneficiary Income Tax Considerations
   4. Proper Use of Disclaimers and Valuation Discounts
   5. Claiming Estate Tax Portability
   6. Estate and Gift Tax Considerations - When Do You Need to File Form 706?
   7. Coordinating with Decedent's Accounting or Investment Advisors
   8. GST Tax Implications
   9. Handling Common Property Tax Issues
7. ETHICS
   1:30 - 2:30, Lisa M. Campo
   1. Who is Your Client? Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
   2. Protecting Client Confidentiality
   3. Attorney Fees
   4. Malpractice Liability Risks
      1. Negligence
      2. Breach of Fiduciary Duty
      3. Fraud
8. SALE OF PROPERTY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
   2:45 - 3:15, Ashley E.. Nimitz
   1. Disposition of Real Estate - Title Issues in Probate
   2. Retirement Plans and IRA Distributions
   3. Life Insurance and Other Beneficiary Designations and Accounts
   4. Preliminary and Final Distributions
   5. Calculating Augmented Estate and Spousal Elective Share
   6. Dealing with the Surviving Family Members and Other Beneficiaries
   7. Solving the Problem of Liquidity
   8. Distributions to Trusts
9. FINAL ACCOUNTING AND CLOSING THE ESTATE
   3:15 - 3:45, Rachel H. Snead
   1. Estate Accounting Procedure
   2. Closing Certificate for Fiduciaries
   3. Closing Decedent's Remaining Accounts
   4. Personal Representative and Attorney Compensation
   5. Extraordinary Services Compensation
   6. When Reopening the Estate is Warranted
10. PROBATE DISPUTES AND LITIGATION
    3:45 - 4:10, Lisa M. Campo
    1. Beneficiary Liability
    2. Fiduciary Liability
    3. Interpreting Testamentary Intent - Burdens of Proof, Presumptions, Evidence Rules
    4. Revoked, Multiple, Contested Wills
    5. Common Will Construction Problems
    6. Objections to Accounts and Petitions

Accreditation Details:

William D Ashwell is an attorney with Ashwell & Ashwell, PLLC. He practices in the areas of civil litigation, land use and zoning, appellate advocacy, business and commercial law, and trust and estate planning. Mr. Ashwell is admitted to practice in Virginia and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Supreme Court of the United States of America. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar and Fauquier Bar Association and serves on the Virginia State Bar 7th District Disciplinary Committee. Mr. Ashwell earned his B.A. degree from Hampden-Sydney College and his J.D. degree from the University of Dayton School of Law.

 

Lisa M Campo is a senior associate attorney at Hale Ball Carlson Baumgartner Murphy PLC. She has been with the firm since 2007 as a legal assistant before attending law school and as a law clerk during law school. After passing the Virginia bar, Ms. Campo continued with the firm as an associate attorney. She graduated from University of Baltimore School of Law in Baltimore, Maryland. Ms. Campo concentrates her practice in the areas of trust and estate litigation, fiduciary litigation, contested guardianships and conservatorships, business litigation, civil litigation and probate. She has appeared numerous times before many circuit courts throughout Virginia and has participated in appeals before the Court of Appeals of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Virginia. Ms. Campo is a member of the Virginia Bar Association and the Fairfax Bar Association.

Ann H Larkin is a Shareholder at Midgett Preti Olansen. She focuses her practice on estate planning, estate and trust administration, special needs planning and guardianship and conservatorship matters. Ms. Larkin is certified by the Virginia Supreme Court as a guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults and is a Veterans Administration (VA) accredited attorney certified to assist claimants in their appeals of denied claims for VA benefits. She has extensive experience designing estate plans ranging from basic to complex. Ms. Larkin works closely with individuals to ensure that they and their loved ones are cared for properly and respectfully in the event of incapacity or disability. She serves as trustee of trusts with both individual and charitable beneficiaries, administers large and small estates as personal representative, and frequently counsels clients through the probate process, including probate avoidance techniques. Ms. Larkin graduated cum laude from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a B.A. in English Literature and Rhetoric. She received her J.D. degree from William and Mary Law School. After law school, Ms. Larkin was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert W. Wooldridge, Jr. of the 19th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. She practiced in the litigation group at a Washington, D.C. law firm, served as an assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Fairfax County, Virginia, and worked as a staff attorney for a Commissioner of Accounts in Norfolk, Virginia. Ms. Larkin is a current member of the Hampton Roads Estate Planning Council and the Virginia Association of Elder Law Attorneys.

Ashley E. Nimitz is an attorney with Midgett Preti Olansen. Ms. Nimitz has extensive estate planning, administration, and litigation experience, including providing guidance to fiduciaries regarding their duties, navigating the probate process, managing and distributing assets, maintaining and preparing financial documentation, and, if necessary, advising clients on how to defend or contest fiduciary actions or the validity of a testamentary document. She graduated from Longwood University with a B.A. degree in political science and a minor in homeland security and received her J.D. degree from Regent University School of Law. Ms. Nimitz is admitted to practice law in both federal and state court in Virginia.

 

Rachel H Snead is an attorney with Hook Law Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She graduated from the University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law and graduated cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Snead worked as a legal assistant for three years for an estate planning and real estate firm in Henrico, Virginia.

Kimberly Turner is an attorney and principal of The Law Office of Kimberly Martin Turner, PLLC, based in Arlington, Virginia. She concentrates her practice on estate planning and trust and estate administration in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Ms. Turner drafts wills, trusts, asset agreements, and related instruments. She handles all aspects of estate and trust administration, including probate, accountings, and the preparation and review of estate and fiduciary tax returns. Ms. Turner also serves as counsel to executors and trustees and represents fiduciaries in probate courts in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland.