WILLS: Legal Updates, Key Provisions and Issues

Agenda / Content Covered

1. Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence
   10:00 - 10:45, Stephen B. Keogh
   1. Types of Capacity
   2. What the Testator is Expected to be Able to Understand and Do
   3. Verifying/Documenting Testator's Competency at Signing of the Documents: Key Questions to Ask
   4. Testamentary Capacity in Will Contests: Burden of Proof and Medical Evidence
   5. The Will as Evidence of Lost Capacity (Assessing Reasonableness of Provisions)
   6. Undue Influence
      1. Key Evidence to Prove "the Existence and Exertion of an Influence"
      2. Proving "the use of Influence to Subvert or Overpower the Mind of the Testator at the Time of the Execution of the Testament"
      3. Proving "the Execution of the Testament Which the Maker Thereof Would not Have Executed by for Such Influence"
      4. Critical Case Law
   7. Fact Witnesses
   8. Medical and Other Expert Witnesses
2. Wills vs. Trusts and Using Wills and Trusts Together
   10:45 - 11:15, Stephen B. Keogh
3. Structuring the Will
   11:30 - 12:00, Stephen B. Keogh
   1. The Cardinal Rule of Will Construction (the Intention of the Testator Unless it Contravenes a Rule of Law or Public Policy)
   2. Types of Wills
   3. Problems with Holographic and Oral/Nuncupative Wills
   4. Specific Bequests
   5. Joint or Mutual Wills
   6. Foreign Execution
4. Electronic Wills and E-Signatures: Formalities, Authentication, etc.
   12:00 - 12:30, Edwin N. McClure
   1. Electronic and Digital Signatures: What You Need to Know About ESIGN and UETA
   2. Uniform Electronic Wills Act
   3. Data Security Considerations
   4. Authentication and Admissibility Issues
   5. Fraud and Duress Considerations
5. Appointment of the Executor and Beneficiary Designations (with Samples)
   1:00 - 1:45, Evaleen M. Davis
   1. Selecting a Suitable Executor
   2. Co-Executors, Removal, Replacement of Personal Representative(s)
   3. IRA Beneficiary Designations After the SECURE Act
   4. Life Insurance Documents
6. Administrative Provisions: Asset Management and Transfer, Payment of Debts and Taxes, etc. (With Sample Language)
   1:45 - 2:45, Evaleen M. Davis
   1. Inventory: Identifying All Real Estate and Personalty (with a Checklist)
   2. Payment of Debts, Administrator Expenses and Taxes
   3. Powers of Executor
   4. Real Property Treatment and Authority
   5. Sale of Real Property
   6. Planning for Digital Assets
   7. Planning for Tax
   8. Planning for Disability and Health Care Decisions
7. Execution, Interpretation, Modification of the Will
   2:45 - 3:15, Thad A. Davis
   1. Consequences of Improperly Executed Wills
   2. Codicils
   3. Court Modification of a Will
   4. Revocation
   5. Seeking Clarification when the Provisions and Intended Course of Action are Not Clear
8. Common Mistakes and Issues in Will Drafting, Execution, and Administration
   3:30 - 4:00, Thad A. Davis
9. Legal Ethics
   4:00 - 5:00, Evaleen M. Davis
   1. Who is Your Client?
   2. Guarding Client Confidentiality
   3. Attorney Fees and Engagement Agreements
   4. Conflicts of Interest

Accreditation Details:

Evaleen M. Davis is the principal of the Law Office of Evaleen M. Davis in Plano. Ms. Davis has focused in estate planning, probate, corporate law, and tax planning, including compliance for exempt organizations, as well as asset protection. She is board certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She has previously lectured on claims procedures in probate and is a frequent lecturer at the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System pre-retirement programs. Ms. Davis earned her B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and her J.D. degree from Texas Tech University School of Law.

Thad A. Davis is a member with The Law Offices of Davis & Davis, LLC, in Birmingham, Alabama. He focuses his practice on trusts and estates with an emphasis on litigation. Mr. Davis represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in trust and estate cases and related controversies, including will contests, spousal elective share proceedings, common law spouse claims, fiduciary accounting cases, and intra-family business and real estate litigation. Mr. Davis also advises clients in planning their estates to accomplish their goals for distribution of assets to beneficiaries while minimizing tax liability. He earned his A.B. degree, cum laude, from Duke University; his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Alabama School of Law; and his LL.M. degree, in taxation, from the University of Florida.

Stephen B. Keogh is a partner in the Norwalk law firm of Keogh, Burkhart & Vetter, practicing primarily in elder law and probate law. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale College, Mr. Keogh earned his J.D. degree from Columbia University. He is a member of the Fairfield County, Connecticut and American bar associations; and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Mr. Keogh is a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a member of the Executive Committee of the Elder Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, and a past co-chair of the Elder Law Section of the Fairfield County Bar Association. He is also a member of the Community Bioethics Forum, which is sponsored by the Program for Biomedical Ethics at the Yale School of Medicine, and was the first recipient of the Glenn E. Knierim Pro Bono Award, given by the Connecticut Probate Assembly, in April 2012.

Edwin N. McClure is the managing partner in the Arkansas law firm of Matthews, Campbell, Rhoads, McClure & Thompson, P.A., where he practices in the areas of divorce, guardianships, child custody, probate, estate planning, criminal, real estate, landlord tenant, and evictions law. Mr. McClure has spoken extensively on topics related to his areas of practice. He is a member of the Benton County and American bar associations. Mr. McClure is admitted to the Arkansas and New York State bar associations, and The Missouri Bar. He earned his B.A. degree from Simpson College and his J.D. degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law.