2012 Probate & Estate Planning Conference for Alabama Attorneys

Held on Friday, May 4, 2012

Highlights Included:

• Tips and guidelines for drafting effective inter vivos and testamentary trusts
• Medicaid planning – actions clients can take to protect their assets in their declining years
• Use of prenuptial agreements, postnuptial agreements, and contracts to make a will in estate planning
• Estate planning for the elderly – preparing for incapacity, disability, and death
• Common probate problems, including multiple domiciles, intestate administration, and lost or withheld wills
• Planning for the distribution of IRAs and Qualified Plan Benefits
• Ethical considerations in acquiring new clients or non-clients
• Ethical considerations when representing fiduciaries, including how to identify who your client is in probate proceedings

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Your Conference Leaders

Steven A. Benefield is a partner at Christian & Small LLP in Birmingham. His practice is client-focused and solutions-oriented. Whether working with individuals who need basic estate or tax planning, or advising small to middle-market business owners on succession and exit planning strategies, Mr. Benefield tailors his services to each client’s needs and deadlines. He planned estates for multiple clients to completely avoid estate and generation skipping tax. He directed post mortem tax planning for an estate to avoid accelerated distribution of retirement plan proceeds. He advised trustees and executors of a large estate left by a client who died in 2010 through the major transitions in tax law with the temporary repeal of the estate tax and imposition of the income tax at death. He advised clients in planning estates in the major transition of the temporary repeal of the estate tax and generation skipping taxes, the one-year income tax at death in 2010, and the reappearance of the estate and generation skipping taxes in 2011. Mr. Benefield is included in The Best Lawyers in America® 2006-2012 in the field of tax and 2012 in the field of business organization. He is a speaker and author at numerous CLE seminars on business formation, business exit strategy planning, estate planning and administration, ethics, professional liability and related matters.
 

Ross Cohen, with Haskell Slaughter Young & Rediker, LLC in Birmingham, represents clients in the areas of taxation and tax planning, wealth-transfer planning, estate planning, asset protection planning, corporate law and mergers and acquisitions. His business practice has involved tax planning for start-up entities and established businesses, executive compensation matters, tax-free reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, and representation of clients before the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities. He is frequently consulted on tax matters involved in public finance transactions, and has been involved in the establishment of nonprofit corporations and charitable organizations. Mr. Cohen also represents individual clients in personal and family tax and estate planning (including prenuptial agreements, trusts and the like), business succession, the establishment of private foundations and family investment vehicles, and similar matters. He is active in a number of estate planning organizations and holds the Accredited Estate Planner designation from the National Association of Estate Planning Councils. A Certified Public Accountant since 1980, Mr. Cohen practiced for several years with Coopers & Lybrand before joining Haskell Slaughter. He also served for several years as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Alabama School of Law. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of tax and in the field of trusts and estates.
 

Connie Glass is with the Elder Law Firm of Connie Glass, P.C., in Huntsville and has been with the Elder Law Firm since 1997. Ms. Glass has had extensive experience in the field of Elder Law, having served as the attorney for the TARCOG Area Agency on Aging for over 10 years prior to establishing the Elder Law Firm. She is certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Prior to serving as Attorney for the Area Agency on Aging, she was on the staff of the University of Alabama Law School, working in the Clinical Law Program and in the Trial Advocacy Program. She is a charter member of the Alabama State Bar Elder Law Section. She is also a member of the National Elder Law Foundation, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Alabama Gerontological Society. She is a frequent speaker to senior and professional organizations on legal issues affecting the elderly.
 

Brad Lard is a member of the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Birmingham. Mr. Lard’s practice primarily involves estate and trust planning and administration, with an emphasis on the related income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax issues. In addition, he is actively engaged in representing individual and corporate fiduciaries (executors and trustees) in administrating and litigating estate and trust matters. Mr. Lard has more than 15 years experience in advising clients in an array of estate and tax planning matters, including working with numerous closely-held business owners in the disposition of ownership interests to family members, particularly through lifetime gifting. He routinely advises his clients on the application of minority and marketability valuation discounts and also counsels clients regarding tax saving strategies such as the creation of grantor retained annuity trusts (“GRATs”) and sales of business interests to “defective grantor trusts.” In addition, he works with many clients owning fractional interests in real estate and timberland properties, and has considerable experience in estate and gift tax issues presented by such fractional ownership interests. Mr. Lard also regularly works with clients on charitable giving strategies, including the use of charitable lead trusts (“CLATs” and “CLUTs”) and charitable remainder trusts (“CRATs” and “CRUTs”), as well as the establishment and funding of private foundations.
 

Anne Moses is a member of Moses & Moses, P.C. in Birmingham. She has been certified as an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. She is certified as an elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is listed on SuperLawyers.com and AlabamaConnect.gov. She was voted one of the Best Lawyers in America by Consumers Guide. She is a frequent speaker on elder law, estate planning, and business succession matters. She received her JD degree from St. John’s University School of Law in New York, her Masters Degree in Political Science from New York University, and her BA from Barnard College, Columbia University, in New York. Prior to forming Moses & Moses, she was a partner with Dominick, Fletcher, Yeilding, Wood & Lloyd.
 

Sidney C. Summey is a shareholder with White Arnold & Dowd P.C. in Birmingham with over 30 years experience in the practice of probate law. He is recognized in the probate and civil courts in Alabama as a leader in the field of probate litigation, wills, trusts and estates, guardianships and conservatorships. In 2009, he was designated a National Certified Guardian. His primary practice involves assisting litigators in settling cases involving decedent’s estates and incapacitated persons, the representation of conservators of the estates of minors who have received personal injury awards and other disabled persons, structured settlements, special needs trusts and elder law. He also handles litigation related to all areas of probate law including will contests and trust matters. He is a frequent lecturer on basic and advanced probate, probate for litigators, special needs trusts, Medicaid issues and elder law. He serves on the faculty of The Birmingham School of Law where he teaches Trusts and Elder Law. Mr. Summey was appointed to serve as the Jefferson County Conservator and Guardian. In this position, he serves as a Conservator, Guardian, Trustee or Payee appointed by the Probate Court, the Circuit Court, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs or the Social Security Administration. He is responsible for marshalling assets, litigating real and personal property ownership issues, managing estate funds, overseeing nursing home placement, Medicaid eligibility and overseeing the payment of the wards’ various day-to-day needs and expenses.
 

Leonard Wertheimer III is a member of Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neal LLP. His practice focuses primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration; wills, trusts and estates; tax planning for individuals and businesses; and business law. His other practice areas consist of deferred compensation planning and administration; executive compensation; limited liability entity formation and operation; corporate formation and transactions/real estate transactions; wealth preservation and asset protection. He served as chair of two Alabama Law Institute committees – one which rewrote Alabama’s Principal and Income Act governing trustees and other fiduciaries and another which drafted Alabama’s version of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act, which revised and updated investment standards for trustees and other fiduciaries. He also chaired an Alabama Law Institute committee which drafted Alabama’s version of the Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act and served as a member of an Alabama Law Institute committee which drafted Alabama’s version of the Uniform Trust Code and Uniform Power of Attorney Act. He is a frequent speaker at professional seminars presenting topics relating to estate planning, estate administration, business succession planning, generation-skipping tax planning and distributions from IRAs and qualified plans. He is a former Adjunct Professor of the Masters in Tax Accounting Program at the University of Alabama School of Business as well as a former Adjunct Professor of the Birmingham Southern College School of Business.

 

2012 Probate & Estate Planning Conference for Alabama Attorneys

Held Friday, May 4, 2012

Full Agenda from the Conference:

8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: “Ethical Issues: Acquiring New Clients or Non-Clients & Representing Fiduciaries”

Steven A. Benefield
Christian & Small LLP

Mr. Benefield will discuss issues that arise in acquiring new clients or non-clients, including:

• Rule 1.18
• Avoiding “phantom” clients and tactical (intentional) conflicts
• First contact form and work flow
• Issues to resolve before accepting clients
• Using retainer agreements to establish client identity and scope of representation
• Addressing potential and current conflicts of interest in representing multiple clients

Mr. Benefield will also address issues surrounding the representation of fiduciaries, including:

• Introduction
• Engagements with only one client
• Client identity in probate proceedings in Alabama – Ethics Opinion 2010-3-24
• What must/should/can a lawyer do when a personal representative has misapplied estate property?

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.: “A Summary of the Alabama Uniform Trust Code: Drafting Tips and Guidelines”

Bradley W. Lard
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
 
Mr. Lard will walk attendees through the Alabama Uniform Trust Code and provide tips and guidelines for drafting effective inter vivos and testamentary trusts. Topics that will be addressed in detail include:

• Mandatory vs. default rules
• Non-judicial settlement agreements
• Representation of beneficiaries
• Trust modification and termination
• Office of the Trustee
• Powers and fiduciary duties
• Trustee liability

Break: 10:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.: “Elder Law Issues in Estate Planning: Medicaid and More”

Anne R. Moses
Moses & Moses, P.C.

• Conversion of non-exempt assets into exempt assets
• Transferring assets before look-back period
• Long-term care insurance
• Purchasing life estate
• Conservatorships and guardianships

11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.: “Planning for the Distribution of IRA and Qualified Plan Benefits”

Leonard Wertheimer III
Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neal LLP

Careful advanced planning can enable a person who inherits a qualified plan or IRA to enjoy significant income tax benefits. Mr. Wertheimer will discuss the benefits of contributing to a qualified retirement plan or IRA account as an effective way to transfer wealth at death. You’ll learn about:

• IRA/qualified retirement plan beneficiary designations – perhaps the most complicated document in estate planning
• How to delay mandatory distributions and enhance the value of the IRA for the family
• Some simple but often neglected issues
   

Lunch (On Your Own): 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.: “Marital Agreements in Estate Planning”

Ross N. Cohen
Haskell Slaughter Young & Rediker, LLC

• The purpose of marital agreements in estate planning
• Premarital agreements
• Postnuptial agreements
• Contracts to make a will, bequest or devise

Afternoon Break: 2:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: “Common Probate Problems and Solutions”

Sidney C. Summey
White Arnold & Dowd P.C.

• Unknown or missing heirs
• Intestate administration
• Multiple domiciles
• Real estate issues
• Insolvent estates
• Lost or withheld wills
• Lapsed legacies

4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: “Planning for Elderly Clients”

Connie Glass
Elder Law Firm of Connie Glass, P.C.

• Preparing for incapacity
• Planning for disability
• Planning for death
• Planning for the caregiver spouse

Program Location and Date

When: Held on Friday, May 4, 2012
Where: Birmingham Marriott (Free Parking)
3590 Grandview Parkway
Birmingham, AL 35243

Need directions? Click here.