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Probate and Estate Planning Certificate Program Policies

Participation
To participate, you must be a Michigan lawyer and a member in good standing of the State Bar of Michigan.

Attendance
To meet attendance requirements:

• You may attend live or video presentations of the Certificate seminars.
• You must attend the entire seminar to receive credit.
• You are required to sign in at the beginning and sign out at the end of each seminar.
• You must sign in within 15 minutes of the seminar start time and you must sign out no earlier than the beginning of the last Question and Answer session of the seminar.
• You must attend the entire seminar at one location on one date (we cannot track "split attendance" accurately).
• Viewing the seminar online or listening to an audio CD does not count toward your requirements.

Time for Completion
You must complete all requirements within 3 years of the date you sign up for the Certificate program (the date your application and $150 registration fee are entered in ICLE's records). Seminars attended before you sign up do not count toward your Certificate requirements. However, you can sign up for the Certificate program within two weeks after attending a Certificate seminar and receive credit for attending that seminar only.

Record-Keeping
Each July, we will send all Certificate program participants a statement of what requirements they have fulfilled and what remain to be fulfilled. You can also check your information at any time by logging in at www.icle.org. Both of these records show your beginning date in the program (the date the 3 years for completion is counted from).

Lawyer Advertising
Michigan does not have an approved "specialty certification" program for lawyers. Therefore, lawyers in this state may not advertise that they are "certified specialists" or "specialists" in a particular area of the law. By participating in this program, you are attending specified seminars offered by ICLE, which are designed to provide an organized approach to the education necessary to practice estate planning and administration at the basic to intermediate level. When you complete this program, you will receive a Certificate of Completion for ICLE's Probate and Estate Planning Program, which will be suitable for framing. You may advertise the fact that you have this Certificate of Completion, as long as your advertisement does not imply that you are a certified specialist. When you receive your Certificate, you will also receive sample language you can use for advertising. For any questions regarding lawyer advertising, contact the State Bar of Michigan Ethics Hotline at (517) 485-ETHX (3849).

Updating your certificate

• Completing the program signifies that you have completed the educational program in a particular year and received a Certificate of Completion.
• After you have earned the Certificate of Completion, we will send you a certificate indicating it's been updated if you:
• Attend ICLE's Annual Probate and Estate Planning Institute, and
• Remain a member of the State Bar of Michigan in good standing
• Updating your certificate is completely voluntary.
• The opportunity to earn an updated certificate is not available after a gap of more than 3 years since you last earned or updated your certificate.

Special Policies for Required and Elective Seminars
You may earn two credits for attending the Annual Drafting Estate Planning Documents seminar.

• For participants beginning the program before September 1, 2005, this seminar was required. The first time you attend the seminar, you earn a required credit. If you attend it again in a different year, you'll earn an elective credit.
• For participants beginning the program after September 1, 2005, this seminar was elective. The first time you attend the seminar, you earn an elective credit. If you attend it again in a different year, you'll earn a second elective credit.

• This is an elective seminar. If you attend the seminar twice in different years, you'll earn two elective credits.

• This is an elective seminar. If you attend the seminar twice in different years, you'll earn two elective credits.

• The first time you attend a limited-enrollment seminar, you earn your limited-enrollment credit. If you attend a second limited-enrollment seminar, you'll earn an elective credit.

• Program participants who sign up after 9/1/05 are required to take the Estate Planning for Retirement Assets seminar to meet their 7 required courses.
• Program participants who signed up before 9/1/05 need to meet the original 7 requirements, but can substitute the Estate Planning for Retirement Assets seminar for the Annual Drafting Estate Planning Documents seminar as their required seminar. If you use the Retirement Assets seminar as your required course and later take the Annual Drafting seminar, the Annual Drafting seminar will be an elective credit.

• Only participants in the Probate and Estate Planning Certificate Program may attend these seminars (note the prerequisites below).
• Attendance is limited to 21 people per class.
• To attend a limited-enrollment seminar, you must first attend Fundamentals of Estate Planning, Planning the Taxable Estate, and Fundamentals of Estate Administration.
• Cancellation policy. Registrants cannot cancel and receive a refund any later than the date listed for each seminar on the signup materials. (This is approximately 4 weeks before each seminar.)

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