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40 minutes
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40 minutes
Plenary Session:
Caselaw Update
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50 minutes
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50 minutes
Plenary Session:
Ten Things Every Estate Planner Needs to Know About Subchapter J
- how income taxes impact how estate planners advise clients to structure their plans
- income tax issues that arise during estate and trust administrations
- critical aspects of Subchapter J, including concepts of fiduciary income, DNI, IRD, and the grantor trust rules
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Retirement Assets Track:
Required Minimum Distribution Rules Under the SECURE Act
- deep dive into the new rules
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Litigation Track:
Discovery and the New Rules in Probate Court
- mandatory disclosures: when are they required and what has to be disclosed?
- the new scope and limits of discovery
- probate court discovery compared to circuit court
- changes in deposition & subpoena procedures
- addressing discovery complications: mediation and sanctions
- medical information privilege
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Retirement Assets Track:
Drafting and Administering Trusts After SECURE
- drafting to comply with the new rules
- planning for eligible designated beneficiaries
- handling the uncertainties in the law
- use of beneficiary designations
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Litigation Track:
Using Expert Witnesses in Probate Litigation
- types of expert witnesses
- identifying when to use an expert witness
- who retains the expert - the lawyer or the client?
- expert discovery under the new civil discovery rules taking effect 01/01/20
- qualifying your testifying expert witness at trial and the resulting testimony
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Retirement Assets Track:
Alternate Planning Techniques in Light of SECURE
- use of independent trustees
- roth IRAs and tax-free growth
- life insurance trusts
- surviving spouse strategies
- second marriages
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Litigation Track:
Income and Transfer Tax Issues of Settlements and Modifications
- knowing the ropes and binding the IRS
- income, estate, gift, and GST tax consequences when a fiduciary is a party to a litigation settlement or modification
- how to document the outcome in light of the IRS and tax issues
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1 hour
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1 hour
Plenary Session:
Guardianships, Conservatorships, and Protective Orders: A Case Study Approach
- when client situations necessitate protective proceedings
- pathways to protection: temporary guardian, full guardian, protective order, special conservator, full conservator, petition for instruction
- case studies
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50 minutes
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50 minutes
Plenary Session:
Estate Planning for Married Couples in a World with Portability and the Marital Deduction
- nuts and bolts, plus the intricacies of portability
- how to port a deceased spouse’s unused exclusion amount and how to use it once ported
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35 minutes
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35 minutes
Advanced Planning Track:
Charitable Planning Ideas Your Clients Can Use
- using donor advised funds versus private foundations
- designing split-interest trusts to fit your clients’ needs
- using charitable trusts to mimic stretch IRAs after the SECURE Act (or its kin)
- explaining charitable tools in ways your clients understand
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35 minutes
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35 minutes
Core Concepts Track:
The Alpha and Omega of Client Relations: Engagement and Exit Letters
- identifying who your client is
- conflict checks
- limiting the scope of your representation
- representing joint clients in estate planning or probate matters
- potential pitfalls along the way: unexpected conflicts, mission creep, when to withdraw
- exit letters: transitioning the client to "former client," but remaining friendly
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35 minutes
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35 minutes
Advanced Planning Track:
Estate Planning Wizardry: Minimize Tax and Maximize Gifts to Family and Charity
- determining client goals--a holistic approach
- drafting tips for ILITs, IDGTs, and family foundations
- supporting charitable causes and family members
- using estate tax calculations
- working with the client’s advisors
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35 minutes
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35 minutes
Core Concepts Track:
Trust Funding 101
- role of the lawyer--to fund or not to fund?
- the basics of funding
- funding real property in light of Scott v South Haven
- framing the client’s mindset in regards to funding - checklists and acknowledgements
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35 minutes
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35 minutes
Advanced Planning Track:
Critical Concepts in Business Valuations
- how they are critical in the estate planning and administration processes
- the importance of effective dates
- audit triggers
- methods for valuation
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35 minutes
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35 minutes
Core Concepts Track:
Powerful Uses of Powers of Appointment
- what are powers of appointment and why are they important?
- when and how to use
- drafting effective powers of appointment
- traps for the unwary
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40 minutes
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40 minutes
Legislative Update
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1 hour, 5 minutes
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1 hour, 5 minutes
Plenary Session:
Cybersecurity Practices That Won’t Bust Your Budget
- current security threats to lawyers and law firms in today’s breach-a-day world
- ethical and legal obligations to safeguard client data
- approaches to compliance with these duties
- practical steps you can take to safeguard confidential data--many low cost or free
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Disability Planning Track:
Medicaid, Elder Law, and Disability Update 2020
- Michigan and federal developments
- updated and effective planning techniques
- special needs strategies
- veterans benefits update
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Administration Track:
Turn-by-Turn Instructions for Administration
- starting administration formally or informally
- closing administration formally or informally
- everything in between
- avoiding pitfalls along the way
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Disability Planning Track:
Debunking Five Medicaid Urban Legends
- understanding Medicaid's role in health care for older and disabled clients
- identifying opportunities to help clients avoid delays in Medicaid eligibility
- planning to preserve assets and income for the community spouse
- avoiding costly mistakes that cause the loss of Medicaid coverage
- top resources for helping you solve your client's Medicaid planning issues
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Administration Track:
Fixing the Sideways Estate Plan After It Becomes Irrevocable
- interpreting the trust or will when the settlor or testator’s intent is unclear
- reforming the trust with clerical errors
- modifying the broken trust by agreement
- using agreements to alter shares to avoid the testator’s intent
- fixing the broken trust with a modification order
- terminating the irrevocable trust that nobody wants, but the dead guy
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Disability Planning Track:
First Party, Third Party, POMs … Oh My! Administering Special Needs Trusts
- discover which public benefits your client is receiving and why this is important
- understand your duties
- manage conflicts and difficult personalities
- prepare a financial plan and assemble your team
- grasp the effect of distributions
- utilize ABLE and True Link
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Administration Track:
View from the Probate Bench
- best practices and pet peeves
- the myth of uniformity of practice
- perspectives on the new discovery rules
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Cottages Track:
Cottage Uncapping Issues
- uncapping demystified
- use of trusts
- use of LLCs
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Cottages Track:
Drafting to Avoid Disputes: Managing Succession of the Family Cottage
- how every good succession plan starts with a solid foundation
- evaluating ownership structure and anticipating change
- management through a balance of control and empowerment
- the art of compromise and managing expectations
- fostering generational connections and knowing when to walk away
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30 minutes
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30 minutes
Cottages Track:
Administering Cottage Trusts and Dealing with Disputes
- administrative considerations when drafting
- common examples of discord
- achieving harmony for the family
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2 hours
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2 hours
Livestreamed Session:
SPECIAL ADVANCED SESSION: Purposes of Concealment Under Michigan’s New Undisclosed Trust Statute/Proposal (To be livestreamed Monday, July 27 at 12:00 PM)
- trusts without beneficiaries
- beneficiaries without knowledge
- duties without rights
- ends without means
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2 hours
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2 hours
Livestreamed Session:
SPECIAL BASIC SESSION: New Lawyers, You Have the Floor (To be livestreamed Friday, July 31 at 12:00 PM)
- ask your practice management and substantive questions in this open forum
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