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Detailed Agenda

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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Registration & Continental Breakfast

7:30am - 8:15am

Welcome & Opening Remarks

8:15am - 8:30am

Estate Planning Under the New Tax Legislation

8:30am - 9:45am

Ronald D. Aucutt, McGuireWoods LLP
An up-to-the-minute look at the estate tax legislation that has been enacted, planned, or predicted by the time of the conference. If Congress has not yet acted, this presentation will analyze the factors influencing the prospects for legislation. Whether or not legislation has been enacted, the likely changes in the law will be reviewed and evaluated for their effect on our clients and practices.

Break

9:45am - 10:00am

Potpourri of International Hot Topics: What You Need to Know

10:00am - 11:00am

Leigh-Alexandra Basha, Holland & Knight LLP
This discussion will focus on identifying international issues that the professional advisor needs to know and how to deal with them. Some of the topics to be covered include: dealing with undisclosed offshore financial accounts, the New 1041 NR proposed form, the aftermath of dealing with clients expatriating under the exit tax (those doing so by choice and those doing so accidentally), why the typical pour-over will and revocable trust plan can be disastrous in dealing with civil law jurisdictions, the importance of properly titling property and where things go awry with married couples funding their revocable trusts, and what's on the horizon with the new Obama administration and how it affects your practice.

Steering the Fiduciary through the Shoals of Surcharge: Recent Developments in Fiduciary Litigation

11:00am - 12:15pm

Bruce S. Ross, Holland & Knight LLP This discussion will provide an overview of estate and trust litigation and recent developments in the field of fiduciary litigation. This session will also include preventative advice to trustees and their advisors as well as litigation avoidance.

Lunch

12:15pm - 1:15pm

Billing in a Pareto Optimal World: Creative Practice Management Techniques to Match Excellent Estate Planning with the Client’s Willingness to Pay for Services

1:15pm - 2:45pm

Louis S. Harrison, Harrison & Held LLP
This presentation will review best practices that should be considered by estate planners in their management of client’s estate planning expectations and billing. Areas to be discussed will include fees and structuring fee arrangements with clients, understanding and developing bill formats and protocols, and re-tooling practice styles to match client expectations when it comes to billing. Specific items include the importance of demonstrating value to clients relative to the expected fees and tolerance for fees; how to manage client’s expectations; hourly rates versus fixed fees for estate planning work; how to improve on client’s perceptions as to the hourly fee; how to increase collections upon billing; setting flat fees and the types of projects for which they are acceptable, as well as the process by which the planner should discuss this alternative with the client and also set the fee; taking into account client behavior as to their estate planning and the payment of fees and focusing on client behavior in developing the estate planning project, expectations, timetable, and billing structure; and structuring estate planning work so that it is done both economically and effectively. We will focus on steps to enhance the profitability of an estate planning and administration practice, while reducing risk, by focusing more on the importance of the billing process and integrating effectively that process into the overall estate planning project.

Break

2:45pm - 3:00pm

Protecting the Surviving Spouse: If Momma Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy

3:00pm - 4:00pm

John T. Midgett, Midgett & Preti, PC
This session will provide an examination of various rights a surviving spouse may have in a decedent’s estate. A review of the laws of various states will reveal techniques to provide benefits to a surviving spouse during probate administration and provide guidelines for drafting wills and trusts to avoid disputes and litigation.

The Twists and Turns of 529 Accounts

4:00pm - 5:00pm

Susan T. Bart, Sidley Austin LLP
529 savings accounts provide a tax-advantaged way for clients to save for college and graduate school, but advisors need to be able to guide their clients through the complicated rules and potential pitfalls. This presentation will examine the tax and other advantages of 529 accounts. Ms. Bart will also discuss the complexities of five-year election, gift tax consequences of changing beneficiaries, income tax consequences of nonqualified distributions, estate tax inclusion, and anti-abuse rules.

Cocktail Reception

5:00pm

Friday, October 16, 2009

Continental Breakfast

8:00am - 8:30am

Thinking Outside the Box: Innovative Charitable Giving in an Uncertain Economy

8:30am - 9:30am

Michele A.W. McKinnon, McGuireWoods LLP
This presentation will look at charitable giving generally, as well as planned giving vehicles, in the current economic environment. The general focus will be on rethinking traditional gift methods to overcome donors’ economic concerns. In addition, the presentation will focus on innovative planning opportunities available with certain planned giving techniques in the economic downturn, including flip charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable lead trusts, and gift annuities.

Failure to Allocate GST Exemption: How Does the IRS Spell Relief?

9:30am - 10:30am

Beth Shapiro Kaufman, Caplin & Drysdale
The IRS is expected to release final regulations on relief for the failure to allocate generation skipping transfer tax exemptions. Since the enactment of Code Section 2642(g) in 2001, the IRS has been granting relief under the regulations generally applicable to extensions of time to make regulatory elections (the Section 91000 regulations). In April 2008, the IRS released propped regulations setting forth detailed requirements for GST relief applications. This presentation will discuss the final regulations under Section 2642(g), expected to be released in the summer 2009.

Break

10:30am - 10:45am

Planning with Grantor Trusts

10:45am - 11:45am

Robert T. Danforth, Washington and Lee University School of Law
This presentation will offer an overview of the taxation of grantor trusts, an examination of those powers that are most effective in creating an intentional grantor trust, consideration of how and whether to “toggle” grantor trust status off and on, and other timely topics.

Lunch

11:45am - 12:45pm

Recent Wealth Transfer Tax Developments

12:45am - 2:30pm

Jeffrey N. Pennell, Emory University School of Law
Professor Pennell will explore with the audience current cases, legislation, regulations, and rulings of significance to estate planners, with an eye to their practical significance to everyday planning and drafting. Audience participation will be encouraged and the session will seek to extrapolate from the law as it is developing to situations that have not yet tested the boundaries of the law.

Substance Abuse

2:30pm - 3:30pm

Dr. Melissa L. Warner, William J. Farley Center
Addiction is widespread and knows no boundaries. It often develops in the setting of the treatment of a medical or psychiatric condition. Often the person suffering with the addiction is the last one to detect it. This program will review risk factors, signs and symptoms and the many resources available to help shepherd loved ones into treatment providing support for long-term recovery.