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Detailed Agenda

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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Registration & Continental Breakfast

7:00am – 8:15am

Welcome & Opening Remarks

8:15am – 8:30am

Hot Topics in Fiduciary Liability: Avoiding Traps, Thickets and Tar Balls

8:30am – 9:30am

Turney P. Berry, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP

This discussion will focus on ensuring fiduciaries can sleep through the night by identifying current issues in litigation, strategies to avoid those risks, and good practices to institutionalize.  Trustee notification of beneficiaries, investment performance, and interaction with estate planning ideas will be among the discussion points.

Break

9:30am – 9:45am

Planning Under the Current Tax Law: Will Congress Ever Get It Right? And Other Recent Developments

9:45am – 11:30am

Charles D. Fox, IV, McGuireWoods LLP

The first part of this presentation will be a review of the current status of the laws affecting the estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes and how best to plan for clients in light of the current state of the law.  The second part of the program will focus on recent developments in other areas such as the marital deduction, gifts, valuation, family limited partnerships and limited liability companies, and fiduciary income tax.

Practical Planning for Generation Skipping Transfers

11:30am – 12:30pm

Timothy H. Guare, Timothy H. Guare, PLC

Recent changes in the generation‑skipping transfer tax laws have made it less likely that clients with smaller estates will need to be concerned with GST issues.  However, clients with significant assets and an intention to benefit grandchildren or more remote descendants must remain attentive to GST issues.  Although recently-enacted rules are intended to make it less likely that the GST tax will inadvertently rear its head, these rules also make it more likely that a client will unintentionally use GST Exemption in a manner that is less than optimal.  This portion of the program will discuss how the coordination of the GST exemption with the applicable exclusion amount will affect planning for the reverse QTIP election, planning around the “automatic” allocation of GST exemption, the allocation of GST exemption to irrevocable life insurance trusts, planning for the effective use of the GST annual exclusion,  and the division of trusts to take maximum advantage of the GST exemption. 

Lunch

12:30pm – 1:30pm

Drafting and Administering Discretionary Trusts: Can Beneficiary Happiness and Trusts Coexist?

1:30pm – 2:45pm

Christopher P. Cline, Wells Fargo Bank
Julian W. Walker, Jr., Law Office of Julian W. Walker, Jr.

The uncertain status of the transfer tax system over the past few years has exposed a significant flaw in the estate planning process: we don’t often focus on what really matters to our clients.  This presentation will focus on the new psychological “science” of happiness, and what it has to say about our approaches with clients.  Looking specifically at trusts, this presentation will address whether, and the extent to which, estate planning and trusts in particular can actually make clients and their beneficiaries happier by improving the way trusts are conceived, drafted and administered.  The materials will consider the benefits of “subjective” versus “objective” drafting styles, as well as the types of goals trustees should seek to achieve in trust administration.

Break

2:45pm – 3:00pm

Charitable Trusts Today

3:00pm – 4:00pm

Jerry J. McCoy, Law Office of Jerry J. McCoy

Charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts have been around for decades, but as estate planners scramble to keep up with developments and changes in other areas, they may overlook these familiar devices.  And some newer planners have never studied how these trusts can benefit their clients.  This session will review the basics, with an emphasis on practical points such as when and how to use charitable trusts, how to choose the right type of trust for a given situation, and how charitable trusts can be used to accomplish basic estate planning objectives.

The Background, Tools, and Structures of Domestic and International Asset Protection

4:00pm – 5:00pm

Elizabeth M. Schurig, Schurig Jetel Beckett Tackett

Asset protection vehicles are no longer a luxury, but something all clients need to some degree. The greater the client’s net worth, the more difficult it is to achieve asset protection without a protective trust structure. This presentation will make participants familiar with the various tools of asset protection for high net worth clients, including: legally exempted property, such as retirement plans, homestead, life insurance and annuities, spendthrift trusts, protective entities such as LPs, LLCs, and trusts, family limited partnerships, domestic trusts, and foreign trusts, traditional, established, and new “asset protection” jurisdictions, the use of foreign and domestic grantor trusts, and reporting requirements for trust structures.


Friday, October 15, 2010

Continental Breakfast

7:45am – 8:15am

FLPs and FLLCs: Where We Are and Where We Are Going

8:15am – 9:30am

Milford B. Hatcher, Holland & Knight

The law relating to FLPs is constantly evolving and sometimes transforming. This presentation will explore what  is new in the ongoing challenges relating to Section 2036(a). A string of recent taxpayer victories will be analyzed in light of what may be a tougher predominant motive standard for the taxpayer. Step transaction challenges seem to be the new focus of the IRS, especially in the gift tax area. Trends in the step transaction area and the possible extension of step transaction concepts in the estate tax area will be reviewed. The IRS is also attacking the allowance of the annual exclusion for gift tax purposes and has had notable recent success. The discussion will cover not only the sweeping potential scope of the IRS's recent success, but also means of mitigating or even circumventing the risks. Finally, possible regulatory and statutory limits on discounting will be considered.

Life Insurance Policy Management: How to Dispose of the Policy before They Dispose of the Insured

9:30am – 10:30am

Charles L. Ratner, Ernst & Young LLP

This session is designed to help estate planners work with policyholders and their agents to address issues associated with the management of existing life insurance policies. The presentation will start with an overview of the issues and opportunities confronting policyholders, including trustees of irrevocable life insurance trusts. We will then survey the most common types of life insurance products, with emphasis on the characteristics of each type that alternatively contribute to those issues and opportunities. After then describing how to get the right information from the policyholders and the agents, we will discuss when and how to repair, replace, surrender or sell a policy.

Break

10:30am – 10:45am

Advanced Roth IRA Conversions in 2010

10:45am – 12:00pm

Robert S. Keebler, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP

In the past, taxpayers who have had adjusted gross income (AGI) above $100,000 were precluded from converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. However, beginning with the 2010 tax year, this limitation will be lifted, thereby allowing many more taxpayers the opportunity to convert to a Roth IRA. This, in turn, will open up a flood gate of activity for those professional advisors who become familiar with the basics of Roth IRAs and the mathematical factors which make them both a viable income and estate tax planning tool. During this session, we will discuss the following: basic rules of Roth IRAs, taxation of Roth IRA distributions, seven reasons why to convert to a Roth IRA, mathematical "mechanics" behind Roth IRA conversions, tactical considerations, Roth IRA conversion timeline, and  Roth IRA segregated conversion strategy.

Lunch

12:00pm – 1:00pm

The A-MAZE-ing Race: How to Succeed (Ethically) in Business Succession Planning

1:00pm – 2:00pm

Cynda C. Ottaway, Crowe & Dunlevy

During this presentation we will wind our way through the maze of ethical rules to help you determine what you should and should not be doing to help your clients develop an appropriate succession plan for their family business.  In this discussion, we will consider the multiple possibilities of “who is the client” and ways to structure the relationship.  Finally, we will review samples of engagement letters which can provide helpful protection for you and the client.

Your Practice at Death; Its Worth and Other Issues

2:00pm – 3:00pm

Albert W. Secor, CapitalMark Bank and Trust

Is there value in a professional practice when the professional dies? This presentation will discuss determining the value, who are the likely purchasers, planning to provide for the professional’s family, and dealing with confidential records and other special assets. This discussion will also deal with alternatives for passing on the practice before death.

Break

3:00pm - 3:15pm

Practical Approaches to the Current Estate Tax Uncertainty

3:15pm – 4:15pm

Practitioner Panel Discussion

Jean Adams, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC
Phil Buchanan, Duke University
Tim Herbst, US Trust
Anne McKinney, Anne McKinney P.C.

Moderator: Jean Carter, Hunton & Williams

This section will focus on the practical issues in dealing with the year 2010 with its absence of the estate tax and the advent of carryover basis, as well as the uncertainty of future estate tax and related laws. The panel will include practitioners from different experiences – large and small firm attorneys, a planned giving officer and a trust officer – discussing problems encountered dealing with the tax rules (or lack thereof) in 2010 and how they have dealt with the 2010 uncertainty and issues. For example, since 2001 have they drafted documents contemplating 2010 having no estate tax? What have they told clients? Are they preparing documents in 2010 or telling clients to wait until 2011 to prepare documents once we know the new laws? How are they planning for clients who may not live until 2011? Are clients still making gifts, including charitable gifts? If someone dies in 2010 how can the estate administration be done? The practitioners will discuss their practical experiences dealing with individuals and also with estate administration in this unusual year. The emphasis will be practical including specific examples.

Content

32nd Annual Duke University Estate Planning Conference

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For questions or information regarding the Duke Estate Planning Conference, please contact Alyssa Alegre at
(919) 681-8030 or DEPC@law.duke.edu

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