Earn up to 21 hours of CLE, 20 hours of CPE, and 16 hours of CFP credits in one location!
The Planning for the Generations Symposium provides quality education designed for estate planning, business planning, and elder law professionals. This year we will have three tracks of Essential, Advanced and Elder Law sessions.
Brochure | Agenda
Precursors | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
8:00 - 8:45 a.m.
Opening Remarks and Welcome Address
8:45 - 10:00 a.m.
Preparing for 2011-How to Plan for the Return of The Federal Estate Tax
Lewis Dymond, Jr., JD and Thomas Ray, Jr., JD
With only four months remaining in 2010, how can we prepare for the possible return of the Federal Estate Tax? How should we plan for the rest of the year? What opportunities and techniques are available in this unique environment? What techniques should be avoided or delayed? What should we be doing for estates of individuals that have died since the beginning of the year?
10:20 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Elder Law and Special Needs Planning - The State of Affairs in 2010
Louis Pierro, JD and Vincent Russo, JD, LL.M, CELA
This session, presented by ElderCounsel Principals Louis Pierro and Vincent Russo, will highlight emerging trends in the expanding areas of elder law and special needs planning, including a look at recent case law decided in these areas. Included in the session:
• Emerging practice niches in elder law and special needs planning.
• An in-depth look at health care reform: how does it affect our clients and our practices?
• Will the war on Medicaid-compliant annuities continue?
• Will other planning strategies come under attack as states look to cut Medicaid spending?
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
The Whiteboard Interview - The Design of the Joint Living Trust
Peter J Parenti, JD
The clients have made the decision, or at least a tentative decision, to move forward with the planning and to hire you. Now it is your job to design an estate plan that meets and satisfies all of the clients' hopes, fears, dreams, values, goals and expectations. The session will take you through the living trust design explanation and the questions that you need to ask to elicit feedback from the clients to make sure that the design of the estate plan is in fact meeting the clients' hopes, fears, dreams, values, goals and expectations, so that when the design is completed the clients will sign your fee agreement and give you a check.
Advanced Planning Strategies in 2010 - Lifetime Gifts & GSTT Transfers
D Scott Schrader, JD
This session examines the use of Lifetime Gifts and GSTT Transfers under the current tax code. 2010 is a tremendous opportunity to use these advanced strategies for building family wealth and income tax purposes. This course is critical for any practitioner who counsels clients in anything more than basic estate planning.
Variations on a Medicaid Crisis Plan
Michael Amoruso, JD
During this session, three different case studies and proposed solutions for a Medicaid client, who needs to become eligible as soon as possible, will be explored from start to finish.
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Keynote Presentation: The Power of Roth IRA Conversions in 2010
Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP, 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 topics:
• 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
• Roth IRA Segregated Conversion Strategy
4:15 - 5:15 p.m.
Keynote Presentation: Let's Push the Wheelbarrow-Right-Side Up
Orion Samuelson, Radio Hall of Fame Agricultural Broadcaster and co-anchor of "This Week in Agribusiness"
Orion will share his first-hand insight into farming in America and his experiences regarding the unique estate planning issues that farm families face.
Brochure | Agenda
Precursors | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Thursday, August 12, 2010
8:20 - 10:00 a.m.
Practical Planning for Farmers, Ranchers & Vintners
Stan Miller, JD and David Naples, JD, LL.M
Effective representation of clients in the agricultural industry requires an understanding of the specific planning objectives of this unique client group. Many of the issues are similar to those that are presented when we plan for any closely held business owner, but the ownership of land taps into something far deeper. While farming and ranching is a business, for most of our clients, it is far more than that. It is a lifestyle, and one that has deep emotional and even cultural significance. In this session, we will explore the unique planning objectives that drive these engagements and identify several of the common solutions effective to address these deeply held needs, including:
• Using conservation easements to accomplish both preservation and tax planning objectives.
• Alternatives to address the fairness issue that arises when some children choose to stay and farm with the parents while others choose other careers.
• Preventing then family farm from being lost to pay for the cost of long term care.
• Providing for an orderly transfer of control.
• Making certain that our estate planning solutions do not diminish the opportunity of our clients to benefit from federal farm subsidy programs, which quite often represent the entire profit of the crop year.
• Managing the estate tax issue.
Working with agricultural clients can be uniquely rewarding, but working with these clients effectively requires an understanding of the farm programs as well as the tax issues that interplay with the farm family's passion for the land and its traditions.
Trust Protectors and Trust Advisors
Matthew P. Grupp, JD, LL.M. (in Taxation), CM&AA
Learn how to draft revocable and irrevocable trusts using Trust Protectors and Trust Advisors to add checks and balances to your documents, provide for flexibility during administration, optimize tax planning, increase a client's sense of safety and control, and provide yourself with a source of recurring revenue. We will discuss fiduciary and non-fiduciary planning aspects.
Five Proven Trust Techniques to Supercharge Your Elder Law Practice
Louis Pierro, JD
Learn how to use an Irrevocable Trust in five very different ways, including Medicaid Planning, VA Pension Planning, Special Needs Planning and in a taxable estate.
10:20 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Practical Planning & Drafting LLCs and DAPTs
Carol Gonnella, JD and Cecil Smith, JD
This session will cover the critical provisions that need to be included in an LLC's Operating Agreement in order for the LLC to provide maximum asset protection. They will also discuss the critical provisions that need to be in the state statutes in which the LLC was formed. They will also cover how LLCs can be utilized in an estate plan to protect a client's primary personal residence, second residence, farms & ranches, brokerage accounts, CDs, individually held stocks & bonds, family business, rental properties and how all of this asset protection can now be obtained in a single-member LLC as well as a multi-member LLC. This session will show you how planning with LLCs and DAPTs will turn into a great profit center for your practice. The session will wind up with a discussion about protecting the income stream from an LLC by having a Domestic Asset Protection Trust own the LLC units.
Irrevocable Beneficiary Owned Trusts (IBOT)
Marc Selden, JD
When a properly drafted trust is created and funded by a third person for our client's benefit, the trust assets are protected from the client's predators, creditors and divorces. Learn if using an Irrevocable Beneficiary Owned Trust will allow your clients to achieve transfer tax and creditor protection not available through an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT), while providing your clients with control, access to and enjoyment of the trust property. Many professionals are promoting this strategy. Learn the ins and outs of this strategy.
Elder Abuse - What You Must Know for Your Elder Law Practice
Vincent Russo, JD, LL.M, CELA and Kerry Peck, JD
Join Kerry Peck and a panel of experts as they discuss elder abuse in its many forms and what attorneys and other professionals should be aware of when dealing with seniors and their families.
1:20 - 3:00 p.m.
Business Succession & Estate Planning
James Flick, JD
This presentation will provide valuable information for estate planning attorneys who wish to diversify their practice by expanding into Business Succession Planning. The topics to be discussed include:
• The significant benefits of offering business succession planning and related business planning;
• The basic training and skills required to provide business planning and the training resources offered by WealthCounsel;
• The practice tools included in WealthDocx excellent, but often overlooked and underutilized, Business Succession Planning System;
• The traditional approach to business succession planning;
• Business Exit Planning: A modern approach to business succession planning.
Estate Planning Strategies That Will Interest Your Referral Sources
Scott Hamilton, JD and Randall Borkus, JD, LL.M
This session will highlight current estate planning strategies that use life insurance products to deliver results for clients.
Planning for Persons with MS
Stephen Dale, JD
This presentation will focus on planning for persons with MS and related disabilities with a focus on case studies as well as drafting tips when creating special needs trusts. Attendees will learn about resources such as the MS society that are available to provide for support for clients with MS and their families and how to work with the local chapters to provide education to their membership and increase referrals.
3:20 - 5:00 p.m.
Advanced Planning with Legal Structures and Life Insurance
Scott Hamilton, JD
In this fast paced 100 minute session we will cover 3 advanced planning ideas that you can bring back to your referral sources to start generating interest and new business right away. Learn how to adapt each strategy to the needs of your higher net worth clients. If you already have some working knowledge about QPRTs, Split Dollar, sales of entities to IGTs and intra family loans this session is for you. If you don't, you're welcome to attend, but be prepared to hold on tight. We will cover a lot of ground in a short time.
How I Built a Profitable Estate Planning Practice and Sold it for a Tidy Sum
Jan Copley, JD
One way or another, we will all exit our businesses. Why not be deliberate about it and make some money, too? Learn how Jan Copley, a WealthCounsel member, implemented a strategy of building her profitable estate planning practice and how she actually sold it!
Pitfalls to Avoid When Planning for Clients Who Are Veterans
Valerie Peterson, JD and James Swain, JD
Learn seven common mistakes made when planning for veterans and how to avoid them to get the most money available for your client, faster.
Brochure | Agenda
Precursors | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Friday, August 13, 2010
8:20 - 10:00 a.m.
Creating Client Maintenance Programs
Vincent Bonazzoli, JD, Laura Wilson, and Wayne Wilson, JD
When a client retains an estate planning attorney to design, implement and maintain an estate plan, the attorney, the client and the client's family all benefit. Learn from two experienced law firms who have developed and implemented formal "maintenance programs." Although there has been much discussion regarding maintenance programs, very few firms have actually built their businesses around the maintenance program model. There are a few reasons for this. Many firms simply don't know how or where to begin. Some may question how they could maintain financial viability with such an ar¬rangement. Still others wonder whether the time and effort required to design and implement a successful maintenance program is actually worth it. The purpose of this session is to get beyond the conversation about the concept of a maintenance program and to discuss why a mainte¬nance program is essential, workable and worth it.
Planning For Same-Sex Couples and the Changing Definition of Marriage
Jerry Simon Chasen, JD, LL.M and Scott Squillace, JD
Until same-sex marriage has become the norm, the needs of legally unmarried couples and their families present particular challenges (e.g., absence of marital deduction) and opportunities (absence of restriction on "intrafamily transfers"). This session will review challenges of working with unmarried couples, consider both basic and advanced planning opportunities, and discuss issues, opportunities and challenges presented by same-sex marriage, civil unions and "domestic partnership" statutes, including the marital deduction, application of community property laws, and the patchwork application of divorce statutes amidst the various "defense of marriage" acts.
Are You Tripping Over Dollars to Make Pennies in Your Elder Law Practice?
Steven Riley, JD and Valerie Peterson, JD
Join Steve Riley and Valerie Peterson as they discuss common barriers to profitability that elder law attorneys, both new and experienced, often encounter in their practices. Attendees will learn ways to overcome these barriers and start reaching higher revenue goals than ever before.
10:20 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Planning for Dysfunctional Families
David Hiersekorn, JD
As estate planning attorneys we are often called upon to design and draft estate plans for families with dysfunctional relationships. During these times our greatest challenge is not the estate tax planning. It is the counseling and issue spotting required to deliver estate planning that will work. This session outlines the unique issues surrounding dysfunctional families and the planning solutions necessary to serve them.
Planning for Physicians: How to Attract Physician Clients and What to Do When You Get Them
James Flick, JD and Mark Monasky, MD, JD, FACS, FCLM
• Secrets to obtaining and retaining physician clients
• What not to do with physician clients
• Selecting the proper practice entity
• Strategies to protect the assets of the practice entity
• Personal asset protection planning for physician
Adding SPICE to Your Elder Law Practice
Rick Law, JD
Learn how to persuasively express the distinctive value of elder law estate planning as compared to traditional tax-motivated estate planning. Mr. Law is widely recognized for his ability to make complex legal concepts consumer-friendly and compelling. In just one hundred minutes, Rick guarantees to provide you with at least two easy-to-learn-and-apply techniques which will add a minimum of $20,000 to your 2010 income.
1:20 - 3:00 p.m.
Marketing Strategies for 2010 & Beyond
Peter Lennington, JD and Steven Riley, JD
The ultimate goal of marketing is simple: To inspire the continuing untroubled assumption that your firm's talents, solutions, and services are not only safe to believe in - but superior. This quality assumption is your "brand" or marketplace ID. And when a sufficient number referral sources memorize (and prioritize) your marketplace ID, your brand becomes a magnetic access pass - a credit line of credibility. Peter G. Lennington, a Twin Cities-based WealthCounsel member and frequent presenter, will outline key branding techniques; cost-effective methods of maintaining priority with referral sources; and how to motivate them to start sending the right type of clients to your front door.
How do you find time to practice law and market? How much time should you be spending being a rainmaker vs. a technician? What should you be doing at this stage of your career? Is ever safe to stop marketing? How do you grow your practices so you get a continual stream of referrals from other professionals? Who should you be marketing to? What should you say? How do you grow your practice through speaking opportunities to the public and other professionals? Should you provide continuing education to other professionals? What happens after they attend your class? Attorney and Coach Steve Riley will join us to share strategies that have worked in his practice as well as those that have worked for attorneys that Steve coaches.
Advanced Charitable Planning Strategies
Thomas Ray, Jr., JD
While presenting current charitable planning strategies, Tom Ray will show how charitable planning is relevant in today's estate planning environment. Learn about charitable trusts and techniques that will help clients direct their social capital without interfering with their family's financial security.
3:30 - 4:40 p.m.
Practice Group Roundtable
Join WC partners, Symposium presenters, and other attendees for an interactive opportunity to grow your practice. During this session we will be separating into practice groups to share our best practices and develop strategies to implement changes in the law. Each practice group breakout will be moderated by experts in the field. Come prepared to listen, grow, and share your insights from your practice. Topics include:
• Marketing Strategies
• Elder Law Planning
• Business Succession Planning
• Client Maintenance Strategies
• Advanced Estate Planning Strategies
• Foundational Estate Planning Strategies
4:40 - 5:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Brochure | Agenda
Precursors | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Estate Planning 102: Conveying Advanced Planning Concepts to Your Clients
Presented by Randall Borkus, JD, LL.M and Kyle Hafstad, Financial Analyst
Monday, August 9, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Members $250, Non Members $325
Purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the basics of Advanced Planning concepts and how to communicate those concepts to your clients.
Randall Borkus and Kyle Hafstad, InKnowVision, LLC, will use real client scenarios, data, and case studies to introduce you to practical communication techniques for talking to your clients about Advanced Planning topics. The course will walk the students through the process of analyzing a new client, educating that client and explaining the planning tools that best meet the client's goals. It will also include design analysis and presentation as provided by The Advisors Forum Planner. The goal is to empower the students with a solid method to differentiate their practices with powerful communication tools.
Estate Planning 103: The Essentials of Charitable Planning, Irrevocable Trusts, Retirement, and Business Planning
Presented by Lewis Dymond, Jr., JD and Thomas Ray, Jr., JD
Tuesday, August 10, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Members $250, Non Members $325
This is an introductory course designed to provide basic understanding of a wide variety of topics estate planners often encounter in representing clients including the essentials of charitable planning, Irrevocable Trusts, Retirement, and Business Planning.
Soaring to New Heights in Elder Law and Special Needs Planning
Tuesday, August 10, 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Members $149, Non Members $179
An interactive program designed for elder law attorneys looking to expand their expertise. This
unique program will offer experienced attorneys the chance to share ideas and learn new
strategies through the use of roundtable discussions with a facilitator at each table.
Roundtable discussions will include the following, pick any topic you like and join the discussion!
• Crisis Planning: Protecting the home, curing gifts, avoiding estate recovery.
• Real Estate and Business Interests: How to protect these interests, use of LLCs, how to deal with income.
• Fair Hearings - How to prepare, what to expect, when is an appeal appropriate.
• Special Needs Trusts - Choosing appropriate fiduciaries, pitfalls to watch out for in drafting
• Veterans Benefits - The balance between Medicaid, VA and special needs planning.
Build Your Brand- Developing a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
Tuesday, August 10, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Members $225, Non Members $275
Session 1: Tried and True Tricks from an Old Dog
Vincent Russo, JD, LL.M, CELA, Principal, ElderCounsel, LLC
Vincent Russo has practiced elder law, special needs planning and estate planning over 30 years. During that time he has seen significant changes in the way attorneys market and has a unique perspective on what has worked historically, how our target market has changed over the years, and what attorneys should be doing now to reach that changing target market.
Session 2: I Don't Care What You Had For Breakfast And Other Thoughts On Social Media
Mark Merenda, President, Smart Marketing
Blogging, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Avvo, Twitter - who cares? By now everyone has heard of "social media" - if only because our kids use it all the time. But are there good reasons an attorney or financial professional should spend precious time on such stuff? Find out if you should, where you should, and how you should in this informative session.
Session 3: Branding Your Law Firm
Mary Merrell Bailey, Esq., CPA, MBA, MSTaxation, MSAccounting, Bailey, Zobel, Pilcher
Nike™. Coke™. BMW™. Your Firm? Do your potential clients know you just by seeing your brand? Does your message consistently impart what you do, for whom and how? Your firm's brand differentiates you in your target market. Distinguish your firm, build presence, and grow business by melding image, logo, tag lines, color, and your character to position your firm for success. Whether you have a new firm which needs to make a splash or have an established firm needing a boost, learn how branding is easier - and less expensive to achieve - than you realize.
Session 4: You Built it; Now Make it Last
Laura Wilson, PracticeBuilders, LLC
Starting a practice was hard enough. Back then, having all day to create a trust was nerve-wracking---you wanted and needed more work. Then time passes and as you built your firm, the business came and now you're faced with a new challenge: balancing the current workload while attending to the business of maintaining your success. Ebbs and flows are not an unusual occurrence in any business, but to the degree it is feasible, we all want to figure out a way to sustain our success and avoid the swing from highs to lows. It's costly and frankly, no one enjoys it. With over 20 years experience working directly with attorneys and their firms, Laura's share of the discussion will focus on how to sustain your referral based relationships with your advisors and in particular, she will share an example of a 5 step business development cycle (a working model) designed to sustain the practice you have worked so hard to build.
The Welcome Reception
Tuesday, August 10, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Complimentary to Symposium Attendees and Guests.
Law Students, Paralegals and Non Attorney Estate Planning Professionals
This event presents an excellent opportunity for those who may be considering a career in the estate planning or elder law fields or work in these fields already but are not an attorney. Network with attorneys who may be looking for interns and associates, ask legal technical questions during the breakout sessions, and learn how an automated drafting system is critical to efficiency and profitability. To register, contact registration@wealthcounsel.com or call 888.629.4069, Ext. 823.
Register Today: Online | Email | Or Call Direct: 888.659.4069 x823
