2016 Advanced Estate Planning Conference

SCHEDULE: 

Thursday, August 18, 2016

7:30 a.m. - A CPA’s Guide to Will Review

Examine how CPAs can provide a valuable service to clients by offering to review wills and trusts to ensure they take into account changing tax laws, family relationships, economic situations, and personal conditions. Learn how drafting and advising on the contents of a will or trust are legal services, yet CPAs can still provide valuable input and offer to assist with implementing any changes. Focus on a roadmap of the most important issues that CPAs should alert clients to in order to make sure estate planning documents carry out their goals and minimize confusion or litigation.

Carol Cantrell, CPA, JD/Managing Member/Cantrell & Cantrell, PLLC/Houston

9:00 a.m. - Oops! 50 Common Life Insurance Planning Mistakes

Identify common life insurance planning mistakes in both estate planning and employee benefit context. Hear valuable suggestions on how to avoid those mistakes in both contexts.

Donald Jansen/The University of Texas System/Houston

10:00 a.m. BREAK

10:15 a.m. - Federal Cases Law Update

Learn of noteworthy current developments affecting transfer tax practice. Cover the significant Federal Transfer Tax cases, including fiduciary income tax cases, rulings and the pronouncements from September 2015 through July 2016.

R. Bradley Fletcher/Partner/Strasburger & Price, LLP/Dallas

11:45 a.m. LUNCH BREAK

1:00 p.m. - Economic Outlook for Investors and Business Decision Makers

Get an update on the current global, social and economic trends in addition to the current investment environment for stocks, bonds, and real estate. Take a closer look into interest rates, inflation, job growth information that can aid in making wise investment and business decisions in the future

Mark G. Dotzour, PhD/College Station

2:30 p.m. BREAK

2:45 a.m. - The Form 709: Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Reporting in Today’s World

Learn how estate planning concepts, including Portability and Community/Separate Property, apply in preparing the Form 709. Delve into specific reporting rules and procedures to properly complete the 709. Take a practical walk through the issues presented in planning or an preparing the Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return in the new estate planning environment, including Portability and using the DSUE amount, gift-splitting, and reporting requirements for triggering the Statute of Limitations. Review completed Form 709 to discover reporting steps and procedures necessary to satisfy compliance requirements, achieve overall gift planning goals, and avoid costly traps.

Gary V. Post, JD/Partner/The Blum Firm, PC/Fort Worth and Dallas

4:00 p.m. - Elder Abuse, Exploitation and Scams: Ethical Duties

Explore the most common forms of elder abuse and exploitation and the ethical duty of professionals. Learn about the most common scams against today’s elderly population.

Georgia Akers/Retired Associate Judge and Attorney/Houston

5:00 p.m. ADJOURN

Friday, August 19, 2013

7:30 a.m. - Curing Estate Plans That No Longer Make Sense: An Examination of Specific Planning Techniques and Strategies

Learn more about how, as a result of changes in the law, certain estate planning strategies may no longer be appropriate for clients. Explore existing planning transactions that no longer make sense for clients and gain a detailed explanation of planning techniques and strategies that can be used to address those plans.

8:45 a.m. - U.S. Estate and Income Tax Planning for Non-Resident Aliens

Delve into the complexity of the U.S. tax laws that rise to a whole new level when planning for a client who is a non-resident alien. Hear a description of the unique U.S. tax rules that apply to individuals who are not citizens or residents of the U.S. as well as various planning strategies for these clients, such as foreign and domestic trusts and entities.

Amy P. Jetel/Partner/Beckett Tackett & Jetel, PLLC/Austin

9:45 a.m. BREAK

10:00 a.m. - Estate Planning Current Developments and Hot Topics

Explore various important current estate planning developments and practice trends. Discuss basis consistency legislation and reporting requirements, anticipated Section 2704 regulations, new items on IRS Treasury Priority Guidance Plan, estate planning practice trends, hot topics on the IRS’s radar screen and recurring tax litigation issues (including sales to grantor trusts), as well as creative estate planning uses of private derivatives and creative planning strategies with lifetime QTIP trusts.

Steve R. Akers, JD/Senior Fiduciary Counsel/Southwest Region/Bessemer Trust/Dallas

11:30 a.m. LUNCH BREAK

12:45 p.m. - The Exciting World of Partnership Basis Adjustments

Gain an overview of benefits and risks of partnership basis adjustments upon the transfer of partner interests by sale of death under Code Section 754. Analyze Code 754 elections, including mandatory step downs.

Jay R. Houren, CPA/Partner/Crady, Jewett & McCully, LLP/Houston

2:00 p.m. BREAK

2:15 p.m. - It Shouldn’t Be This Hard: A look at Trusts as Beneficiaries of Retirement Benefits

See why planning with IRAs and Qualified Plans is one of the more difficult aspects of estate planning and how the rules involving naming trusts as beneficiaries or retirement benefits are not intuitive but hyper-technical. Learn to organize those rules and create a framework in which they can be applied.

Alvin J. Golden/Shareholder/IKARD Golden Jones, PC/Austin

3:15 p.m. - The Current State of Transfer Tax Audits and Appeals

Discover how estate and gift tax audits have become increasingly bizarre with declining agent numbers and changes in the substantive law. Learn how long distance audits, retiring agents and delays all hamper issue selection; and cases are then funneled to a limited number of appellate officers. Be part of a practical discussion on what to expect if a client gets an audit notice and gain suggestions on how to proceed.

William R. Cousins, III, CPA, JD, LLM/Meadows, Collier, Reed, Cousins, Crouch & Ungerman, LLP/Dallas

4:15 p.m. ADJOURN

Basic Course Information

*Estate Planning
 

*Taxes