12th Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Elder Law Retreat – Virtual
Online registration will close at 12:00 pm on August 26, 2020. After 12:00 pm on August 26th, please email [email protected] if you would like to register for the Retreat.
Co-Sponsored by the Elder Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association and the Colorado Chapter of National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
Not just another endless series of Zoom meetings, our dynamic online conference is refreshingly engaging with online discussions, real-time speaker interface, and interactive networking events.
Plus the practical, timely sessions taught by experienced attorneys, professionals, scholars, and judicial officers you've come to expect, with Hot Topics, including:
- Impacts of COVID19 on Probate Litigation and Long-Term Care Regulations
- Ethical Requirements of Technology in the Practice
- Trusts and LTC Medicaid Eligibility
- Dealing with a Virtual Law Practice and Crisis
- Case Law Update
- Remote Notarization, Remote Witnessing, & E-Wills
- Collaborations Between Estate Law Attorneys and Prosecutors
- Changes Implemented by the CARES Act and the SECURE Act
- Supported Decision-Making and the Importance of Personal Choice
- Red Flag Law and Analyzing Extreme Risk Protection Orders
- Counseling Clients on Medical and Psychological End of Life Decisions
- …and much, much more!
Scholarships Available
The Colorado Judicial Institute (CJI) is granting 10 full tuition scholarships to judicial officers (or judicial staff) to attend the Elder Law Retreat. To qualify, you cannot have been awarded a CJI scholarship in the past 12 months.
THANK YOU TO OUR 2020 SPONSORS!
Platinum
JAMS
True Link Financial
BOK/CFPD
Gold
Baysore & Christian Fiduciary Services, LLC
Good Shepherd Fund
Members Trust Company
Silver
ElderCounsel
Fortis Private Bank
Interactive Legal
Krause Financial Services
Lawyers with Purpose
Life Insurance Settlements, Inc.
McTeam Properties, Inc./Mature Moves Division
PeopleCare Health Services
SRS Capital Advisors, Inc.
Two Sisters Plus, LLC
Sponsorship opportunities are still available! For more information, please contact Melissa Higham, [email protected]
Agenda:
Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - Open Platform Day
9:00am
Virtual Platform opens
11:00 am
Golf Outing
Foothills Golf Course
3901 S. Carr St.
Denver, CO 80235
Golf tee-times available throughout the day
$88 per golfer (Includes Green Fee, Golf Cart, Personalized Cart Signs, Score Card, and a Box Lunch). All applicable public health regulations must be followed, including the course's COVID-19 policies. Choose GOLF option at check out to register or email for more information.
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Virtual Mixologist Mixer in our Networking Lounge - Sponsored by BOK/CFPD
Reconnect with your colleagues and expand your professional circle in small groups or 1:1 via video. Our virtual networking lounge allows you to table hop and move about the room, just as you would if we were all together in-person. Be sure to sign in ahead of time, and upload your photo, contact info and socials to maximize your networking.
Tonight, alongside your conversations, you will compound your cocktail concocting with mixologist Jason Randall, who will teach us how to make fresh, late-summer cocktails and mocktails (a Paloma, Negroni, and Pina Colada).
Thursday, August 27, 2020 - Day 1
8:00am – 9:00am
Coffee Chat Social Hour - Sponsored by JAMS
9:00 am – 9:15 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Extended by Kayla R. Nelson, Esq., Program Co-Chair
9:15 am – 10:15 am
Remote Notarization, Remote Witnessing and Electronic Wills
COVID-19 has accelerated the learning curve for both elder law attorneys and estate planners. The concepts of remote notarization and remote witnessing of estate planning documents was foreign to most of us several months ago. It is now apparent that these logistical hurdles only contemplated in hypothetical situations are now a reality. This program will take a step back to discuss the concepts of e-wills and some of the practical tensions in existing Colorado law that will need to be addressed/considered when e-wills legislation is proposed in the next legislative session.
Letty Maxfield, Esq., and Herb Tucker, Esq.
10:15 am - 10:30 am
Networking Break – Please Visit Your Sponsors!
10:30 am – 11:30 am
Keynote Presentation: Win-Win: When Civil and Criminal Justice Unite for Elders
Elder Law Attorneys regularly deal with capacity, financial exploitation, rapacious family members, questionable quitclaims and undue influence. Prosecutors deal with many of the same issues. So, how can the two groups collaborate more effectively? In this session, learn more about identifying criminal offenses and presenting information which will prompt a strong response from the local District Attorney. Analysis of real-life examples and hypotheticals will help you learn how to work effectively together, to optimize the outcome for your client.
Michael Dougherty, Esq., and Jane Walsh, Esq.
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Impact of the Secure Act and Cares Act for Aging Clients
Analyzing retirement plan options is hard enough without the uncertainty of a global pandemic. The changes implemented by the Secure Act and Cares Act add another layer of complexity for taxpayers nearing retirement or reevaluating distribution plans in light of recent market conditions. In addition to new saving and withdrawal options, retirement account beneficiaries are estimated to pay exponentially more tax given the recent the death of the stretch-IRA. Clients may be seeking new ways to manage current wealth or pass it to the next generation without suffering a crippling tax bill. This course will review the retirement plan distribution changes implemented by the Secure Act and Cares Act and analyze various distribution options based on client circumstances and goals. Recommended language for trusts named as beneficiaries of IRAs will also be discussed to ensure planners can appropriately update documents to better comply with this new legislation.
Klaralee Charlton, J.D., LL.M.
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Lunch Break – Please Visit Your Sponsors!
1:00 – 1:45 pm
Optional: Afternoon Zumba Class - Sponsored by Members Trust Company
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Trusts and LTC Medicaid Eligibility – Current Hot Topics
Megan Brand and Laurie Hanson will review the ever-changing landscape of LTC Medicaid when your clients have a Disability or Pooled or Third party special needs trust or are trustees of those trusts – including pooled trusts for individuals age 65 and older in Colorado and nationally; establishing fair market value or valuable consideration; the SECURE Act and third party special needs trusts; how ABLE accounts work with special needs trusts, state scrutiny of distributions; and current/pending legislation in Colorado and nationally affecting Medicaid Trusts.
Megan Brand and Laurie Hanson, Esq.
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Virtual Law Practice in the Time of Covid
As the world continues to evolve with the presence of Covid, we will discuss how to navigate your home legal office. Whether you’ve always worked from home but now face new challenges or Covid has moved your legal office to home, we will offer tips and suggestions.
Mike Drumm, Esq. and Kirby Joseph, Esq.
4:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Networking Break – Please Visit Your Sponsors!
4:15 pm - 5:15 pm
Good to Go: Counseling Clients on Medical and Psychological End of Life Decisions
Our practice deals with end of life decisions daily. How we advise our clients can make the process easier on them and on their family. Join Rose Mary Zapor, Esq., Thomas G, Castellano, M.D. and Cindy Kaufman, Certified End of Life Doula, to discuss how we can work together to make the end of life easier for our clients. How do doctors refer to our Living Wills? Can we direct how our clients want to be treated if they have an advanced dementia? What about Life Stories? How does Hospice figure into the picture? Do we need to be cognizant of spiritual needs?
Thomas Castellano, M.D., Cindy Kaufman and Rose Zapor, Esq
5:15 pm
Day 1 Adjourns
5:30 pm - 6:30pm
Trivia Night - Sponsored by True Link Financial
Join us for a fun night of networking, trivia, and prizes!
Friday, August 28, 2020 - Day 2
8:00 am – 9:00 am
Morning Yoga Class - Sponsored by Good Shepherd Fund
9:00 am – 9:15 am
Welcome Remarks
Extended by Kayla R. Nelson, Esq., Program Co-Chair and Anne Zogg, Metro Volunteer Lawyers
9:15 am – 10:15 am
Keynote Presentation: A Discussion on Supported Decision-Making: What is it and How it Can Be Used in Colorado
This panel discussion will work to build a common knowledge base on Supported Decision-Making (SDM). The panel will discuss the background information on SDM, the importance of personal choice, how to build an SDM system and the current state of this practice in Colorado. This panel discussion will be interactive and provide ample time for Q&A. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions.
Jonathan Martinis, Esq., Honorable Frances Doherty (ret.), and Kelsey Lesco, Esq.
10:15 am - 10:30 am
Networking Break – Visit Your Sponsors!
10:30 am – 11:30 am
ETHICS: The Ethical Requirements of Technology in the Practice
This session will review ethical matters related to the use of technology in the workplace, including secure storage, maintaining competency in an evolving technological world, and avoiding ethical violations related to technology.
Bryon Large, Esq.
1.2 Ethics Credits
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
COVID and the Black Hole of Long Term Care
COVID-19 has upended our world, but nowhere worse than in long term care facilities. This presentation will explore changes in long-term care regulation forced by COVID, as well as nursing home litigation challenges posed by this deadly virus and its aftermath.
Jerome M. Reinan II, Esq.
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Lunch Break – Visit Your Sponsors!
OPTIONAL: Supported Decision-Making: From Theory to Practice
Study after study finds that older adults with more self-determination – who have more control over their lives – have better lives. This presentation will show you how Supported Decision-Making (SDM) can help older adults keep control over their lives, maximize their independence, make their own decisions, and have a better quality of life. In SDM, people work with friends, family members, professionals, and others they trust, who help them understand their situations and choices, so they may make their own decisions. In this session, you’ll learn tips, tools, and model language you can use to make SDM plans and put them into practice.
Jonathan Martinis, Esq.
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Red Flags: Predicting Dangerousness
In 2019, Colorado joined seventeen other states and the District of Columbia with a gun control law colloquially referred to as a Red Flag Law. Colorado’s version authorizes a judicial Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO). This presentation will focus on the statutory language Colorado courts apply to restrict a person’s right to possess, acquire, or transfer firearms. This presentation will then contrast ERPOs with Civil Protection Orders, Involuntary Mental Health and Substance Abuse law, and Guardianship. Katie Donohue, Esq. of the Denver City Attorney’s Office will present from the Petitioner’s Counsel perspective, and Jonathan Culwell, Esq. will present from the Respondents’ Counsel perspective.
Jonathan Culwell, Esq., and Katie Donohue, Esq.
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Case Law Update: Return of the Super PR and More!
Just when you thought it was safe to talk openly about common law marriage and a personal representative’s authority, guess again! This year’s update is sure to deliver interesting developments, with cert granted on Marriage of Hogsett and Estate of Rabin. Join us as we elucidate the appellate highs, lows, ayes, knows, wills and woes, thrills, chills, spills and drills in our field, all with a surprise or two for no-frills awakening effect!
Spencer Crona, Esq., and Kayla Nelson, Esq.
3:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Networking Break
3:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Litigation under COVID
This presentation will explore the practical considerations in litigating protective proceedings, and other probate actions in light of the COVID pandemic. COVID-19 has imposed restrictions on day-to-day life, changing the unwritten rules everyone previously took for granted. These restrictions have impacted all aspects of a probate litigation practice, from mediations, depositions, to court appearances. The presenters will explore and discuss in an interactive manner some of the practical considerations in successfully litigating probate cases in light of these restrictions from start to finish, including: conducting remote mediations; deposing a party; and, remote evidentiary hearings.
Scott Challinor, Esq. and Jamie Roth, Esq.
4:45pm
Day 2 Adjourns
Registration Fees
Non Member | $291.00 |
Sponsor Member | $291.00 |
Sponsor Non Member | $291.00 |
CBA Member | $234.00 |
CBA Elder Law Section Member | $208.00 |
CBA Trust & Estate Law Section Member | $208.00 |
CLE BASIC Pass Holder | $119.00 |
New Lawyer Edge Partner | $117.00 |
ELITE Pass Holder | $109.00 |
- General Credits: 16.00
- Ethics Credits: 1.20
- EDI Credits:
To join the CBA or add a Section to your membership click
Sponsor Information
Overcoming Obstacles, Breaking Down Stereotypes, and Changing Perspectives Using My Life Experiences Tailored to Special Needs Law and Elder Law Practitioners
Presented by the Honorable Justice Richard H. Bernstein, Michigan Supreme Court
Panel on End of Life Options; Proposition 106 and the Ethics of Counseling a Client on End of Life
Presented by:
- Jennifer Moore Ballentine, MA, President, The Iris Project
- Michael A. Kirtland, Esq., Kirtland & Seal LLC
- Jean Abbott, MD, MH, Professor Emerita, Center for Bioethics and Humanities, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Addressing Domestic Violence in the Elder Community
Presented by:
- John Gleason, Esq., Burns, Figa & Will
- Allison Rocker, Esq., Denver Deputy District Attorney, Denver District Attorney’s Office
Moderator: Michelle Adams, Esq., Law Office of Michelle Adams, LLC