Wednesday, June 10, 2026

5:00 – 6:00 pm 

New Attendee Meetup 

Join us for a quick drink, a warm welcome, and conversation with colleagues before you explore Santa Fe and begin the conference the following day.

Day 1 - Thursday, June 11, 2026

1:30 – 3:30 pm 

Optional Event: Walk and Learn with a Guided Walking Tour of Downtown Santa Fe

Peter Sinclaire, an expert tour guide who has been walking the streets of Santa Fe for 34 years, will lead the group. Peter teaches history and leads field trips for Santa Fe Community College. He also has been a volunteer docent at the New Mexico History Museum for over 25 years! Walk through downtown Santa Fe and learn about the art, history, culture, and architecture in this historic city. The tour will also cover topics that interest the participants from Native American history to tales about ghosts, spies, and the Wild West. Get ready to ask all the questions about Santa Fe and New Mexico that you have always wanted to know!

Location: Tour departs form and returns to the Eldorado Hotel - although participants will have the option to stay and explore the Plaza.

Cost: $25.00 per person (available to attendees and guests)

Deadline: May 21, 2026 – limited space on the tour. Sign up when you complete your program registration.

3:00 – 4:00 pm

Registration 

4:00 – 4:10 pm 

Estate Planning Retreat Welcome & Opening Remarks

Extended by Dan Sweetser, Esq., Executive Director, Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. dba CBA-CLE; Kristin Dittus, JD, LLM, Life & Legacy Planning, Ltd., Program Chair; and Kelianne Chamberlain, Esq., Hoskin Farina & Kampf, PC., Program Co-Chair

4:10 – 5:10 pm 

The Two Certainties in Life are Death and Taxes: Demystifying the Myth that You Can Do Estate Planning Without Understanding Tax Considerations and Consequences

The need for complex estate tax planning has decreased with the increased estate, gift and generation-skipping tax exemptions. However, an estate plan should also take into consideration income tax implications. Nicole and Christine will cover basic income tax considerations when crafting an estate plan and their effect in the estate and trust administration process post death.

Presented by Nicole Economy Brown, Esq., Brown Law Firm, LLC, and Christine M. Stroup, Esq., Brown Law Firm, LLC

5:10 pm

Adjourn 

5:10 – 6:40 pm

Conference Convergence Welcome Reception

Sponsored by Midwest Trust

6:40 – 7:10 pm

Group Salsa Lesson with CBA-CLE’s Megan Rippentrop

No partner, no problem!

Day 2 - Friday, June 12, 2026

7:30 – 8:00 am

Breakfast (registered attendees only)

8:00 – 9:00 am

Practical Pointers for Every Engagement: Starting the Representation with a Solid Foundation 

This session reviews best practices for drafting effective engagement letters, with a focus on clearly identifying the client, defining the scope of representation, and addressing ethical issues that can arise when multiple parties attend client meetings or when representing more than one generation within a family. The program will explore how engagement letters should address the modern practice of law, including the use of cloud-based services and information storage by a law firm. We will also examine CRS § 6-1-737 on the “requirement to disclose certain pricing information,” effective January 1, 2026, and its implications for attorney engagement letters.

Presented by Kristin Dittus, JD, LLM, Life & Legacy Planning, Ltd., Program Chair, and Kelianne Chamberlain, Esq., Hoskin Farina & Kampf, PC., Program Co-Chair

Submitted for 1.2 Ethics Credit

9:00 – 9:10 am 

Transition to Breakout Sessions

9:10 – 10:10 am

Breakout Sessions - Choose (A) or (B)

Breakout Session (A)

Show Me the Money - The Surprising Complexity of a Cash Bequest

Clients love cash bequests. But cash gifts raise unexpected legal issues under Colorado’s probate and trust codes.  Important income tax questions also exist regarding exclusion, interest accruals, and payor deductibility. This session will review the embedded legal questions and the tools and techniques that can be used to help clients navigate through the surprising complexity of cash gifts.

Presented by James (Jim) R. Walker, J.D., LL.M., Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

Breakout Session (B)

Breaking Down Silos: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Drafting and Administering Trusts for Vulnerable Beneficiaries

Drafting for a beneficiary who has a history of substance abuse, addiction, mental illness, or intellectual disability can be a daunting task. Learn from a drafting attorney, a professional fiduciary, and a professional guardian/care manager on the best practices for drafting, interacting with, and caring for this beneficiary who will need additional support. After this session, you will be able to better advise your clients on practical options available to their loved ones and apply best practices in drafting to effectuate the client’s intentions and to support the fiduciaries involved.

Presented by Marianne H. Luu-Chen, Esq., Hutchinson Black & Cook LLC; Karen Miller, Baysore & Christian Fiduciary Services, LLC; and Naomi Richards, LCSW, NCG, ELDEResources LLC

10:10 – 10:30 am 

Networking Break

Please visit your sponsors!

10:30 – 11:30 am

Second Round Breakout Sessions – Choose (C) or (D)

Breakout Session (C) 

Planning for the Unpredictable: A Piquant Panoply of Powers of Appointment

This program is intended to offer a thoroughgoing introduction to powers of appointment.  The session reviews the basic types of powers, how they are structured and exercised, tax consequences of powers, uses of powers, and their pitfalls. We will review these issues through hypotheticals and client examples. 

Presented by Curtis J. Bankers, Esq., Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, and Christopher B. Cole, Esq., Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Breakout Session (D)

End-of-Life Planning – The Final To-Do List

Ask anyone whether they want their life extended beyond their mental capacity or terminal illness and most would say “no.” But the law supporting that wish can be murky, often promising much more than it can deliver. This program examines the end-of-life planning methods that are reliable, from both the estate planning and enforceability perspectives, highlighting and narrowing the gap between client intent and real-world outcomes. Applying Colorado law and a case study involving very unconventional end-of-life and disposition wishes, the presentation explores the limits of common planning tools such as living wills, last remains directives, and Medical Aid in Dying. The session concludes with a review of national and international trends in the field and practical guidance on counseling clients about end-of-life decision-making, managing expectations and improving the likelihood that their wishes will be respected when it matters most.

Presented by Norvell (Norv) E. Brasch, Esq., Wade Ash LLC, and Hayley M. Lambourn, Esq., Wade Ash LLC

11:30 – 11:40 am  

Transition to Breakout Sessions

11:40 am – 12:40 pm

Breakout Sessions - Choose (E) or (F)

Breakout Session (E) 

Integrating Technology into Your Estate Planning Practice — Practical Tips for a Modern Law Office

In this presentation, we will explore how estate planning attorneys can strategically leverage technology to streamline operations and elevate client service. We’ll showcase specific tools and tech solutions that can be integrated into key stages of estate planning practice, including client intake and onboarding, document automation, client communication, workflow and practice management, and data management and cybersecurity. We’ll also address the ethical implications and professional responsibilities that come with adopting new technologies. Finally, we’ll conclude with a practical implementation roadmap to help you effectively incorporate technology into your practice.

Presented by Colleen T. Scarola, Esq., Scarola Law, LLC, and Rachel Bernstein Sheikh, Esq., RBS Law, LLC

Submitted for 0.3 Ethics Credit

Breakout Session (F) 

Estate Challenges Unique to the “Grey Divorce” (aka Divorcing Later in Life)

Presented by Kate M. Lewis, Esq., Cage Lewis Weiman, LLC and Michelle Mieras, J.D., LL.M., CTFA, CDFA®, BMO Wealth Management – U.S.

12:40 pm

Adjourn

5:00 – 6:30 pm 

Conference Convergence Reception

Sponsored by Chayet & Danzo, LLC

Day 3 - Saturday, June 13, 2026

7:30 – 8:00 am

Breakfast (registered attendees only)

8:00 – 8:15 am

Welcome Back and Award Announcements

• Presentation of the 2026 John J. Campbell Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Practice of Elder Law in Colorado

• Announcement of the 2026 R. Sterling Ambler Award Recipient

Extended by Dan Sweetser, Esq., Executive Director, Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. dba CBA-CLE; Tammy Conover, Esq., Conover Law, LLC, Nancy (“Susie”) Germany, Esq., Germany Law Firm, P.C., and Kristin Dittus, JD, LLM, Life & Legacy Planning, Ltd., Program Chair

8:15 – 9:05 am 

Probate and Elder Law Case Law Update

Presented by Scott H. Challinor, Esq., Coan, Payton & Payne, LLC

9:05 – 9:25 am 

Networking Break

Please visit your sponsors!

9:25 – 10:25 am

What if Granny Wants to Gamble? Older Clients with Diminishing Capacity and Elder Financial Abuse

The nest eggs of America’s retirees are in the crosshairs of scammers and fraudsters who target elders, particularly women, due to the frailties and vulnerabilities that often accompany aging. As estate planners, we all will be called upon to help address the issues of those individuals whose capacity is diminishing. This session will help estate planners to recognize the most common causes and signs of diminishing capacity and will explore the ethical challenges that advisors and lawmakers face in protecting our vulnerable clients from exploitation without unnecessarily trampling on their rights to self-determination.

Presented by Professor Emerita Mary F. Radford, Georgia State University

Submitted for 1.2 Ethics Credit

10:30 – 11:20 am 

Working with Robots: AI, LLMs, and the Future of the Legal Profession

This program examines how artificial intelligence and large language models are reshaping legal practice and what that means for lawyers’ ethical duties. Using real-world examples from Trust and Estate and Elder Law practice, we will explore practical safeguards for integrating AI into client work without compromising competence, confidentiality, independent professional judgment, or proper supervision under the Rules of Professional Conduct. We will address the threshold question many lawyers are asking: whether to use tools such as ChatGPT and, if so, under what conditions and with what guardrails. The session will provide a framework for evaluating emerging legal technology, assessing vendor and data security risks, verifying outputs, and communicating appropriately with clients about the use of these tools. Special attention will be given to serving older and potentially vulnerable clients to ensure that innovation strengthens, rather than undermines, professional responsibility and client trust.

Presented by Keegan Drake, Esq., Drake Legal, PLLC, and Joel G. Hassell, JD, LLM, Clear Creek Law, PC 

Submitted for 1.0 Ethics Credit

11:30 am – 12:20 pm

Doing Well While Doing Good: Ethical and Inclusive Pro Bono

This presentation will provide tips on how to design pro bono legal clinics that are inclusive, accessible, and meet vulnerable clients where they are. The panel will discuss the barriers to solving the access to justice gap in our state and how lawyers engaged in pro bono help advance that goal.

Presented by Kristin M. Bronson, Esq., Colorado Lawyers Committee, and Christine M. Stroup, Esq., Brown Law Firm, LLC

Submitted for 1.0 EDI Credit

12:20 – 12:25 pm 

Closing Remarks and Adjourn 

Extended by Kristin Dittus, JD, LLM, Life & Legacy Planning, Ltd., Estate Planning Retreat Program Chair and Chelsea Ziegler, Esq., Ragab Law Firm, P.C., Elder Law Retreat Program Chair 

Location Information