Will Contests - Webinar
This program will provide the probate litigator with essential information for litigating will contests, including up-to-date case law and statutory changes.
Topics Include:
- Testator Intent and Testamentary Freedom v. Public Policy and the Ethical Duties of the Drafting Attorney
- Avoiding Prepaid Litigation: Contracts to Make Wills, Prenuptial Agreements, and Divorce Decrees
- Litigating Estates that Hold Family Owned Business Entities
- Litigating E-Wills
- Using Expert Witnesses and Evidentiary Issues Involving Their Testimony for Capacity Assessments
- Application of Rules of Evidence, Including Deadman’s Statute, Evidentiary Issues in Will Contests, Discovery Issues Raised by the Rabin and Everhart Decisions
Home studies will be available approximately 2-3 weeks following the live program.
For your own safety, the safety of others, and in an effort to provide everyone with the most rewarding in-person meeting and event experiences possible, we request that you attend a CBA, DBA, or CLE meeting or event only if you have been fully vaccinated. Mask wearing is up to personal preference and comfort level. Masks may be required in some clinic settings. Please be cognizant and understanding of others’ preferences and courteous to all attendees.
Depending on CDC and/or state or local health guidelines, a rise in COVID-19 cases, or other circumstances that may threaten the well-being of our attendees, CBA-CLE reserves the right to convert to a fully virtual event.
If disability accommodations or special assistance are needed, please contact us at [email protected]. Requests must be made at least two weeks prior to the scheduled program.
The program will be submitted for CLE accreditation in Colorado. If you need to seek accreditation in another state, please review the process and requirements for that individual state. CBA-CLE staff can provide a Uniform Certificate of Attendance, and it is the attendee’s responsibility to complete the accreditation outside of Colorado.
8:30 – 9:00 am
Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 9:10 am
Welcome and Introduction
Extended by Letitia “Letty” Maxfield, Esq., Trust & Estate Advocates, LLP, and Herbert E. Tucker, IV, Esq., Wade Ash Woods Hill & Farley, P.C., Program Co-Chairs
9:10 – 9:40 am
Testator Intent and Testamentary Freedom v. Public Policy and the Ethical Duties of the Drafting Attorney
A review of the current law and ethics regarding the drafting of testamentary provisions that engender bias against a person on account of race, gender, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status and the enforceability of provisions that are found to be against public policy.
Presented by Leia Ursery, Esq., Goodspeed Merrill
Submitted for .6 EDI Credits
9:40 – 10:40 am
Avoiding Prepaid Litigation: Contracts to Make Wills, Prenuptial Agreements, and Divorce Decrees
Includes discussion of Rule 1.7 (Conflict of Interest: Current Clients),
Rule 1.6 (Confidentiality) and Rule 1.9(Duties to Former Clients)
Presented by Jessica Higgins Catlin, Esq., Hurth, Sisk & Blakemore, Richard Kiely, Esq., Holland & Hart LLP, and Jody J. Pilmer, Esq., Wade Ash Woods Hill & Farley, PC
Submitted for .4 Ethics Credits
10:40 – 10:50 am
Stretch Break
10:50 – 11:50 am
Litigating Estates that Hold Family Owned Business Entities
Family owned businesses often cause complicated disputes in estate administration. This presentation will include a discussion of (1) conflicts of interest for family members who hold multiple roles, (2) required disclosures to beneficiaries, (3) division of interests in the business, and (4) valuation.
Presented by Rebecca Schroer, Esq., Holland & Hart LLP, and Ronald Seigneur, CPA/ABV, ASA, CVA, Seigneur Gustafson LLP
11:50 – 1:00 pm
Lunch Break (on your own)
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Litigating E-Wills
The presentation will look at E-Wills from execution to admissibility in the courtroom. Through hypotheticals the presenters will explore:
- Requirements for a valid e-will in Colorado, including requirements for self-proved wills
- The expanded role of the notary including testimony regarding the testator's capacity
- Admissibility of the notary's e-journal and of audio-visual recording of the will execution
- Conflicts of law questions where testator, witnesses, and notary are in each others electronic
- presence
- Admissibility of flawed e-wills under the harmless error doctrine
- Evidentiary issues involving revocation of multiple e-wills stored on numerous digital devises
- Custody and certification of e-wills by notaries
Presented by Letitia “Letty” Maxfield, Esq., Trust & Estate Advocates, LLP, and Herbert E. Tucker, IV, Esq., Wade Ash Woods Hill & Farley, P.C., Program Co-Chairs
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Using Expert Witnesses and Evidentiary Issues Involving Their Testimony for Capacity Assessments
Presented by Keith D. Lapuyade, Esq., Evans Case, LLP, and Max Wachtel, Ph.D
3:00 – 3:15 pm
Stretch Break
3:15 – 4:15 pm
Evidentiary Issues in Will Contests: Clarity or Confusion with Rabin and Everhart and Other Matters
Presented by Honorable Kim H. Goldberger (ret.), Senior Judge LLC, Todd E. Kastetter, Esq., Todd E. Kastetter, P.C., and David Struthers, Esq., Evans Case, LLP
Submitted for 1 Ethics Credit
4:15 pm
Adjourn
Registration Fees
| Non Member | $519.00 |
| CBA Member | $389.00 |
| CBA Trust & Estate Law Section Member | $319.00 |
| CBA Elder Law Section Member | $319.00 |
| Paralegal/Support Staff | $194.50 |
| Public Service/Government | $194.50 |
| Active Military | $194.50 |
| New Lawyer Edge Partner | $194.50 |
| CLEACCESSPASS | $0.00 |
| Student Currently Enrolled in Law School | $0.00 |
- General Credits: 7.00
- Ethics Credits: 1.40
- EDI Credits: 0.60
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