Annual Trust and Estate Law Update
November 2010
Annual Trust and Estate Law Update 2010
Program Highlights
- Address by the Honorable C. Jean Stewart, Presiding Judge, Denver Probate Court
- Legislative Update
- Case Law Update
- Beyond the Boilerplate: Re-shaping Current Practice Using Advance Directives
- Is Your Hand on the Chopping Block? Avoiding Malpractice and Ethics Rule Violations
- Proposed Rules Changes Concerning File Retention and Destruction
- The State of the Federal Estate Tax as of November 5, 2010: Planning in an Uncertain Estate Tax World
- Generation-Skipping Tax (GST) Havoc in 2011 Due to a Year of Repeal and the Probable Sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) - and What to Do About It
Who Should Attend:
- Estate Planning Attorneys
- Estate Administration Attorneys
- Probate Litigators
- Tax, Finance, Accounting and Banking Professionals Who Work with the Trust and Estate Laws
- Anyone Who Needs to be Up-to-Date On the Most Important Issues in Trust and Estate Law!
Program Description
The month of November will blow into Colorado this year with the always welcome Annual Trust and Estate Law Update. Attend and treat yourself to timely updates and expert guidance on the hottest topics in trust and estate law!
The day begins with the always useful legislative and case law updates. Get concise, useful summaries of the new legislation and new case decisions affecting Colorado trust and estate law!
You will then continue your T&E education with a great session on advance directives. You will learn both the attorney and medical professional perspectives on this important topic!
Enjoy lunch with your colleagues provided courtesy of CBA-CLE and the CBA Trust and Estate Section! During lunch, Judge C. Jean Stewart of the Denver Probate Court will give you her top tips and insights on the issues she thinks most important in estate planning and estate administration. This is helpful guidance directly from the bench and should not be missed!
After lunch sit back and enjoy 1.5 credit hours in legal ethics, including coverage of the proposed file retention and destruction rule changes! Veteran estate planning and probate litigation counsel will be your guides as they take you through the issues most likely to trip you up and lead to malpractice and ethics violations. Learn to spot problems early on in this important segment of the program!
For the last two segments of the day you will be treated to tax issue updates of vital importance. Learn about the state of the Federal estate tax and the state of the generation-skipping tax, including approaches for dealing with the uncertainty caused by the lapse of these two taxes in 2010!
Friday, November 5, 2010, is a day of CLE Colorado Trust and Estate law attorneys won't want to miss…
Register today!
Agenda
8:00 - 9:00 am
Registration
9:00 - 9:05 am
Welcome and Introduction
Extended by Jennifer M. Spitz, Esq., Vice-chair, CBA Trust and Estate Section
9:05 - 9:35 am
Legislative Update
Learn about the legislation enacted in the past 12 months that impacts trust and estate law in Colorado!
Some of the new statutory changes you will learn about include:
-HB 10-1007: Adjustment of Fees by County Clerk and Recorders
-HB 10-1024: Declaration as to Medical or Surgical Treatment for a Terminal Illness
-HB 10-1025: Updates to Colorado Medical Treatment Decision Act
-HB 10-1122: Medical Orders and Scope of Treatment
-SB 10-47: Military Service Members and Federal Record of Emergency Data
-SB 10-199: Updates to Colorado's Probate Code Concerning Designated Beneficiary Agreements
Presented by Melissa J. Sullivan, Esq.
9:35 - 10:05 am
Case Law Update
Enjoy the always practical and useful update on recent case decisions that affect trust and estate law!
Presented by Jamie Roth, Esq.
10:05 - 10: 20 am
Networking Break
10:20 - 11:30 am
Beyond the Boilerplate: Re-shaping Current Practice Using Advance Directives
Enjoy a very useful presentation on advance directives as seen from both the attorney and medical doctor's perspectives!
Here are the topics you will learn about:
- It's Not Just About "Pulling the Plug”
- Addressing "Quality of Life," Caregiving, Chronic Disease and other Important Issues
- Coordinating and Connecting Advance Directives with Other Documents in the Estate Plan
- Preparing the Agent for "Active Duty"
- Update on Legislation Affecting Advance Directives
- Advance Directives at Work: How Doctors Interpret and Use Documents We Write
- "Advance Care Planning" as a Process: Perspectives from Inside the Hospital
- Strengths, Shortcomings, Obstacles and Suggestions
- How Doctors and Lawyers Can Be On the Same Team to Help the Same Person -- Our Clients, Their Patients
Presented by Susan Fox, JD MA
11:30 - 12:00 pm
What's On Judge Stewart's Mind: Tips and Suggestions for Trust and Estate Attorneys
Presented by the Honorable C. Jean Stewart, Presiding Judge, Denver Probate Court
12:00 - 1:15 pm
Lunch - On Your Own
1:15- 2:15 pm
Is Your Hand on the Chopping Block? Avoiding Malpractice and Ethics Rule Violations
When family members are disinherited or receive less than they anticipated from an estate, animosity surfaces and malpractice claims, as well as legal ethics problems, can arise. Clients and beneficiaries will turn on their estate planning attorneys, administrators and probate litigators for what they perceive to be negligent planning, maladministration or mistakes made in the courtroom. Planners, administrators and probate litigators need to be particularly diligent in guarding against these claims. This presentation looks at common sources of malpractice liability and ethics rules violations and provides practical techniques to avoid them.
Topics to be covered include:
- Recognizing when adults cannot represent the interest of minors in settlement agreements
- Fraud, attorney aiding and abetting civil conspiracy
- Lawyers who prepare wills for incompetent clients
- Lawyers who permit beneficiaries to become involved in the estate planning process
- Failure to timely file allowances and augmented estate election
- Failure to timely make elections on the 706, including alternative valuation, 6166, 2032A, QTIP and GST elections
- Failure to timely disclaim
- Failure at trial to object to incompetent testimony under the Dead Man's Statute
- Failure to control the renegade fiduciary
- Avoiding conflicts of interest when representing joint clients
- Business transactions with the estate planning client
- What is happening to the privity protection in Colorado
- Ethics Rules Governing Conduct of Attorneys Standard of Care:
- CRPC 1.1: Competence
- CRPC 1.2: Scope of Representation
- CRPC 1.3: Diligence
- CRPC 1.5: Fees
- CRPC 1.6: Confidentiality of Information
- CRPC 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, and 1.10: Conflicts of Interest
- CRPC 1.14: Client Under Disability
Presented by Keith D. Lapuyade, Esq. and Herbert E. Tucker, IV, Esq.
2:15 - 3:05 pm
The State of the Federal Estate Tax as of November 5, 2010: Planning in an Uncertain Estate Tax World
The lapse of the Federal estate tax for 2010 and the potential reinstatement in 2011 of the tax structure in place for 2001 has created tremendous confusion. The failure of recent proposals by U.S. Senators Lincoln and Kyl to get Federal estate tax legislation moving has only added to the uncertainty. Estate planners are confronted with a maze of unanticipated consequences under existing plan structures. This presentation will examine those consequences and how best to deal with them.
Presented by David L. Starbuck, Esq.
3:05 - 3:20 pm
Networking Break
3:20 - 4:10 pm
Generation-Skipping Tax (GST) Havoc in 2011 Due to a Year of Repeal and the Probable Sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) - and What to Do About It
Presented by Thomas L. Stover, Esq.
4:10 pm
Adjourn
Faculty
Hon. C. Jean Stewart
Presiding Judge
Denver Probate Court
Denver, CO
Susan Fox, JD MA
Golden, CO
Keith D. Lapuyade, Esq.
Godfrey & Lapuyade, PC
Englewood, CO
Jamie Roth, Esq.
Beattie Chadwick & Houpt, LLP
Gleenwood Springs, CO
Jennifer M. Spitz, Esq.
Stover & Spitz, LLC
Longmont, CO
David L. Starbuck, Esq.
Baker and Hostetler, LLP
Denver, CO
Thomas L. Stover, Esq.
Stover & Spitz, LLC
Longmont, CO
Melissa J. Sullivan, Esq.
Hutchinson Black and Cook, LLC
Boulder, CO
Herbert E. Tucker, IV, Esq.
Wade Ash Woods Hill & Farley, PC
Denver, CO
Video Replays: December 8, 2010
Denver: CLE Classroom, 1900 Grand Street, Suite 300
Grand Junction: 1250 East Sherwood Drive
Colorado Springs: 421 South Tejon Street, Suite 100
Location Information
CLECI Large Classroom
1900 Grant Street, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80203
Get directions
1900 Grant Street, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80203
Registration Fees
| Non Member | $329.00 |
| CBA | $269.00 |
| TRUST | $249.00 |
| New Lawyer | $229.00 |
| CBA | $229.00 |
- General Credits: 7.00
- Ethics Credits: 1.50
- EDI Credits:
To join the CBA or add a Section to your membership click