Estate Planning

General Description:

Participants will learn in detail the foundational principles for structuring contemporary estate plans using modern estate planning theories. The course provides an extensive review of the planning process, including applicable tax considerations, issues of blended and nontraditional families, planning pitfalls, strategies to mitigate litigation, options for flexibility, and an introduction to basic asset protection concepts.

Learning Objective:

After completing this course the participant will be able to:

• Describe the pros and cons of different foundational estate plans as related to small, mid-size, or large estates and tax law changes beginning in 2013.
• Apply modern estate planning concepts to traditional families, blended families, and nontraditional families.
• Explain the step-up in basis, marital deduction, and tax consequences (including income tax, gift/death tax, and generation-skipping transfer tax) of planning choices inside or collateral to an estate plan.
• Analyze when and how to use portability for a deceased spouse's unused exemption amount.
• Compare strategies for flexibility in an estate plan.
• Identify common planning oversights and pitfalls, including common law marriage claims.
• Use asset integration to maintain the integrity of the estate plan.
• Explain various planning options to achieve asset protection.

Instructors:

Janine A. Guillen is a partner with the law firm of Guillen DeGeorge, LLP. She has represented hundreds of clients for estate and business planning, trusts and estate settlement, incapacity planning, and litigation. She has taught continuing education seminars for CPAs, attorneys, and insurance professionals for 10 years and is a guest lecturer at the University of Denver College of Law. She holds a J.D., M.B.A., LL.M. in taxation, and B.S.N. in nursing. She is licensed to practice law in Colorado, New York, and before the U.S. Tax Court.

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