2024 Advanced Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Survey Course

8:25 Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:55 Welcome and Introductions

9:00 Refashioning Irrevocable Trusts

Elizabeth K. Arias, Womble Bond Dickinson (U.S.) LLP, Raleigh

With the adoption of the Uniform Trust Code and the Uniform Trust Decanting Act, irrevocable trusts rarely are truly irrevocable. Review the various statutory provisions that permit the modification of irrevocable trusts and when the provisions may be available for use by the trustee and/or beneficiaries. Then walk through the process for using the applicable statutory provisions and virtual representation. These topics are even more relevant now in an advanced planning landscape where the focus has often shifted away from transfer tax planning.

10:00 Break

10:10 Charitable Giving

Doug Benson, Foundation For The Carolinas, Charlotte

There are many options available to clients with charitable planning goals. However, certain strategies may be affected by the new tax law and the current interest rate environment, and others have been subject to increased IRS scrutiny. Private foundations and donor-advised funds are increasingly popular, but there are potential downsides to each. During this session, explore the various charitable planning tools and review charitable planning opportunities in the current environment.

11:10 Break

11:20 Basis Planning

Mark J. Hale Jr., Baddour Parker Hine & Hale PC, Goldsboro

Basis planning is the new black in estate planning. Under the new tax law, very few clients are going to be impacted by transfer taxes. Learn how the higher transfer tax exemption levels provide opportunities for basis planning that clients should be able to expect from advanced estate planners.

12:20 Lunch Break

12:50 LLCs in Estate Planning, Including FinCEN Rules

Elizabeth K. Arias, Womble Bond Dickinson (U.S.) LLP, Raleigh

LLCs are widely used by estate planning attorneys for asset management, gifting and other purposes that are crucial to the success of our client families. Receive an overview of the new FinCEN reporting requirements that will be effective in 2024 and how those requirements may impact estate planning attorneys and their clients. Further, we discuss suggested provisions in LLC operating agreements that are helpful from the perspective of estate planning, lifetime gifting and business succession planning for clients that are often overlooked by individuals who do not regularly address these matters in their practice.

1:50 Break

2:00 The Evolution of the SECURE Act

Christina G. Hinkle, McPherson Rocamora Nicholson Wilson and Hinkle PLLC, Durham

In late 2019, the SECURE Act drastically altered the required minimum distribution rules for retirement accounts. In 2022, the IRS issued proposed Regulations, and SECURE 2.0 was enacted into law. We discuss how the 2022 developments clarified and changed the required minimum distribution rules, particularly as they impact beneficiaries of retirement accounts.

3:00 Break

3:10 Federal Income Taxation of Trusts

Chris Henderson, White & Allen PA, New Bern

Never before has the income taxation of trusts been more important to the advanced estate planner. Dive into the taxation of grantor and non-grantor trusts in a world where income tax planning is often more pertinent than transfer tax planning.

4:10 Adjourn

Description

Designed as a survey for individuals who practice routinely in the area of estate planning and have several years of prior experience, this program addresses a series of advanced topics, presented by estate planning practitioners.

Sharpen your skills in areas such as advising clients on sophisticated tax planning strategies, modifying irrevocable trusts, handling income tax issues related to trusts, and structuring charitable gifts into an effective estate plan.

Contributors

Elizabeth K. "Liz" Arias

Elizabeth K. "Liz" Arias is a Partner with Womble Bond Dickinson (U.S.) LLP in Raleigh. She provides a wide array of estate planning, fiduciary litigation, tax planning and private wealth services to clients who are seeking to strategically manage their wealth in a way that allows them to achieve their estate planning goals and objectives and to do so as tax efficiently as possible. Areas in which she regularly advises clients include use of irrevocable trusts, including modification and termination of existing trusts, gifting strategies, complex estate planning, formation of limited liability companies (LLCs), family limited partnerships or other closely held family businesses and generational planning, including dynasty trusts.

Liz is a member of the American College of Trusts and Estates Council (ACTEC). She is a past chair of the Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She is an active member of the Legislative Committee for the Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law section with over 15 years of experience assisting in drafting North Carolina's trusts and estate legislation.

Liz earned her B.A. fromt the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D., summa cum laude, from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law.

Click here for more information about Liz.
Douglas W. "Doug" Benson

Douglas W. "Doug" Benson is General Counsel and Senior Vice President at Foundation For The Carolinas in Charlotte, the fifth-largest community foundation in the United States. manages its legal and investment teams and plays a lead role in the Foundation's philanthropic advancement work. He oversees governance and compliance for the Foundation and its affiliates, including 11 supporting organizations.

Doug works closely with donors and professional advisors to implement sophisticated lifetime and testamentary giving techniques to accomplish the donors' philanthropic and tax objectives. He coordinates the negotiation and acceptance of complex gifts, including closely held business interests, real estate and other non-cash assets. Since joining the Foundation, he has helped facilitate charitable gifts of non-cash assets in excess of $300 million.

Previously, Doug practiced law for 12 years with Moore & Van Allen PLLC in Charlotte and with Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP (now Eversheds Sutherland) in Washington, D.C. During this time, he advised families of substantial wealth on estate, tax and charitable planning matters.

Doug serves on several boards and committees, including the CMS Foundation, the Queens University Estate Planners Day Steering Committee (Chair 2019/2020), and the Duke University Estate Planning Council. He is a frequent speaker on a broad range of charitable and estate planning topics, including charitable gifts of closely held business interests, planned giving, board governance and tax-exempt entities.

Doug earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

Click here for more information about Doug.
Deanna L. Coleman

Deanna L. Coleman is a Managing Partner at Ray O'Connor Coleman & Halverson PLLC in Fayetteville. Her practice primarily focuses on estate planning, estate administration, business formation and transactional work. Included within such practice areas are, without limitation, powers of attorney, advanced directives, wills, trusts, employment agreements, purchases and sales of businesses, and related matters.

Deanna is an active member of the Cumberland County Bar Association, gives presentations regarding her areas of practice, and volunteers for local charitable organizations.

Deanna earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law and her LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Click here for more information about Deanna.
Mark J. Hale Jr.

Mark J. Hale Jr. is a member of Baddour Parker Hine & Hale PC in Goldsboro. He concentrates his practice in estate planning and probate, wills and trusts, guardianships, corporate and business matters and taxation. He is the Wayne County Public Administrator and Public Guardian. He is a Board-Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law.

Mark is currently a member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law section. Other NCBA activities include previously serving as the Editor of the Will and the Way and Chair of the Newsletter Committee, current Chair of the Task Force with NC Clerks of Court, and a member of legislative committee where he is currently Co-Chair of the electronic wills subcommittee.

Mark graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.A. in Chemistry. He earned his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law. Following law school, Mark spent a year in Miami, FL, where he earned his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Miami School of Law.

Click here for more information about Mark.
Chris Henderson

Chris Henderson is an shareholder at White & Allen PA in New Bern. He practices in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, business planning, business entity taxation, qualified retirement plans, and tax-exempt organizations.

Chris is a Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) as credentialed through the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA). He is a Board-Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law as designated by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.

Chris was Chair of the North Carolina State Bar Estate Planning and Probate Law Specialty Committee in 2023 and served on that Committee for six years. He is a current member of the North Carolina Bar Association Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law Section Legislative Committee and is a former Council member.

Chris earned his B.A. in Spanish from Davidson College, J.D. from Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law and his LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law.

Click here for more information about Deanna.
Christina G. Hinkle

Christina G. Hinkle is a Partner at McPherson Rocamora Nicholson Wilson & Hinkle PLLC in Durham. She focuses her practice in the areas of wills and trusts, estate and gift tax planning, estate and trust administration, and probate law. She has developed a special interest in charitable giving, public and private foundations, multi-generational and blended family planning, and trust modifications, terminations, and decantings. She is also versed in business entity formation and business law.

Christina is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association (Estate Planning and Fiduciary Law and Business Law Sections), American Bar Association (Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law Sections), and the Orange County Bar Association. She serves as Vice President of the Durham/Orange Estate Planning Council, She also serves as a board member of the Child Care Services Association, and the North Carolina State Bar Board of Continuing Legal Education. She has been a Board-Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law since 2008 and has received the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating.

Christina, born in Princeton, NJ, spent several years in Geneva, Switzerland before settling in the Durham-Chapel Hill area. She attended Chapel Hill High School, and then Duke University, graduating with a B.S. in Mathematics. She graduated with high honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she served as an Articles Editor of the North Carolina Law Review and was a member of the national legal honorary society, The Order of the Coif. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable J. Dickson Phillips, Jr., on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Click here for more information about Christina.

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Description

Contributors

Elizabeth K. "Liz" Arias

Douglas W. "Doug" Benson

Deanna L. Coleman

Mark J. Hale Jr.

Chris Henderson

Christina G. Hinkle