Steve Akers' Heckerling Musings (2011)

Steve AkersSteve Akers of Bessemer Trust has published his summary of discussions and presentations at the 45th Annual Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning held in January 2011. It is hard to imagine anyone more qualified to report on such an event than Steve. The 96-page paper goes beyond a mere summary to include general discussions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 and its implications on estate planning.

Steve's summary is available here and on Bessemer's website.

Among the many topics covered is the possible clawback tax on gifts made in 2011 and 2012 if the tax-free amount is reduced in later years. Steve also summarizes the planning suggestions of prominent tax practitioners as well as their predictions about what will happen in 2012.

Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal Seminar at Texas Tech February 18

The 2011 Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal CLE Seminar will be held Friday, February 18, 2011, at the Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock.  Among the speakers and topics are:

• Tom Featherston on non-probate property and probate dispositions of community property
• Anne-Marie Rhodes on issues in planning and drafting when an estate includes works of art
• Gerry Beyer on common non-tax errors in estate planning and how to prevent them
• Judge Polly Spencer, Susan Staricka and Susan Fortney on charities as beneficiaries
• Joshua Rubenstein on controlling the disposition of one's remains and posthumous use of genetic material
• Stanley Johanson on recent tax developments in estate planning
• William LaPiana on the elective share

For more information, see Gerry Beyer's post on the Texas Probate Mailing List or the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal website.