201701.16
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News from the 2017 Heckerling Institute

imageI had a great time last week learning about new laws, proposed laws and advanced drafting techniques at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, Florida. I joined 3,100 other planners in listening to the best and brightest from the world of estate planning, tax, asset protection, elder law and international estate planning law.  With some of the sessions running concurrently, I took home the recorded audio of the entire event to catch up on all 60 hours presented during the week.   As I have done since 2012, I served as an American Bar Association reporter for 3 topics (over 7 hours) presented at the conference.  I enjoyed all the lectures I attended as well as networking with fellow practitioners.  I will be able to create links to my summaries of these lectures in the near future for those of you interested in:

  1. Partnership Income Tax Fundamentals for the Estate Planner/Administrator, presented by Richard B. Robinson, of Denver, Colorado, and Cristin Conley Keane, of Tampa, Florida. This 3 hour class examined the basic rules, planning opportunities and pitfalls that every estate planner/administrator should know about partnership tax.  Read more about this in Report #5 of 2017, at the link below.
  1. GST Tax: Math, Mistakes & Mitigation, presented by Julie Miraglia Kwon, of the Silicon Valley, California, and Carol A. Harrington, of Chicago, Illinois. This 3 hour class reviewed the practical basics of GST tax planning and compliance, including automatic allocations of GST exemption, reporting and elections on gift and estate tax returns, inclusion ratios, common snafus, and options to address prior mistakes.  Read more about this in Report #10 of 2017, at the link below.
  1. Basis Consistency and Other Income Tax Issues Facing Executors, presented by Steve R. Akers. This 50 minute class covered the new basis consistency rules, IRS forms and IRS regulations executors must follow.  These rules create reporting headaches for advisors and significant additional fiduciary concerns for executors. The statutory rules, IRS forms, and proposed regulations, including a variety of surprises in the regulations, were examined during this class.  Read more about this in Report #14 of 2017, at the link below.

These, along with all the other summaries from the Heckerling Lectures, can be found on the American Bar Association website at this link: 

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/real_property_trust_estate/events_cle/heckerling_reports.html