Continuing Education

The Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning is the nation's leading conference for estate planners. Continuing legal education credit will be applied for in every state that has mandatory continuing legal education requirements and has been routinely granted for past Institutes. In the past, continuing education credit has also been available for other estate planning professionals, including trust officers, accountants, charitable giving professionals, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, and nonprofit advisors.

Please be aware that every state has its own rules and regulations regarding accreditation. We urge you to contact our office in advance with questions regarding the availability of credit for a specific jurisdiction or profession, as we cannot guarantee that credit will be available in all cases.

Continuing education credit will be awarded only for sessions attended live in-person or virtually in real-time. Registrants attending the virtual Institute will be required to confirm their real-time participation in the sessions by responding to polling questions.

Maximum Available Course Hours

• 28.50 Hours: States that use 50-minute hour
• 24.00 Hours: States that use 60-minute hour

Please check back for state specific CLE approvals.

The University of Miami School of Law is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

• Amount of Recommended CPE credit: 28.00 hours
• Program Level:  Advanced
• Program Prerequisites:  Comprehensive knowledge of estate planning principles
• Advance Preparation: None
• Learning Objectives: Upon completion of the program, participants will be able to identify, analyze, and resolve practical estate planning, administration and tax reporting issues.

Delivery Method

• Group-Live: In order to be awarded continuing education credit, attendees must be present and comply with the NASBA attendance monitoring requirement by signing-in and signing-out of each session attended on the attendance sheets located in each classroom. 
• Group Internet Based: In order to be awarded continuing education credit, attendees must comply with the NASBA attendance monitoring requirement by responding to three polling questions per CPE credit or 85 questions for the entire conference. 

Recommended Field of Study

• Regulatory Ethics – 7.0*
• Specialized Knowledge – 12.0
• Taxes – 20.0  

* The following State Boards of Accountancy require ethics courses to be specifically approved by their state board and, therefore, may not qualify for ethics credit: Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming

Please click here for the Breakdown of Sessions and Fields of Study >

Continuing education credit will be available for estate planning professionals, including financial planners, IRS enrolled agents, banking professionals, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, and nonprofit advisors.

Continuing education credit will be granted only for sessions attended live in-person or virtually in real-time. For registrants attending the virtual Institute, attendees will be required to confirm their real-time participation in the sessions by responding to polling questions.

Please check back for CFP approved sessions.

Continuing education credit will be available for estate planning professionals, including financial planners, IRS enrolled agents, banking professionals, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, and nonprofit advisors.

Continuing education credit will be granted only for sessions attended live in-person or virtually in real-time. For registrants attending the virtual Institute, attendees will be required to confirm their real-time participation in the sessions by responding to polling questions.

Please check back for IRS approved sessions.

Continuing education credit will be available for estate planning professionals including trust officers, banking professionals, charitable giving professionals, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, and nonprofit advisors.

Continuing education credit will be granted only for sessions attended live in-person or virtually in real-time. For registrants attending the virtual Institute, attendees will be required to confirm their real-time participation in the sessions by responding to polling questions.

We urge you to contact our office in advance with questions regarding the availability of credit for a specific jurisdiction or profession, as we cannot guarantee that credit will be available in all cases.

The 61^st Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning will be submitted to the organizations listed below for continuing education credit:

The following sessions may be approved for ethics, diversity or technology credit.  Credit for these sessions may not be available in all instances. Please refer to the accreditation information for your specific jurisdiction and profession.

Tuesday, January 12, 2027 (11:05 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.)
Who’s in the Control Tower? Helicopter Parenting and Multigenerational Estate Planning
Carole M. Bass

While ethical guidance traditionally focuses on joint representation of couples, our flight path will shift to a more complex and increasingly common scenario: parents seeking to influence planning decisions affecting their children’s financial and personal lives. Obstacles encountered along the way include ethical issues involving client identity, privilege, and potential conflicts of interest. 
Ethics credit applied for.

Tuesday, January 12, 2027 (4:25 – 5:25 p.m.)
New Tools, Same Duties: The Future of Estate Planning in an AI-Empowered World
Andrea P. Sinner

AI has the potential to fundamentally change how society meets the need for estate planning. This session explores how practitioners might reimagine value, service, and stewardship in an AI-empowered world while preserving the professional judgment, ethics, and duties that give clients confidence that their wishes will be understood and honored.
Ethics & Technology credit applied for.

Thursday, January 14, 2027 Special Session III-A (2:00 – 3:30 p.m.)
The People We Trust: Dependency, Autonomy, and the New Face of Exploitation
Tara Anne Pleat, Anthony V. Alfieri

Financial exploitation often begins with relationships of dependency rather than legal incapacity. Using examples involving elder abuse, caregivers, supported decision-making, and scams, this program explores how loneliness, grief, and social isolation increase vulnerability, while examining lawyers' ethical responsibilities under the recently revised ABA Model Rule 1.14 and strategies for balancing client autonomy with protection from undue influence and exploitation.
Ethics credit applied for.

Thursday, January 14, 2027 Special Session IV-C (3:50 – 5:20 p.m.)
Donor Intent Under Pressure: DEI Restricted Gifts in Uncertain Times 
Nicole Campbell, Reynolds T. Cafferata, Nancy A. McLaughlin

As legal and policy developments reshape the charitable landscape, organizations are confronting difficult questions about administering gifts that are restricted to benefit particular races or other groups. This panel will examine legal challenges to restricted gifts, donor intent, fiduciary duties, organizational risk, and available legal pathways for honoring or modifying restrictions while navigating evolving regulatory expectations and institutional responsibilities.  
Diversity credit applied for.