Program Tracks

This year’s Institute includes a series of programs on Business and Financial Assets.  This series of  programs discusses steps that can promote successful business succession planning and discuss important actions that can make a difference. Finally, they will examine the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Connelly v. United States with a focus on buy-sell agreements. The series will also address the tax consequences of the death of a partner, including planning opportunities and pitfalls before and after death.   Finally, the series will provide an update on issues affecting trusts and trustees under the Corporate Transparency Act.

Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (9:30 – 10:45a.m.)
Lloyd Leva Plaine Distinguished Lecture
Taking Care of Business: New Approaches to Business Succession Planning

Ellen K. Harrison • Natalie Reitman-White
The well-publicized use of a purpose trust to own the voting shares of Patagonia in order to preserve the founder’s mission of protecting the environment has stimulated interest in alternative ownership structures for succession planning.  Similar structures have been used for decades in Europe but are relatively unknown and untested in the U.S.   Ellen Harrison will discuss the unique legal features and drafting challenges posed by purpose trusts.  Natalie Reitman-White, one of the pioneers in designing purpose trusts, will share her experience-based knowledge on why business owners are choosing purpose trusts, the varied ways of structuring governance design and financial flows to benefit the business purpose.

 
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (11:05 – 11:55a.m.)
Seven (not so) Secret Ways to Successful Business Succession

Thomas W. Abendroth
The successful transition of a family business by the current generation is almost always challenging, for both the family and their wealth advisors.  There is no one proven path to success, and the process often requires many years of careful planning, with frequent changes along the way.  There are, however, certain steps that always should be considered, if not implemented.  This session will discuss seven important actions that can make a difference.

Wednesday, January 14, 2025  (2:00 – 2:50p.m.)
The Great Unknown: What Really Happens When Partners Die?

Paul S. Lee
They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes.  If that has always been true, then why do we know so little about what really happens when a partner dies?  This presentation unveils the real truth about the “step-up” in basis when a partner dies and what’s left behind for the partnership and its partners. The presentation will also cover planning opportunities before and after death, pitfalls to avoid, and unanswered questions, with a focus on “negative basis” and “negative capital” assets.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 (10:25 – 11:15a.m.)
Dirt Lawyering – Tax Planning for Real Estate Investors

Farhad Aghdami
This program will focus on the income tax and wealth transfer tax planning opportunities (and pitfalls) associated with planning for real estate investors including a discussion of non-tax considerations and obstacles. The program will also explore planning strategies for specific types of assets and ownership structures typically found in real estate deals.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 Special Session II-A (3:50 – 5:20p.m.)
Business as Usual?  Buy-Sell Agreements, Life Insurance and Business Valuation After Connelly 

Thomas W. Abendroth • Natalie M. Perry w Aaron Stumpf
When the U.S. Supreme Court takes an estate tax case, estate planning professionals take notice. In this session, the panel will take a closer look at the Court’s 2024 decision in Connelly v. United States and the implications for business succession planning, with a focus on buy-sell agreements, life insurance and how a redemption obligation could be relevant in the appraisal of a decedent’s interest in the business.

Thursday, January 16, 2025 Special Session III-B (2:00 – 3:30p.m.)
The Dirt on Tax Planning for Real Estate Investors 

Farhad Aghdami • S. Gray Edmondson
This panel discussion, through a series of hypothetical fact patterns, will focus on practical tax and non-tax considerations when representing real estate investors, such as the use of grantor trusts for wealth transfer tax planning, selection of trustees to hold real estate interests, dealing with negative capital accounts, managing capital gains and 1031 issues, transferring QOZ interests, transfers of “promote” interests, and much, much more!
 

Thursday, January 16, 2025  Special Session IV-B (3:50 – 5:20p.m.)
It’s Late but Not Too Late to Get Your [CT]Act Together: Trusts, Family Offices, Private Trust Companies and the Corporate Transparency Act 

Jocelyn Margolin Borowsky • Elizabeth King • Benetta Y. Park
Although the major CTA filing deadline is January 1, 2025, CTA compliance obligations still remain and questions abound.  This session focuses on CTA matters that concern trusts and trustees. The panelists will bring you up to date on the latest guidance on who is a “beneficial owner” through a trust where a trust owns an interest in a reporting company, whether any exemptions are available, whether trustees have a reporting obligation, how the CTA impacts private trust companies, and what conflicts or other ethical issues might arise.
 

Friday, January 17, 2025 (9:30 – 11:00a.m.)
Planning and Administration Decisions for Clients’ IRAs Under Final(ly!) IRS RMD Regs

Natalie B. Choate
2024 brought us final IRS regs on required minimum distributions for clients’ retirement accounts, post-SECURE.  Here are the planning/drafting choices advisors confront, and the administration choices (and deadlines) faced by beneficiaries, executors, and trustees.

This year’s Institute includes a series of programs on Litigation and Tax Procedure. This series of programs will provide insights on how the Supreme Court’s decisions in Loper Bright, Jarkesy, and Corner Post could affect your practice, with guidance on how estate planners should adapt to this post-Chevron world. The series will also discuss planning for indecisive clients, consider issues in making and reporting 2025 gifts and review selected fiduciary litigation decisions from 2024.

Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (2:55 – 3:45 p.m.)
Bulletproofing Your Estate Plan

David A. Baker
Testamentary documents are now fluid, modifiable and manipulatable, notwithstanding testator’s intent. Doctrines, such as Decanting, Non-Judicial Settlement Agreements, Guardianship-Created Documents and Litigation Strategies, provide that testamentary plans will be modified pre-and post-death without input from the testator. Bulletproofing presents strategies and tools to lock in intent, notwithstanding these new devices.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 Special Session I-A  (2:00 – 3:30 p.m.)
The Brave New (Anti-Regulatory) World  

David W. Foster • Jenny L. Johnson
The Supreme Court is curbing the regulatory state, most recently in Loper Bright, Jarkesy, and Corner Post.  Will Treasury change its regulatory process?  How should estate planners adapt to this post-Chevron world?  Will audits be easier to settle?  Join this discussion highlighting the real-world impact of new limitations on Treasury, the IRS, and the Tax Court.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 Special Session I-B  (2:00 – 3:30 p.m.)
Review of the Past Year’s Significant, Curious, or Downright Fascinating Fiduciary Cases 

Dana G. Fitzsimons Jr.
This session will review selected reported fiduciary litigation decisions from 2024 that relate to multiple areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, the fiduciary duties of agents, administrators, trustees, and other fiduciaries, related trial practice, and identifying and navigating contemporary fiduciary challenges.|

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 Special Session II-C  (3:50 – 5:20 p.m.)
A Procrastinator’s Guide to Making and Reporting 2025 Gifts

Christine S. Wakeman • George D. Karibjanian • Beth Shapiro Kaufman
Are your clients procrastinators?  This program will discuss techniques to plan for indecisive clients and equip you to deal with challenging issues on 2025 gift tax returns, while salvaging your New Year's Eve, avoiding remorse, and maintaining your sanity.

Thursday, January 16, 2025 Special Session III-C  (2:00 – 3:30 p.m.)
But I Thought It Was Irrevocable? Using Nonjudicial Settlement Agreements to Modernize Trusts 

Michael M. Gordon • Elizabeth M. Luk • Michaelle D. Rafferty
Existing irrevocable trusts often lack the needed flexibility to achieve certain goals.  This session will explore why clients are interested in using NJSAs and other techniques to modify trusts and adjust to changing circumstances, the mechanics of using such techniques and fiduciary concerns.

This year’s Institute features a series of programs on Charitable Giving and Philanthropy. These programs look at the use of purpose trusts to preserve the founder’s interest, and provide a review of the latest developments in charitable planning

Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (9:30 – 10:45 a.m.)
Lloyd Leva Plaine Distinguished LectureTaking Care of Business: New Approaches to Business Succession Planning

Ellen K. Harrison • Natalie Reitman-White
The well-publicized use of a purpose trust to own the voting shares of Patagonia in order to preserve the founder’s mission of protecting the environment has stimulated interest in alternative ownership structures for succession planning.  Similar structures have been used for decades in Europe but are relatively unknown and untested in the U.S.   Ellen Harrison will discuss the unique legal features and drafting challenges posed by purpose trusts.  Natalie Reitman-White, one of the pioneers in designing purpose trusts, will share her experience-based knowledge on why business owners are choosing purpose trusts, the varied ways of structuring governance design and financial flows to benefit the business purpose.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025 Special Session I-C (2:00 – 3:30 p.m.)
What’s New in Charitable Planning

Alan F. Rothschild, Jr. • Brad Bedingfield • Nancy A. McLaughlin
This panel will review the latest developments impacting donor-advised funds, the enforcement of charitable gifts, race and gender-restricted giving, UPMIFA and the Donor Intent Protection Act, as well as recent cases and their effect on the drafting and acceptance of charitable gift agreements.

This year’s Institute includes a series of programs on International Planning.  These programs will address the application of non-U.S. trust law and administrative practices to the U.S. beneficiaries of trusts administered in other countries, highlighting the important differences between non-U.S. and U.S. trust law.  The series will also address expatriation, and the paths and challenges for Americans planning to move abroad. 

Thursday, January 16, 2025  (9:30 – 10:20a.m.)
It’s English to Me: Non-U.S. Trust Law for U.S. Lawyers (or the Real Reason We Had a Revolution)

Read Moore • Bernadette Carey
Many U.S. clients are beneficiaries of trusts administered in countries other than the United States.  Non-U.S. trust law and administrative practices in other countries, however, differ considerably from U.S. trust law. This presentation will address important differences between non-U.S. trust law and U.S. trust law to allow you to better advise clients on tax and non-tax implications of being a beneficiary of a non-U.S. trust. 

Thursday, January 16, 2025 (11:35a.m. – 12:25p.m.)
Preppers Welcome!  Jurisdictional Diversification for the Apprehensive American

Scott A. Bowman
With concerns about inflation, growing national debt and the stability of our political system, many wealthy Americans want to hedge.  This presentation will explore the paths and challenges to jurisdictional diversification for Americans looking to move themselves and their assets abroad.  Because when the “stuff” hits the fan, it’s already too late.

Thursday, January 16, 2025 Special Session III-A (2:00 – 3:30p.m.)
The Foreign Trust A-Level: Understanding Non-U.S. Trust Law and How it Affects U.S. Clients

Read Moore • Bernadette Carey • Simon Gibb
This session will consider and explain typical provisions in non-U.S. trust documents and administrative practices in non-U.S. jurisdictions that differ from U.S. trust law and practice with experienced trust law practitioners from outside the United States.