Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s 61st Annual Estate Planning Seminar

David A. Baker, Bobbi J. Bierhals, Jared R. Cloud, L. Timothy Halleron, Mary Kay McCalla Martire, Adam K. Sherman, and Karen Van Meter spoke at IICLE’s 61st Annual Estate Planning Short Course, hosted in Champaign, Illinois on May 23-24, 2018.

Karen Van Meter spoke on “Recent Developments in Federal Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Taxes”, which provided an overview of the new law affecting this area in the last year.

Jared R. Cloud spoke on “Can You Keep a Secret? Should You? – Drafting and Administering Silent Trusts,” which discussed the common law duty to inform beneficiaries about their trust interests and how to draft and administer trusts when the settlor wants to keep the beneficiaries’ interests secret.

David A. Baker spoke on “Guardianship Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts, Beneficiary Designations and Tax Planning for Adjudicated Disabled Persons and Minors,”  which outlined what planning options are available for Minors and Disabled Persons, pursuant to the Probate Act and the discretion provided the Courts.

Bobbi J. Bierhals spoke on “The Intersection between Fiduciary Accounting and Tax Accounting,” which examined process of characterizing a receipt of property as income or principal in many trusts can determine which beneficiary will receive the property and how much can be distributed to beneficiaries. This characterization also impacts the allocation of income taxable to the beneficiaries instead of the trust, and reviewed fundamentals of Fiduciary Accounting and Tax Accounting using real world examples as well as tax traps and the income tax consequences of funding bequests.

Adam K. Sherman spoke on the “Power of Appointment – Property Law Issues,” which provided a grand tour of the core property law concepts governing powers of appointment, including exercising and disclaiming powers, creditor access, conflict of law issues, as well as the rule against perpetuities. This session also offered drafting tips and sample will and trust language for use with powers of appointment.

Mary Kay McCalla Martire and L. Timothy Halleron spoke on “Fleeing Illinois: State Income and Estate Tax Overview for Individuals and Fiduciaries.” This session provided an update on how individuals should document and preserve records in connection with a change of domicile for Illinois income tax and estate tax purposes. This session also covered factors that trustees should consider in determining whether the situs of a trust can be moved out of Illinois for income tax purposes.