Henkel, Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation

Transcription

1 Course Estate Planning LLM 334 Section Professor LSN Jon R. Vaught Term Spring 2015 Meetings 1/15/15 4/30/15 Professor s Contact Information Office Phone 510/ Address Office Hours jon@vaughtboutris.com By Appointment General Course Information Required Texts & Materials Henkel, Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation Estate Planning Printed Materials/Articles (Handouts) Suggested Texts, Readings, & Materials Books: CEB Estate Planning for the General Practitioner CEB, California Decedent Estate Practice CEB, California Trust and Probate Litigation CEB, California Trust Administration Hartog, California Wills & Trusts (Lexis/Nexis) Hartog, California Trust Practice (Lexis/Nexis) Hartog, California Trust Litigation (Lexis/Nexis) Blaylock, California Probate Practice (Lexis/Nexis) Hartog, California Trust Litigation (Lexis/Nexis) Spero, Asset Protection and Form Book (WG&L) Zaritsky, Tax Planning for Family Wealth Transfers (WG&L) Esperti, Irrevocable Trusts Henkel, Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation (WG&L) (attorneys version) Choate, Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits Periodicals: CEB, Estate Planning & California Probate Reporter California Trust and Estates Quarterly (State Bar of California, Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section) Estate Planning (WG&L) Trusts & Estates (Wealth Management.com) 1 of 6

2 -To have students demonstrate an understanding of the basic principles of the law as it pertains to estate planning, including, but not limited to property law, tax law, trusts and wills, trust and probate administration, charitable giving, retirement planning, asset protection, business succession planning, and elder law. Course Objectives - To provide students with practical applications of estate planning by reviewing and discussing actual estate planning documents, including, but not limited to, a will, a revocable trust, an irrevocable life insurance trust, a power of attorney, a health care directive, a family limited partnership agreement and property transfer instruments. -To provide students with the skills and techniques and documents necessary to obtain estate planning clients, interviewing clients, obtain information needed to prepare an estate plan, to analyze the particular estate planning needs of a client and then to implement that analysis by preparing and executing estate plan. -The final will then require students to analyze three different client fact patterns and then prepare a proposed estate plan for each of the three fictional clients based on the law, documents, techniques, and skills learned during the semester. Upper Division Writing? Experiential Learning? Course Policies Attendance, Preparedness, and Class Participation Not Satisfied Not Satisfied Punctual and regular attendance in all classes is required. Failure to attend classes regularly and punctually may result in the lowering of a student's grade or disqualification to take the examination for the class. This policy will be implemented by either the Professor recording attendance or requiring all students to initial an attendance sheet at each class meeting verifying his/her presence. It is a violation of the honor code for a student to initial the attendance sheet for another student or for a class session that the student did not attend. 2 of 6

3 When a student is unavoidably absent from class, he or she must provide to the Professor, in writing, good cause for his or her absence, and must review the class discussion, either by listening to a tape recording or by reviewing another student's notes. It is the law school's policy that students must attend a minimum of seventy-five percent (75%) of scheduled class meetings for a course. Failure to do so will result in the student's removal from the course as either an administrative withdrawal or as an incomplete course attempt, depending on the circumstances surrounding the absences. When grading the final I may use class attendance to increase or decrease a grade one-half point (i.e., from a A- to and A, or from a B to a B-) due to class attendance and class participation. Accommodations Grading Method Final Exam Golden Gate University School of Law seeks to provide reasonable and necessary accommodations to students with disabilities. Please meet with the Disability Service Coordinator in Room 3339 or lawds@ggu.edu for information on how to receive accommodations. All communications with the Disability Service office are confidential. There is only a final exam for this course. It is a take home exam that is handed out one week before the final class (4/23/15) and is due on the date of the final class (4/30/15). You may use your required text, a copy of the Internal Revenue Code and Regulations, copies of the Suggested Reading Materials (see Syllabus), your notes and any outline you may have prepared. Take Home Assignments & Academic Calendar Week Topic Pages Code & Rules Week 1 INTRODUCTION TO ESTATE Handouts Week 2 STARTING AND MAINTAINING AN ESTATE PRACTICE Handouts 3 of 6

4 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 TO AVOID PROBATE OR NOT TO AVOID PROBATE: THAT IS THE QUESTION OVERVIEW OF TRANSFER TAX PRINCIPALS, INCLUDING RECENT ESTATE TAX LAW DEVELOPMENTS DEFERRING (AND POSSIBLY AVOIDING) ESTATE TAXES ON THE OF THE FIRST SPOUSE: FOR POST MORTEM CHOICES OFF ADDITIONAL ESTATE TAX ISSUES ON DEATH OF THE FIRST FIRST SPOUSE: DEALING WITH THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE ESTATE TAX LAWS, SMALL/MEDIUM SIZED ESTATES, FOR THE SURVIVING SPOUSE, LAST MINUTE TAX FOR TERMINALLY ILL CLIENTS REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS AND RELATED ISSUES REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS AND RELATED ISSUES Henkel, 7 Suggested Reading: Cal. Probate Code Divisions 4, 7 and 9 Henkel, 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (skim all) Henkel, 4, 7, 39,49 Henkel, 44, 45-47, and 50 (skim) Henkel, 7.03, 49, 50 Henkel, 7.03, 49, 50 4 of 6

5 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 SPRING BREAK REDUCING THE VALUE OF THE ESTATE THROUGH THE USE OF ADVANCED ESTATE TECHNIQUES: GRANTOR TRUSTS, JOINTLY HELD PROPERTY, FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS, LLC's AND LLP's, AND ANNUITIES ESTATE FREEZES AND VALUATION ISSUES TO FURTHER REDUCE THE VALUE OF AN ESTATE USE OF INSURANCE (LIFE, DISABILITY AND LONG TERM HEALTH CARE) IN ESTATE RETIREMENT BENEFITS ASSET PROTECTION IN ESTATE FOR MARRIAGE AND OTHER FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS DURABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY AND HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES BUSINESS SUCCESSION MISCELLANEOUS ESTATE MATTERS: MEDICAID, FUNDING CHILDREN S HIGHER EDUCATION, ESTATE FOR PETS Henkel, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 (skim all) Henkel, (skim) Henkel, 12, 13 (skim) Henkel 7.06, 14, 43 Henkel, 39, 40, 41 Henkel, 15 Henkel, 42, 43 5 of 6

6 Week 15 [TO THE EXTENT WE HAVE TIME] CHARITABLE BEYOND ESTATE : ESTATE/PROBATE ADMINISTRATION, TRUST ADMINISTRATION, POST MORTEM, and TRUST AND PROBATE LITIGATION FINAL HANDED OUT Henkel, (skim) Henkel, 15, 45, 46, 47 and 50 Week 16 FINAL TURN IN AND REVIEW These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor. 6 of 6