SOUTHERN ARIZONA ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL

Handouts Available

Gerry W Beyer, TX Tech
T James “Jim” Lee, Fennemore Law
Kathleen E Callaway, Fennemore Law
Brandon L Blakely, Fennemore Law

Breakfast and Opening Notes from our Council
7:30 am - 8:30 am

8:30 am - 10:15 am

Hot Topics in the Cool Desert: Legal and Tax Update - Brandon L Blakely

“I Prepared the Decedent’s Will” – To Tell or Not to Tell? That is the Question - Gerry W Beyer 
Every day, attorneys and other estate professionals traverse an ethical minefield with regard to their possession of original wills and their copies. For example, the attorney reads in the paper, sees on the Internet, or is told by the client’s accountant, insurance professional, or financial planner that one of the attorney’s former clients has died. The information indicates that the client died intestate. This is news to the attorney and perhaps the client’s other advisors. What should happen? Is the attorney obligated to come forward and present the original if the attorney has it or a copy to the court? If the attorney doesn’t have to, may the attorney? And may other professionals tell the family that the attorney prepared the will and has the original or a copy? This presentation explores these and similar difficult questions about revealing information about a client’s testamentary documents after death.

Break

10:30 am - 12:30 pm

Avoiding Splitting Headaches with Split-Interest Charitable Trusts—Practical Uses - Kathleen E Callaway

Ecscaping the Estate Planning “Blue Screen of Death” with Competent and Ethical Practices - Gerry W Beyer 
All it takes is one careless act to place you in the hot seat for months or years where you might watch your personal, professional, and financial life crumble around you. An estate planner may become a defendant in a case involving an estate he or she planned in two main ways. First, the attorney may have performed his or her services in a negligent manner potentially creating exposure to malpractice liability. A recent study revealed that 10.67% of malpractice claims are based on conduct relating to estate, trusts, and probate.  Second, the attorney’s conduct may have lapsed below ethically acceptable standards. This presentation reviews the exposure an estate planner may have to malpractice liability and then focuses attention on ethical issues that may arise while preparing or executing the plan. By pointing out potentially troublesome areas, you will avoid the ramifications of drafting a flawed estate plan or having a lapse of ethical good judgment, which may lead to the frustration of the client’s intent, financial loss to the client or the beneficiaries, personal embarrassment, and possible disciplinary action.

Lunch

1:45 pm - 2:50 pm

New Rules, New Tools: Charitable Gifts of Closely Held Business Interests; and Direct the Undirected—Directed Trust Alternatives - T James “Jim” Lee

Break

2:30 pm - 4:00 pm

Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Today’s Estate Planner - Gerry W Beyer 
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly being incorporated into estate planning practices. AI products can increase the speed by which you prepare, review, and summarize estate planning related documents, tax returns, and client communications. Likewise, the speed by which you can conduct legal and financial research is faster than ever. This presentation is designed to explain how AI operates, the potential use of AI in your practice, warnings about the use of AI, and how to address the ethical issues that arise when using AI.

About Gerry W. Beyer

Gerry W. Beyer joined the faculty of the Texas Tech University School of Law in June 2005 as the first holder of the Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professorship.   Previously, Prof. Beyer taught as a professor or visiting professor at several other law schools including Boston College, The Ohio State University, Southern Methodist University, the University of New Mexico, Santa Clara University, St. Mary’s University, and La Trobe University (Australia).  He is the recipient of dozens of outstanding and distinguished faculty awards including the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the most prestigious university-wide teaching award at Texas Tech.  Prof. Beyer was also the recipient of the 2012-2013 Outstanding Researcher Award (Law) and the 2015 President’s Academic Achievement Award.

As a state and nationally recognized expert in estate planning, Prof. Beyer was inducted into the National Association of Estate Planning Councils' Estate Planning Hall of Fame in November 2015. He is a highly sought after lecturer and presents dozens of continuing legal education presentations each year for many state and local bar associations, universities, and civic groups.

Prof. Beyer is the editor of the most popular estate planning blawg in the nation which for the past six years was named to the ABA Journal's Blawg 100  and was awarded ABA Blawg 100 Hall of Fame status in December 2015.  He has authored and co-authored numerous books and articles focusing on various aspects of estate planning, including a two volume treatise on Texas wills law, an estate planning casebook, and the Wills, Trusts, and Estates volume of the Examples & Explanations series.  He has three times won awards from the American Bar Association’s Probate & Property magazine for his writing and is one of the most often downloaded law authors on the Social Science Research Network.  He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the REPTL Reporter, the official journal of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.

Prof. Beyer serves as a mentor to many students and various law school organizations as well participating regularly in pro bono activities.  He is the advisor for the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal and its annual seminar.

Professor Beyer received his J.D. from the Ohio State University and his LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees from the University of Illinois.  He is a member of the Order of the Coif, an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and a member of the American Law Institute.

About  Terry James (“Jim”) Lee

Terry James (“Jim”) Lee advises clients in estate planning, private wealth law, tax and business law, international matters, and real estate and commercial transactions. He also counsels business founders and their families on matters of family governance, privacy, and issues of especial importance to high-profile and ultra-high net worth families and individuals.

Jim leads our family office and private client attorneys, a specialized group of advisors providing multidisciplinary resources and bespoke solutions for sensitive and pressing family concerns, values-based wealth transfer, and business succession. Leveraging his background in business, economics, and accounting, he assists clients with the structuring and implementation of trusts (such as dynastic IDGTs, GRATs, DAPTs, INGs, QPRTs, CRTs, CLTs, silent/quiet trusts, and aircraft trusts), family offices, private trust companies, family limited partnerships, LLCs, corporations, private foundations, and other sophisticated tax and investment vehicles and techniques. Coming full circle, he advises trustees and executors on their fiduciary responsibilities and tax implications in the administration and distribution of trusts and probate estates.
A testament to his abilities, Jim has a referral-only, concierge practice. He has developed a reputation for being an inventive, outside-the-box problem-solver, and for being fiercely loyal to his clients. This client-oriented approach means Jim designs estate and business plans to meet the needs of each family’s personal vision. As an example, trusts and business succession plans can be customized to provide incentives to beneficiaries and successors, such as children and grandchildren, to become productive and contributing members of society. Often known as the family’s lawyer, Jim develops long-term relationships that help promote continuity from generation to generation, while respecting individual thought and new perspectives.
Jim is fluent in Spanish, and many years ago, while living in a foreign country, he witnessed firsthand the impact attorneys can have helping others with their legal and familial goals and objectives. He cherishes opportunities to help people in his role as an analytical thinker, writer, and advocate.

Jim enjoys time with his family, composing music, and experiencing other cultures and languages. For seven years he performed as a member of the Phoenix Boys Choir, entertaining and touring throughout the United States and abroad. “Because of those early eye-opening experiences, the desire to meet and appreciate other people and their cultures and beliefs,” he says, “has never quite left me. When a guest in another country, I prefer not only to visit but also to interact with its people. They then become a part of you, and you become an ambassador of both your home country and that part of the world you have come to know. Phoenix, Arizona is my base camp.”

Married with six now-adult children, Jim once saw himself as “the roadie” and sound engineer for his kids’ mobile DJ business—a business Jim too once had back in high school. You might have found him playing at schools, weddings, and private events. His go-to song? Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

About  Kathleen E Callaway

Katie practices in the estate planning and probate area. Prior to joining us, she worked as Associate Editor for Wealth Strategies Journal where she drafted blog posts summarizing developments in tax and estate planning for the Journal’s website.

While in law school Katie served as a legal extern in the Phoenix, Arizona Juvenile Public Defender’s Office and the Crime Victims Legal Assistance Project in Phoenix, Arizona. She also served as a legal extern for The Honorable George Foster, Maricopa County Superior Court.

About  Brandon L Blakely

Brandon Blakely is an associate who works out of our Phoenix office in the firm’s Trusts & Estates practice group. His work focuses on drafting complex estate plans and fiduciary documents, preparing trust and probate petitions and developing strategies for fiduciary litigation, as well as completing gift and estate tax filings and trusts accountings. He’s also adept at counseling clients on tax planning and anticipating potential changes in tax laws, as well as preserving assets through coordinated estate plan transactions, business succession tactics and entity formation.

Originally from Torrance, California, Brandon’s approach to his life and career has had a very non-linear, non-traditional approach, but with a guiding north star valuing education, while helping others. After graduating from college at Arizona State University, he worked for two years as a Child Services Specialist for the State of Arizona. Then, while completing his Master’s of Science in Education at the University of Kansas, he served as an Assistant Complex Director in the university’s department of housing, assisting students with a diversity of human services issues. Brandon ended up in Minnesota where he worked as a Residence Director, adjudicating and managing ongoing cases for the residence hall hearing process, which ultimately led him to pursuing a career in the legal profession. He then earned his J.D. at the University of Minnesota Law School To this day, Brandon relishes the mentally challenging nature of being a lawyer, with the ability to help his clients solve their problems.

Outside of work, Brandon, his wife and their young son enjoy spending time with their “village,” a great group of family and friends in the valley of the sun. Brandon also plays hockey and as a huge sports fan, he faithfully follows ASU’s teams and the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Non-Member - $360

Non-Member + SAEPC Membership Jan 2025 - June 2025 $440

Cancellation policy

Cancellation by 1/2/25 — Refund minus $100 
    through 1/2/25, a registration may be transferred to another person for $60 plus any applicable difference in fees.

After 1/15/25, no refunds or transfers