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
-Encouraging Significant Relationships
-Affirmative Duties of Appointed Attorney Sec 14-5111
-Section 14-5316: Significant Relationships
-Standing Provided to Signific
-Supportive Decision Making
-Final Regulations for Basis Reporting

“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 
Charitable trusts are a tax-efficient way for an individual to transfer wealth to his family with little or no estate tax consequences while also achieving his charitable goals
-Charitable lead trusts vs. charitable remainder trusts
-Drafting considerations and pitfalls to be aware of
-GST Tax issues to be mindful of when drafting charitable trusts
-Funding issues related to charitable trusts

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 
If you find any of the topics or questions below intriguing, this seminar session is for you!
-Selling a business.  Want to reduce taxable gain and obtain a partial charitable deduction?
-Gifting business interests.  Want to reduce gift tax risk without using the IRS-challenged Wandry clause?
-“Trustee-cation.”  Want to know how to make trustee bifurcation and trifurcation enforceable under Arizona law?
-Directed trusts.  What if the grantor wants to control investments of an irrevocable trust?  Want to increase likelihood of a corporate trustee being willing to act as a directed trustee in Arizona?  Interested in which features of the Uniform Directed Trust Act (and other creative elements) other states have adopted and which could be of particular benefit to your clients?

Break

3:00 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

“Jim” is a Trust and Estate Specialist, certified by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of Arizona, and a Director and Shareholder (Partner) of Fennemore Craig, P.C. He leads the firm’s Family Office & 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. His areas of practice include estate planning, business design and structuring, and commercial transactions, including tax planning, corporate, partnership, LLC, real estate, and international matters. He also advises trustees and executors on their fiduciary responsibilities and provides tax advice in the administration and distribution of trusts and probate estates.

James is an author and a frequent lecturer on estate planning, tax, and probate issues. He is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the State Bar of Arizona, and the Utah State Bar. He is also a peer-elected member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and previously served as Chair of the Arizona State Bar’s Probate and Trust Executive Council, Chair of its Estate and Trust Advisory Commission, and is a member of the ABA’s national committee on Estate and Gift Taxes (Taxation Section). Jim is listed in Chambers HNW Advisors (Band 1), Southwest Super Lawyers, and in Best Lawyers in America (Tax and Trusts & Estates). He was named by Best Lawyers (Arizona) as Lawyer of the Year for Trusts & Estates in 2017, 2021, 2024, and for Tax Law in 2023. He is the 2023 recipient of the Eleanor ter Horst Distinguished Service Award, State Bar of Arizona, and serves on various boards or committees of local charitable organizations.

Jim received a bachelors degree in business management from Brigham Young University, with distinction as the top business school graduate in entrepreneurship. He also earned a business composite minor (Accounting and Economics), and a minor in Spanish. He graduated with honors in 1996 from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, and served on the Editorial Board of the BYU Law Review.

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.

Register Now

SAEPC Member - $260

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