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Reviewing a Client's Estate Plan: Asset Disposition Under Wills and Trusts, Naming Fiduciaries, and Proper Asset Titling and Dispositions for CPAs and Other Advisers

Recording of a 110-minute CPE webinar with Q&A

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Conducted on Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Recorded event now available

or call 1-800-926-7926

This webinar will detail components of an estate plan that should be reviewed regularly. Our panel of experts in estate planning and administration will cover interpreting estate planning documents, examining asset titling, methods of conveying assets, naming fiduciaries, and the role of trusts in managing bequests for practitioners working with high-net-worth individuals.

Description

An estate plan can be generally boiled down into two components: asset disposition and naming fiduciaries.

As to the first component, estate planning lawyers assist clients with designing and drafting an estate plan that disposes of assets in accordance with the client’s wishes upon death. After the plan is executed, the lawyer will finalize the engagement by advising on asset titling and beneficiary designations in order to implement the estate plan. The client’s team of other advisers, such as the CPA, wealth manager, and life insurance professional, should assist with periodic reviews of the client’s balance sheet and estate plan to ensure assets will pass in an efficient manner and in accordance with the client’s wishes. To this end, each asset should be identified and examined to determine it is properly titled and in sync with the estate plan. Gathering all the necessary documents can be a monumental task. Estate planning documents (wills and trust agreements), beneficiary designation forms, signature cards and account statements, deeds, and closely held entities are some of the documents that advisers must review. Assets should be separated into categories, including probate and non-probate, real and personal property, tangible and intangible, and U.S.-situs and international.

As to the second component, naming fiduciaries can be one of the most difficult decisions for clients. Fiduciaries are individuals or banks (known as “corporate trustees”) tasked with important duties of managing a person’s affairs typically during a period of one’s incapacity or administering trusts and estates for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Advisers can aid clients in reviewing these designations to confirm the named designations are still valid choices and have not otherwise gone “stale.”

Wealth transfer professionals need to understand how to review a client's estate plan for oversights that could prove costly or delay the administration of an estate. Listen as our panel of estate planning experts explains how to review the key aspects of an estate plan.

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Outline

  1. Reviewing a client's estate plan: introduction
  2. Titling and beneficiary designations
  3. Wills
  4. Class gifts and disposition of property
  5. Asset classes
  6. Revocable and irrevocable trusts
  7. Identifying fiduciaries
  8. Lifetime medical directives
  9. Other considerations

Benefits

The panel will review these and other critical issues:

  • How asset titling affects an estate plan
  • How life and legislative changes can disrupt a solid estate plan
  • The types of fiduciaries and their roles in administering the estate
  • Key questions to ask clients to ensure their assets will be properly transferred

Faculty

Fukuto, Erin
Erin S. Fukuto, CPA, MST

Partner
Eide Bailly

Ms. Fukuto heads the firm’s estate, gift, and trust services. She specializes in income tax and estate planning...  |  Read More

Weeg, Christopher
Christopher C. Weeg, J.D., LL.M., CPA

Attorney
Comiter Singer Baseman & Braun

Mr. Weeg is a Board Certified tax lawyer and a licensed CPA. His law practice includes drafting wills and trusts;...  |  Read More

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