Golden Gate University School of Law Estate Planning LLM 334 Spring 2012

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1 Adjunct Professor Jon R. Vaught Phone: 510/ Class Meetings Thursdays 6:30 to 9:10 p.m. Office Hours By appointment Golden Gate University School of Law Estate Planning LLM 334 Spring 2012 Required Text Henkel, Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation Estate Planning Printed Materials/Articles Recommended References See Suggested Materials below Class Attendance Policy In compliance with ABA regulations, the faculty has adopted the following attendance rule: "Punctual and regular attendance in all classes is required. Failure to attend classes regularly and punctually shall result in the lowering of a student's grade or disqualification to take the examination for the class. Professors shall enforce attendance in all classes in a manner appropriate to the particular class.... Each semester, each faculty member shall inform the students, in writing, of the methods the faculty member will use to implement the above policy. A copy of this shall be forwarded to the dean." When grading the final I may use class attendance to increase or decrease a grade onehalf point (i.e., from a A- to and A, or from a B to a B-) due to class attendance and class participation. Grading Policy 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 (4/19/12) and is due on the date of the final class (4/26/12). 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. Class Preparation and Participation This course requires regular preparation and participation. Read the sections of the textbook and weekly handouts listed for each class and be prepared to participate in issues and questions raised during the lectures. 1

2 Course Objectives: -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. - 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. 2

3 COURSE AND PRACTICE MATERIALS: Required: Henkel, Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation Suggested Materials: Estate Planning Printed Materials/Articles Books: CEB Estate Planning for the General Practitioner Periodicals: 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) 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 (attorney's edition) (WG&L) Choate, Life and Death Planning for Retirement Benefits 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) 3

4 WEEK ONE: (1/12/12) INTRODUCTION WEEK TWO: STARTING AND MAINTAINING AN ESTATE PLANNING (1/19/12) PRACTICE WEEK THREE: TO AVOID PROBATE OR NOT TO AVOID PROBATE: THAT IS (1/26/12) THE QUESTION Henkel, 7 Suggested Reading: Cal. Probate Code Divisions 4, 7 and 9; and Local Probate Rules for your County OVERVIEW OF TRANSFER TAX PRINCIPALS, INCLUDING RECENT ESTATE TAX LAW DEVELOPMENTS Henkel, 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11 (skim all) WEEK FOUR: DEFERRING (AND POSSIBLY AVOIDING) ESTATE TAXES ON (2/2/12) THE OF THE FIRST SPOUSE: PLANNING FOR POST MORTEM CHOICES Henkel, 4, 7, 39, 49 WEEK FIVE: (2/9/12) OFF WEEK SIX: ADDITIONAL ESTATE TAX ISSUES ON DEATH OF THE FIRST (2/16/12) FIRST SPOUSE: DEALING WITH THE UNCERTAINTY IN THE ESTATE TAX LAWS, SMALL/MEDIUM SIZED ESTATES, PLANNING FOR THE SURVIVING SPOUSE, AND LAST MINUTE TAX PLANNING FOR TERMINALLY ILL CLIENTS Henkel, 44, 45-47, and 50 (skim) 4

5 WEEK SEVEN: REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS AND RELATED ISSUES (2/23/12) and WEEK EIGHT: (3/1/12) Henkel, 7.03, 49, 50 WEEK NINE: REDUCING THE VALUE OF THE ESTATE THROUGH THE (3/8/12) USE OF ADVANCED ESTATE PLANNING TECHNIQUES: GRANTOR TRUSTS, JOINTLY HELD PROPERTY, FAMILY LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS, LLC's AND LLP's, AND ANNUITIES Henkel, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 (skim all) ESTATE FREEZES AND VALUATION ISSUES TO FURTHER REDUCE THE VALUE OF AN ESTATE Henkel, (skim) WEEK TEN: (3/15/12) SPRING BREAK WEEK ELEVEN: USE OF INSURANCE (LIFE, DISABILITY AND LONG TERM (3/22/12) HEALTH CARE) IN ESTATE PLANNING Henkel, 12, 13 (skim) WEEK TWELVE: RETIREMENT BENEFITS (3/29/12) Henkel 7.06, 14, 43 ASSET PROTECTION IN ESTATE PLANNING 5

6 WEEK THIRTEEN: PLANNING FOR MARRIAGE AND OTHER FAMILY (4/5/12) ARRANGEMENTS Henkel, 39, 40, 41 DURABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY AND HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES WEEK FOURTEEN: BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLANNING (4/12/12) Henkel, 15 MISCELLANEOUS ESTATE PLANNING MATTERS: MEDICAID PLANNING, FUNDING CHILDREN S HIGHER EDUCATION, ESTATE PLANNING FOR PETS Henkel, 42, 43 WEEK FIFTEEN: [TO THE EXTENT WE HAVE TIME] (4/19/12) CHARITABLE PLANNING Henkel, (skim) BEYOND ESTATE PLANNING: ESTATE/PROBATE ADMINISTRATION, TRUST ADMINISTRATION, POST MORTEM PLANNING, and TRUST AND PROBATE LITIGATION Henkel, 15, 45, 46, 47 and 50 FINAL HANDED OUT WEEK SIXTEEN: (4/26/12) FINAL REVIEW 6