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Overview
A Comprehensive Step-By-Step Guide to Estate Administration
Whether you're new to estate administration or need a basic refresher, this course will provide you with a comprehensive overview of estate administration, including proper asset valuation and distribution, taxation, and account closing procedures. You'll also learn how to correctly deal with thorny estate administration debt issues, including jointly held assets, business ownership and complex tax issues. Equip yourself with real-life, practical knowledge to ensure you are fully prepared to handle the entire estate administration process from start to finish - register today!
- Learn how to meet every deadline, follow procedures, and complete essential forms.
- Identify key estate administration pitfalls you need to avoid.
- Come away with helpful forms, sample documents, and checklists to assist in the process.
- Acquire strategies to ensure you can help your clients through every step of the probate process.
- Manage your client's entire estate administration procedures properly and effectively.
- Learn how to tackle complex estate administration issues such as tax issues, jointly held assets, and will contests.
- Understand how to properly transfer and distribute assets.
- Explore proper procedures and processes when dealing with insurance claims and debt during estate administration.
- Gain a better understanding of the probate court's procedures so that you can avoid common pitfalls and mistakes.
- Get the latest information on allowances and elections against the will.
- Identify how to properly distribute assets to minors, surviving spouses and trusts.
Abbreviated Agenda
- Commencement of Proceedings and Information Gathering
- Initial Steps to the Estate Administration Process
- Marshalling Assets
- Handling Creditor Claims and Debt
- Complex Issues in Estate Administration
- Handling Estate Administration Tax Issues
- Distribution and Closing of the Estate
- Ethics and Estate Administration
Credit Details
Credits Available
There is no credit available on this course.
Select Jurisdiction
Agenda
-
Commencement of Proceedings and Information Gathering
- Appointment of Estate Administration
- Formal vs. Informal Proceedings
- Sample Letters of Authority
- First Meeting With Family or Designated Personal Representative and Determination of Heirs
- Written Fee Agreements
- Tips to Locate Information Quickly Using Online and Government Resources
- Dealing with Multiple States
- Appointment of Estate Administration
-
Initial Steps to the Estate Administration Process
- Understanding the Laws of Intestacy
- Sample Estate Administration Checklists, Forms and Required Notices Needed
- Interpreting Provisions and Terms of Art Found in Wills
- Using Disclaimers Correctly
-
Marshalling Assets
- Procedures to Locating and Marshalling Probate and Non-Probate Assets
- Safe Deposit Boxes and Bank Accounts
- Real Estate
- Brokerage Accounts, 401Ks, IRAs, Pensions and Life Insurance Policies
- Sample Forms and Documents Needed
- Appraisers and Valuing the Property of Probate Estates
- Procedures to Locating and Marshalling Probate and Non-Probate Assets
-
Handling Creditor Claims and Debt
- Sample Forms and Required Notices Needed
- Priority and Payment of Claims
- Late Claims and Contested Claims
- Steps to Ensure all Debt is Located and Handled Correctly
- What if the Assets Don't Cover the Bills?
- Bankruptcy and Foreclosure
- Selling of Assets and Properly Dealing with Creditors
-
Complex Issues in Estate Administration
- Jointly Held Assets
- Spousal Claims
- Allowances and Elections Against the Will
- Handling Unmarried Couples and Stepchildren
- Will Contests, Trust and Estate Disputes
- Business Ownership
- Agency Problems Involving Guardianships, Conservatorships, Powers of Attorney or Other Agency Relationships
-
Handling Estate Administration Tax Issues
- Examples of Forms Needed
- Federal and State Estate Tax Considerations
- Income Tax Issues for the Estate and the Heirs
- Resolving Disputes With Taxing Authorities
- Deductions and Exemptions
- How the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Affects Your Clients
- Tax Deadlines and Handling Extensions
- Sales of Real Property
-
Distribution and Closing of the Estate
- Sample Forms, Agreements and Documents Needed
- Proper Transferring and Distribution of Probate and Non-Probate Assets and Timing of Distributions
- Real Estate
- 401Ks, IRAs, Pensions and Life Insurance Policies
- Distribution of Miscellaneous Assets (Automobiles, Jewelry, Etc.)
- Distributions in Kind
- Distribution to Minors, Surviving Spouse and Trusts
- Disposition of Unclaimed Assets
- Proper Settlement of the Estate
- Formal and Informal Estate Accountings
- Choosing the Appropriate Closing Procedure
- Compensation and Discharge of the Personal Representative
-
Ethics and Estate Administration
- Breach of Fiduciary Responsibility
- Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
- Attorney-Client Privilege
- Fee Agreements
Who Should Attend
This basic level online seminar is designed for professionals who want to be more effective in the estate administration process, such as:
- Attorneys
- CPAs and Accountants
- Paralegals
- Wealth Managers
- Tax Professionals
- Trust Officers
Speakers
Speaker bio
Heather L. Sunderman
is an associate at McMillan Metro and Faerber, P.C., where she focuses on the areas of wills, trusts, estate planning, probate, guardianships and family law. In addition, she is trained as a mediator and collaborative law practitioner. Ms. Sunderman has been appointed by courts to represent disabled persons in guardianship matters, and children in contested custody matters. She has litigated cases in many different areas of the law including divorce, guardianships, domestic violence and civil disputes. Ms. Sunderman earned her bachelor's degree from Allegheny College and her J.D. degree from Washington College of Law (American University). She is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association and the Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland. She is admitted to practice law in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Speaker bio
Conrad W. Deitrick
is a Partner at Nelson Mullins, and advises high-net-worth clients on a broad range of estate planning and wealth management matters. He assists clients in creating a strong foundation for lifelong and multi-generational estate planning involving a wide variety of assets. Mr. Deitrick advises clients with respect to their wills and trusts; estate and trust administration; estate, gift, income, and generation-skipping transfer tax matters; resolution of estate and trust controversies; and closely held business planning. He works with clients, co-counsel, financial advisers, and accountants on complex transactions and family settlements involving trusts, closely held business entities, and real estate holdings. Mr. Deitrick also advises clients in the administration of large and small probate estates, including post-death estate planning in a changing tax environment. He counsels public charities, private foundations, religious organizations, and other tax-exempt organizations regarding institutional governance issues and management practices, as well as state and federal tax and reporting and disclosure requirements, in both domestic and international contexts. Mr. Deitrick is fluent in German, and has represented clients in international estate planning matters, including a trust-related tax petition to the German federal government, offshore trust transactions, and estate planning with German business and investment entities. He served in the U.S. Army National Guard as an Infantryman (E-4). During his service, Mr. Deitrick provided disaster relief to the state of Florida during hurricane season by distributing food and water, and engaging in armed security patrols. He participated in Operation Empire Shield, providing security for Long Island railroad stations and provided security for the 2009 presidential inauguration. Mr. Deitrick earned his B.A. degree from Flagler College and his J.D. degree, cum laude (administrative editor, Georgetown Law Journal), from Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Deitrick is admitted to practice in Maryland.
Speaker bio
Michael J. Stelmack
is an attorney based in Lutherville, Maryland. He practices in the areas of probate, estate administration, trust administration, and estate planning. Mr. Stelmack is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and is admitted to practice law in Maryland and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He is a member of the Baltimore County Bar Association, Estates and Trusts Section Committee (2012 -2014); and a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, Section of Estates and Trust Law and Section of Elder and Disability Rights. Mr. Stelmack serves on the Section Council of the MSBA Elder and Disability Rights Section (2016 - 2020). He was recognized as a Maryland Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2012, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Mr. Stelmack serves on the Board of Directors of the First Maryland Disability Trust, a non-profit organization that administers special needs trusts for disabled Marylanders.
Speaker bio
Jake H. Polivka
is an attorney with HWK Law Group specializing in estate planning and trust law. His zealous passion for learning has afforded him the ability to bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to every client interaction. Mr. Polivka earned his bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Maryland, College Park; and his J.D. degree from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law (with a year in between to pursue some adventure as a ski instructor in the Rocky Mountains). In law school, he developed a strong foundation in the legal field, particularly in the concepts surrounding wills and trusts, which he enjoyed the most. Mr. Polivka is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Maryland; District of Columbia Court of Appeals; and the U.S. District Court, District of Maryland. Additionally, he is a notary public for the state of Maryland.
Speaker bio
Elizabeth H. Johnson
is a senior associate with SPENCE | BRIERLEY, PC, where she focuses on the areas of estate, trust, and fiduciary litigation, as well as estate administration, and probate law. She is a member of Baltimore County Bar Association, Anne Arundel Bar Association, Maryland State Bar Association, as well as Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, International Association of Document Examiners, Anne Arundel Estate Planning Counsel, and Baltimore County Provider Council (professional community dedicated to improving lives of older adults). Ms. Johnson earned both her B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Illinois. She is admitted to practice in the state of Maryland.
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