2012 Winter Estate Planning Forum

Join us on Thursday, January 19th for the 2012 Winter Estate Planning Forum. This Forum is especially attractive for four reasons:

• During the Forum we will address: Recent Developments in Estate Planning, and Governmental Resource Benefits Planning
• Attendees will receive seminar presentation handout materials.
• The program is designed to qualify for CPA, CE, CLU, CFP, & ChFC continuing education credits. It has also been submitted for in-house Kansas CLE.
• The registration fee for the Forum is only $85 per attendee.

How To Register:

Register online with a credit card. You may mail your registration form with check for $85 for the Forum made payable to Foulston Siefkin LLP c/o Estate Planning Forum, Foulston Siefkin LLP, 1551 N. Waterfront Parkway, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67206. For more information contact Judy Phipps at jphipps@foulston.com or 316.291.9548.
Seating is limited and spaces will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

Who Should Attend.

This seminar has been designed to benefit CPAs, trust officers, financial planners, CLU’s, and general insurance agents whose professional practice encompasses estate planning matters.

Who Will Be Presenting?

Timothy O’Sullivan,  Stewart Weaver, and Matthew Bish, estate planning attorneys with Foulston Siefkin.

What Materials Will Be Provided?

Attendees will receive seminar presentation handouts in a seminar manual to take home as a desk reference.

When and Where The Seminar Will Be Held.

Our seminar will be offered on Thursday, January 19, 2012 in Wichita, Kansas at the Airport Hilton Inn, 2098 Airport Road.  The Forum runs from 1:15 p.m. – 4:30 pm. Registration will begin at 12:45 p.m.

What Subjects Will Be Addressed?

Recent Developments in Estate Planning
Timothy O’Sullivan and Matthew Bish will discuss what our estate planning department considers the most significant developments since our previous Forum. Such developments will include federal and state legislative developments, judicial decisions, and IRS regulations and rulings that have the greatest impact on estate planning professionals.

Governmental Resource benefits Planning "Boot camp"
The area of “need based” governmental resource planning in the estate planning process is exploding.  More than one-half of all residents in long-term care facilities are on Medicaid.  It is estimated that 80% of medical expenditures for individuals over the age of 65 are spent on long-term care.  American demographics ensure that the population of the elderly will greatly increase in the coming decade with an attendant significant rise in disabilities and Medicaid qualification issues.  Aging World War II, Korean War and Viet Nam War veterans will also ensure that there will be a large population having qualifying issues regarding Veterans Administration benefits such as “aid and assistance.”  Another significant “need based” program which can impact the elderly is so-called “Section 8” housing.  For younger individuals who meet certain disability tests, there are also qualification issues with respect to supplemental security income (SSI) and its concomitant Medicaid qualification.   

While the opportunities for achieving substantial economic benefits with regard to such “need based” programs are great, so also is the need for a high level of sophistication by estate planners in this area.  There is arguably no more complex area in the estate planning arena than planning to maximize “need based” governmental resource benefits and minimize any potential governmental claim against the recipient’s or recipient’s spouse’s estate to recoup such benefits.  Not only are the rules governing these programs arcane and frequently counterintuitive, strategic tax planning issues need to be addressed.  Without careful planning, the integrity of the estate plan, as well as other estate planning goals, such as maintaining family harmony, can be unnecessarily compromised in the process.  If the foregoing issues did not make it difficult enough, the eligibility requirements for all of these programs differ and consequently can sometimes run at “cross purposes” with each other.   

This seminar will address comprehensive “goal oriented” governmental resource estate planning strategies designed to better maximize and enhance qualification for "need based" government resources such as Medicaid and SSI. In addition, estate planning techniques, including “special needs trusts,” crafted to preclude assets which are to pass to other family members either by gift or upon death from disqualifying them for “need based” governmental programs, will likewise be discussed.  Further, the presenters will review the importance of so-called “d4A trusts,” which provide a mechanism to exclude assets of “disabled” individuals under the age of 65 from being considered a resource so as to disqualify them from such “need based” programs.  Moreover, the role and advantages of long term care insurance will also be addressed.  Finally, in order to complete the picture, there will be a discussion of strategies which minimize the State of Kansas' ability to recover Medicaid benefits paid from the estate of the recipient or the estate of the recipient's surviving spouse.