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Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

The first Subscriber Drafting Webinar for 2025 will focus on what we feel is most important to our subscribers – answers to your questions. We will start off by covering a group of questions that we are asked most often and then take as many questions live from the audience as possible. Subscribers can also submit questions in advance by emailing them to [email protected].

Your Client Wants to Name a Trust as the Retirement Plan Beneficiary … Now What?

Laws change, but in many respects, the laws related to estate planning and taxation can change slowly, or not much at all.  Tax exemptions and rates change, of course, but the laws themselves - not so much.  One major deviation from this maxim was the SECURE Act, which came as a bit of a surprise at the end of 2019.  It was followed by SECURE 2.0, proposed regulations, and then (finally!) final regulations, all of which combine to create a new landscape for clients who want to leave their retirement plans or IRAs in trust.  For many clients, retirement assets comprise the bulk of their net worth and preserving them is a common goal.  Hence, knowing how to use trusts for these assets is an important tool for estate planners.

Heckerling 2025

InterActive Legal proudly continues to be a Platinum Sponsor of the 58th Annual Heckerling Instititute on Estate Planning. The Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning is the nation’s premier educational conference for all members of the estate planning team including attorneys, trust officers, accountants, charitable giving professionals, elder law specialists, wealth management professionals, and nonprofit advisors.  In addition to providing the highest quality educational programming, the Institute offers unparalleled networking and professional development opportunities, including the nation’s largest exhibit hall dedicated entirely to the estate planning industry.

You Said What? A Trustee’s Take on Seemingly Innocuous Trust Provisions

Co-Presenters: Johnathon Brandt, Fiduciary Officer, Amber Gunn-Holt, CTFA, Senior Fiduciary Officer, Brent Liner, JD, CTFA, Senior Fiduciary Officer Webinar Description InterActive Legal Speaker Series presents a complimentary webinar “You Said What? A Trustee’s Take on Seemingly Innocuous Trust Provisions.” Join InterActive Legal Advisor Abigail O’Connor, Esq. and three trust officers from Peak Trust Company as […]

WOW Your Clients; Accelerate Their Estate Planning

The Step-Transaction Doctrine is often employed by the IRS to challenge clients’ planning. There is limited time in2024, and soon the compressed planning period of 2025. There are steps that practitioners might recommend to their clients to take now in preparation for future planning, which could potentially mitigate the possibility of the IRS successfully raising the step-transaction doctrine on audit. There is no universally accepted test to determine if the step-transaction doctrine should be applied to a particular transaction.  However, Courts have relied on three concepts when evaluating whether the step-transaction doctrine should be applied: the mutual interdependence test, the end result test, and the binding commitment test.

Corporate Transparency Act: Filing Requirements – Practical Panel Discussion On What To Do Now?

Happy holidays from the Fifth Circuit! Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) filings are back on (for now). On December 23, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the district court’s preliminary injunction enjoining CTA entered in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland. So, until the Department of the Treasury’s ongoing appeal of the district court’s order is finally resolved, the requirement to file is back on.

What Would You Do?

A network TV show called "What Would You Do?" creates fictional but realistic sticky situations for unsuspecting members of the public and lets them play out on hidden camera to see what happens.  Different people react differently to each situation, but the results can be interesting.  This isn't much different from how different estate planners might react to different client requests or situations, some of which might also be sticky.  In this webinar, we will look at a few detailed client fact patterns that planners might encounter in the real world and discuss how to use InterActive Legal to draft solutions to the issues raised. 

Reciprocal Trust Doctrine: Practical Tips for Successful Planning in the New Environment

Despite the election results, estate planning, and in particular non-reciprocal SLAT planning should continue for many clients. The results of future elections cannot be predicted. Upstream basis planning, asset protection, non-grantor trusts and other mechanisms provide benefit apart from estate tax benefits. This program will explore the case law and theory of the Reciprocal Trust Doctrine and recommend practical steps that practitioners might consider.

Million Dollar Solutions (MDS)

Please join us at the 4th Annual Million Dollar Solutions (MDS) Dementia Focused Practice® Conference. The Million Dollar Solution, founded in 2002, is a business coaching group for elder law and estate planning attorneys across the United States.  At this conference, a curated team of experts will share strategies and best practices to add this focus to your practice.

AFELA Unprogram

InterActive Legal is a proud sponsor of the 2024 Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys (AFELA) UNPROGRAM. The UnProgram Advanced track is limited to AFELA Member attorneys practicing in the area of Elder Law for 5+ years. The schedule reflects sessions devoted to discussing elder law hot topics in a group format initiated by attorneys in attendance. The UnProgram Meet the Mentors program is open to all attorneys. The program is comprised of diverse breakout sessions, each of which is geared toward elder law attorneys with varying levels of experience. There are advanced sessions as well as sessions focusing on more basic concepts. Participants, facilitators and sponsors will engage in relaxed networking and share information in intimate group workshops.

Step Transaction Doctrine Remains A Key Concern for Successful Planning

The Step-Transaction Doctrine is often employed by the IRS to challenge clients’ planning. There is limited time in2024, and soon the compressed planning period of 2025. There are steps that practitioners might recommend to their clients to take now in preparation for future planning, which could potentially mitigate the possibility of the IRS successfully raising the step-transaction doctrine on audit. There is no universally accepted test to determine if the step-transaction doctrine should be applied to a particular transaction.  However, Courts have relied on three concepts when evaluating whether the step-transaction doctrine should be applied: the mutual interdependence test, the end result test, and the binding commitment test.

Drafting a SLAT (or Two!) in InterActive Legal

With the federal estate and gift tax exemption poised to drop dramatically in 2026, a popular strategy for using the high exemption before it drops involves a client creating a trust for the client’s spouse.  Such a trust is sometimes called a Spousal Lifetime Access Trust, or “SLAT,” and SLATs can be drafted in all InterActive Legal practice systems.   In this drafting webinar, we will discuss how to prepare SLATs in InterActive Legal, starting with how to draft a SLAT in the Essential Estate Planning and Elder Law Planning systems. We’ll cover how to set up the trust with the spouse as beneficiary, both during the client’s lifetime and after the death, what happens after both spouses have died, and Reciprocal Trust Doctrine issues.
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