Bonus Session: Estate Tax Basics

Airing on Tuesday, April 30th @ 1 pm ET

This session is part of the InterActive Legal Academy Estate Planning Basics Series

Faculty

Teresa L. Bush Esq. and Vanessa L. Kanaga Esq.

Course Description

The Estate Planning Basics Series is designed to focus on estate planning concepts but without delving into many (if any) tax concepts. However, gift taxation can factor into any transaction where property changes hands, and estate taxation at death will impact many clients. In this bonus session, we will introduce how the estate and gift taxes work, including a discussion of the federal estate tax exemption and the marital deduction. The speakers will discuss state estate taxation and when tax planning matters, all of which will be covered in more detail in the InterActive Legal Academy Fall Estate Planning Tax Series.

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Faculty Bios

Teresa L. Bush Esq.

Teresa Bush joined InterActive Legal in 2007 and serves as Director of Education and Support Services. Ms. Bush has been licensed to practice law since 1991, and focused her practice exclusively on issues of estate and gift tax planning, probate, charitable planning, and estate and trust administration. She began her practice in a small law firm, planning for clients of all levels of wealth. Thereafter, she practiced for a number of years in the Tax Section of Kelly, Hart and Hallman, P.C. in Fort Worth, Texas, and as an estate and gift tax consultant for the Dallas office of Ernst & Young, in both cases focusing on planning for very high net worth clients. Ms. Bush received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a research assistant for Professor Stanley M. Johanson. She studied at Edinburgh University and the London School of Economics prior to obtaining a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Rice University in Houston. While studying abroad, she worked as an intern for a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons. Ms. Bush taught legal research and writing as a Teaching Quizmaster in law school, and later taught estate planning extension courses for American College of Financial Services CLU candidates. She has presented several online webinars on estate planning and drafting topics, and is the author or co-author of a variety of estate planning articles.

Vanessa L. Kanaga Esq.

Vanessa Kanaga serves as CEO of InterActive Legal. Vanessa received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wichita State University, as well as an Advanced Professional Certificate from New York University School of Law. She is licensed in New York, Kansas, and Arizona, and currently lives in Arizona. Prior to joining InterActive Legal in 2013, Vanessa practiced in New York, at Milbank LLP and Moses & Singer LLP, and in Kansas, at Hinkle Law Firm, LLC. She has experience in a range of estate planning matters, including high net worth tax planning and asset protection planning. In her role as CEO, Vanessa oversees strategic planning and development of InterActive Legal services and solutions, working with her valued colleagues to continuously provide reliable content and forward-thinking strategies to the estate planning and elder law attorneys who subscribe to InterActive Legal products. Vanessa also serves as the Moderator for the InterActive Legal Roundtable webinar series, fostering collegial discussion among a group of expert panelists on trending topics in estate planning.