When does a trust beneficiary’s cooperation with a trustee to modify, reform, or decant a trust become a taxable gift by that trust beneficiary? In late 2023, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel answered that question in CCA202352018. In this episode, our guest Jenny Hill Bratt discusses the CCA and its impact on trust and estate practitioners and their clients.  

 About Our Guest:
Jenny Hill Bratt is a partner in the San Diego (Del Mar) office of Sheppard Mullin.  Her practice is focused on US and international estate and income tax planning, trusts and estates administration, family and closely-held business planning and charitable planning and exempt organizations.

Jenny is a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and is certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. She served on the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association (TEXCOM), and was involved in the passing of the California Uniform Trust Decanting Act effective January 1, 2019. She is ranked by Chambers in Private Wealth Law.

Jenny can be reached at [email protected] or on LinkedIn.

About Our Host:
Matt Owens is a partner in the San Diego (Del Mar) office of Sheppard Mullin.  His practice is focused on trust, estate, and inheritance disputes.

Matt is a certified specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association (TEXCOM), and served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association's Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law Section. He is ranked by Chambers in Private Wealth Disputes.

Matt can be reached at [email protected], on LinkedIn, or on X.

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

There are many things to consider when choosing a trustee or successor trustee for a trust. The trustee will face a number of challenges over the course of their service and will need to plan ahead to avoid the inevitable pitfalls.  In this episode of Trust Me!, we discuss a proactive plan for a trustee to successfully administer a trust, and an overview of primary things to consider to mitigate the risk of adverse action against a trustee.

 About out Guests:

 Herbert A. Stroh, Esq. is a partner at McCormick and Barstow in San Luis Obispo, California, where he assists clients in trust and estate litigation, administration, planning, and conservatorships. He has also served as a mediator in trust and estate disputes.

 Josh Yager, Esq., CFP is the managing partner of Anodos Advisors, a fiduciary consulting firm in Santa Barbara, California, where he is a recognized content expert on the issues of fiduciary duties relating to the management and oversight of trust assets.

 About Our Host:

Daniel C. Lorenzen is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Venable LLP, where he advises  individuals, families, and closely held businesses that have contacts in California, the United States, and around the world. He advises clients on all of the traditional tools of wealth planning, with an eye for holistic planning to minimize federal, international, state, and local taxes.

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

When a client passes away, one of the most important items on our to-do list is to file certain tax returns.  In this episode of Trust Me!, we will be discussing an overview of things to consider during the period of post-death administration, mainly focusing on filing the federal estate tax return (Form 706). 

 About Our Guests:

Lisa M. Piehl is the Program Manager for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Estate and Gift Tax Policy division.  Lisa has been with the IRS Estate and Gift Tax division since 1994 in different roles, such as: Estate and Gift Tax Attorney, Supervisory Attorney, and Attorney Advisor.  Lisa works out of the Woodland Hills, CA office. 

Robin L. Klomparens is a tax attorney and a Director at Fennemore Law.  Renowned for her expertise in tax law, Robin excels in navigating complex tax code changes, providing her clients with up-to-date and effective legal counsel. She has contributed significantly to legal education as an adjunct professor at USF’s LLM program, Golden Gate University’s MS program, and currently at McGeorge School of Law. A prior member and current advisor to CLA’s Tax Section Executive Committee and Estate and Gift Committee, and a member of ACTEC, she also contributes to various charitable boards. Her extensive lecturing and publications further establish her knowledge in tax law.

About Our Host:
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals.  She is also a TEXCOM member and is involved with the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association. 

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

In this episode of Trust Me!, Bette Epstein discusses the magic of the trust and estate mediation process to informally resolve disputes, which includes party engagement, active listening, patience and problem solving.

 About Our Guest:

Bette Epstein is a mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc.  Ms. Epstein has been mediating trust and estate disputes since 2000.  Following a remarkable career as a trust and estate litigator, she turned her focus to alternative dispute resolution 24 years ago and has been helping parties settle their disputes since. Ms. Epstein is located in Northern California and mediates disputes virtually throughout California.

[email protected]

https://betteepstein.com/

About Our Host:

Kristin Yokomoto is a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP in Costa Mesa, California and focuses on tax and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, trust administration and probate. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American Bar Association. Ms. Yokomoto is a member of the Executive Committee of the California Lawyer Association’s Trusts and Estates Section.

[email protected]

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Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

California just passed a directed trust statute! In this episode of Trust Me!, Michael Rosen-Prinz and David Khanjyan will go over the basic structure of a directed trust, along with the specifics of California’s new directed trust statute.

About Our Guests:
Michael Rosen-Prinz is a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP (Los Angeles office). Michael maintains a broad trusts and estate practice, including wealth transfer planning, planning for family governance and business succession, cryptocurrency and QSBS planning, and estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax matters. Michael also has deep experience forming and operating single family offices and private trust companies; advising on governance, succession, tax, regulatory and operational issues. In addition, Michael devotes a substantial portion of his practice to cross-border planning for domestic and international families. In this area, he advises clients on foreign trusts, pre-immigration planning and expatriation, as well as inbound and outbound investments and compliance matters related to structuring investment vehicles in the U.S. and internationally. Michael is also a member of TEXCOM. Michael can be reached at: [email protected]

David Khanjyan is an associate at Loeb & Loeb LLP (Los Angeles office). He advises clients on the domestic and international aspects of income, estate and gift tax planning. He works with U.S. and non-U.S. individuals, families, trustees and businesses with multijurisdictional issues to structure tax-efficient plans. David is a member of the Pro Bono Committee and helps orchestrate various pro bono projects throughout the firm. He also is a member of the Armenian Professional Society and was a graduate editor of the Tax Law Review at NYU School of Law. David can be reached at: [email protected]

About Our Host: 
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals. She is also a TEXCOM member and is involved with the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

In this episode of Trust Me!, Kristin Yokomoto discusses ethical considerations in the estate planning world. She covers issues relating to engagement letters, conflicts, communication, capacity and more.

About Our Guest:

Kristin Yokomoto is a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP in Costa Mesa, California and focuses on tax and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, trust administration and probate. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American Bar Association. Kristin is a member of the Executive Committee of the California Lawyer Association’s Trusts and Estates Section and the Orange County Bar Association Professionalism and Ethics Committee. She is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law with the California Bar Association of Legal Specialization. Kristin recently published an article on the Trusts and Estates Mediation and the Role of the Mediator for the Trust and Estates Quarterly and is earning an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution.

About Our Host:
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals. She is also a TEXCOM member and is a Vice-Chair of the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

Clients have grown to be more charitably inclined and want to incorporate charitable giving as part of their estate plan. In this episode, we discuss the basics of charitable planning, as we review the ABCs of those great acronyms: the CRUTs, CRATs, and CLATs.

About Our Guest:
Amy Takeuchi Wanlass is a Senior Wealth Advisor for Northern Trust based in their Pasadena office. Amy has over a decade of experience in delivering estate planning and tax advice, as well as financial planning services. Amy works with individuals and their families on complex wealth transfer strategies, estate and income tax planning, and charitable planning goals.

Prior to joining Northern Trust, Amy was with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as a Senior Wealth Planner. Amy was also previously a practicing trusts and estates attorney at nationally recognized law firms including Venable LLP and Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp LLP.

Amy can be reached at: [email protected]

About Our Host:
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals. She is also a member of the Trust and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association and is a Vice-Chair of the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association.

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

What must be, and what should be included, by the trustee of a trust in an accounting? And, who is entitled to receive what kind of information? In this episode, our guest Denise Riley discusses the details of what is required in an accounting. 

 About Our Guest: 

Denise Riley is the Senior Fiduciary Officer of the West Region in the San Francisco office of Northern Trust.  In addition to being the fiduciary practice leader, she is responsible for the development and implementation of fiduciary strategies to serve the needs of Northern’ s private clients. Denise has broad estate planning and fiduciary experience.

 Prior to her career at Northern Trust, she practiced law, specializing in tax, estate and charitable planning, estate and trust administration, and tax controversy, most recently at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe. She also headed the Northern California fiduciary practice at U.S. Trust and served as the Chief Fiduciary Officer at Morgan Stanley Trust Company.

 She is a member of the State Bar of California and American Bar Association, where she has been active in several estate planning and taxation committees. She is past president of the San Francisco Area Women Tax Lawyers, and has written and spoken on a variety of tax and estate planning topics

 About Our Host:  

 Erika Gasaway is a shareholder at Hopkins & Carley, a premier trust and estate planning, administration, and litigation firm in downtown San Jose and Redwood Shores, California.  Erika represents clients in trust and estate disputes such as trust contests, will disputes, and enforcing trusts at all stages from pre-litigation counseling and negotiations all the way through trial or settlement. She is a member of the Trust and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association and several other associations for estate panning and professional fiduciaries.  She can be reached at [email protected]  or via Linked In. 

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

A revocable trust is an essential part of an estate plan in California. And when clients ask why they need a revocable trust, our answer is always: to avoid probate! We know that probate is time consuming and costly, but have you ever wondered how our system came to be? In this episode of Trust Me!, Anne Rudolph and Ralph Hughes discuss their recent article published in the Trusts & Estates Quarterly -- The Rise of Revocable Trusts in California.

About Our Guests:

Ralph E. Hughes is a founding Shareholder of Hughes and Pizzuto, APC focusing on Probate and Trust Administration, Probate and Trust Litigation, and related mediation. Ralph received his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1976. Shortly thereafter, he moved to San Diego. Since that time, he has been involved in all aspects of probate, estate planning, trust and probate administration, and related litigation. He is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law. Ralph is affiliated with West Coast Resolution Center and conducts mediations through that organization. He has participated in well over 100 mediations.

Anne M. Rudolph is a Shareholder of Hughes and Pizzuto, APC focusing in Probate and Trust Administration, Probate and Trust Litigation, and Appeals. Anne is the Chair of the Firm’s Appellate Section. Anne received her law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law where she graduated in the top 5% of her class. She has been a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law since 2013. Anne has earned an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell for legal experience and knowledge as well as ethical standards. She has also been named a Top Rated Estate and Trust Litigation Attorney by San Diego Super Lawyers® since 2018, an honor that is reserved for the top 5% of attorneys in California. She is a frequent speaker on legal ethics issues that arise in the fields of trusts, estate planning, and probate.

About Our Host:
Host Anna Soliman is Trust Counsel and Managing Director for Fiduciary Trust International of California out of the Los Angeles Office. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust International, Anna was an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service and also worked in private practice, specializing in estate planning and trust administration for ultrahigh net worth individuals. She is also a TEXCOM member and is involved with the Fiduciary Income Tax Section of the American Bar Association.

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek

Join estate-planning attorney Elizabeth Bawden and trust-and-estate litigator Matt Owens for a discussion about the Corporate Transparency Act.

 About Our Guest:

 Elizabeth Bawden is a partner in Withers Bergman’s Los Angeles office. Elizabeth focuses her efforts on estate planning, planned giving, and tax-exempt organizations. Elizabeth represents clients in matters related to family wealth transfers for large estates, sophisticated estate and gift tax saving techniques, charitable planned giving, and complex probate and trust administrations, including matters involving digital assets and cryptocurrencies. She also regularly represents tax-exempt organizations in formation, organizational and operational issues. Her practice also includes advising socially minded entrepreneurs and business owners on their options for dedicating their companies to philanthropic causes.

 Elizabeth is certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization as a legal specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law and a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). She received the 2019 Distinguished Service Award from the Los Angeles Council of Charitable Gift Planners, where she has served as president and has been a member for 15 years. Elizabeth has been recognized in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide in the area of Private Wealth Law – Southern California since 2021.

 Elizabeth can be reached at [email protected]

 About Our Host:

 Matt Owens is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s San Diego (Del Mar) office. Matt focuses his practice on trust, estate, and inheritance litigation. He has prosecuted and defended a wide range of matters in probate court, including trust contests, elder-abuse actions, accountings, contested conservatorships, and claims involving breach of fiduciary duty. His clients include high-net-worth individuals and families, corporate trustees, and licensed professional fiduciaries.

 Matt is certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization as a legal specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, he is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association (TEXCOM), and he was recognized in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2023 for Private Wealth Disputes – California.

 Matt can be reached at [email protected]

Thank you for listening to Trust Me!

Trust Me is Produced by Foley Marra Studios
Edited by Cat Hammons and Todd Gajdusek