InterActive Legal Blog

Sentiments on the Reality of a Virtual Event

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Last week, as the 55th annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning concluded, I took a few moments to reflect on the conference which, like many events, was different this year. All of the presentations were virtual, with the presenters streaming from their respective locations and all of us in the audience watching from the relative comfort of our homes or offices (or, in many cases, home offices). InterActive Legal was present at our "booth" in the virtual exhibit hall, and I have to give proper credit to our Marketing team for creating a digital space that was both visually appealing and informative.

My assessment of this year's conference is a bit of a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong: the actual conference was well-managed and informative as always. The Institute and the presenters all deserve praise for delivering high quality content with few, if any, technical glitches. There is also something to be said for the virtual format. It was nice to be able to clearly see and hear the presenters. It was also a bit easier to focus without the distractions of finding a seat and connecting to the WiFi. For someone like me who always seems to be late in making it to the ballroom no matter how hard I try, it was nice to know that I had a desk on which to set my computer and my coffee, rather than trying to balance everything on my lap while seated in the rows of chairs in the back. I also found it oddly satisfying to tour the virtual exhibit hall, seeing a scene from my memories rendered in a digital format.

Given those factors, I questioned whether I might actually prefer a virtual conference. When I thought about it more, my answer became a resounding "no," as I was flooded by the thoughts of what I missed. Simply put, I missed the people. I missed wandering the aisles and meeting other exhibitors. I missed seeing former colleagues, now several jobs and cities removed, but with whom I still connect each year at Heckerling. I missed meeting attorneys who are new to the conference and new to estate planning, whose eagerness to learn is evident as they stop by the booth to chat.

I missed our InterActive Legal team, my dear colleagues, many of whom I only see once a year in normal circumstances. As I spoke with them last week, to regroup and debrief on the conference, it became clear to me that the thing all of us missed the most was getting to see and talk to our subscribers. I do not think any of us realized before how lucky we are to be able to do that each year. As a technology company delivering service remotely to firms across the country, we don't often have the need or the opportunity to interact with our subscribers in person. Our team has always enjoyed Heckerling for that reason; it is nice to put a face with a name, to share a laugh, coffee, or even a meal, to have the time to really engage in conversation on the topics discussed in the lectures, and to learn what we can do to enhance our services and provide more value. However, I did not understand until now that it is a gift, and a rare one in the technology business, to be able to make that personal connection.

This is the outcome of my reflections: Despite the silver lining I was able to find in the virtual conference, I look forward to the day when the clouds part, and we can meet again in sunny Orlando next January. Until then, I speak for all of us at InterActive Legal in saying to you, our subscribers, that we miss and appreciate you, and can't wait to see you soon.

Sincerely,

InterActive Legal Names Vanessa Kanaga as CEO

Melbourne, FL- InterActive Legal, a knowledge company and software solutions provider in the legal arena of trusts and estates, elder law, and special needs planning, announced the promotion of its 8-year veteran, President and Director of Content Development, Vanessa Kanaga, to the office of Chief Executive Officer. After several successful years in directing the day-to-day operations of the company as President, Ms. Kanaga will now be responsible for guiding the company's future, overseeing new investments in technology, exploring additional revenue channels, and increasing the value proposition of subscribership.

Vanessa Kanaga replaces Michael L. Graham as CEO, who will continue his active involvement with InterActive Legal as Chairman. Mr. Graham is also a co-Founder and co-Author of the InterActive Legal programs. Ms. Kanaga, 41, began her career with InterActive Legal’s co-Founder/Co-Author and renowned Trust & Estates thought-leader, Jonathan Blattmachr, in New York. After moving from New York to her home state of Kansas, she was recruited by Blattmachr in 2013 to join InterActive Legal’s Content Development Team. Ms. Kanaga now resides in Arizona and directs the Melbourne-based company remotely.

When asked about taking over the reigns for all aspects of InterActive Legal, Ms. Kanaga responded:

“This is a time of great challenge and opportunity for the estate planning profession, and I feel very fortunate to be in a position to help attorneys meet those challenges and seize those opportunities. As I write this, InterActive Legal is in the process of launching a new online version of our document assembly suites, a development which will allow our subscribers to be more mobile and efficient, and will allow us to deliver content quickly and in a more modern framework. We are standing ready to address any changes to the tax laws in the near future, and we are looking to the horizon to see what content and technology our subscribers will need in their practice over the next several years.”

Flexible, Cautious Drafting Can Save the Day – Even Publication 590-B is No Problem

by Elizabeth Q. Boehmcke, Esq.

The Internal Revenue Service (the "Service") issued the 2020 version of Publication 590-B "Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)" on March 25, 2021, to assist taxpayers with understanding how their retirement accounts are taxed, how to calculate required distributions, and how they should report distributions from such accounts. It should have been a quiet affair, attracting little attention. While a publication like this cannot be relied upon as authoritative guidance of any sort, tax planners would normally try to "read the tea leaves" to see what the IRS position may be on some issues related to the SECURE Act, about which further guidance is needed while awaiting regulations. Unfortunately, the Publication made some startling and contradictory statements about the operation of the SECURE Act with respect to inherited IRAs, the operation of the 10-year rule and to whom it applies, and under what circumstances. (A detailed analysis of Publication 590-B is beyond the scope of this article. For more information on the various issues presented by Publication 590-B, including some actual clarifications of policy, I direct you to Natalie Choate's excellent commentary on the subject, "Natalie Choate's Guide to the New IRS Publication 590-B." You can access the article here.)

Planning in Upheaval

by Vanessa L. Kanaga, Esq., InterActive Legal

Two bills introduced in the Senate could impact estate plans – What is a planner to do?

Ever since the middle of 2020, there have been rumblings in the estate planning profession; murmurs of tax proposals waiting in the wings, the anticipation mounting as the federal elections (eventually) concluded and the White House and Congress shifted to the Democrats. This change in power, combined with the increased spending by the federal government due to the pandemic, led many to expect proposals for changes to the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), including those provisions relating to estate planning. At last, the moment we expected has arrived, with two bills introduced in the Senate: the "For the 99.5% Act," introduced by Senators Sanders and Whitehouse on March 25 (the "Sanders' bill"), and the "Sensible Taxation and Equity Promotion Act of 2021," or "STEP" Act, introduced as a proposal by Senators Van Hollen, Booker, Sanders, Whitehouse, and Warren on March 29 (referred to herein as the "Van Hollen bill," although it has not been formally introduced at the time of this writing). Each of these bills proposes changes which, if enacted, would cause a fundamental shift in estate planning, from the foundations up to the more sophisticated spires of wealth preservation strategies. What would these proposals mean for clients, and what should we, as planners, be doing to alert them to the potential changes on the horizon?

Leave the Gift of True Thoughtfulness to Heirs

by David MacMahan

Few things are more overwhelming, or more emotionally challenging for heirs than the “stuff” left behind; especially in overstuffed garages and storage units.

Today, nearly all of us have been trapped in our homes by Covid for nearly a year, with at least several months ahead of us looking similar. Do you have clients over sixty, have a will or trust set up, and feeling OK about how they will be leaving their family to deal with the estate? Awesome! Now do they have a garage, attic or self-storage unit, with things not seen or thought about in months or years? These represent an amazing gifting opportunity, and useful task during COVID.

Can you imagine how overwhelming the duties will be for their beloved executor trying to let heirs know what personal property is available to divide, sell or donate? They can’t all meet at the house like in earlier times. The tangible assets, aka personal property, furniture, art, jewelry, sentimental items are usually the most difficult and contentious part of an estate to divide. The practical challenges alone of letting all heirs know what is there, getting it listed, sometimes valued are huge. Then how does one go about dividing peacefully? Worst of all, they have typically never done it before, so it is all completely overwhelming.

Reflections on a Year Unlike Any Other

Dear friends,    

     As 2020 draws to a close, and I reflect on a year unlike any other, I find that I am full of contradictions. I marvel at how quickly these twelve months seem to have passed, yet somehow wish that time would move faster. I feel joy for every day that I have with my friends and family, but sorrow for the many who are suffering the loss of their loved ones, their health, or their means of living. My fear of the unknown suddenly seems more present, but so is my awareness of all the many things, big and small, for which I am grateful.

     I am writing this note for three reasons. First, it is a thank you note, to all those who are part of InterActive Legal: Our Advisors, my colleagues, and of course, our subscribers. Thank you for your loyalty to InterActive Legal and to our profession. Your commitment to your craft, your clients, and your communities is proving more important than ever.    

Why Bob Dylan Sold His Music Catalog

 

By Daniel J. Scott, Esq., Scott Law PLLC

This article originally appeared in the Spotlight Advisory Group Blog on December 9, 2020. It is being reposted here with permission from the author.

InterActive Legal subscriber, Dan Scott, has written extensively about a shift in how estate planning will be thought of in the near future.  Instead of an emphasis on planning to avoid taxes, Dan suggests linking an estate plan to one’s life purpose….  More “Legacy Planning” than merely wealth transfer for the sake of retaining generational wealth.  In a previous article that appeared in Forbes, Dan writes:

“Gone are the days of planning for your death. It’s time to plan for your life.”

“The reason traditional estate planning is dead is that it has nothing to do with happiness or helping you live a fulfilled life. Estate planning simply addresses what happens when your die. It only plans for the two inevitable certainties of life: death and taxes. What about planning for all of the uncertainties in life, the choices you make and ultimately control? What about planning to build the life you will ultimately leave behind when you die?”

In the post that follows, Dan conjects three reasons singer-songwriter Bob Dylan may have sold his music catalog…all consistent with his previous musings about making such moves to enhance a living legacy.

If you haven’t heard, it’s true—Bob Dylan sold the rights to his music publishing catalog

Why, you ask? The short answer, and the one that has fans and the internet grumbling, is money.

Estimates put the value of the sale in the $300-400 million range. So, to pull a line from Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, he didn’t just do it for the money, he did it “for a shit load of money!”

Of course, the question does not (or at least should not) stop there. You see, money has no intrinsic value. The value of money is derived from its application—that is, what we choose to do with the money. In other words, money is really just a tool to be used in order to achieve some other goal.

Look Before You Transfer: Is there a PPP Loan?

by Vanessa L. Kanaga, Esq., President and Director of Content Development, InterActive Legal

An Additional Consideration for Those Advising Business Owners on Lifetime Gifts¹

As we near the end of 2020, many estate planners are doubling their efforts to assist clients with making lifetime gifts to take advantage of the current estate and gift tax exemption ($11.58 million) before its possible reduction following changes in the federal government next year.  As any estate planner will tell you, there are always a number of factors to consider in determining whether lifetime gifting is an appropriate strategy and, if so, what form the gifts should take.  In addition to the "normal" concerns, many business owners looking to make gifts of their business interests in the near future must consider an additional factor:  the possible effects of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. 

 

Authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, PPP loans were intended to provide economic relief to businesses and employees facing threats to their revenue streams due to the pandemic.  The loans were processed by private lenders (the "PPP Lenders") and the funds were disbursed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), which runs the program.  Loan recipients that used loan proceeds on eligible expenses (primarily wages and other payroll expenses) may apply to have the loan forgiven.  Any portion of a PPP loan that is not forgiven must be repaid at a rate of 1% interest over a period of two or five years (depending on the date the loan was approved).² 

Our Most Popular Documents and Where to Find Them

by Teresa L. Bush, Esq., Director of Education and Support Services, InterActive Legal

What are the most popular documents in InterActive Legal?  It’s an interesting question, and one we consider frequently as we work to bring our subscribers the most useful drafting resources.  We could take a survey and the results would vary based on the time of year, the location of those replying, and the current political climate.  In my role as Director of Education and Support Services, I have a unique opportunity to interact with our subscribers and see what documents and planning ideas are trending from time to time.  Right now, at the end of 2020, I find the document asked about most by subscribers is an irrevocable trust for the benefit of the grantor’s spouse, sometimes called a spousal lifetime access trust, or “SLAT.”  Lately, we have also had inquiries about Charitable Remainder Unitrusts (which some are using for retirement benefits planning, since the SECURE Act severely limited the ability to stretch-out distributions from retirement assets).  Finally, we get questions about how best to draft what I consider to be “bread and butter” estate planning documents – your everyday Will or Revocable Trust with no estate tax planning – for clients who just need a good solid estate plan.  Here are some thoughts on drafting in each of these areas.

How to Develop a Law Firm Dream Team

Introduction by Teresa L. Bush, Esq., Director of Education and Support Services, InterActive Legal

 

Hiring needs in 2020 vary across a wide spectrum, with some firms busier than ever before and needing additional hands on deck, and other firms seeing fewer clients, and therefore little need to consider a plan for hiring. The InterActive Legal Content Team felt that the guest blog post below would be helpful to those of you who may need to add resources to your estate planning team now, and that those who are not currently in hiring mode could keep it in mind for when your need to hire returns. The step-by-step approach discussed may be a new way of looking at hiring while considering the bottom line, overall team billing and work efficiency, and best practices.

 

We hope you find this information helpful, as another tool for building and improving your practice.

How to Develop a Law Firm Dream Team

By Wendy Witt, JD

Ugh. Hiring isn’t anyone’s favorite task. I get it. As we dive in to develop your rock star law firm team, I acknowledge that hiring is a crapshoot.

 

This article will improve your odds of hiring the right person at the right time for the right seat – and developing them into a rock star team member. Smart hiring will reduce:  ibuprofen purchases, “why me” crying episodes, the rapid outflow of cash better spent on pepperoni rolls in Pittsburgh’s Strip or the Reading Terminal, and wasted time that could be spent watching the 1978 Steeler season with your bubble mates.

 

Allow yourself a little grace for past mistakes and let’s map out the steps to make good things happen from here on out. The only way to do more of the work you love, have a healthy work-life balance, and make more money is to invest in leverage (i.e. help). There is nothing as beautiful as something getting done when you’re not the one to do it!