A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

In January, I attended the 52nd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, FL. Joined by nearly 3,400 other wealth management professionals, we listened to speakers from across the nation talk about planning for death and taxes, including recent developments on tax and trust legislation and case law, planning with trusts, closely held business succession, elder law/special needs planning, international estate planning, charitable giving and trust and estate litigation.

Certainly the most significant recent development is the increase in the estate, gift and GST exemption from approximately $5.6 million to $11.2 million. This eliminates planning for death taxes for most people. While the Heckerling Institute probably places too much emphasis on planning to avoid or minimize death taxes, the other presentations illustrate there continues to be many other issues to consider when planning for death. In the Resources section below, you can find an outline of conference highlights I presented to the Waukesha County Estate Planning Council and the Milwaukee Estate Planning Forum for your reference. Also below is a one page checklist of estate planning considerations that may apply at certain levels of wealth.

At Prairie Financial Group, we continue to see our trust and estate business expand even with the decreased use of trusts to avoid death taxes. Estate planning remains critically important, and trusts continue to have a significant role – from protecting beneficiaries from spendthrift tendencies or addiction issues to special needs planning to planning for children from multiple marriages to charitable gifting. Selection of the trustee is a significant planning consideration, especially when there is potential conflict between beneficiaries or there are complicated compliance issues.

Our trust administration staff has specialized technical expertise - estate settlement, special needs trusts administration, directed and delegated trusts and trust litigation workouts. We appreciate the future business you provide to us when we are drafted into your clients’ estate documents. Please let us know how we can assist you in helping your clients.