The Bassford Remele Trust and Estates Litigation Practice Group will host a lunch, seminar, and social at our offices on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. The seminar will be offered live and via webinar.

A Loss of Trust: What Trust and Estate Litigators
Think Estate Planners Need to Know
featuring Amy Morris Hess via live webcast

Amy Morris Hess, a 2018 inductee into the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils Hall of Fame, is the successor author of BOGERT, THE LAW OF TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES (rev. 2d ed., 1978, supplemented annually; 3d ed. in progress). She will present via live webcast. Ms. Hess, now a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee law school, is a prolific author and presenter of articles, textbooks and seminars on trust and estate matters. She has also been an editor of multiple national trust and estate journals and served as a committee member on numerous ABA committees pertaining to trusts and estates.

12:00-12:30 Registration and Lunch

12:30-1:30 Hot Topics and Common Ethical Issues in Estate Planning
Amy Morris Hess and Aram V. Desteian
(1.0 MN ethics CLE credit approved)

• Multi-client representation issues
  • Concurrent v. joint reps
  • Individual v. personal capacity
• Common ethical issues raised capacity and undue influence challenges
  • Rule 1.14
  • Ethical obligation to investigate
  • Claim prevention tips
• Other issues
  • Flat fee agreements
  • Associated trust account issues

1:30-2:30 Trends in Trust and Estate Litigation: What You Need to Know as an Estate Planner
Alan I. Silver, Norman M. Abramson, and Jessica L. Kometz
(1.0 MN standard CLE credit approved)

• What To Do to Protect Your Estate Plan Against a Challenge
  • Documenting evidence of capacity/videotaping
  • Procedures in planning and execution meetings
  • Collecting other materials to support the plan
  • What to do when someone asks for your file
• Hot Topics
  • Harmless Error Statute (Minn. Stat. § 524.2-503)
  • When can you seek an expedited hearing?
  • Use of Trust Protectors and how that may influence litigation. Selection and Powers to Grant.
  • Litigation involving Powers of Attorney, including who to select, drafting and advising clients and impact on vulnerable adults.

2:30-3:30 Trust Modifications and Trustee Removals: What We've Learned Since Adoption of Minnesota's Version of the UTC
Amy Morris Hess and Casey D. Marshall
(1.0 MN standard CLE credit approved)

• Trustee Removals
  • For Cause Removals: serious breach of trust and failure to administer
  • No Fault Removals: materials purpose and best interests of the beneficiaries
• Trust Modifications
  • Who can modify an irrevocable trust?
  • Best interests of the beneficiaries
• Other Issues
  • Trust Protectors
  • Attorneys in fact

3:30-5:00 Networking and Social