Experts Offer New Book and Webinar to Take Advantage of New Estate Tax Drafting and Structuring Opportunities

ARLINGTON, Va., July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The passage of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act has changed the estate planning playing field for estate tax practitioners and their clients across the U.S.  Professional advisors now have the opportunity to deploy new strategies for their clients based upon changed circumstances brought about by this new law, and must get their arms around how to handle estate tax planning in light of the dramatic changes to the estate tax law landscape.

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2011-2012 Estate Tax Planning Strategies, a new BNA Tax & Accounting webinar, led by noted tax authors and commentators Alan Gassman, Kenneth Crotty and Christopher Denicolo on July 12, 2011, puts together charts, language and text to help practitioners mount the learning curve and move into client interaction and document and structure implementation.  A number of drafting approaches to this planning will be discussed, with sample clauses.  The $299 webinar registration includes a reference copy of Alan Gassman's new book: Estate Tax Planning in 2011 and 2012.

"This valuable analysis comes at a time when practitioners need to change client documents to assure that surviving spouses' heirs can choose between estate tax exemption and stepped up basis," says BNA Tax & Accounting Managing Editor Bob Herman.

Many clients need document updates in order to help assure that credit shelter trust assets may receive a "stepped-up" basis on the surviving spouse's death if the estate tax will not be as much of a concern as the income tax. Clients want to know how to make the best use of the temporary $4,000,000 increases in gifting and GST allowance, what to do with life insurance and life insurance trust situations, and what other opportunities their planners can recommend for them based upon the changes to the tax law.

Alan Gassman and colleagues Kenneth Crotty and Christopher Denicolo will discuss several scenarios that families must now consider in order to preserve their wealth while taking into account the many possible outcomes that can result from future developments in the estate tax law.  This live webinar will provide participants with:

• Estate and income tax planning changes needed for clients with estates both above and below the new $5,000,000 thresholds
• How to update credit shelter trust documents to allow for a possible "stepped-up" basis on the surviving spouse's death, with applicable forms
• A working knowledge of the new rules, and how to work with them and to avoid traps for the unwary
• How many favored past techniques will continue to apply in 2011 and 2012, but in different ways
• How dynasty trust planning will be different and more popular, with additional benefits for dynasty trust settlors
• The pros and cons of tax exemption portability in 2011 and 2012, and how to make credit shelter trust planning more flexible

Participants will learn:

• How the new rules change the estate planning playing field
• Why credit shelter trust planning continues to have merit in light of exemption portability provided by the new law
• How to leverage the increased estate and gift exemptions by the use of dynasty trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and other estate planning techniques
• How to advise clients on generation-skipping transfers in 2011 and 2012
• Why this is an opportune time to review and update estate plans
• How to analyze and advise on life insurance policies and trusts that may not be needed for 2011 and beyond.

About the Speakers

Alan S. Gassman, J.D., LL.M. practices law in Clearwater, Florida. Each year he published numerous articles in publications such as BNA Tax & Accounting, Estate Planning, Trusts and Estates, The Journal of Asset Protection, and Steve Leimberg's Asset Protection Planning Newsletters. Mr. Gassman is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the Executive Council of the Tax Section of the Florida Bar, and has been quoted on many occasions in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, Medical Economics, Modern Healthcare, and Florida Trend magazine. He is the senior partner at Gassman, Bates & Associates, P.A. in Clearwater, Florida, which he founded in 1987.

Kenneth J. Crotty, J.D., LL.M.  is a partner at the Clearwater, Florida law firm of Gassman, Bates & Associates, P.A., where he practices in the areas of estate tax and trust planning, taxation, physician representation, and corporate and business law.  Mr. Crotty has co-authored several handbooks that have been published in BNA Tax & Accounting, Steve Leimberg's Estate Planning and Asset Protection Planning Newsletters and Estate Planning Magazine

Christopher J. Denicolo, J.D., LL.M. is a partner at the Clearwater, Florida law firm of Gassman, Bates & Associates, P.A., where he practices in the areas of estate tax and trust planning, taxation, physician representation, and corporate and business law.  He has published several articles in various publications, including BNA Tax & Accounting, the Florida Bar Journal and the LISI Network.  

2011-2012 Estate Tax Planning Strategies will take place July 12, 2011, from 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm, ET.  To register for this webinar and obtain further information about CLE and CPE credits, go to http://www.bna.com/estate-tax-law-changes-update/?open&cmpid=tmtxpr2011 or call 1-800-372-1033, menu Option 6, then Option 1.  The $299 registration fee includes a copy of Alan Gassman's recent book, Estate Tax Planning in 2011 and 2012.

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About BNA Tax & Accounting Webinars
BNA Tax & Accounting is the foremost source of tax and accounting research, news, practice tools, and guidance for tax attorneys, CPAs, corporate tax managers, estate planners, and financial accountants.  Designed for today's busy practitioners, our webinars offer the same expertise and relevance that are the hallmark of all BNA Tax & Accounting resources. Conference attendees have the opportunity to ask the speakers questions, and may be eligible to earn CLE or CPE credits - all from the convenience of their own office or conference room.

SOURCE BNA Tax & Accounting