Estate Planners to Discuss How to Protect Seniors and Plan for the Aging Population at 2015 Estate Planning Seminar

October 5, 2015, /PRNewswire/ -- Near the time of their deaths, two well-known names made the news locally as a result of disputes with family members. The children of radio icon Casey Kasem fought his wife for visitation rights in the months before he died. And two sons of true crime writer Ann Rule faced criminal charges for allegedly bilking their ill and dying mother.

Months after both Kasem and Rule passed on, estate planners will gather in Seattle Nov. 2-3, 2015, for the 60th annual Estate Planning Seminar. 

They will discuss a multitude of estate planning topics, including a focus this year on planning for the aging demographic, planning for the new "modern family," and staying inside the ethics lines when clients cross borders.

While the Kasem and Rule cases made headlines, estate planners say they face similar challenges with clients and their families all the time. This seminar gives them a chance to hear from experts on best practices and to share solutions to situations they've seen.

"The beauty of having people come to this conference is so we can raise the issues and have a collaborative environment so people can speak to one another and speak to the speakers," said seminar chair Tammy Miller, CFP®, CTFA, CAP® with Wells Fargo Private Bank inSeattle. 

"Attendees will hear different perspectives from different people because of what their practice area is."

Nearly 1,000 estate planners from Washington state and elsewhere in the country are expect to attend the seminar, which is hosted by the Estate Planning Council of Seattle and the University of Washington School of Law Graduate Program in Taxation. 

It takes place at theWashington State Convention Center, 800 Convention Place, Seattle. The seminar is one of the largest of its kind in the country and attracts top lawyers, accountants, insurance professionals, trust officers, financial planners, and planned giving/development officers for nonprofit organizations.

One of this year's main themes is planning for the aging demographic. When a client suffers from diminished capacity, the lawyer's ethical responsibilities and constraints can be confusing and sometimes counter-intuitive.

 Speaker Adam Streisand of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in Century City, Calif., will help demystify the ethical conundrum and offer strategies for planning to avoid it. 

Estate planners are also faced with more complicated family demographics that represent the diversity seen in today's changing family structure.

Lauren Wolven with Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC, in Chicago, will help planners work to reduce conflicts within the modern family through thoughtful anticipatory planning that takes into account second or subsequent marriages, long-term non-married relationships, same-sex couples and twilight relationships.

Other hot topics to be covered include details on how estate planning professionals in different disciplines can work together, estate planning strategies for retirement assets, how to properly plan for  art and collectibles in an estate, and updates on the federal and state estate taxes. Find the full program here.

This year also marks a new partnership between the Estate Planning Council of Seattle and the University of Washington School of Law. 

"We have a flexible partner to take this seminar into the future and quickly respond to changes in our practice area," Miller said. 

This year's seminar includes more panel discussions to offer varying perspectives on a single topic and seminar organizers have created a new website and mobile technology app to offer participants additional online resources.

The seminar runs from 6:45 a.m. to 5:10 p.m. Nov. 2 and from 7:15 a.m. to 4:55 p.m. Nov. 3.  For more information about the Estate Planning Seminar, contact Heather Alhadeff athla3@uw.edu or 206-616-3361. Register online at www.seattleestateplanningseminar.com.

About the Estate Planning Council of Seattle: Originally founded in the early 1940s and one of the leading estate planning councils in the nation, the Estate Planning Council of Seattle is comprised of King County's top estate planning lawyers, financial planners, certified public accountants, trust officers and insurance agents. 

The council aims to promote the highest quality estate planning services in the Pacific Northwest by developing and improving the capabilities of its members, fostering cooperation among professionals, and by educating the public about estate planning matters. 

New members are welcome. Membership includes colleagues to network with at quarterly dinner meetings, helpful information about specific fields of expertise, and a welcoming organization that values high quality estate planning to help members of the community. For more information go to www.epcseattle.org. 

About the University of Washington School of Law Graduate Program in Taxation: TheUniversity of Washington graduate program in taxation provides a rigorous study of tax law leading to the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation. The UW School of Law is a highly-ranked law school in one of the premier research universities in the world, enabling the Tax LL.M. to draw faculty from a dynamic legal community. Courses are taught by nationally-recognized scholars and leading practitioners in their area of specialty who bring cutting-edge practice experience to the classroom. For more information go tohttps://www.law.washington.edu/apply/llm/tax/.