Annual Lunch

12:00 p.m.

1:15 p.m.

Alma Soongi Beck, Esq.; Hopkins & Carley; Redwood City, CA

Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples (and More)

In this era of marriage equality, are we thinking as effectively as we should about the unique issues faced by couples (and more) who choose not to marry? Do our mindsets and our estate planning intake forms address and ask the crucial questions that will help us catch these issues? And how is our ability to plan effectively impacted by the evolution of gender and parentage and the availability of domestic partnership for couples of all genders? This program will address these issues, plus the challenges of separate versus joint trusts, the dynamics of assisting clients on whether to consider marriage or state domestic partnership, and the property tax implications for unmarried couples and other family groups who also choose not to register as state domestic partners.

2:30 p.m.

James M. Wagstaffe, Esq.; Wagstaffe, von Loewenfeldt, Busch & Radwick LLP;

San Francisco, CA

Guiding Estate and Probate Clients Through the Difficulties of Litigation

Jim Wagstaffe is an experienced trust and estate litigator who understands the ins and outs of guiding clients through difficult and sometimes emotional cases. He will be sharing many estate planning litigation tips, such as framing the file for future contests, preservation duties, and playing the role of witness. Jim will also address strategies for success in handling emotion-based disputes, including his experiences in sometimes high-profile disputes such as the Robin Williams’ estate battle. In particular, we’ll learn about techniques such as listening through tone, managing unrealistic expectations, representing “difficult” clients, achieving successful mediations, and knowing when estrangement is underrated. It promises to be fun and very useful to all our practices.