Estate Planning and the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0: Critical Considerations for Estate Planners and Administrators
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Estate Planning
- event Date
Thursday, April 11, 2024
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
This CLE course will guide estate planners and advisers on the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0's impact on estate planning and administration. The panel will discuss new regulatory and tax rules stemming from the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 and challenges for retirement benefits, trusts, and distributions. The panel will also provide effective estate and tax planning techniques in light of the new rules.
Ms. Hensley concentrates on a wide variety of employee benefits and executive compensation matters in both the transactional and compliance contexts. She advises on tax, ERISA and other legal considerations relating to employee benefit plans, programs and arrangements, including design, administration and compliance of tax-qualified plans. Ms. Hensley has advised clients on ERISA fiduciary matters for investment funds and plan fiduciaries. Her experience includes the structuring and design of equity compensation arrangements, including stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, phantom stock, performance shares and LLC/partnership interests (including profits interests) and nonqualified deferred compensation plans, as well as executive employment, severance and change-in-control agreements. Ms. Hensley also has advised clients on compensation and benefits issues unique to bankruptcy and restructuring transactions.
Mr. Shoff compassionately assists clients facing the inevitable challenges of aging, sickness, and death by counseling clients on how to put the best estate plan in place for their needs. This involves guidance on what form of an estate plan is most appropriate, whom to appoint as fiduciary of that plan (Power of Attorney Agent, Trustee, Executor), and what kind of property beneficiaries (children, grandchildren, charities, etc.) should receive after a person’s death. Over a decade in practice, he has assisted many individuals and families with planning for their incapacity and death through the effective drafting of Health Care Proxies, Living Wills, Last Wills, Powers of Attorney, Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts. As part of planning for the elderly and disabled individuals, he also counsels clients on public benefits that may be available to help pay for a client’s long-term care. This often involves navigating the complex rules and regulations of the Medicaid program in New York to preserve clients’ assets as much as possible while still obtaining the Medicaid coverage needed to pay for their long-term medical needs
The SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 contain several provisions that significantly change the planning and administration of estates and trusts. Estate planners, advisers, and attorneys must recognize the impact of the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 and prepare for IRS interpretations, requirements, and pitfalls to avoid.
The SECURE Act includes substantial changes to how IRAs and qualified plans impact estate planning for retirement benefits. It raised the age for required minimum distributions from age 70½ to age 72, which also applies to qualified plans, and eliminates the age limit for contributions to IRAs. It also eliminates the "stretch" distributions from IRAs and qualified plans with limited exceptions. Under the new law, beneficiaries must withdraw assets from an inherited account within 10 years of the owner's death, requiring careful planning to avoid unintended tax liability.
If a retirement plan participant doesn't want to leave benefits outright to a beneficiary, the participant must designate a trust as the beneficiary. For a trust to qualify as a designated beneficiary, it needs to be a "see-through trust" that is either a "conduit trust" or an "accumulation trust." Under the SECURE Act, there is an acceleration of distributions to beneficiaries and a potential increase in taxes.
SECURE 2.0 provides key modifications and further expands the previous regulations, including but not limited to plan contributions, distributions, ROTH IRA rules, and other key items impacting estate and tax planning.
Listen as our panel discusses the SECURE Act's and SECURE 2.0's key provisions and how they impact the planning and administration of estates and trusts, as well as offers best practices for attorneys and advisers.
- SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0: key provisions and remaining issues
- Critical estate planning considerations and challenges
- Challenges for trusts: conduit vs. accumulation trusts
- Key modifications to consider for estates and trusts
- Other key items and best practices for estates and trust administration
The panel will review these and other essential items:
- What should estate planners know about the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0?
- What are the unresolved issues of the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 for estates and trusts?
- What are estate and trust planning techniques available under the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0?
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