BarbriSFCourseDetails
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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Estate Planning

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Thursday, September 11, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

  • BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.

  • BARBRI is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).


  • Live Online


    On Demand

$297.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
CPE
ALL

This CLE/CPE course will provide estate planners with a comprehensive guide to the estate and income tax planning issues specific to valuable artwork and collectible items within an estate portfolio. The panel will discuss the critical questions of verifying title, documenting valuation, and dealing with fractional ownership. The webinar will offer guidance on structuring disposition plans under various scenarios, both inter vivos and testamentary, to balance income and estate tax considerations with clients' passion for their collections.

Faculty

Sherri Cohen
Senior Vice President, Global Head of Fiduciary Client Group
Sotheby's

Ms. Cohen joined Sotheby’s in 2023 as the Global Head of Fiduciary Client Group. She is responsible for leading the New York and London teams, working in close collaboration with the entire Sotheby’s Global Business Development team, Specialist Departments, and Chairmen to assist lawyers, bankers, family offices, and fiduciaries in planning for the lifecycle of their clients’ art collections through Sotheby’s broad range of services. She is dual-qualified attorney, in New York as well as a Solicitor in the United Kingdom.

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Alison Powers Herman
Partner
Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP

Ms. Herman counsels clients on wealth transfer planning, including estate planning and trust and estate administration issues, charitable giving, and estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning. Her practice encompasses a wide range of areas, including fiduciary litigation, tax-exempt organizations, and art law. Ms. Herman diligently monitors the ever-changing tax law landscape and looks for every opportunity to help her clients protect and pass along wealth in accordance with their preferences. She primarily serves New York and tri-state clients whose properties span the world. Ms. Herman advocates for beneficiaries and fiduciaries in federal and state estate tax proceedings and assists clients with pre- and post-nuptial agreements, post-mortem estate planning, probate filings, and marshaling and valuation of estate assets. She also handles estate and trust accountings, consignment agreements, preparation of estate, gift, and fiduciary income tax returns, trust decantings, as well as the removal, resignation, and appointment of fiduciaries.

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Judith Wallace
Managing Partner
Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP

Ms. Wallace represents art collectors, artists, foundations, galleries and scholars. She advises clients in matters of art ownership, authenticity, commissions, consignment, sales, valuation and copyright. Ms. Wallace also advises public agencies and private parties on permitting and compliance under state and federal environmental laws and advocates in environmental, project development, and general commercial matters in state and federal courts. In addition to advising on transactions, she manages litigation and alternative dispute resolution relating to these issues, as well as disputes arising out of nonprofits, duties of fiduciaries and directors, and probate matters.

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Description

Most significant estates contain valuable artwork or collector's items. These assets present myriad specific challenges, from the perspective of both estate and income tax planning. Estate counsel need to grasp the unique tax and investment issues presented by art and collectibles as part of designing an estate plan for clients with those assets.


Art and collectible items are among the more difficult assets to value for estate purposes. The IRS has an audit unit dedicated to valuation of artwork, and the standards the IRS applies in challenging valuations continue to evolve. Valuation is a critical factor in determining a disposition strategy for an art collection, and estate planners must understand the specific challenges in deciding how to dispose of these assets.

Part of what makes art and other collectibles different from other assets is the personal attachment that many collectors have toward their acquired items. Unlike other financial investments, beneficiaries may not wish to take artwork as part of an inheritance. Planners should understand disposition strategies and post-mortem sale considerations in structuring a plan to serve clients with art and collectible items.

Listen as our experienced panel provides a thorough and practical guide to the special considerations of structuring estate plans for clients with valuable artworks and collectible items.

Outline

  1. Valuation issues with artwork and collectibles
  2. Establishing title
  3. Inter vivos dispostions
  4. Post-mortem disposition plans


Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What are the unique characteristics of art and collectible items from the collector's standpoint?
  • Valuation considerations for artwork
  • Charitable planning for collectors in post-mortem disposition transactions and structures


NASBA Details

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

  • Recognize valuation issues specific to artwork, including IRS approaches to challenging taxpayer valuations
  • Discern the distinction in income tax treatment between inter vivos sale dispositions and post-mortem sales
  • Select the optimal trust structure for estates with artwork or collectible items to bequeath


  • Field of Study: Taxes
  • Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
  • Advance Preparation: None
  • Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
  • Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
  • Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
  • Prerequisite:

    Three years+ business or public firm experience at mid-level within the organization, involved in estate planning and structuring trusts to meet client wishes and to mitigate tax impact, preparing complex tax forms and schedules, supervising other preparers/accountants. Specific knowledge and experience structuring trusts and estate planning documents involving assets requiring appraisal or valuation. Familiarity with charitable trusts; familiarity with capital gains treatment of art and collectibles.

Strafford Publications, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

IRS Approved Provider

Strafford is an IRS-approved continuing education provider offering certified courses for Enrolled Agents (EA) and Tax Return Preparers (RTRP).