Keep It in the Family
Estate Administration Conference Covers All the Bases
By Simon Eskow

An expert in estate planning said that despite sunset provisions in the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act (EGTRA), “true” estate tax repeal after 2010 is not a given.

Attorney Lee Snow, a speaker at the Foundation for Accounting Education’s Estate Administration Conference, explained in his estate tax update different shelters that are “still viable” now and with the possibility that estate taxes will remain in some form after 2010.

Snow discussed wills and credit trusts, life insurance trusts, family limited partnerships, grantor-retained amnesty trusts, and intentionally defective grantor trusts.

Snow’s update was among a half-dozen presentations at the May 25 conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. More than 90 attendees heard presentations on accounting issues, managing trusts and reducing audit exposure.

Arthur Sederbaum, an attorney who also specializes in planning, discussed the highlights of litigation issues facing trustees and advisors. Philip A. Di Giorgio discussed current issues in estate administration, including disclaimers and use valuation. Later, Judah Mandelbaum, a financial advisor and vice president with an investment management firm, joined colleague Alice Davenport to talk about markets and the challenge of managing the interests of individual trust beneficiaries in a changing environment

The NYSSCPA’s Income of Estates and Trusts Committee, chaired by Stuart Rosenblatt, sponsored the conference. Rosenblatt chaired the event.