Continuing Legal Education - Hull on Estates #229
Listen to: Continuing Legal Education
This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Craig and Rick discuss upcoming Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs over the next few months. Specifically, they discuss the upcoming annual Estates and Trusts Summit on November 17 – 18, 2010.
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Craig R. Vander Zee – Click here for more information on Craig Vander Zee
Rick Bickhram – Click her for more information on Rick Bickhram.
Rick Bickhram: Good morning and welcome to another episode of Hull on Estates. You’re listening to Episode #229 on Tuesday, November 16, 2010.
Welcome to Hull on Estates, a series of podcasts for the Canadian legal community dealing with issues and insights surrounding estate planning in Canada. Hosted by the lawyers of Hull & Hull, the podcast will touch on some key considerations when planning estates and wills. Now, here are today’s hosts.
Craig Vander Zee: Hi and welcome to another episode of Hull on Estates, I’m Craig Vander Zee.
Rick Bickhram: And I’m Rick Bickhram.
Craig Vander Zee: If you want to be heard on Hull on Estates you can participate by leaving us a comment, email us at hull.lawyers@gmail.com or you can visit our blog at estastelaw.hullandhull.com. Good morning Rick.
Rick Bickhram: Good morning Craig, how are you?
Craig Vander Zee: Good. How was your weekend?
Rick Bickhram: It was an amazing relaxing weekend. How about yourself?
Craig Vander Zee: Yeah, filled with a little bit of hockey and some other things but it was a very nice weekend.
Rick Bickhram: It is the hockey season.
Craig Vander Zee: It certainly is. So what we thought we would talk about today is really just the upcoming CLE, that is Continuing Legal Education over the next couple of months, at least some of the programs. Of course, given the new requirements of the Law Society regarding continuing profession development, we will want to keep an eye on programs that are accredited and ensuring that we achieve and obtain the right amount of required continuing legal education. And so it’s good to have an eye as to what’s coming up. Now even though it’s in November, I would think that the next major CLE is indeed the CLE that’s happening this week on November 17th and 18th.
Rick Bickhram: And that is the annual Estates and Trust Summit. It happens once a year. It’s a two day course and it touches on a variety of topics that deal with estates and trusts.
Craig Vander Zee: Yeah it’s affectionately called the forum and the first day is typically aimed or targeted for the estate planner, estate administrator while the second day is geared more to the estate litigator.
Rick Bickhram: Absolutely and what I guess, I am looking through the agenda here and there is some, certainly a variety of interesting topics on the first day for the estate administrator. What pops out that catches your eye, Craig?
Craig Vander Zee: Well I think the program as a whole is a very nice one and well designed. But first of all, there’s an update on family law for estate practitioners dealing with support and dependant’s relief, pensions, some case law and some interesting appellate cases. There’s also estate planning for disabled adults which is always a concern. There’s also best practices in a trust administration and dealing with the, I guess, what some might term, increased scrutiny by the Canada Revenue Agency. There’s also new developments in life insurance, income tax issues in estate administration. For those that deal with cross border estate planning issues, there is a seminar on that, as well as a year in review when it comes to charity law. There is also scheduled to be an update on non-resident trust rules and then dealing with alter-ego and joint partner trusts which looks interesting.
Also and it’s a concern for those estate planners which is identifying and addressing potential conflicts in an estate planning practice. And then developments in estate accounting and trustee compensation as well. And I certainly think that that’s a well rounded program and I think that those that can attend that day will have plenty of interesting topics to listen to. On the second day, which is the 18th of November there is again the program which is, I would say, targeted at the estate practitioner, estate litigator. There is introductory remarks by the new Estates List lead administrative judge, the Honourable Madam Justice Barbara Conway. And also discussions on the new role for estates and trust lawyers in class actions, dealing with post- mortem alterations to Wills and trusts, understanding costs in today’s estate and guardianship litigation. What some would consider the top ten cases of the past year. Another topic is “What privilege does a trustee enjoy?”. And then there is also a presentation by Ian Hull of our firm on promissory estoppel and the remedies of unjust enrichment.
And then I guess the latter part of the day will be spent on what constitutes a testamentary document, the role of experts in Will challenges which I think will be an interesting presentation by Clare Burns. How the Family Statute Law Amendment Act will impact estate and trust solicitors and that will be very interesting and that’s being presented by Debra Stephens, the immediate past Children’s Lawyer for the province. And then looking at nonfeasance, misfeasance and the self-interested attorney and then comparing various tests of capacity.
So that looks like a very well rounded and complete program and then lastly on that day, the Honourable Douglas Lissaman will be sharing his views on mediation of litigious estate and trust matters from the perspective of a retired judge. So as… you know, as we can see, that’s going to be a full program on both days and one that I think those that attend will get a significant benefit from.
Rick Bickhram: As we indicated earlier that this is the annual Estates and Trust Summit. And the first day deals with the estate administration plan and that’s scheduled for November 17th and the estate, for the estate litigator that’s the day two of the program and that again is scheduled for November 18, 2010. It’s not too late to sign up. All the information is available on the Law Society’s website.
Craig Vander Zee: And then on November 25th, so just next week the OBA is having a CLE program and it will be commencing at 12:00 p.m. So it’s a luncheon program and it’s dealing with working with the Accountant of the Superior Court of Justice and the Office of the Children’s Lawyer. So that should be an interesting topic in and of itself. And again, what’s nice about the luncheon programs are that they’re not terribly long and you can make your way down and have lunch and have the program and be out of there, typically I think, before two o’clock. Also Hull & Hull is having its next Hull & Hull Breakfast Series on January 13th, 2011 and the speakers for this breakfast will be Ian Hull and Paul Trudelle and myself. And we’re certainly looking forward to that program as well and again that’s a breakfast series program which commences at 8:30 and goes to 9:30. And typically between 9:30 and 10:00, you know, there’s a question period if you have any questions regarding matters that you like to put to us.
And so that would leave us, I think, with the Law…sorry the Ontario Bar Association’s Annual Institute. And this year the program has be organized by Susan Stamm and Melanie Yach, both members of the executive of the OBA Trusts and Estates section. And it’s my understanding that the Annual Institute this year is on February 3rd, 2011 and it’s only scheduled to be a half day program. Traditionally those who have attended know that it’s a full day program, but I guess there have been changes this year to the Annual Institute and this year it’s a half day program. It also looks like a very interesting program. The topics, to my knowledge, include planning again for disabled beneficiaries, how the recent legislative amendments have changed estate planning. There’s going to be a talk by Suzana Popovic-Montag of our office on the role of social media and marketing in an estates and trust practice. There’s going to be a discussion on the impact of divorce, remarriage and common law relationships on estate planning and that is certainly apropos in today’s world. And then Ed Esposto is going to speak on the legacy of Hare and Hare and again that was a case dealing with limitation periods for promissory notes. And there will also be damages for mismanaging trust investments that’s going to be discussed. And then there’s going to be a panel dealing with recent cost decisions in estate litigation. And then lastly there’s going to be a discussion dealing with the role of collaborative law in resolving estate disputes.
So, all in all, when looking at the next four months or so of continuing legal education, there’s plenty out there for the estate practitioner, estate planner, estate administrator and estate litigator. And I would urge you, if you’re interested, to attend or consider obtaining the materials from those respective programs.
Rick Bickhram: I think that brings us to the end of this week’s discussion. Thanks for listening and thanks for joining me today.
Craig Vander Zee: It certainly was a pleasure, Rick and I look forward to podcasting with you again.
Rick Bickhram: And we look forward to hearing from our listeners. You can send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com. Be sure to visit our blog at estatelaw.hullandhull.com where you’ll find even more information and discussion on today’s practice of estate law. We hope that you enjoyed the show, I’m Rick Bickhram
Craig Vander Zee: And I’m Craig Vander Zee and until next week, so long.
This has been Hull on Estates with the lawyers of Hull & Hull. The podcast you have been listening to has been provided as an information service. It is a summary of current legal issues in estates and estate planning. It is not legal advice and you are reminded to always talk with a legal professional regarding your specific circumstances.
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