The Thursday Report – 9.19.2013 – Internet Traps, BP Claims and Drafting EP Docs

“As a member of the Joe Kempe Law firm, I get to read a lot of your articles.  Thank you for your very self.  First of all, you are a riot and more importantly you are so very generous with your considerable knowledge and insights.  You rock… as my grand kids say.”

Best, Marnie Poncy

Internet Trap of the Week: LinkedIn – Remove Areas of Practice if You Are Not Board Certified in the Area Mentioned.

BP Claims – Unauthorized Practice of Law Issues

Personal Observations About the Craft of Drafting Estate Planning Documents, Part 2 of a 2 Part Article by Tom Ellwanger

Phil Rarick’s Informative Client Blog Entries: Fast Track Florida Probate: Summary Administration

Ken Crotty’s LLC Clinic – Service of Process

Pre-Nuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements: An Interview with noted divorce attorney, Ky Koch and Judge George Jirotka – Part 7 of a 7 Part Series

Alan Gassman’s Article Entitled Why Same Sex Couples Will Be Moving to Florida and Other Low Tax Cost States

Profiled Seminar of the Week

We welcome contributions for future Thursday Report topics. If you are interested in making a contribution as a guest writer, please email Janine Gunyan at Janine@gassmanpa.com.

This report and other Thursday Reports can be found on our website at www.gassmanlaw.com.

Internet Trap of the Week: LinkedIn – Remove Areas of Practice if You Are Not Board Certified in the Area Mentioned.

By: Danielle Creech, J.D.

The Florida Bar advertising rules now specifically address LinkedIn and the vast majority of law firms need to delete certain parts of the profile.

With 59% of law firms reportedly utilizing social networking, it is extremely important to remain in compliance with the Florida Bar’s Advertisement Rules.

On September 11th, 2013, the Florida Bar released an Advisory Advertising Opinion stating that a lawyer may not list their areas of practice under the LinkedIn header “Skills and Expertise” unless they are board certified. Furthermore, a law firm may not list any area of practice on their firm profile due to the fact that board certification is specific to individual lawyers. The Florida Bar reported that they based this opinion on The Florida Bar Rule 4-7.14(a)(4) and Rule 6-3.4(c).

While the Florida Bar will make a formal determination on this issue in their October 8th, 2013 meeting, attorneys should comply with this opinion to avoid any unneeded Florida Bar standing issues. They have not yet ruled on if an attorney must also be board certified in other listed skills or areas of experience such as “dolphins”, “puns”, or “competitive curling”.

Follow these easy steps to edit your LinkedIn profile:

1. Place cursor on “Profile” on top of the LinkedIn homepage

2. Click “Edit Profile”

3. Scroll down to Skills & Expertise section and click “Edit”

4. Delete all legal areas of practice you are not board certified in by clicking the “X”

5. Click “Save”

To view the entire Florida Bar Opinion click here.

Danielle Creech graduated from Stetson University College of Law in May 2013. While at Stetson, Danielle was an executive board member of the legal fraternity Phi Alpha Delta, a judicial intern for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s Elder Justice Center, and is currently seeking admission to the Florida Bar. Danielle received a B.A., with honors, in English from the University of North Florida. Danielle’s email address is danielle@gassmanpa.com.

BP Claims – Unauthorized Practice of Law Issues

The Florida Bar Ethics Hotline is advising lawyers not to “co-counsel” BP Claims with non-lawyers who  are paid on a percentage basis.  Is the filing of a BP Claim the unauthorized practice of law?  Most Florida lawyers thought not, but the Florida Bar Ethics Hotline (800-235-8619) thinks otherwise.

In August the Alabama Bar Association issued an advisory opinion to the effect that the filing of a BP Claim constitutes the practice of law, and that non lawyer individuals and firms filing BP claims for others are violating Alabama law.  By the same token, lawyers who are assisting such firms or individuals in Alabama are apparently breaking the Alabama law.

A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of thousands of Alabama individuals and businesses who have signed fee agreements with non law firms.  You can review a copy of the Alabama Bar Advisory Opinion and the class action lawsuit by clicking here.

It had been the impression of a great many lawyers and other advisors that the filing of a BP claim in Florida would not be considered the unauthorized practice of law.  Realtors are able to fill out real estate contracts, business brokers routinely fill out business broker contracts, pension companies prepare pension plans and submit them to the IRS and the Department of Labor, and other exceptions to the practice of law apply.  Further, certified public accountants prepare tax returns and regularly negotiate with the IRS and attend and conduct appellate hearings with the IRS without being of issue, and a great many certified public accountants are more sophisticated and know more about business and other information than most lawyers, so why not allow them to file BP claims?

Most lawyers that we have talked to believe that handling the appeal of a BP administrative adjudication will be considered the unauthorized practice of law, but this ruling puts hundreds if not thousands of non-lawyers (and a great many lawyers who are co-counseling cases with them) in a precarious situation where claimants are paying for claims representation on a percentage basis.

Personal Observations About the Craft of Drafting Estate Planning Documents – Part 2 of a 2 Part Series by Tom Ellwanger

Ellwanger

In the first part of this Article, I noted that an estate planner never really has enough information to properly plan an estate, while clients never make enough good decisions to convey what they want (because they don’t have the money, and neither of you has the patience, for the education needed to make those decisions).

So how do you draft documents which work well enough to accomplish what needs to happen, have enough foresight to handle probable future contingencies, and are not so long that the client’s email box will not accept them by email — we favor keeping the documents in our vault – and do not overload the lawyer’s vault while physical original storage is still the norm for our protection.

So, I repeat, how do you draft good documents under these circumstances?  Sadly, the answer comes down to “judgment.”  By the time you’ve drafted 1000 sets of documents and probated 500 estates, you have a pretty good idea what needs to be (or needs to not be) in the documents to avoid problems.  That’s particularly true if, like the rest of us, you have gotten in trouble over the years because of something you drafted.

Maybe you had the second spouse and a child of the first marriage serve as co-trustees on a trust for the benefit of the spouse.   Maybe you foolishly agreed with the logic of the client who wanted to have her responsible child be the trustee for her irresponsible child. (On behalf of all responsible children, I will beg you, if you MUST do this, to put in a successor so that the responsible child can escape, because 9 times out of 10 the responsible child will want to escape.  In fact, if the responsible child doesn’t want to escape, it’s almost certainly because the responsible child is too sadistic to be a good trustee.).

Maybe you got worn down by the client who insisted that all eight of his children serve as personal representatives.  Don’t think it doesn’t happen, but I assure you—it will only happen to you once.

These decisions may work out for any given client.  But, as in Las Vegas, the odds are stacked against you, and after the first one blows up on you, you’ll vow never to do that again.  A hundred or so similar situations and you’ll start to feel more comfortable with the documents you draft.

As for the wheelbarrow—yes, it’s theoretically nice to include every possible provision which might ever come into play for any client.  After all, renowned tax lawyer, Sherwin Simmons had in his standard corporate bylaws a provision which explained how to reconstitute the board of directors after a nuclear holocaust, which so far as I know never was put into action, and yet people justifiably think of him as a great lawyer.  But, you do quickly get to the point of overload.   For most of Sherwin Simmons’ career, the world stood on a nuclear precipice; you couldn’t fault a lawyer for thinking about it.   These days our current concerns (global warming, terrorism, the possible birth of even more Kardashians) are different.

The best thing that can happen to a young estate planning lawyer is to be confronted with a client who insists on an explanation of every single provision in his trust agreement.   Nothing else will adequately convey how pointless many “standard” provisions are in the usual situations we face.  Unfortunately, the draftsperson needs both the judgment and memory to know when something special is required . . . and, alas, as judgment grows, memory tends to shrink.

It’s not unusual to see the prejudices of individual lawyers reflected in their typical documents.  As a young lawyer, I drafted documents for one partner whose clients always terminated a surviving spouse’s interest in the credit shelter trust when the spouse remarried, and for another partner whose clients never did so.  How did these two partners manage to attract such distinctly different groups of clients?  They didn’t, of course.  One made a point of recommending a termination provision to every new client; the other usually didn’t bring the subject up, unless something suggested it.

We are told that the testator’s intention should guide what we do.  We probably can’t entirely avoid shaping that intention; many clients appreciate the help.  Still, I think we remain aware of the distinction between what the client wants and what we want.

Phil Rarick’s Informative Client Blog Entries: Fast Track Florida Probate: Summary Administration

Rarick

Florida has a fast track procedure for small estates; it is called Summary Administration. F.S. 735.201(2) provides that Summary Administration may be used for either a resident or non-resident decedent’s estate if   . . . .

Learn More:  Click here: Florida Summary Administration.  

Ken Crotty’s LLC Clinic – Service of Process

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Service of Process for Limited Liability Companies.  The new Florida LLC Act has refined the rules on serving notices on LLCs.  The Act accomplishes this by providing details regarding Service of Process in Section 605.0117 of the Act and also creates Florida Statute Section 48.062 which deals specifically with Service of Process on a limited liability company. Chapter 48 of Florida Statues is the chapter of Title VI Civil Practice and Procedure which deals with Process and the Service of Process.

As stated in Section 605.0117, an LLC may be served with process, notice, or demand that is required or authorized by the law, by serving its registered agent.  In the event that the LLC does not have a registered agent or the registered agent cannot be located after reasonable diligence, then Service of Process is permitted on a Member of a member managed LLC or on a Manager of a manager-managed LLC.  In the unlikely event that the registered agent cannot be served and either a member or manager as applicable also cannot be served, then notice can be served on the Secretary of State.

The last listed registered agent of an LLC that has been dissolved can be served on behalf of the LLC under Section 605.0714(6).

Section 48.0621 states that a person attempting to serve process on a registered agent may serve process on any employee of the registered agent on his first attempt to serve such process, even if the registered agent is temporarily away from the registered agent’s office.  Section 48.0621(2) mirrors 605.0117 in that if the LLC does not have a registered agent or the LLC’s registered agent cannot be found after reasonable diligence, then Service of Process may be made on  a Member of a member-managed LLC or a Manager of a manager-managed LLC.  If a member or manager is not available, he or she may designate an employee of the LLC to accept such Service of Process.  If a person attempts to make such Service of Process and on the first attempt, the member, manager, or designated employee is not available, then on the second attempt process may be served on the person in charge of the LLC during regular business hours.  Section 48.0621(3) provides that in the event that Service of Process cannot be made as described, then service may be made on the Secretary of State.

Pre-Nuptial and Post-Nuptial Agreements: An Interview with noted divorce attorney, Ky Koch and Judge George Jirotka – Part 7 of a 7 Part Series

Koch

The seventh and final section of the interview deals with how to keep marital and asset information confidential in a divorce scenario, arbitration, and the Roddy v. Roddy case.

Alan Gassman: What about for clients who want to keep their marital and asset information confidential?  Is an arbitration clause a solution? Does the court still have the jurisdiction over temporary support and attorney’s fees or does an arbitration- how does that work?

Ky Koch: I don’t know what the answer is on the temporary attorney’s fees and alimony. I do think you could contract away to go to arbitration on those issues.  I don’t think you could contract away arbitration on the issues of child support and custody.

Judge Jirotka: Correct. I’m not aware of a case in particular, but I would imagine once again we’re heading into public policy area.

Ky Koch: You know we were talking about holes and prenuptial agreements, and one of the holes that Judge Jirotka and myself and everybody else that practices in this room has seen a lot recently is an issue called Doig, D-O-I-G.  The doig hole occurred in many prenuptial agreements that were drafted prior to 1998, 1999, when Mr. and Mr. Doig got divorced down in Sarasota and Mr. and Mrs. Doig’s prenuptial agreement said that Mr. Doig would keep the business and that all increases in value of the business would be his and she would have no claim to it.

The trial court said Mr. Doig gets the business and all the increase in the value during the course of the marriage and Mrs. Doig appealed.  Judge Altenbernd in the 2nd District opined and found in the Doig case that unless there is a specific waiver of the active appreciation in value of an asset, then there is no waiver on that subject and a general reader applies on a passive appreciation – market forces.

Judge Jirotka: Stocks and bonds.

Ky Koch: Exactly.

Alan Gassman: I’ll bet a lot of people disagree with that opinion.

Ky Koch: Yes, well think about every prenuptial agreement that was drawn prior to the Doig case, who could envision that this law would come out this way?  Ain’t no way you could envision that.

Alan Gassman: No, and is that still the law of the land?

Ky Koch: With the new statute I don’t know, but it’s not been set aside and there has been a lot of litigation over it.

Judge Jirotka: Which would be primarily family that wasn’t… who would call say the wealthy spouse’s family business.

Ky Koch: Correct, that is what you see a lot in the case law – definitely so.  Then you get into the argument of was it active or was it passive, and in the famous Roddy v Roddy case.  Mr. Roddy suggested in his divorce that the increase in value of the Miami Dolphins was caused not by his actions because he was a simple potted plant- and that’s a quote from that case.

Alan Gassman: I didn’t realize that.

Judge Jirotka: He did not wait the appropriate number of days, which he doesn’t have to, to veto and he actually took the action to veto it.

Ky Koch: I would have bet my net worth that he was going to sign that statute.

Alan Gassman: Why didn’t he sign it?

Ky Koch: He had a very good reason in my opinion, and that is this statute had a retroactive application.

Judge Jirotka: That is correct.

Ky Koch: And the retroactive application would have not withstood constitutional muster, because it provided for people that have entered into contracts to get out of that contract only as to that moment in aspect.  I respected the reason, but it did surprise me.

Alan Gassman: Ky and Judge Jirotka, thanks for spending the time with me to facilitate completion of this interview.  I hope that we can get together again in the not so distant future to talk about other family law issues.

Alan Gassman’s Article Entitled Why Same Sex Couples Will Be Moving to Florida and Other Low Tax Cost States

Alan Gassman’s article on Same Sex Couples was published Tuesday night on the Leimberg Information Services.  If you would like to read the article to learn about orange flavored twizzlers, alligator repellant key chains, and other important Florida factors, please click here.

Profiled Seminar of the Week

The annual Florida Representing the Physician one-day conference will be held on Friday, January 17, 2014, at the Peabody Hotel, near International Drive in Orlando.

We thank co-chairman Lester Perling for helping put together a great group of speakers and topics.  We hope that all tax and health law attorneys, and CPAs who do significant physician work will consider attending this great conference.

The times, topics, and speakers for this year=s conference are as follows:

8:15 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

Alan S. Gassman, Esq. and Lester J. Perling, Esq.

Program Co-Chairs

8:30 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. The Do’s and Don’ts of Representing Physicians Before the Florida Board of Medicine

Edward A. Tellechea, Esq.

Chief Assistant Attorney General, Administrative Law Bureau, Office of the Attorney General

Tallahassee, FL

9:20 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Physician Compensation:  Lessons Learned and Those Yet To Be Learned

Donald H. Romano, Esq.

Foley & Lardner, LLP

Washington, DC

10:10 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Break

10:20 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. New Tax Law Developments

D. Michael O’Leary, Esq.

Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O’Neill & Mullis

Tampa, FL

10:45 a.m. – 11:10 a.m. The Medicare Tax and Planning Related Thereto – Health Law and Tax Law Issues

Alan H. Daniels, Esq.

Roetzel & Andress

Orlando, FL

11:10 p.m. – 11:35 a.m.  Mediation and Arbitration Clauses and Dispute Resolution

Louise B. Zeuli, Esq.

Louise B. Zeuli, PA

Maitland, FL

11:35 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Midlevels, Extenders or Non-Physician Providers:  Manage the Relationship Properly Whatever You Call Them

Cynthia A. Mikos, Esq

Allen Dell, P.A.

Tampa, FL

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Congress: What Can Physicians Expect in 2014?

Kimberly Brandt, Esq.,

Chief Oversight Counsel, U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Minority Staff

Washington, D.C.

1:50 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Investment and Financial Planning and Investment Considerations for Physicians and Their Practices  – What the Non-Investment Advisor Needs to Know. 

Michael H. Davis, JD, LLM, CFP

Resource Consulting Group, Inc.

Orlando, FL

2:15 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. Keeping Asset Protection Simple

Joel D. Bronstein, Esq.

Bronstein, Carlson, Gleim & Smith

St. Petersburg, FL

2:40 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. – Break

2:50 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. Income Tax and Financial Strategies for Doctors, Medical Practices and Their Professional Advisors

Kevin J. Bassett, C.P.A.

Bassett & Associates, PA

Raleigh, NC 27607

3:40 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. The Future of Payer/Physician Integration:  Where Do We Go From Here

Jonathan Gavras, M.D.

Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.

Jacksonville, FL

4:30 p.m. – 4:55 p.m. Shareholder Agreement and Structuring Mistakes

Don B. Weinbren, Esquire

Trenam Kemker

Tampa, FL

Applicable Federal Rates

Please click here to view a chart of this month’s, last month’s, and the preceding month’s Applicable Federal Rates, because for a sale you can use the lowest of the 3.

Seminars and Webinars

THE 444 SHOW – STAND YOUR GROUND LAWS – GUN LAW IN FLORIDA

Date: Thursday, September 26, 2013 | 4:00 p.m. (50 minute webinar)

Location: Online webinar.

Presenters: Kym Rivellini and Denis deVlaming

Additional Information:  This webinar qualifies for 1 hour of continuing education credit and costs $30.00.  To register please visit www.clearwaterbar.org

LUNCH TALK – THE POWER OF POSITION MARKETING FOR ATTORNEYS

Date: Monday, October 7, 2013 | 12:30 p.m.

Location: Online webinar

Presenter: John Graden

Additional Information:To register please visit www.clearwaterbar.org

MEET & GREET COCKTAIL HOUR WITH DR. SRIKUMAR RAO

Noted author and nationally recognized speaker, Dr. Srikumar Rao will be joining us for a cocktail party on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 at 6pm in the evening.  We will begin with light hors d’ oeuvres followed by a talk by Dr. Rao on GOOD THING – BAD THING – WHO KNOWS? CHANGING YOUR IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM RESPONSES TO EVENTS AND CHALLENGES.

DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Location:  Holiday Inn Express, U.S. 19 & Gulf-to-Bay Blvd, Clearwater, Florida

Additional Information:  To register for the event please click here.

PLANNED GIVING CONSORTIUM LUNCHEON

Kenneth J. Crotty, Esq. and Christopher J. Denicolo, Esq. will be speaking at the Planned Giving Consortium Luncheon on the topic of FLORIDA LAW FOR THE ESTATE AND FINANCIAL PLANNER

Date: Thursday, October 10, 2013 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Location: Spartan Manor, 6121 Massachusetts Avenue, New Port Richey

Additional Information: For more information or to attend this event please email agassman@gassmanpa.com

INTERACTIVE HALF-DAY WORKSHOP WITH DR. SRIKUMAR RAO

On Saturday, October 12, 2013 we are co-hosting an interactive workshop with Dr. Srikumar Rao on the subject of ENHANCED EFFECTIVENESS AND ENJOYMENT OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL LIFE – 5 TOOLS YOU CAN START USING IMMEDIATELY.

Date: Saturday, October 12, 2013 | 1:00 – 6:00 pm with an optional 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. question and answer session.

Location: Holiday Inn Express, U.S. 19 & Gulf-to-Bay Blvd, Clearwater, Florida

Additional Information:  To register for the event please click here.

NOTRE DAME TAX INSTITUTE

Jerry Hesch and Alan Gassman will be speaking on the topic of INTERESTING INTEREST QUESTIONS, PLANNING WITH LOW INTEREST LOANS, PRIVATE ANNUITIES, DEFECTIVE GRANTOR TRUSTS, AND PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL ANNUITIES

Date: Wednesday, October 16 through Friday, October 18, 2013

Location: Notre Dame College, South Bend, Indiana

Additional Information: Professor Jerry Hesch’s Notre Dame Tax Institute will once again emphasize the importance of income tax planning and implications in addition to estate, estate tax, and related concepts.  Also Paul and attorney Barry will be discussing stepped-up basis tools and techniques, including our JEST Trust.

We welcome questions, comments and suggestions for the presentation that we are assisting Jerry in preparing and presenting.

PINELLAS COUNTY ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL HALF-DAY SEMINAR

Alan Gassman will be speaking on the topic of HOT TOPICS FOR ESTATE PLANNERS, including same sex marriage, estate tax planning software (with all attendees to receive a free beta version of our new software), and other important topics.

Sandra Diamond will speak on the new Florida laws that impact estate planning, amending of decanting existing irrevocable trusts, and other recent Florida law developments.

Barry Flagg will speak on insurance and estate planning.

Sean Casey of Fifth-Third Bank will give an economic update.

Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 | 8:00 am – 12:00 p.m. (60 MINUTE PRESENTATION)

Location: TBD

Additional Information: To attend the meeting or to receive information on joining the Council  please click here or email agassman@gassmanpa.com

2013 MOTE VASCULAR SURGERY FELLOWS – FACTS OF LIFE TALK SEMINAR FOR FIRST YEAR SURGEONS

Alan Gassman will be speaking on the topic of ESTATE, MEDICAL PRACTICE, RETIREMENT, TAX, INSURANCE, AND BUY/SELL PLANNING – THE EARLIER YOU START THE SOONER YOU WILL BE SECURE

Date: October 25 – 27, 2013 | Alan Gassman is speaking on Sunday, October 27, 2013

Location: TBD

Additional Information: Please contact agassman@gassmanpa.com for additional information.

DECODING HEALTHCARE SYMPOSIUM IN TAMPA

Alan Gassman will be moderating the Decoding Healthcare Seminar hosted by Fifth Third Bank.

Speakers will include Jason Altmire, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Government and Community Affairs, Florida Blue, Coretha Rushing, Chief Human Resources Officer, Equifax, Inc., Stephen Mason, CEO Of BayCare Health System and Dr. Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, Associate Vice President of USF Health.

We sincerely thank Fifth-Third Bank, President Brian Lamb, Ryan Sloan and the Tampa Bay Business Journal for hosting this important public “town hall” discussion that will hopefully lead to improvement of our healthcare systems in the Tampa Bay area.

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Location: Grand Hyatt, 2900 Bayport Drive, Tampa, Florida

Additional Information: For more information on this event please email agassman@gassmanpa.com

NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION (ICLE) HEALTH LAW SYMPOSIUM – AN ALL DAY SEMINAR

Alan Gassman will be speaking on the topic of WHAT HEALTH LAWYERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FLORIDA LAW

Date: Friday, November 1, 2013 | 9am – 5pm (Mr. Gassman speaks from 1:10 pm until 2:10 p.m.)

Location: Seton Hall Law School, Newark, New Jersey

Additional Information: Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey was founded in 1856, and they have remodeled since.  Today, Seton Hall has over 10,000 students in its undergraduate, graduate and law school programs and is in close proximity to several Kentucky Fried Chicken locations.

NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION (ICLE)_SPECIAL 3 HOUR SESSION

Alan Gassman will be speaking on the topic of WHAT NEW JERSEY LAWYERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FLORIDA LAW – A 3 HOUR OVERVIEW BY ALAN S. GASSMAN

Date: Saturday, November 2, 2013

Location: Wilshire Grand Hotel, West Orange, New Jersey | 9am – 12pm

Additional Information: Please tell all of your friends, neighbors and enemies in New Jersey to come out to support this important presentation for the New Jersey Bar Association.  We will include discussions of airboats, how to get an alligator off of your driveway, how to peel a navel orange and what collard greens and grits are. For additional information please email agassman@gassmanpa.com

SALT LAKE CITY ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL’S FALL ONE DAY “TAX AND DEDUCTIBILITY OF YOUR SKI TRIP” INSTITUTE

Alan Gassman will be speaking on the topic of PRACTICAL ESTATE PLANNING, WITH A $5.25 MILLION EXEMPTION AMOUNT, ESTATE TAX PROJECTION PLANNING, AND WHY DENTISTS ARE DIFFERENT

Date: Thursday, November 7, 2013

Location: Hilton Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah

Additional Information:  Please support this one day annual seminar conveniently located near skiing and tourism opportunities.  If you would like to attend this event or receive the materials please email agassman@gassmanpa.com

THE FLORIDA BAR – REPRESENTING THE PHYSICIAN

Date: Friday, January 17, 2013

Location:  The Peabody Hotel, Orlando, Florida

Additional Information: The annual Florida Bar conference entitled Representing the Physician is designed especially for health care, tax, and business lawyers, CPAs and physician office managers and physicians to cover practical legal, medical law, and tax planning matters that affect physicians and physician practices.

This year our 1 day seminar will be held in the Peabody Hotel near Walt Disney World, which is world famous for its daily “march of the ducks” through the lobby (wear easy to clean shoes) and maybe we will have peking duck for dinner.

A dinner for the Executive Committee of the Health Law Section of The Florida Bar and our speakers will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2013, whether formally or informally.  Anyone who would like to attend (dutch treat or bring wooden shoes) will be welcomed.  Your tax deductible hotel room to start a fantastic week near Disney, Universal, Sea World and most importantly Gatorland can include a room at the fantastic Peabody Hotel for a discounted rate per night, single occupancy.

1st ANNUAL ESTATE PLANNER’S DAY AT AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW

Speakers: Speakers will include Professor Jerry Hesch, Jonathan Gopman, Alan Gassman and others.

Date: April 25, 2014

Location: Ave Maria School of Law, Naples, Florida

Sponsors: Ave Maria School of Law, Collier County Estate Planning Council and more to be announced.

Additional Information: For more information on this event please contact agassman@gassmanpa.com.

NOTABLE SEMINARS PRESENTED BY OTHERS:

MEDITATION, Science, Spirituality, Sustainability – An Experimental Workshop by the Bridge and Maulik K. Trivedi, M.D.

On Saturday, September 28, 2013 from 10 am to 1pm the Bridge, a not-for-profit organization that promotes ecocentric living, social justice and personal development is providing a 3 hour workshop on Meditation.  The session will be administered by integral psychiatrist and Yogi, Dr. Maulik K. Trivedi and will be accompanied by accomplished sitar player, Douglas Werner.

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2013 | 10am – 1pm

Location: Carrollwood Cultural Center, 4537 Lowell Road, Tampa

Additional Details: The cost for attending this workshop is $45 and you can register by clicking here or call 813-416-3069 for more information.

THIRD ANNUAL FEDERAL TAX INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND

Date: September 27, 2013

Location: Hartford Marriot Farmington Hotel, Farmington, Connecticut

Sponsor: Connecticut Bar Institute

Additional Information: Chairman Frank Berall will be using part of an earlier Thursday Report article on same-sex planning in his presentation. You can also catch an early dose of Jerry Hesch’s talk on Income Tax Ideas for Estate Planning here before the Notre Dame Tax Institute in October, and Bruce Stone will be speaking on Assisted Reproductive Technology Children.  For more information or to register please visit the Institute’s site here.

48th ANNUAL HECKERLING INSTITUTE ON ESTATE PLANNING SEMINAR

Date: January 13 – 17, 2014

Location:  Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Florida

Sponsor: University of Miami School of Law

Additional Information: For more information please visit: http://www.law.miami.edu/heckerling/

16th ANNUAL ALL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL ESTATE, TAX, LEGAL & FINANCIAL PLANNING SEMINAR

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Location: All Children’s Hospital Education and Conference Center, St. Petersburg, Florida with remote location live interactive viewings in Tampa, Sarasota, New Port Richey, Lakeland, and Bangkok, Thailand

Sponsor: All Children’s Hospital

THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA TAX INSTITUTE

Date: February 19 – 21, 2014

Location: Grand Hyatt, Tampa, Florida

Sponsor:  UF Law alumni and UF Graduate Tax Program

Additional Information:  Here is what UF is saying about the program on its website: “The UF Tax Institute will provide tax practitioners and other leading tax, business and estate planning professionals with a program that covers the most current issues and planning ideas with a practical, informative, state-of-the-art approach.  The Institute’s schedule will devote separate days or half days to individual income tax issues, entity tax issues and estate planning issues.  Speakers and presentations will be announced as the program date nears to ensure coverage of the most timely and significant topics.  UF Law alumni have formed the Florida Tax Education Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, to organize the conference.”

Thank you to our law clerks that assisted us in preparing this report.