NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION TRUSTS AND ESTATES LAW SECTION EXECUTIVE ...

219 Pages·2017·3.15 MB·English

by  Bataille, Lisa

NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
TRUSTS AND ESTATES LAW SECTION
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
JANUARY 25, 2017
2:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.
New York Hilton Mid-town
Mercury Ballroom
(*NOTES ATTACHED MATERIALS)
I. Approval of Minutes of December 2, 2016 Meeting * Murphy
II. Treasurer's Report* Cioffi/ Paceleo
III. Chair's Report* Wick
2017 Trusts and Estates Spring Meeting, May 11-13, 2016
JW Marriott Hotel, New Orleans
Executive Committee Assignments*
IV. Chair-Elect Report Murphy
V. Other Reports
A. Update on Uniform Trust Code Project
Bloom
(www.nysba.org/TELSSixthReportJan2017)
B. OCA Czygier/Weiss
C. City Bar Report Wank
D. New York Bankers Association Samulski
E. Aid in Dying Bowler
VI. 2017 Executive Committee & Section Meeting Dates Wick
(MARK YOUR CALENDARS):
Friday, March 3rd-LaGuardia Marriott, East Elmhurst, NY
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Thursday, September 14, 2017, 11:00 a.m.
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Buffalo, NY
Friday, December 1, 2017, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher &
Flom LLP, Four Times Square, NYC
VIII. Committee Reports
F. Governmental Relations & Legislation Harper/Hillman
1. Last Session’s Legislative Successes –
a. Extension of CPLR 4503(b) to Revocable Trust
Contents;
b. Updated Terminology in Article 17-A; and
c. Extension of QDOT Sunset Date.
2. Proposal Concerning In Terrorem Clauses in Lifetime Trusts.
3. Legislative Chart*
G. Estate and Trust Administration* Schwartz
 SCPA 1001/1418*
 Charitable Commissions*
 Joint Accounts
 Publication law for private foundations
 SCPA 1902/EPTL 11-1.1(b)(5)
 SCPA 2003
H. Elderly & Disabled Kravitz
1. Task Force for Guardian Oversight
2. Investment of Guardianship Funds
3. Removal of AIP from State
4. 17-A
I. Surrogate's Court Alsante
1. E-filing
2. Town Hall Meetings
3. CPLR §4504 (c), physician privilege
4. Case timelines
5. Abandonment
6. Statute of limitation issues
7. 529 Plans, investments by guardians
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J. Diversity Douglas
K. Taxation Goldsmith/Matz
Early Termination of Charitable Remainder Trusts*
L. Estate Planning /Forster
1. EPTL§5-1.1-A(e)(1)
2. Santa Clauses
3. Drafting for digital assets
4. Lifetime QTIP’s
5. Directed trusts
6. Affiliated investments
M. Charitable Organizations S. King/L. Newfield
N. Continuing Legal Education DePietro
1. 2015-2016 report
O. Law Student/New Members
P. Newsletter & Publications D'Agostino
1. 2015-2016 Deadlines for submissions to the Newsletter
Q. Life Insurance & Employee Benefits* Feuer
1. Committee report and updated legislative package for *
debtor protections for benefits under pention plan
2.Report on major legislative issues with current statutes.
R. Technology Chowlera
S. International Estate Planning Berti
1.Review NYS’ ability to issue letters to non-resident aliens
(Guardian focus)
T. Estate Litigation Farinacci
1. New York Probate Contest Book
2. Amendments to EPTL 3-4.3 for actions of POA
3. Amendment of Article VI of NYS Constitution to address
assignment cases when Surrogate disqualified
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U. Practice & Ethics Penzer/Kelly
1. Proposed Webinar re Attorney fees for Fiduciaries in
Surrogates Courts.
2. Pecadillos of Surrogate Court Clerks.
3. Service of Process under SCPA 307.
4. Trust and Estates attorney’s ethical obligations with respect to
Social Media.
V. Multi-State Practice Accetta/Katris
1.New Rules on Deductions for NY estate tax.
2. Review of certain proposed NYUTC sections.
3.Other states’ efforts on digital asset legislation.
W. Membership* Knurr
1. New members Welcome Receptions
X. Old/New Business
Adjournment
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NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
TRUSTS AND ESTATES LAW SECTION
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES – December 2, 2016 MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 10:45am. The Committee then proceeded to the agenda
items.
I. Approval of Minutes of October 6, 2016 meeting. Albert Feuer’s additions to the
Minutes are contained in a separate attachment. There was a motion made and seconded
to approve the Minutes with the attachment. The Minutes and the attachment were
approved.
II. Treasurer’s report.
A. Cristine Cioffi reported. Revenue is currently down by $40,000 after the October
financials. As budgeted, $41,000 of the surplus would be used to make the meetings
less expensive for the attendees.
III. Chair’s report. Meg Gaynor reported.
A. 2017 Annual Meeting – January 25, 2017, New York Hilton, NYC. Georgiana Slade
is chairing the CLE program on aging and capacity. James Stewart – author and
reporter – will be the luncheon speaker. Doyle and BBH will sponsor the reception at
the University Club.
B. Rob Harper is the new Treasurer of the Section.
C. Legislative Change to EPTL 7-1.9. Ilene Cooper reported. It is not clear how EPTL
7-1.9 applies to trusts following decanting. The uncertainty is who is the creator of
the new trust. Jonathan Rikoon added that the “creator” is a defined term. Jonathan
further suggested that so long as the subcommittee is looking at EPTL 7-1.9, the
subcommittee also should review Matter of Dodge that Jonathan believes is wrongly
decided. Also, the subcommittee may want to review the presence of minors and
incompetents – either to codify these issues or have virtual representation apply.
IV. Chair-Elect Report. Sharon Wicks reported.
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A. The Spring 2017 meeting will be held in New Orleans on May 10-14 at the Marriott
Hotel in the French Quarter.
B. The Fall meeting will be held on September 14-16 in Buffalo.
V. Other Reports.
A. OCA. Surrogate John M. Czygier, Jr. reported.
1. SCPA Article 17-A Reform. The OCA continues to review problems with the
current statutory scheme. The consensus appears to be that Article 17-A should
not be turned into Article 81 because the courts are not equipped to handle the
same procedural burdens as are imposed under Article 81 proceedings. The next
step is for a subcommittee to fine-tune Article 17-A rather than completely
revamp it. Ron Weiss added that Article 17-A is really useful for certain cases
because the procedure is simple, but there are legitimate constitutional issues for
persons who are more able and for whom a full hearing is more advisable.
2. Charitable Commissions. OCA supports the proposal and Attorney General’s
Office signed off on the proposal. The Estate and Trust Administration
Committee should present it to the Executive Committee for consideration.
A. City Bar Report. Ian MacLean reported. The Surrogate’s Court and the Estate
and Gift Tax Committees of the City Bar approved the final version of the
legislative report. The report thus should receive the official support of the City
Bar. There were few small changes made in the report as it was last approved by
the Executive Committee, the most important being to replace Section 2.2 that
tied jurisdiction over lifetime trusts to the determination of the principal place of
administration under Section 1.8 with a statement that the Surrogate’s Court
jurisdiction over lifetime trusts is determined under Article 2 of the SCPA. This
change avoids any confusion over the relationship between the Code and the
complex history of jurisdiction over lifetime trusts shared between the Surrogate’s
and Supreme Courts.
B. New York Bankers Association. Joe Samulski reported. The NYBA continues to
support the directed trust statute.
C. Aid in Dying. Meg Gaynor reported on Rich’s Bowler’s behalf. The conclusion is to
not work on the proposal until the legislature puts something forward.
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VI. 2017 Executive Committee & Section Meeting Dates.
A. Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at The New York Hilton Midtown, NYC at 2:30pm.
B. Friday, March 3, 2017 at the LaGuardia Marriott, East Elmhurst, NY. Not to renew
the contract without additional discussion.
C. Thursday, September 14, 2017, at 11am at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Buffalo, NY.
D. Friday, December 1, 2017, location at Skadden confirmed.
E. Working on committee lists for 2017. If anyone wants to change assignments, call
Sharon Wicks. Wants to finalize the list by December 31.
VII. Committee Reports. Sharon Wicks announced that she is working on Committee lists for
2017. If anyone wants to change assignments, please call Sharon by December 31.
A. Governmental Relations & Legislation. Jennifer Hillman reported.
1. Updated legislative chart is included in the materials. The only update is that
Digital Assets statute was enacted in late September. The Committee is working
with NYSBA on the 2017 legislative priorities for the Section.
2. The Committee offers a legislative proposal with technical amendments to EPTL
5-1.1-A(d). The statute currently provides that the surviving spouse must notify
the executor that the spouse intends to exercise the right of election. The statute
should be clarified how the spouse should notify the executor if the executor has
not yet qualified. The proposed amendment would allow the spouse to mail the
notice to the executor’s permanent address. Paul Forster commented that the
word “permanent” is not defined anywhere in the statutes. The discussion was
tabled until Ron Weiss returned with a greenbook. Following the review of
definitional statutes that provide for “domicile,” it was decided to use “domicile
address” instead of “permanent address” because “permanent” is not a defined
term in the EPTL or SCPA. The Executive Committee approved the proposal, as
revised to replace “permanent address” with “domicile address.”
B. Estate and Trust Administration. Michael Schwartz reported. Digital asset language
will be available shortly on the NYSBA website. The Committee plans to present
one or two proposals at the January meeting
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C. Elderly & Disabled. No report.

D. Surrogate’s Court. No report.

E. Diversity. No report. Meg noted that Lori Douglass agreed to take over as Chair.

F. Taxation. Sharon Klein reported.

B. The Committee’s latest project was to collaborate with Trusts and Estates
Committee of the Tax Section on the 2104 proposed regs. Those comments were
submitted.

C. Jonathan Rikoon commented that new federal law developments are to be
monitored very closely so that NYS estate and capital gains taxes should be
similarly addressed.

D. Paul Forster commented that NY moved away from CA rule in 2014 in relation to
taxing the non-resident’s real property located in NY. A way to get revenue for
people out of state is to bring back the CA rule so that if the property is under the
exemption amount, fractional computation of state tax owed could result in
significant tax revenue for NY.

E. Ron Weiss reviewed charitable remainder trust early termination proposal. The
proposal is that current and remainder beneficiaries receive their actuarial
interests in the CRT upon the termination. The Committee expects to circulate
the memo describing the proposal at the January meeting.

D. Estate Planning. Larry Keiser reported.

1. Committee monitors closely possible federal tax changes.

2. Paul Forster noted that Leimberg software has a problem in the calculation of
NYS estate tax as of January, 2018. Paul is working with Leimberg to resolve the
issue. Paul intends to write another article for the Newsletter to caution the
practicing attorneys that cliff issues still remain and are in fact more dramatic as
the numbers get larger. Jonathan Rikoon commented that eliminating the cliff
may be more achievable than the repeal of the NYS estate tax.

E. Charitable Organizations. No report.

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F. Continuing Legal Education. Silvia reported. The CLE on hot topics was very
successful. Spring 2017 CLE “Anatomy of a Trust” is almost completed. CLE on
1404 examinations is in the works. Webcast is planned in February/March with Jill
Choate Beier on digital assets.
G. Law Student/New Members. No report.
H. Newsletter & Publications. No report.
I. Life Insurance & Employee Benefits. Albert Feuer reported.
1. The Committee’s report is included in the materials.
2. Crummey power proposal was considered by other Sections and OCA. The
resultant comments have been incorporated into the proposal.
3. Creditors’ Rights Proposal. The Committee confronted the problem in NY
statutes that retirement accounts offer different protections to individuals. Albert
described the proposal in detail as outlined in the memoranda included in the
materials. The Committees are to review the proposal and report at the January
meeting.
J. Technology. Parth Chowlera reported. The Committee is working on an article for
the Newsletter and ideas for CLEs, including on electronic discovery. Gary Mund
commented that the NYSBA website has a new feature that allows for all publications
from the entire Bar. Also, Michael Connors’ Hot Docs product is now available.
K. International Estate Planning. No report.
L. Estate Litigation. No report.
M. Practice & Ethics. No report.
N. Multi-State Practice. Darcy Katris commented that the Committee does not have
anything to report.
O. Membership. No report.
VIII. Old/New Business. None. Meg thanked the Section for all the hard work. She has
received many compliments on the work of our Section from other Sections.
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IX. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 12:20pm.
________________________________________
Natalia Murphy, Secretary
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