Probate and Estate Administration for Paralegals

Agenda / Content Covered

1. Estate Administration Process Overview and First Steps
   10:00 - 10:45, Amanda L. Wieckowicz
   1. Key Probate Process Steps in a Nutshell
   2. Forms of Administration (Supervised, Informal, Small Estate)
   3. Drafting Probate Pleadings for Attorney Review
   4. Documents to Include
   5. Required Notices
   6. Timeline for Proper Probate Filings
   7. Steps for Proving/Challenging the Will and Dealing With Intestacy
   8. Locating Beneficiaries
2. Setting Up the File
   10:45 - 11:15, Amanda L. Wieckowicz
   1. Creating and Maintaining Client Files
   2. Calendaring and Managing Deadlines
   3. Tracking Billable Time
   4. Scanning and Organizing Supporting Documents
3. Communicating With Executors, Clients, and Other Parties
   11:30 - 12:15, Angela M. Gonzalez
   1. Duties of Executors/Administrators During the Probate Process
   2. Paralegal Contact With Executors or Administrators
   3. Trustee Communications
   4. Creditor Notices and Communication
   5. Client Communications and Follow-Up Meetings
   6. Communicating with Client Advisors and Accountants
   7. Contacting Banks, Brokerage Houses, Appraisers, and More
   8. Contacting Tax Authorities and Other Government Agencies
4. Inventory: Preparing Asset Lists and Analyzing Records
   12:15 - 1:00, Angela M. Gonzalez
   1. Probate vs. Non-Probate Assets
   2. Analyzing Bank and Business Records
   3. Identifying Title and Character of Assets
   4. Should You Assess and Document Assets Before or After the Initial Filing?
   5. When to Arrange for the Valuation of Assets
   6. Collecting, Maintaining, and Managing Assets
   7. Requesting Insurance Policy Information and Insuring Remaining Property
   8. Treatment of Real Property (Mortgages, Foreclosures, Sales, Etc.)
   9. How Spousal Elective Share is Determined
   10. Beneficiary Designation Accounts in Estate Administration
   11. Preparing the Inventories of Assets and Spreadsheets to Show Allocation of Assets
5. Management of the Estate
   1:30 - 2:00, Cheryl Holst
   1. Assisting With Estate Cash Management
   2. Handling the Insolvent Estate
   3. Preparing Partial Distributions
   4. Maintaining Necessary Documents and Financial Records for Trusts and Estates
6. Trusts Management and Taxation in Estate Administration
   2:00 - 2:30, Cheryl Holst
7. Tax Forms, Timelines, Reporting in Estate Administration
   2:45 - 3:15, Cheryl Holst
   1. Obtaining Tax Identification Numbers
   2. Tax Basis of Assets
   3. Matching Estate Inventory and Tax Return
   4. Filing the Final Tax Returns
8. Final Account, Distributions, and Estate Closing
   3:15 - 4:00, William J. Dutel
   1. Final Accounting and Distribution
      1. Principal vs. Income
      2. Receipts
      3. Capital Transactions
      4. Disbursements
      5. Distributions
      6. Schedule of Distribution
      7. Formal vs. Informal Accounting
   2. Property Ownership Disputes
   3. Discharge of the Fiduciary
9. Ethics in Probate
   4:00 - 5:00, Elizabeth A. Ingold
   1. Privileged vs. Non-Privileged Communications
   2. Unauthorized Practice of Law
   3. Safeguarding Against Malpractice Actions

Accreditation Details:

William J. Dutel is the owner and managing attorney of Dutel Law Firm. He focuses his practice in estate planning, wills, trusts and successions; as well as will, succession and trust litigation. Mr. Dutel also represents businesses and their owners, and handles business litigation. He lectures to various groups on estate planning, wills, successions and trusts, and related litigation. Mr. Dutel is a member of the 22nd Judicial District Court Bar Association, 22nd Judicial District Inns of Court, Louisiana State Bar Association, Kentucky State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in Louisiana and Kentucky. Mr. Dutel earned his B.S. degree in accounting from the University of New Orleans and his J.D. degree from Tulane University School of Law.

Angela M. Gonzalez is a paralegal at Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C., in Wausau, Wisconsin. She received her Master's degree from Jagiellonian University in Krakaw (Poland), and taught English to adults in Poland and Hungary. Ms. Gonzalez determined a law degree would round out her higher education adventures and earned her Bachelors of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of London. While working as a paralegal in Budapest (Hungary), she developed a passion for research and drafting documents in a law firm setting, which led to her continuing her legal experiences when she returned to the United States in 2009. Ms. Gonzalez's varied background earned her the ability to communicate easily with anyone on any topic. As a paralegal at Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C., she is able to sit with a grieving client and empathize, or celebrate with a client who has just survived a drawn-out probate process for a loved one. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Gonzalez was a civil litigation legal assistant and paralegal, as well as a corporate paralegal where she spent much of her time preparing work product in due diligence matters and multi-national business transactions. At Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C., Ms. Gonzalez specializes in trust and estate administration.

Cheryl Holst is a senior trust/estate and tax paralegal at Spencer Fane LLP. Ms. Holst prepares federal and state individual income tax returns, charitable organization informational returns, fiduciary income tax returns, federal and state estate tax returns and federal gift tax returns, and any other returns deemed necessary by supervising attorney. She is proficient in various state tax returns. Ms. Holst monitors and maintains the master list for individual, fiduciary, and gift tax preparation for all firm clients, as well as tax files and tax information. She prepares and organizes data during estate tax and gift tax audits. Ms. Holst prepares estate planning documents including powers of attorney, wills, deeds, revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts, and is proficient in estate and trust administrations. She researches estate planning procedures in various states and assist attorneys with certain state guidelines. Ms. Holst is a member of NALA, the St. Louis Paralegal Association, and volunteers with the IRS program VITA. She earned her A.A. degree in paralegal studies from Lewis & Clark Community College and her B.A. degree in business administration/management from Harding University.

Elizabeth A. Ingold is the owner of Ingold Law PLLC, where she counsels families and individuals in all stages of life to achieve lifetime and testamentary goals. Ms. Ingold excels in tailoring sophisticated estate plans to conserve and transfer wealth, and to preserve businesses, real estate, and other assets. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, New York State Bar Association, Erie County Bar Association, and the Financial Counselors of Western New York. Ms. Ingold earned her B.A. degree from State University of New York at Geneseo and her J.D. degree with a concentration in estate planning from Albany Law School.

Amanda L. Wieckowicz is the owner of Wieckowicz Law Office, LLC in Chetek, Wisconsin; and Northern Wisconsin Mediation in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Ms. Wieckowicz focuses on business, real estate, estate planning, trust administration, probate, litigation, and mediation. She previously served as chairman of the District 11 Ethics Committee for the Office of Lawyer Regulation, and is currently a court commissioner for the Barron County Circuit Court. Ms. Wieckowicz earned her B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and her J.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School. She was trained as a mediator by the American Arbitration Association in Washington, D.C.