Western CPE Resort Conference Seminars
I have associated with Western CPE, which presents conferences and seminars throughout the country and elsewhere principally for accountants. Check out the group's website at www.westerncpe.com. My 2008 participation in Western CPE programs involves several 6-hour courses, each supported by over 100 pages of outline materials, appendices, plus, in addition, power point slide presentations.
My courses are as follows: (1) Family Wealth Preservation Through FLPs, LLCs and S Corporations, plus Valuation Discounts, (2) The "Valuation Game" - Using Valuation Uncertainty to Benefit Your Clients, and (3) Hot Topics in Estate Planning. All my presentations will be at Resort Conferences, allowing for the combination of continuing professional education with activities associated with the resort location.
Here is my 2008 schedule:
May Presentations:
(1) Napa, California - May 5-10, 2008, The Meritage Hotel. My course presentations are on May 9th( the Valuation course) and on May 10th(the FLP/LLC course).
(2) Las Vegas, Nevada - May 19-24, 2008, Harrah's Las Vegas. My Valuation course presentation will be on May 23rd.
(3) Jackson Hole, Wyoming - May 26-30, 2008, at the Spring Creek Ranch. My Valuation course presentation is scheduled for May 29th, and the FLP/LLC course will be presented on May 30th.
November Presentations:
Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii - November 10-15, 2008, at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua Resort. My FLP/LLC course will be presented on November 13th, and the Hot Topics in Estate Planning course(including 2008 new developments in planning, court decisions and rulings) will be presented on November 14th.
The way the resort conferences of Western CPE work, there are several author/instructors during each conference, each presenting one or two courses. All the conference information, including instructors, courses, dates and times, resort and conference reservation information, etc. can be reviewed online by going to the Western CPE website cited above, and clicking on Resort Conferences.
I hope to see some of the friends and fellow advisors who receive this newsletter at one of the Western CPE conferences.
Consulting Efforts
As you can see from my Mission Statement archived on this website, I am available for non-lawyer consulting to clients and their professional advisors, especially in the areas of entity planning to create estate tax savings, asset protection, and sensible management succession. I recently have been involved in a couple of substantial compliance areas, i.e. assisting in developing proper valuation analysis and resulting reports to support FLP/LLC-based downward valuation adjustments("discounts") for entity equity interests included in a decedent's gross estate. As many of my newsletter readers will know, the revised IRS Form 706(Estate Tax Return), issued in 2007, has a number of questions and disclosure requirements designed to assist the IRS in review of the estate tax return and to consider whether a field examination should be conducted. Review of existing plans, assistance with inter-vivos planning and reporting and analysis of capital and compensation programs for closely-held entities also have been the subject of recent consulting engagements. So I look forward to continuing this consulting work, and am available to discuss informally how my consulting might fit into the overall planning picture for any given client.
Future Newsletters - More Recent Tax Developments
There have been a number of recent tax developments of interest, on which I will comment in more detail in the next issue of this newsletter. These include the following:
(1) Proposed Treasury Regulations dealing with IRC Sec. 2053 deductions for contingent, uncertain claims - an interesting valuation issue, as such claims are to be valued at date of death and traditionally the facts at such date determine the amount of the claim, even though much later perhaps it is settled for pennies on the dollar. The 2007 proposed Regs. have a number of onerous requirements to be met before such claims can be deducted. This likely will have an impact, in some cases, on claims settlement strategy, and, in any event, must be watched carefully by advisors. Of course, the risk of litigation, including uncertain claims, environmental risks, etc., always can be among the factors considered in the "enterprise value" of a business, an interest in which is includible in the decedent's gross estate.
(2) Fixed Dollar Value Formula Clauses - McCord and Christiansen - As a protective backstop for valuation of fractional interests, including entity equity interests, the use of fixed dollar value formula clauses is of interest. The 5th Circuit reversal of the Tax Court in McCord(2006) and the recent case of Estate of Helen Christiansen, 130 TC No. 1(1/24/08) both deal with such formula clauses. My review will suggest how such clauses can best be put to use, and whether the recent Tax Court opinion answers the concerns of practitioners that the Service can effectively use a "public policy" argument against formula clauses.
(3) The 11th and 5th Circuits now are in agreement on the issue of whether the potential built-in capital gains income tax liability for appreciated value assets in a C corporation should be taken into account in valuation of corporate stock, and, if so, to what extent. Back in 2002, the Dunn case in the 5th Circuit, and in November, 2007, the Jelke case in teh 11th Circuit both determined that a dollar-for-dollar adjustment in otherwise determined value was appropriate. Of course, this assumes that an asset methodology is significant in any given case.
The foregoing and other new tax developments of interest to estate planners will be reported in detail in the next newsletter as I continue my periodic comments on tax and estate planning in these postings on my website. I hope readers will benefit from the newsletters and anyone is welcome to comment on the newsletters as well as to suggest topics for future coverage.
Regards to all!
Owen Fiore
