New Mexico and Federal Update: Vickie will be reviewing New Mexico court cases from the past year, as well as state and federal law changes that should be of interest to estate planners in New Mexico. This includes summaries of recent court decisions, as well as planning tips advisors might want to share with their clients.
Biography:
Vickie has been a trust and estate planning attorney in Albuquerque for over twenty-five years. She is an ACTEC (American College of Trust and Estate Counsel) Fellow and is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She is honored to have b3een appointed by the Supreme Court of New Mexico to serve on the State Disciplinary Board. She was also recently appointed to the Legal Specialization Commission by the Board of Bar Commissioners.
Vickie practices in the areas of estate planning, tax law, probate, estate and trust administration, charitable giving, business planning and business succession planning. She speaks both locally and outside of New Mexico to financial planners, attorneys, accountants, and others on tax and estate planning, business planning, charitable giving, planning related to retirement benefits and ethics. Wilcox & Myers PC host an annual seminar on current legal topics attended by over 150 top legal and financial advisors in the community.
Senator Peter Wirth is the Majority Floor Leader of the state Senate. He was first elected to House District 47 in 2004 where he served two terms. He has been in the New Mexico Senate since 2008 representing District 25 which includes a large portion of Santa Fe.
In addition to his leadership role in the Senate, Senator Wirth, serves on the Senate Judiciary and Conservation Committees.
When he is not working at the Legislature, Senator Wirth is a lawyer and mediator in Santa Fe at The Wirth Law Firm.
For decades, estate tax planning revolved around the avoidance of general powers of appointment, retained interests, and powers which could cause the estate tax applicable credit to be wasted.
However, the incidence of estate tax has dramatically waned in the last two decades, through a twenty-fold increase in the estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount and the reduction of the highest gift and estate tax rate to 40%.
This presentation will serve as a refresher on some planning and drafting strategies which are often avoided, both during life and post-mortem, in order to assist you with a holistic review of your clients' entire income and transfer tax picture.
Griffin Bridgers, JD., LL.M, is a partner with the law firm of Hutchins and Associates LLC in Denver, Colorado. Griffin specializes in estate and income tax planning for high net worth individuals. Griffin is also a frequent speaker and educator, both online and in person, and he provides tax and estate planning updates through his YouTube channel, his newsletter, and on an individual basis for clients and wealth professionals. Griffin also uses his advanced tax and estate planning knowledge in a non-legal capacity to serve as a market expert and consultant on the delivery of planning services through bespoke digital media.
http://www.hutchinslaw.com
More info TBA
Kurt A. Sommmer is the managing director of the law firm of Sommer, Udall, Hardwick & Jones, P.A., located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He practices in the areas of estate planning, income, estate and gift taxation for individuals and family owners, business planning and real estate law. He has been chairman of the New Mexico Bar Association Section on Taxation (twice) and is a member of the American Bar Association taxation section and real property and probate sections. Kurt is a past chairman of the Estate Planning Council of Santa Fe and a member of the New Mexico Estate Planning Council. Kurt received his A. B. in Economics from Georgetown Univeristy in 1981 (magna cum laude) and his J.D. degree from the University of New Mexico in 1984. He has written articles on tax law and speaks frequently on the subject. He is a fellow of the Amercian College of Trust and Estate Counsel and he serves as the President - elect, and as a Regent on the following committees: the Executive Committee, Business Planning, and Charitable Planning.
Mr. Wolff will discuss the Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act that went into effect on June 18, 2021 to authorize the practice of medical aid in dying. New Mexico became the 11th jurisdiction in the US to allow terminally ill, competent adults with six months or less to live and the ability to self-administer to request life-ending medications from a willing clinician to hasten their death.. if, when and where they choose.
This session will briefly review where medical aid in dying fits in with advance care planning and other end of life options. Mr. Wolff will provide an overview of the nation's newest and most progressive medical aid in dying law, an update on how the law is being implemented so far and the services of a new nonprofit End of Life Options, New Mexico. (https://endoflifeoptionsnm.org).There will be handouts and time for questions, comments and discussion about these important end-of- life issues.
Barak is a mostly retired, long-time public health leader in New Mexico working in rural Primary Care, EMS and Trauma Systems and as the Director of Public Health Division in the NM Department of Health. Barak has served as an analyst for the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee for the last seventreen years when they are in session. For the last nine years, Barak has been deeply involved with end-of-life issues and is on the founding Board of Directors for the newly created non profit End of Life Options, New Mexico. He is grateful for this opportunity to help improve our care systems and support New Mexicans in their end-of-life decisions, now including medical aid in dying.
santafe.epc@gmail.comwww.sfestateplanning.com
P.O. Box 1992, Santa Fe, NM 87504
