CLEThe Heckerling Institute is holding a conference entitled, 54th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, on January 13th – January 20th, 2020 at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida. Provided below is a description of the event.

The nation’s largest gathering of estate planning professionals offers practical guidance on today’s most important tax and non-tax planning issues, as well as key insights on emerging developments and innovative planning strategies for the future. In addition to comprehensive coverage of recent developments, the 2020 Institute will include the following specialized program tracks:
Focus Series: Insights on emerging tax and non-tax issues including planning for migratory clients and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Kaestner, representing global families, international and domestic asset protection, Qualified Opportunity Zones, and planning for digital assets.

Planning with Trusts: Advanced planning techniques for grantor and non-grantor trusts, building flexibility into long-term trusts, the trustee’s duty to disclose, planning for the payment of the GST tax, and an inside view from a panel of corporate fiduciaries.
International Planning: Planning for foreign and domestic clients, including the continuing impact of the 2017 Tax Act, representing global families, and a comparative analysis of foreign and domestic asset protection trust laws.

NEW! Business and Financial Assets: Explores Qualified Opportunity Zones, planning for family entities after Powell, planning for retirement benefits, Code Section 199A, and planning with Subchapter S corporations.

Elder Law: Practical guidance on special needs trusts including planning, drafting, and counseling the beneficiary or trustee, balancing vulnerability and autonomy for seniors, and the implications of divorce and the elderly.

NEW! Litigation and Conflict Resolution: Covers recent fiduciary cases, family governance issues, the disposition of tangible assets, and navigating trustee liability.

Charitable Giving: Insights on alternatives for obsolete private foundations, charitable giving with retirement benefits, and planning for charitable lead and remainder trusts.

Ethics: Covers new issues in planning for today’s families, hot topics in protecting privilege and avoiding unforeseen ethics issues, and ethical considerations with special needs trusts.

Fundamentals: An in-depth review of the grantor trust rules, planning with life insurance, and securities law issues for estate planners.

Photo of Gerry W. Beyer Gerry W. Beyer

Dr. Gerry W. Beyer joined the faculty of the Texas Tech University School of Law in June 2005 as the first holder of the Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professorship. Previously, Prof. Beyer taught as a professor or visiting professor at several other…

Dr. Gerry W. Beyer joined the faculty of the Texas Tech University School of Law in June 2005 as the first holder of the Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professorship. Previously, Prof. Beyer taught as a professor or visiting professor at several other law schools including Boston College, Boston University, The Ohio State University, Southern Methodist University, the University of New Mexico, Santa Clara University, St. Mary’s University, and La Trobe University in Australia.

Prof. Beyer is admitted to practice in Texas, Illinois (inactive), Ohio (inactive) and before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Prof. Beyer is the recipient of dozens of outstanding and distinguished faculty awards from three law schools including the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the most prestigious university-wide teaching award at Texas Tech, the 2015 President’s Academic Achievement Award, and the Outstanding (Law) Researcher Award in 2013 and 2017.

As a state and nationally recognized expert in estate planning, Prof. Beyer is a highly sought after lecturer. He presents dozens of continuing legal education presentations each year for many national, state, and local bar associations, universities, and civic groups. In recognition of his expertise and contributions to the legal profession, the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils inducted him into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2022, Prof. Beyer was awarded the Distinguished Probate Attorney Lifetime Achievement Award by the Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section of State Bar of Texas.

Prof. Beyer is the editor of the most popular estate planning blawg in the nation which after being named for five consecutive years to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 was awarded Hall of Fame status in 2015.

Prof. Beyer is the author of dozens of books and hundreds of articles focusing on various aspects of estate planning, including a two-volume treatise on Texas wills law, an estate planning law school casebook, and the Wills, Trusts, and Estates volume of the Examples & Explanations series. He has four times won awards from the American Bar Association’s Probate & Property magazine for his writing. He is one of the most often downloaded law authors on the Social Science Research Network with a ranking in the top .001%.  Prof. Beyer is the Editor-in-Chief of the REPTL Reporter, the official journal of the largest section of the State Bar of Texas, the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section.

Prof. Beyer serves as a mentor to many students and various law school organizations as well participating regularly in pro bono activities. He is the advisor for the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal and its annual seminar, the Black Law Students Association, and the Estate and Property Law Society.

Prof. Beyer received his J.D. from the Ohio State University (summa cum laude) and his LL.M. and J.SD. degrees from the University of Illinois. He is a member of the Order of the Coif, an Academic Fellow and former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a member of the American Law Institute, and was appointed by the Uniform Law Commission as the Reporter for the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act and the Integration of Probate and Non-Probate Transfers Study Committee.

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