Estate Planning Essentials & Strategy

Designed for Your Organization

Our Enterprise Solutions team works with you to build the right experience — whether that's a keynote address, a half-day workshop, a multi-session webinar series, or a fully integrated training program. Topics, format, session length, and depth of content are all customizable to align with your audience, your objectives, and your timeline.

Course Topics

Essential Estate Planning Strategies for Today
During this engaging session, we’ll review the key takeaways from the OBBB and explore its implications for estate planning. The discussion will highlight how new tax laws drive planning opportunities, and you’ll learn approaches to address client concerns effectively. We’ll simplify the estate planning process by examining three client profiles and uncovering common themes among them. Additionally, income tax and charitable planning considerations will be addressed, providing you with actionable ideas to enhance client discussions and deliver greater value.

Choosing the Right Trustee
Selecting the right executor and trustee is a significant decision that everyone creating an estate plan must make. Putting some thoughtful consideration into the choice can make all the difference in the success or failure of the plan and how the beneficiaries feel about it. Choosing a trustee is often not considered deeply enough, and here we will explore some of the key decision-making factors.

Estate Planning When Estate Tax is Not an Issue
With Estate tax exclusions at over $15 Million per person, there are challenges to many traditional estate planning techniques. Here we will discuss which techniques are most appropriate and why. We will discuss planning ideas under the current law and maintaining flexibility for proposed changes.

Everyone Has an Estate Plan - The Question Is If It's What you Want or What the Law Specifies as the Default
This session explores default rules under intestate succession and guardianship/conservatorship laws. Learn what happens when individuals fail to plan and how proactive measures ensure personal wishes prevail over statutory defaults.

Simplify the Planning - 3 Groups for Ownership and 3 Groups for Tax
How to communicate complex issues in a simple manner is the mark of a great advisor. How property is titled is integral to the proper functioning of a well-designed estate plan. Improper coordination of property ownership and the estate planning documents often leads to unexpected consequences. In addition to whom the property passes are the key to its taxation. Learn how two simple groups of three can help clients navigate key choices.

Forms of Property Ownership - How It Works with the Rest of the Estate Plan
Understand how property ownership forms affect estate planning and asset transfer at death. The discussion covers sole ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, revocable trusts, beneficiary designations, and contract property, highlighting how each interacts with an overall estate plan.

Lessons in Estate Planning
This session provides a lighthearted framework for a serious discussion, using themes, events, and storylines from movies to identify and understand the importance of various techniques in estate planning. Wealth, power, and control are common themes where the tension is often created in some of the greatest books and movies of all time. Their reflection of real-life issues enables us to learn from their examples.

Who Should Enroll and Why

Trust Officers and Administrators will gain a practical understanding of estate planning structures, ownership considerations, and trustee selection principles. This course will help you administer trusts more effectively, anticipate potential issues, and ensure estate plans function as intended. By exploring real-world scenarios and decision-making frameworks, you’ll be better prepared to manage complex administration challenges and support beneficiaries with clarity and confidence.

Financial Advisors and Wealth Managers will deepen their understanding of how estate planning strategies align with broader wealth management goals. This knowledge will enable you to engage clients in more meaningful estate planning conversations, identify planning opportunities driven by tax law changes, and coordinate more effectively with attorneys and other professionals. The course provides actionable insights to help you deliver greater value and strengthen client relationships.

Paralegals and Legal Assistants will benefit from a clear, structured overview of estate planning fundamentals, including property ownership, default estate laws, and planning tools. This course will enhance your ability to support attorneys by improving document preparation, issue spotting, and client communication throughout the estate planning process.

Aspiring Trust and Wealth Professionals will find this course to be an excellent entry point into the field of estate planning. By building a strong foundation in essential concepts, strategies, and terminology, you will be better prepared for entry-level roles and future professional development in trust administration, financial planning, or estate-related services.

Course Instructors

Daniel A. Smith, CFP®, CWS®

As a dedicated professional, Daniel Smith believes that everyone deserves sound advice and exceptional service. With his extensive real-world experience, Daniel brings a spirited approach to his instruction, helping advisors put their knowledge into immediate, practical use to better serve their clients. His expertise lies in sales and relationship management skills, which he seamlessly integrates with the complexities of estate planning, estate taxation, charitable giving, and investment management. By doing so, Daniel empowers advisors to effectively guide wealthy clients and their families in achieving their goals.

Before joining Cannon, Daniel spent years as a client-facing advisor in the Wealth Management and Trust business. His 25 years of experience with Cannon have further enriched his knowledge, as he constantly interacts with top financial advisors and wealthy individuals across the globe, incorporating best practices into his teachings.

A sought-after speaker, Daniel frequently presents at financial services firms and conferences worldwide, covering topics such as sales, exceptional service, estate planning, taxation, and industry trends. His insights have been featured in numerous publications, including Trusts & Estates and Registered Rep magazines. As the leader of Cannon Trust School, the largest trust school in the country, Daniel continues to make a significant impact on the industry. His consulting work spans distance-based learning solutions, private family wealth consultation, and expert witness services.

Meagan MacBean, J.D.

Meagan MacBean is a dedicated professional who believes that exceptional service is rooted in a deep understanding of the complexities of estate and trust law. As the founder of The MacBean Law Firm, LLC, she brings extensive experience as both a practicing attorney and a former Trust Officer to her work. Meagan provides a spirited, real-world approach to her instruction, helping advisors translate technical knowledge into immediate, practical solutions for their clients. Her expertise seamlessly integrates the nuances of estate planning, asset protection, and planning for incapacity with the operational realities of trust and estate administration.

Before establishing her own firm, Meagan spent years advising high-net-worth clients on wealth transfer strategies and fiduciary responsibilities. Her professional background is further enriched by her academic contributions; she serves as a Lecturer at Mississippi State University, where she teaches Real Estate Law, International Business Law, and Entrepreneur Law. This dual perspective, balancing private practice with academic instruction, allows her to empower advisors to effectively guide wealthy families in achieving their long-term goals.

A highly credentialed expert, Meagan is an honors graduate of Cannon Financial Institute Trust School and holds a J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Her insights have been featured in publications such as SC Lawyer Magazine, and she is a recognized leader in the field, having been selected for the Mississippi Bar Association’s Leadership Forum and Portico Jackson Magazine’s "Portico 15". Through her work as a guest instructor and her specialized practice in fiduciary litigation and tax preparation, Meagan continues to make a significant impact on the industry.