Cannon Estate Planning Teleconference

April 21, 2026

Nontaxable gifts may be an attractive component of a comprehensive estate plan. Structured properly, nontaxable gifts facilitate moving value out of the donor’s eventual taxable estate without erosion of the donor’s estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount or GST exemption. The simplest type of nontaxable gifts is an outright gift of cash, directly to the target donee, within the amount of the gift tax annual exclusion. However, gifts in trust or gifts of certain types of assets can be problematic.

May 19, 2026

Trust instruments contain provisions conferring investment and distribution discretion on the Trustee and defining the extent of that discretion. The Trustee interpreting and implementing the trust instrument must engage in a delicate balancing of the intentions of the settlor and the current and anticipated future circumstances of the beneficiaries.

June 23, 2026 [ETHICS CE]

The world of estate planning and trust administration is fraught with a variety of landmines, and only the diligent can detect and avoid them consistently. An estate planning professional’s behavior and performance may be judged unethical or even illegal in a given circumstance even if he or she is exceptionally knowledgeable about the substantive law.

July 21, 2026

The IRS and the judiciary continue to generate considerable traffic in evaluating and ruling on matters of interest to estate planners and professionals who administer estates and trusts. Particularly active areas of developing law over the past few years have been the valuation of property potentially subject to gift or estate tax and determining what assets are properly includable in a decedent’s gross estate.

August 18, 2026

The federal government has overarching powers to collect tax debts that far surpass the collection mechanisms available to ordinary creditors. Knowing what these powers are and how they may be deployed is important not only when embroiled in an audit or collection proceeding but also when considering certain fiduciary transactions such as a sale of trust property or a distribution to a beneficiary.

September 15, 2026

A poorly conceived or sloppily designed estate plan can actually cause more problems than it solves. Fortunately, under the laws of most jurisdictions, various judicial and non-judicial options exist with which to remedy estate planning problems after-the-fact. A well-rounded estate planner not only needs to know how to create a high-quality estate plan that addresses a client’s needs but also should be facile with available methods to repair broken estate plans.

October 20, 2026

The heart of trust administration is the Trustee’s thoughtful exercise of discretion. Clients and their estate planners rely heavily on the core concept that Trustees will follow carefully applicable trust law and parameters established in the governing instrument in making subjective decisions that will promote the best interests of the beneficiaries.

November 17, 2026 

Many of our clients have sizable accumulations in qualified retirement plans and IRAs. This is a unique type of asset that presents potential opportunities and difficulties in the estate planning context. The ultimate beneficial objective is to maintain as much of the plan or IRA intact for as long as possible – in order to maximize income tax-deferred investment return – while preserving as much dispositive flexibility as possible. This quest is often elusive.

December 8, 2026 [ETHICS CE]

Concurrent representation of multiple parties may give rise to a host of ethics-related issues. Chief among them are potential conflicting interests and the need to respect barriers between or among clients regarding information they rightfully consider personal and confidential. When these issues are or become insurmountable, declining or removing oneself from a problematic engagement may be the only viable path.