“Trust Me!” is the podcast of the Trusts and Estates Section. In conversations with guests, we cover an eclectic mix of topics of interest to California trust and estate lawyers, and others interested in the field. Since we do not offer continuing legal education credit, we have more flexibility with our programming.
You can find descriptions of and links to each of our episodes below. You can download them on Apple Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and other podcast players. Please subscribe to Trust Me! so you will get new episodes as they are released each month.
We welcome your comments, and we invite you to propose topics and guests for future episodes. To reach us, please email Kristin Yokomoto at TrustsAndEstates@calawyers.org.
Episodes
Season 5
- Season 5, Episode 5: The Basics of LPS Proceedings May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In this episode of Trust Me!, our guest Bill Sias, who works for the Office of County Counsel in Los Angeles, will discuss the basics of LPS Proceedings.
- Season 5, Episode 4: Securing Legacies: The Role of Professional Trustees Licensed Professional Fiduciaries play a key role in the trusts and estates ecosystem in California. In this episode, we discuss the role that professional trustees play in trust administration, and the skills and experience they bring to bear in order to secure the legacies and wishes of the clients they serve.
- Season 5, Episode 3: 2024 Legislation: New Laws That Trust and Estate Practitioners Should Know New laws were enacted in 2024 that affect California trust and estate practitioners. Join our two speakers, attorneys Jadene M. W. Tamura and Mara M. Mahana, on this episode as they describe the highlights of the new laws and how they affect trusts and estates practice, estate and trust litigation, incapacity proceedings, and more.
- Season 5, Episode 2: Combining Trusts to Reduce Complexity and Costs Can Be Harder Than You Think Complicated clients need complicated planning. And as years go by, those complications may have led to the creation of multiple trusts for the next generation.
- Season 5, Episode 1: Roadblocks on the Road to Probate Trials Breslin and Smith and Farrant, oh my! The road to speedy probate trials has become more challenging over the last few years due to recent case law.
Season 4
- Season 4, Episode 12: Lessons for Estate Planning Lawyers Regarding Third Party Malpractice Claims Listen Here The aftermath of the trust litigation brought by beneficiaries against trustees too often results in a malpractice claim against the drafting lawyer. Listen to Sean McKissick and Kristin…
- Season 4, Episode 11: Land Back to Indigenous Tribes and Tribal Organizations Listen Here Land Back is an Indigenous-led movement focused on returning land to Indigenous Tribes in a way that strengthens Indigenous sovereignty and communities. This episode features a discussion about…
- Season 4, Episode 10: All in the Family: What Estate Planners Should Know About Family Law Basics Listen Here Estate planners not only help clients plan for what happens at death. Nowadays, especially with the high divorce rates, trust and estate lawyers also need to be mindful…
- Season 4, Episode 9: “Double Damages” and Other Enhanced Remedies Under Probate Code Section 859 Listen Here What enhanced remedies are parties entitled to recover under Probate Code section 859? Is it double damages, triple damages, or something else? There has been a district split,…
- Season 4, Episode 8: Haggerty vs. Thornton: Revocations and Modifications Listen Here Haggerty vs. Thornton is a case that made its way to the California Supreme Court with an eagerly anticipated decision. This case concerns an area of law that…
- Season 4, Episode 7: Gift Tax Consequences of Changing Irrevocable Trusts When does a trust beneficiary’s cooperation with a trustee to modify, reform, or decant a trust become a taxable gift by that trust beneficiary?
- Season 4, Episode 6: Risk Mitigation Strategies for the Successor Trustee There are many things to consider when choosing a trustee or successor trustee for a trust. The trustee will face a number of challenges over the course of their service and will need to plan ahead to avoid the inevitable pitfalls.
- Season 4, Episode 5: From Death to Distribution – A General Overview of Federal Tax Requirements When a client passes away, one of the most important items on our to-do list is to file certain tax returns. In this episode of Trust Me!, we will be discussing an overview of things to consider during the period of post-death administration, mainly focusing on filing the federal estate tax return (Form 706).
- Season 4, Episode 4: The Magic of the Trust and Estate Mediation Process In this episode of Trust Me!, Bette Epstein discusses the magic of the trust and estate mediation process to informally resolve disputes, which includes party engagement, active listening, patience and problem solving.
- Season 4, Episode 3: Let’s Get Direct about CA Directed Trusts! California just passed a directed trust statute! In this episode of Trust Me!, Michael Rosen-Prinz and David Khanjyan will go over the basic structure of a directed trust, along with the specifics of California’s new directed trust statute.
- Season 4, Episode 2: Protect Your Law License – Ethical Considerations Every Trust and Estate Lawyer Must Know In this episode of Trust Me!, Kristin Yokomoto discusses ethical considerations in the estate planning world. She covers issues relating to engagement letters, conflicts, communication, capacity and more.
- Season 4, Episode 1: Charitable Planning 101: ABCs of CRUTs, CRATs, and CLATsSeason 3, Episode 13: Clients have grown to be more charitably inclined and want to incorporate charitable giving as part of their estate plan. In this episode, we discuss the basics of charitable planning, as we review the ABCs of those great acronyms: the CRUTs, CRATs, and CLATs.
Season 3
- Season 3, Episode 12: What to Count on in an Accounting What must be, and what should be included, by the trustee of a trust in an accounting? And, who is entitled to receive what kind of information? In this episode, our guest Denise Riley discusses the details of what is required in an accounting.
- Season 3, Episode 11: The Rise of the Revocable Trust in California A revocable trust is an essential part of an estate plan in California. And when clients ask why they need a revocable trust, our answer is always: to avoid probate!
- Season 3, Episode 10: Corporate Transparency Act Join estate-planning attorney Elizabeth Bawden and trust-and-estate litigator Matt Owens for a discussion about the Corporate Transparency Act.
- Season 3, Episode 9: Scamming Is the Name of the Game, A Discussion of Scams and Elder Abuse Join Deputy District Attorney Scott Pirrello and Estate Planning Attorney Melissa Raneri Karlsten for a conversation about elder abuse, including internet and technology scams that everyone, no matter their age, is being bombarded with on a daily basis.
- Season 3, Episode 8: Decanting in CA – Need to Change an Irrevocable Trust? No Need to Wine Are irrevocable trusts truly irrevocable? One way to change the terms of an irrevocable trust is by decanting. In this episode, our guest Michael Rosen-Prinz will be discussing the particulars of California’s decanting statute.
- Season 3, Episode 7: Working with Clients Who May Have Cognitive Impairment Most attorneys are able to identify clients who clearly have mental capacity to make decisions and those who clearly lack such capacity. But what about the clients in the middle part of the spectrum?
- Season 3, Episode 6: International Estate Planning and Taxation 101 The world is getting smaller and smaller. As estate planners, we need to be aware of cross-border issues when it comes to estate planning and taxation.
- Season 3, Episode 5: e-State Planning for Bitcoin and Other Crypto Assets In January of 2009, the infamous and anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin Network. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, which is a digital asset that lives on a decentralized public ledger, also known as the blockchain.
- Season 3, Episode 4: Pits and Pearls of Personal Property Issues after Death In this episode, our guests, Marguerite Lorenz, Master Trustee, and Todd Stephenson, estate liquidator, will be discussing the difficulties that are encountered in dealing with personal property after someone has died.
- Season 3, Episode 3: Legislative Advocacy by the Trusts and Estates Section Trust and estate lawyers have a keen interest in state legislation. The California Lawyers Association gives them a voice in Sacramento.
- Season 3, Episode 2: Nuts and Bolts of Private Letter Rulings Private letter rulings (PLRs) are one of many tools that tax and wealth planning professionals can employ to benefit their clients, but many professionals are unaware of the benefits of PLRs or don’t know how to obtain PLRs.
- Season 3, Episode 1: Focus on Function, Not Age, When Working with Clients Join us for a conversation with neuropsychologist Jonathan Canick about the interplay between aging and an elder client’s capacity to execute estate planning documents.
Season 2
- Season 2, Episode 12: What is a Conservatorship?—Navigating the California Conservatorship Process Over the past few years, “conservatorship” has become a popular buzz word and the topic of many discussions in the media.
- Season 2, Episode 11: Elder Law Attorney – What is it and why do I need one? In this episode, our guest Josie M. Porras Corporon, CELA, will be diving into the misunderstood world of elder law.
- Season 2, Episode 10: Choosing to File in Probate or Civil Probate matters and general civil matters can sometimes be seen as operating in two separate worlds. However, in practice, these worlds often interact with one another.
- Season 2, Episode 9: Trust Amendments After the Conflicting Decisions of King v. Lynch and Haggerty v. Thornton Amending revocable trusts is such a common occurrence for estate planners that the procedure for doing so may be given little thought.
- Season 2, Episode 8: Expanding Access to Estate Planning Surveys reveal an equity gap in estate planning. Although everyone should have an estate plan, Americans in communities of color are less likely to have plans in place.
- Season 2, Episode 7: 529 Plans in a Nutshell There’s a lot of talk about student loan debt and the rising cost of college education. One tax effective solution for clients who want to help their children or grandchildren with this rising cost is a 529 plan.
- Season 2, Episode 6: Employing Caregivers and Advising Those Who Do Many elders who need support with their activities of daily living want to remain in their homes as long as possible. How can caregivers be hired and paid in compliance with the law? What do California trust and estate lawyers need to know to advise their clients?
- Season 2, Episode 5: Trust Income Taxation 101 In this episode, our guest Michael DiBernardo will be diving into the exciting world of fiduciary income taxation. This episode is geared towards practitioners who don’t deal with trust income tax rules on a daily basis.
- Season 2, Episode 4: When They Don’t Clap for Anti-SLAPP – Part 2 This Episode of “Trust Me” is Part 2 of a multi-episode series, which features an interview with Ryan Szczepanik and Ciarán O’Sullivan, the co-authors of the article: “When They Don’t Clap for Anti-SLAPP.”
- Season 2, Episode 3: When They Don’t Clap for Anti-SLAPP – Part 1 This Episode of “Trust Me” is Part 1 of a multi-episode series, which features an interview with Ryan Szczepanik and Ciarán O'Sullivan, the co-authors of the article: “When They Don’t Clap For Anti-SLAPP.”
- Season 2, Episode 2: Trustee Compensation and Analysis of California Rules of Court Rule 7.776 This Episode of “Trust Me” features an interview with Josh Yager, co-author of the article “How Much is Too Much? Trustee Compensation and an Analysis of California Rules of Court, Rule 7.776.”
- Season 2, Episode 1: Predatory Marriage Vulnerable elders too often fall victim to predators who marry them for financial gain. But how should we balance the fundamental right to marry and enjoy companionship with protecting elders from financial abuse?
Season 1
- Season 1, Episode 12: The Audit Process: A conversation with former IRS Estate and Gift Tax Attorneys Our guests for this episode are two former IRS Estate and Gift Tax Attorneys, Eva Wolf and Michael Perlmutter. Eva and Michael will discuss the general audit process for Estate and Gift Tax returns
- Season 1, Episode 11: John Sutton’s Will: Bending the Arc of History Towards Justice in the Probate Court Our guest for this episode, Terrence M. Franklin, shares an incredible story of a Last Will and Testament from 1846 that played a very important role in his family history. He hopes that telling this story can help bend the arc of history towards justice.
- Season 1, Episode 10: Estate Planning: Where Were We, Where Are We, Where We Might Be Going? In this month’s episode of Trust Me! we interview Chelsea Suttmann and Melissa Karlsten, authors of a recent article entitled “Advanced Planning—A Decade in Review: What Have We Learned Over the Last Decade and Where Are we Headed?” The article appeared in Volume 27, Issue 1 of the California Trusts and Estates Quarterly published by the Trusts and Estates Section of the California Lawyers Association.
- Season 1, Episode 9: From a Judge’s Perspective In writing or performing, it is important to know your audience. In probate litigation, your audience is often the judicial officer presiding over the case.
- Season 1, Episode 8: Trustee Removal Litigation and Mediation The trustee is in the driver’s seat in how a trust is administered, deciding when and how assets will be allocated. Parents who create trusts to benefit their children often pick one or more of them to serve as trustee.
- Season 1, Episode 7: Inheritance Forgery Inheritance forgery can take many forms, including phony estate planning documents that redirect assets to a scammer and fake deeds that spring the family home from the decedent’s estate.
- Season 1, Episode 6: Pen to Paper to Execution – Part 2 Our returning guests for this episode are Bryan Kirk of Fiduciary Trust International and Daniel Lorenzen of Fox Rothschild, LLP.
- Season 1, Episode 5: Pen to Paper to Execution – Part 1 Our guests for this episode are Bryan Kirk of Fiduciary Trust International and Daniel Lorenzen of Fox Rothschild, LLP.
- Season 1, Episode 4: E-Discovery in Trust and Estate Litigation Our guests for this episode are Scott Frasier and Matt Owens, authors of an article to be published in the Trusts and Estates Quarterly called “Let’s Get Digital! ESI in Trust and Estate Litigation.”
- Season 1, Episode 3: Ethics for Trusts and Estates Attorneys Guests for this episode of “Trust Me!” are Tom Shaver and Neil Wertlieb. Tom served as Editor to the Fourth Edition of the Guide to The California Rules of Professional Conduct for Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Counsel.
- Season 1, Episode 2: Double Damages & AB 327 We continue our discussion of updates with Patrick A. Kohlmann and Vivian Thoreen presenters at the 2020 Annual meeting of as seminar entitled “Case Law and Other Changes in Trusts and Estates Practices”.
- Season 1, Episode 1: Amendments & Power of Appointment Patrick A. Kohlmann and Vivian Thoreen pick out some highlights from the presentation at the 2020 Annual meeting entitled “Case Law and Other Changes in Trusts and Estates Practices”.