Total Credits: 12.8 MCLE, 3.4 Ethics, 1.2 Elimination of Bias
Join us in-person for the 2025 Annual Estate, Trust & Elder Law Institute!
November 6-7, 2025
Hilton St. Louis Frontenac
Presented by MoBarCLE, the Estate Planning and Probate Administration Committee, and the Elder Law Committee
Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.
If you can't attend in person, this conference will be offered via virtual webinar in 2026.
Mike W. Bartolacci is General Counsel for St. Louis Trust & Family Office in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to joining St. Louis Trust in 2023, Mike spent 33 years with the law firm of Thompson Coburn, LLP, where he led the Firm’s probate and trust litigation practice and tried numerous fiduciary cases in both the State and Federal Courts. He was selected for inclusion in Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers from 2020-2022, and Best Lawyers in America from 2012-2022, being named Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” for the St. Lous Region in Trust and Estate litigation in 2019 and 2021.
Mike received his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri in 1985, where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He received his juris doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 1988, where he graduated 1st in his class and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Missouri Law Review.
Andrew is Chair of the firm’s Digital Currency & Blockchain Technology Practice Group. He represents businesses and investors in litigation related to digital assets and advises clients on regulatory and compliance issues.
Andrew is also an experienced commercial litigator. He has successfully tried cases to resolution in state and federal court, in arbitration, and before administrative commissions.
Jack Cantalin, CRPC®, AWMA®, Director – Investments at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., is a Financial Advisor with The Palumbo Group. Since 2017, he has guided clients through life transitions with disciplined portfolio strategies and financial planning, delivering transparent, goals-based advice rooted in long-term relationships and fiduciary responsibility.
Adrienne helps clients understand the complexities of estate and wealth planning. Her practice is a full-service practice for estate and wealth planning, ranging from helping young families to document their wishes through the creation and amendment of wills, trusts, and powers of attorney in a basic start-up estate plan, assisting with post-death estate and trust administration, to leading a complex planning effort involving estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning, asset protection, prenuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, vacation property coownership agreements, and creative ways to use applicable trust law to modify Irrevocable Trusts. She strives to bring creativity and personable, effective communication to her work with clients and their team of advisors.
Prior to working at her current firm, Adrienne spent eleven years, three of them as a partner, working with a large St. Louis-based law firm with a significant estate-planning department, assisting high-net-worth clients with strategies to ensure their wealth would be passed on to future generations and their philanthropic wishes would be achieved. She also spent over five years as Senior Trust Counsel at The Commerce Trust Company advising the Trust Company on estate, trust, and tax matters. She assisted Commerce Family Office clients on estate-planning strategies and family wealth education.
Adrienne is an adjunct law professor at Saint Louis University School of Law where she teaches Wills, Trusts, and Estates and Estate Planning.
Adrienne is an active member of STEP, the Society of Trusts and Estates Professionals, a worldwide professional association advising families on international estate-planning issues; the Steering Committee for the Probate and Trust Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis; Missouri Bar Probate and Trust Division Subcommittee to Study the Uniform Electronic Wills Act; the Estate Planning Council of St. Louis; and the Trainer’s Network for 21/64, a body of professional advisors serving high-net-worth families with multi-generational engagement in philanthropy and family enterprise.
Probate Commissioner Amy B. DeGraeve was appointed to the bench on October 29, 2021, by the judges of the 16th Circuit Court.
At the time of her appointment, Commissioner DeGraeve was an attorney with
The Counts Law Firm, LLC. In her law practice she specialized in
fiduciary litigation, trust and probate estate administration, estate planning, income tax planning, business succession planning, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, guardianships and conservatorships.
Prior to employment at the Count Law Firm, she was an attorney with Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP, Lathrop & Gage LLP, and Vold & Morris.
Commissioner DeGraeve graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2001 with a B.A. degree in Language and Literature. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from UMKC Law School in 2004, and a Master of Laws in Taxation (LL.M.) degree in 2006.
She has served on the Jackson County Probate Procedures Manual Revision
Committee. She is a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar
Association Probate and Estate Planning Committee. She has also served as a member of the Children’s Mercy Hospital Donald H. Chisholm Planned Giving Council.
Commissioner DeGraeve was appointed to serve a four-year-term and was sworn in January 2022.
Brigid Fernandez is a Certified Elder Law Attorney certified by the National Elder Law Foundation.* She graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She is also a Certified Civil Mediator and a VA-accredited attorney.
Roberta K. Flowers is a professor of law at Stetson University College of Law. Within the Elder Law LLM program, Professor Flowers teaches Ethics in an Elder Law Practice. She also teaches Evidence, Criminal Procedure, and Professional Responsibility. While at Stetson, Professor Flowers has successfully coached trial teams, arbitration teams, and moot court teams to national championships. She has served as the director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy and as the William Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Professor in Professionalism. During her time at Stetson, Professor Flowers has received the university-level Excellence in Teaching Award, Most Inspirational Teacher Award from the Student Bar Association, and an award from the Student Bar Association for supporting student life. She also has received the university-level Homer and Dolly Hand Award for Excellence in Scholarship, the Dean's Award for Extraordinary Service, and been awarded the Distinguished Service Award four times. In 2005, the Florida Supreme Court awarded Professor Flowers the Faculty Professionalism Award.
Steve is a practitioner in the areas of estate planning and the structuring of privately held businesses.
His several thousand page PDF, "Structuring Ownership of Privately-Owned Businesses: Tax and Estate Planning Implications," is considered essential reading.
For a free quarterly subscription, go to https://www.thompsoncoburn.com/forms/gorin-newsletter.
For more about Steve, see http://www.thompsoncoburn.com/people/steve-gorin.
William Gust is the Probate Commissioner for St. Louis County. Comm. Gust regularly hears a variety of contested probate matters including: adult guardianships, minor guardianships, contested matters relating to decedent estates, trust matters, and mental health civil commitment matters. He also presides over the administration of probate matters.
Prior to his time on the bench, Comm. Gust was a shareholder at an Am Law 100 law firm. While in practice he maintained both a local and national practice. He tried and litigated cases in various parts of the United States, ranging from St. Louis County Probate Court to Delaware Chancery Court. His expertise included everything from contested probate matters to complex civil matters.
Heather M. Hall began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Kathleen Forsyth in the Jackson County probate court. Following her clerkship, Heather gained valuable trial experience at the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
In private practice, she has focused on fiduciary litigation, probate/trust administration and guardianships/conservatorships.
A native of Kansas City, Tiffannie founded The Probate Law Center with the goal of helping families successfully navigate the often-confusing area of probate. The firm focuses exclusively on probate administration, probate litigation, and guardianship/conservatorship matters.
Tiffannie earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Aaron represents individual and corporate clients in various matters involving fiduciary litigation and administration throughout Missouri and Kansas. Aaron has tried multiple family disputes, including trust contest cases. Aaron has also handled appeals in the Missouri Courts of Appeal involving no-contest clauses, powers of attorney, and trust administration.
Tim McCurdy is Of Counsel at the firm. Tim grew up on a farm in Southwest Iowa. After obtaining his law degree from the University of Notre Dame, Tim moved to St. Louis to “watch a few Cardinals games” before returning to Iowa. Tim met his now wife and his plans quickly changed – Tim has called St. Louis home for more than twenty years.
Throughout Tim’s legal career, he has helped clients protect their rights in lawsuits throughout the country. After watching a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, Tim developed a passion for elder law. Tim’s practice now combines his more than twenty years of litigation experience with an in-depth knowledge of estate planning and probate.
Tim devotes his practice to helping families navigate disputes involving estate plans and probate administration. Tim’s trusts and estates litigation practice includes trust and will contests, the removal of fiduciaries, demands for accountings, and contested guardianships. Tim is also frequently appointed by probate judges to represent individuals facing guardianship petitions, and as a court-appointed fiduciary.
Tim also helps families protect their life savings while ensuring access to the health care they need through Medicaid and special needs planning. Tim’s elder law practice also includes helping families develop estate plans to avoid probate and to protect against future challenges to their estate plan.
Tim lives in Chesterfield with his wife, two sons, and two dogs. Outside of the office you can likely find Tim in the stands at a hockey rink or a theater cheering on his sons.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and elder advocate for the last thirty years, Maria’s experience throughout the healthcare continuum offers a unique perspective into the navigation of the healthcare system. While working in a hospital case management role, Maria’s familiarity with mental health challenges and those in need of decision-making support brought her to be very involved with the guardianship process. She served on the hospital ethics committee and participated in many situations where patients in the hospital were either unable to make decisions for themselves, or they had no legal representatives to do so. Maria joined an elder and estate planning law firm after leaving her hospital work, assisting clients with disabilities, mental health needs and elder care needs with navigation. In 2012, Maria began Care Choice Care Management, which focuses on helping clients and families in a more personalized fashion, and with the charge of addressing the lack of customer service provided in many healthcare settings today. Care Choice is one of the largest practices of its kind in the Midwest, and leads the industry with innovative and creative solutions for people in need. In 2023, she created Decision Advocates, a Guardianship and Powers of Attorney for healthcare decision-making service. Decision Advocates filled a gap in the community by offering guardianship and healthcare Power of Attorney services that were personalized, and empowered the concepts of surrogate decision-making for individuals who have the ability to participate in their own care. In 2024, the Care Choice Comprehensive Network was born to include an additional arm of services called West County Psychological Services, for counseling and integrated school services for the Greater St. Louis community. Maria enjoys family, gardening, cooking, and the outdoors in her spare time.
Andrew pairs his experience in tax and estate law with a focus on client responsiveness to help families and businesses structure plans for their valuable assets. He works with clients on an array of estate planning matters, including wealth transfer planning, asset protection planning, and closely-held business succession planning. He frequently assists clients with trust and estate administration. He often advises clients on modifying irrevocable trusts. Additionally, he represents clients in negotiating and structuring prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
A significant portion of Andrew’s practice is devoted to addressing the income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax issues relative to estate and trust planning and administration.
Rebecca C. Morgan is a Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law. Professor Morgan teaches a variety of elder law courses in the JD program. She is the successor co-author of Matthew Bender's Tax, Estate and Financial Planning for the Elderly, and its companion forms book (Lexis) The Fundamentals of Special Needs Trusts (Lexis), Ethics in an Elder Law Practice (ABA), Planning for Disability (Bloomberg BNA Portfolio). She is co-author of Elder Law in Context (Aspen), Bankruptcy in Context, and Mastering Interviewing and Counseling and Third-Party and Self-Created Trusts: A Modern Look (ABA). Professor Morgan has authored a number of articles on a variety of elder law issues and has spoken a number of times on subjects of elder law. She is the co-editor of the Elder Law Prof Blog, (with Katherine Pearson (Penn State).
Peter Palumbo, AIF®, Senior Director – Investments at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., is a founding member of The Palumbo Group. Since 2007, he has advised high-net-worth clients on estate planning, multigenerational wealth transfer, and fiduciary oversight, delivering tailored strategies with a client-first focus on clarity, stewardship, and trust.
Ned is presently a Counsel at Sandberg Phoenix and von Gontard, P.C., but boasts a most impressive collection of business cards from prestigious law firms in St. Louis, collected over the past 44 years. Ned’s professional practice focus involves estate, trust, business succession and tax planning for individual clients, but sadly, with the maturation of a significant portion of his client base, he’s now focusing more and more on probate and post mortem trust administration. Clients are dying to find out how good he is.
Ned is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and has served as an adjunct professor at both the St. Louis University School of Law and in the LLM (Tax) program at the Washington University School of Law. He has served on the board of the St. Louis Estate Planning Counsel, the Probate Steering Committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, and on the estate planning advisory boards of several local charities, including the St. Louis Art Museum and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. He has also served on various committees of the Missouri Bar Probate and Trust Law Committee, and is old enough to remember serving with Leo Eickhoff and John Sullivan. Ned has been listed for a number of years in The Best Lawyers in America and Missouri Kansas Super Lawyers (but has yet to spend the money for the cool plaques you can buy--he’s that cheap).
Alexander Rose, MD, MPHS is a board certified forensic psychiatrist providing both clinical and medical-legal services including, but not limited to, contract/testamentary capacity, undue influence, guardianships, and conservatorships. He remains involved in academics as an external instructor in clinical psychiatry for the residency program at Washington University
Josh represents beneficiaries, trustees, and others in the administration of trusts and estates. Josh is especially recognized for his counsel in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings. His experience includes will and trust contests; contested probate estates; modifying irrevocable trusts; creditor claims; and disputes regarding power of attorney documents.
Jen Sanwald is a principal at ArchBridge Family Office, where she acts as primary advisor for complex trust clients and serves as Chair of Trust Committee. She previously practiced at Lewis Rice, focused on estate planning and trust litigation. Jen received her J.D. from Washington University.
Betty Schaefer draws on not only her significant knowledge of the St. Louis County Probate Division, where she served as legal counsel, but also her considerable experience in private practice to craft arguments that resonate in probate court. Her deep understanding of the probate and trust codes allows her to guide clients through administration and disputes with efficiency and precision.
Betty assists clients with estate and trust administration, trust funding, guardianships, and estate planning. She has represented parties in probate, trust, and fiduciary litigation and is frequently appointed by local courts as a neutral mediator, special fiduciary, and third-party administrator in trust and estate disputes. She also advises financial institutions on probate and trust administration and on their responsibilities as corporate fiduciaries.
Her earlier work with the probate court allowed her to analyze cases, advise attorneys, and focus on guardianship and conservatorship proceedings for minors and adults. This hands-on experience — paired with substantial courtroom work — gives her a rare perspective and the ability to identify the most effective strategies in estate and trust administration cases and controversies.
Kathy’s practice involves representation of private individuals in all aspects of wealth transfer planning, including the implementation of sophisticated planning techniques involving grantor retained annuity trusts, family limited partnerships/limited liability companies, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts and other similar wealth transfer techniques. A particular focus of her practice is estate planning for retirement benefits, integrating the planning for minimization of transfer tax and income tax with the required minimum distribution rules.
Kathy has represented both trustees and beneficiaries on a wide variety of fiduciary issues and has advised trustees over the years as to their fiduciary duties in administering trusts. As a member of the fiduciary litigation team, she regularly represents trustees and beneficiaries in court controversies involving a variety of issues relating to the administration of trusts and estates. In addition, Kathy has represented the taxpayer in estate and gift tax audits, in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Tax Court, and in the Missouri Supreme Court.
Kathy is a well know national lecturer on all of these topics at significant national conferences. An active participant in the estate planning bar, Kathy is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is currently Immediate Past President and a Regent of the College and has served as chair of the Employee Benefits in Estate Planning Committee and as Missouri State Chair. She has also served as chair of the Probate and Trust Committee of the Missouri Bar, as chair of the Probate Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and as president of the Estate Planning Council of St. Louis.
Judge Mark A. Styles, Jr. was appointed to the bench as Circuit Judge on July 26, 2016 by Governor Jay Nixon.
Mark A. Styles, Jr. was first appointed to the bench as Deputy Probate Commissioner on October 3, 2014 by Circuit Judge Kathleen A. Forsyth of the Probate Division. At the time of his appointment, Commissioner Styles was a senior associate attorney with the Hardwick Law Firm. His practice included handling decedents’ and guardianship and conservatorship estates. He was appointed by the Court to serve as counsel for respondents and other parties to matters pending before the Court. His background also includes working for the Public Administrator’s Office of Jackson County where he handled conservatorship and decedent estates dealing with complex real property, probate, Medicare/Medicaid compliance, and constitutional and contractual issues.
Judge Styles received a Juris Doctorate degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas in 2004. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Missouri – Columbia in 2001.
Misty Watson was appointed Deputy Probate Commissioner for Saint Louis County in 2019. Prior to appointment, Watson was a member of the executive committee at Danna McKitrick. She has over fifteen years experience in trusts, estates, and guardianships.
Watson received the 2019 Publico Pro Bono Award from The Missouri Bar. She was the Washington University School of Law Women's Law Caucus International Women's Day 2013 Celebration Honoree and received the John R. Essner Award for pro bono work through Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
Watson received her LLM in Taxation and Juris Doctor from Washington University.
Daniel P. Wheeler is a partner with the firm of Kembell Woods & Martinsen LLP. Mr. Wheeler focuses his practice on fiduciary litigation, probate administration, adult and minor guardianships, and mediation in cases throughout Missouri and Kansas.
Mr. Wheeler served as a Probate Commissioner for the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri for more than fourteen years. As Probate Commissioner, he presided over family and fiduciary disputes in trust and probate matters, including fiduciary litigation, complex trust litigation, discovery of assets actions, surety claims and general probate administration in decedent, guardianship and conservatorship estates. He has been chosen to be the probate presenter at the annual Missouri Judicial College for the past twenty-three years, and also presents annually at the conference of the Missouri Association of Probate & Associate Circuit Judges. He speaks regularly at the Missouri Bar annual meeting as well as numerous continuing legal education seminars for the Missouri Bar, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Prior to joining the bench, Mr. Wheeler was in engaged in private practice in the area of probate litigation and administration matters. He has tried thirty-three jury trials to completion, of which twenty-seven were in the probate division of the circuit courts. He is licensed in the states of Missouri and Kansas, and has completed the mediation training requirements of the Missouri Supreme Court.
Mr. Wheeler received a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Missouri - Columbia in 1981. While an undergraduate student, he was a captain of the University's cross-country and track teams, and he was a recipient of the Tom Bott's Award, the senior track leadership award. He received a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Missouri in 1985, where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society. He received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Missouri in 1985, and he was a member of the Missouri Law Review and the Order of the Coif honor society.
Justin has significant experience advising high net worth families on complex estate and gift tax planning and business succession planning. Justin graduated cum laude from Washburn University School of Law in 2007, completed a LLM in Taxation and is a CPA He is a partner at Lathrop GPM, LLP.
As a certified privacy professional and experienced attorney, Ms. Yeager has instructed on the technology behind Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Currently on sabbatical, Ms. Yeager has over 18 years of legal experience. She has participated in testing AI products and has used Artificial Intelligence for research.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Registration open
7:30-8:30 a.m. | Breakfast
8 a.m.-5 p.m. | Exhibits open
8:30-9:30 a.m. | Plenary 1
Probate legislative and case law update
The learning objective is to have all participants be aware of, understand and apply all legislative changes made in probate and trust law and procedure in the 2025 legislative session as well as the appellate rulings affecting probate and trust law and procedure made in the past 24 months.
Speakers: Daniel P. Wheeler, Kembell Woods & Martinsen LLP, Liberty; Comm. William J. Gust, Probate Commissioner-St. Louis County Court, St. Louis
9:30-9:50 a.m. | Break
9:50-10:40 a.m. | Plenary 2
Clinical capacity vs. legal competency: Bridging the gap between medicine and law
The medical and legal fields both address a similar concept of capacity/competency, yet define these similar words in divergent ways. This can lead to physicians and lawyers inadvertently talking past each other leading to misinterpretation, inaccuracy, and confusion. This session will be focused on clarifying the history & tradition of clinical capacity, how it relates to legal competency, and how to more efficiently and accurately utilize physician testimony.
Speaker: Alexander Rose, MD, MPHS, Veritas Forensic Psychiatry, Richmond Heights
10:40-11 a.m. | Break
11-11:50 a.m. | Plenary 3
Electronic wills
Speakers: Andrew M. Mitchell, Kembell Woods & Martinsen, LLP, St. Louis; Hon. Misty A. Watson, Saint Louis County Probate Court, St. Louis
11:50 a.m.-1 p.m. | Lunch
1-1:50 p.m. | Breakout 1A
Estate planning for the blended family
A discussion of the planning issues and pitfalls that can be encountered in estate planning for spouses in "blended" families-where each spouse may have children from prior marriages/relationships.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Edward F. Reilly, Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard, P.C., Clayton
1-1:50 p.m. | Breakout 1B
Ethical issues facing professional fiduciaries (1.2 Ethics hours)
A panel of professional fiduciaries and investment professionals will be discussing ethical issues faced by professional fiduciaries in connection with trust and investment management.
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Peter Palumbo, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., St. Louis; Jack Cantalin, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., St. Louis; Mike Bartolacci, ArchBridge Family Office, St. Louis; Jennifer L. Sanwald, ArchBridge Family Office, St. Louis
1:50-2:20 p.m. | Exhibitor Break
2:20-3:10 p.m. | Breakout 2A
Divorce and probate
Speakers: Clayton G. Kuhn, Sandberg Phoenix & Von Gontard PC, St. Louis; Christopher Karlen, Growe Eisen Karlen Eilerts, St. Louis
2:20-3:10 p.m. | Breakout 2B
Care contracts for the aging family member
There is a significant and growing trend for family members and close friends to serve as caregivers for their aging parents or loved ones. This program will include information on understanding and utilizing a personal care contract, the essential elements of a personal care contract, and Mo HealthNet considerations.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: M. Brigid Fernandez, Fernandez Elder Law, LLC, St. Louis
3:10-3:30 p.m. | Break
3:30-4:30 p.m. | Plenary 4
Peeking under the hood: How the technology of AI leads to discrimination and bias (1.2 Ethics hours | 1.2 Bias hours)
Advising others on the use of AI (artificial intelligence), or using AI yourself, requires an understanding of the technology behind AI and machine learning. As courts are reporting, use of AI in legal research is fraught with risk. This can be more easily managed if you understand the basics of the technologies. And, as consumers are reporting, biased decisions are being made. Managing such risks: it is what our profession does.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: B. Joyce Yeager, Author, editor, researcher, CIPP/U.S., CIPM, CIPT, FIP, Lawrence KS
4:30-6 p.m. | Reception
6 p.m. | Adjourn
Friday, November 7, 2025
7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Registration open
7:30-8:30 a.m. | Breakfast
8 a.m.-1 p.m. | Exhibits open
8:30-9:30 a.m. | Plenary 5
Subtle art of mentoring
The presentation is geared toward attorney wellbeing and how the development of strong mentor/mentee relationship can help enhance your legal practice.
Speaker: Heather M. Hall, Hall Legal Group LLC, St. Peters
9:30-10 a.m. | Exhibitor Break
10-10:50 a.m. | Breakout 3A
Powers of attorney - Litigation and lessons learned
Have you ever wondered: Who is entitled to an accounting from an attorney-in-fact? How do I request one? Who has standing to assert claims against an attorney-in-fact? What constitutes a principal's "estate plan" under section 404.714.1? Can attorneys-in-fact EVER make gifts of the principals' property to themselves?! If so, then this is the presentation for you!
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Timothy F. McCurdy, The McCurdy Law Firm, LLC, Chesterfield; Aaron K. Kirkland, Kembell Woods & Martinsen LLP, Overland Park, KS
10-10:50 a.m. | Breakout 3B
Probate administration
Speakers: Betty H. Schaefer, Kembell Woods & Martinsen LLP, St. Louis; Comm. Amy B. DeGraeve, Jackson Co. Circuit Court, Kansas City
10:50-11:10 a.m. | Break
11:10-12 p.m. | Breakout 4A
The art of trial practice
Speaker: Kelley F. Farrell, Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch, LC, St. Louis; Andrew W. Blackwell, Blitz, Bardget & Deutsch, LC, St. Louis
11:10-12 p.m. | Breakout 4B
Guardianship after letters
This session will explore the practical and legal considerations that arise after letters of guardianship or conservatorship have been issued. Focusing on post-appointment responsibilities, oversight, and common challenges, the presentation will provide insights into advising guardians and conservators and protecting the interests of wards and protectees. Topics will include statutory duties, medical and placement decisions, asset management, and reporting requirements.
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Joshua S. Rose, Kembell Woods & Martinsen LLP, St. Louis; Maria Miskovic, Care Choice Care Management, St. Louis; Tiffannie M. Kennedy, The Probate Law Center, Kansas City
12-1 p.m. | Lunch
1:10-2 p.m. | Plenary 6
Drafting and planning with retirement benefits: Navigating the post-2024 rules on separate account treatment, trust modifications, and powers of appointment
Join us for an interactive panel discussion with Steve Gorin and Kathy Sherby to demystify drafting retirement provisions in your trust forms and planning with clients’ retirement benefits. Sample forms and written materials will be provided. The first part of the presentation will focus on the post-2024 final regulation rules on Separate Account Treatment, Trust Modifications, and Powers of Appointment, and what those rules mean for revising your forms and working with clients. Moderator Adrienne Davis will collect and present your questions regarding drafting and planning with retirement benefits to the panel. Attendees who have a basic working knowledge of the income tax rules governing deferrable inherited retirement benefits as modified by SECURE 2.0 and the July 2024 final regulations can expect to hit the ground running and dig into the practical questions of how to revise your forms, the questions to pose to your clients, and how to craft tailored legal advice that clients can follow.
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Kathleen R. Sherby, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, St. Louis; Steven. B. Gorin, Thompson Coburn LLP, St. Louis; Adrienne J. Davis, Moderator, MGD Law, LLC, Clayton
2-2:20 p.m. | Break
2:20-3:10 p.m. | Breakout 5A
Managing complex trust litigation: insights from the Thomas Hart Benton trust
Speaker: Hon. Mark A. Styles, Jr., Jackson County Circuit Court, Kansas City
2:20-3:10 p.m. | Breakout 5B
Estate planning for high-net-worth clients
This presentation discusses strategic planning decisions and offers tips, planning examples, calculations and formulas for working with high-net-worth clients that are balancing the desire to minimize estate tax and maximize step-up in basis for income tax purposes. There will be an analysis of planning with family limited partnerships, sales and gifts to intentionally defective grantor trusts, value-freeze strategies, defined value clauses, GST planning, grantor retained annuity trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts and estate tax mitigation strategies. Planning concepts will be explained through interactive examples.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Justin W. Whitney, Lathrop GPM LLP, Kansas City
3:10-3:30 p.m. | Break
3:30-4:30 p.m. | Plenary 7
Ethics landmines: Avoiding explosions in fiduciary representation (1.2 Ethics hours)
Fiduciary clients come with built-in conflicts, divided loyalties, and plenty of gray areas. This session maps out the ethics landmines lawyers step on most often—and how to defuse them. This interactive presentation will use factual hypotheticals to address the common ethical issues faced by attorneys, when advising clients who are acting as fiduciaries.
Learning objectives:
Speakers: Prof. Rebecca C. Morgan, Stetson College of Law, Gulfport, FL; Prof. Roberta 'Bobbi' Flowers, Stetson College of Law, St. Petersburg, FL
4:30 p.m. | Adjourn
Agenda as of 9/8/25
Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.
Hilton St. Louis Frontenac
1335 S. Lindbergh Boulevard | St. Louis, MO 63131
314-993-1100
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2 Queen Beds Deluxe Room - $169.00
1 King Bed Deluxe Room - $169.00
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2025 Annual Estate, Trust & Elder Law Institute Registration Cancellation and Refund Policy
If you request accommodations addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, email your request at least three weeks prior to the program to mobarcle@mobar.org.
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