section update
Estate Planning & Probate Section Update
By Robert E. Turner, Chair
Turner Law, P.C.
[email protected]
S
now and ice everywhere. . . . We were iced out of our
last scheduled monthly meeting set for February 12
at the Buckhead Club. Finally, the forecasters got the
weather right, and the Buckhead Club and the Atlanta Bar
canceled the meetings. I hope everyone made it safely and
warmly through the snow and ice storm without any great
inconvenience.
Our Section’s greatest loss from the winter weather was
not being able to hear Georgia State University Law School
Professor Sam Donaldson speak on “Estate Planning for
Married Couples: Stepped-Up Basis, Asset Protection,
Portability, and More.” More than 70 people had registered to
attend the event. Professor Donaldson’s topics dealing with
basis, income tax and the new landscape of estate planning
are particularly important to all estate planners
since the enactment of the Tax Relief Act of
2010 increased the estate tax credit to allow
an individual to transfer $5,000,000 and a
married couple to transfer $10,000,000 estate
tax free at death. While we regret not hearing
Professor Donaldson’s presentation, we plan to
invite him in the next fiscal year, which begins
in June of 2014.
Hearings. The Georgia Tax Tribunal hears petitions seeking
review of actions of the Georgia Department of Revenue and,
thus, provides a way to resolve a disputed tax matter short of
filing an action in court. As Judge Beaudrot discussed during
his presentation, this system allows for the resolution of such
disputes in a reasonable, cost-efficient way.
As part of our Estate Planning & Probate Section’s ongoing
support of the Atlanta metro area community, our members
regularly volunteer to assist the financially disadvantaged at
the Probate Information Centers (“PIC”) for DeKalb and Fulton
County Probate Courts. In fact, our Section members helped
begin the PICs in both the DeKalb and Fulton County Courts,
and we are proud to continue that support today.
On March 6, our Section gathered for a Social
at Gordon Biersch in Buckhead with the Atlanta
Bar Tax and Elder Law Sections, as well as
the Financial Planners of Georgia. The Social
gave us an excellent opportunity to meet
other professionals with diverse backgrounds
performing work in the estate planning and
probate area.
On March 12, we hosted a Section breakfast
at the Buckhead Club. The feature speaker for
that event was the Hon. Charles R. Beaudrot,
Jr. of the newly created Georgia Tax Tribunal.
Judge Beaud