By The Kansas Bankers Association
The 41st Annual MOKAN Trust & Financial Services Conference was held virtually on August 17, 18 and 19th. Over 200 attendees and 44 valued sponsors joined in. Thank you to the attendees, sponsors and speakers for making this event so successful given the uncertain times we live in!
Kicking off the program on Monday was Robert Hodges and Haley Van Loon with Brown Winick Law Firm, covering the topic of “Functional Fiduciary Liability Reduction.” They discussed the best practices for managing fiduciary risk prior to and during litigation. Next, Michael Daly, with Pohl Consulting, talked about “The Zig Zag of Cannabis, Trust and Investment.” He provided both legal context and trends and the practicalities of how to plan for and protect investment and reputation. The last session of the morning was on the topic of “Ethical Hazards for Trust Officers and Fiduciary Services Companies,” presented by Robert Kirkland and Alice Haseltine with Kirkland Woods & Martinsen, LLP. They presented real-life scenarios on how to handle conflicts of interest, multiple generation representations and much more. The afternoon sessions included a Stretch IRA session given by Chris Hoyt, Professor of Law for the University of Missouri, School of Law, and Charitable Gift Planning, presented by Ruth Brackney and Joe Growney with Lathrop GPM LLP. Day one ended with a virtual tradeshow with our valued sponsors.
Tuesday morning began with two general sessions. The first was by Chris Kuehl, Armada Corporate Intelligence, entitled “2020 — The Year of Living Dangerously (Economically Speaking).” He covered an array of potential problems on the horizon. Following this, Samuel Donaldson, Georgia State University College of Law, shared his topic of “Federal Tax Update.” Donaldson recapped the important cases, rulings, regulations, and legislation from the past 12 months related to federal income. Immediately after lunch, the audience heard from Lauren Wolven, Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC, “Greasing a Trust’s Squeaky Wheel” and Michael Barnes, Director of the Sports Arts Entertainment with ANDERS, “Planning for Unique Assets.” Day two ended with a virtual tradeshow with our valued sponsors.
Wednesday morning, Michael Kitces, with Buckingham Wealth Partners, discussed “Trusts as Beneficiaries.” He explored the unique retirements for IRAs to preserve and maximize their tax deferral after death when a trust is the beneficiary, with details about the rules for trusts to qualify for the IRA’s post-death tax deferral “stretch.” His second session for the morning was on “Expanding the Framework of Safe Withdrawal Rates” and how to determine a safe amount of retirement spending. This concluded the 41st MOKAN Trust and Financial Services Conference.
Please mark your calendars for MOKAN 2021 to be held May 12, 13, and 14 at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, Kansas City, Missouri!
The Kansas Bankers Association
This story appears in Issue 5 2020 of The Kansas Banker Magazine.
