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Harlan Accola has been in the mortgage industry for over 20 years and has worked with all types of loans. His specialty and favorite has always been working amongst the 62 plus age group with over 1,000 Reverse Mortgages which has been the most rewarding part of his career. He is now the Reverse Mortgage Director for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation.

His presentations will give you a very different perspective. He often asked his clients and professional partners, “If what you thought you knew about mortgages and financial planning was wrong, when would you want us to tell you?”

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Philip N. Jones is admitted to practice law in Oregon and Washington.  Since 1976, he has been with the firm of Duffy Kekel LLP, with offices in Portland and Vancouver.  Mr. Jones practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration and taxation, and estate and trust litigation.  He is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the Estate Planning Council of Portland. For twenty years he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he taught Estate & Gift Taxation and Federal Tax Procedure.  He is also the author of numerous articles in the Journal of Taxation and other publications.

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Spend an hour with John Lenz, CLU, ChFC, CFP® and take a deep dive into the complex world of fixed, immediate, indexed and variable annuities.

John entered the life insurance business in 1981 and has spent the last 35 years as an Agent, General Agent and Brokerage General Agent.  He earned his Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter degrees from the American College and is a Certified Financial Planner.  John is President of Lenz Financial Group in Portland and a founding member of US Annuity Partners.  John’s company employs 13 people who specialize in the design and underwriting of life insurance, annuity and LTC insurance for more than 1,000 agents in the Pacific Northwest.

John is a past member of the board of directors of the Oregon and SW Washington Financial Planning Association and past board chair of Insurance Designers of America, a national insurance marketing organization with 54 offices nationwide.  John has been an expert witness in nearly 30 arbitration, mediation and legal cases involving annuities and life insurance products.  John is the father of four children, grandfather of six, and has been married 35 years.

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After practicing estate planning as an attorney in San Francisco from 1990 – 1996, Hal Abrams worked exclusively as a planned giving director at UC Berkeley and the University of Oregon from 1996 – 2007.  He has served on the boards of both the Northern California Planned Giving Council and the Northwest Planned Giving Roundtable.  From 2007 to present, Hal has overseen broader fundraising departments at both the University of Oregon Athletic Department and at Lewis & Clark College, where he oversaw the entire fundraising operation.  Before joining Clark College as the Vice President for Development, Hal served as a fundraising consultant at the national firm of Grenzebach Glier & Assoc.

Hal has prided himself on staying current in the most advanced techniques of gift planning with complex assets.  He is also a strong proponent and advocate of utilizing the techniques of gift planning to help donors/clients to effectively use the tax code to accomplish their personal and charitable goals. 

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Pete Sommerfeld joined the gift planning team at the Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) Foundation in October 1996.  He was named the Foundation’s first Senior Philanthropic Advisor in 2010.  During his tenure at the OHSU Foundation he has collaborated with donors and their advisors to design and close a variety of gifts in support of all aspects of the OHSU mission.  In 2010 he earned a designation as a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving (CSPG) from the American Institute of Philanthropic Studies at California Sate University Long Beach.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina and received a Masters of Arts from the Western Seminary.

Share is hosting the Estate Planning Council’s annual charitable program at the Share Fromhold Service Center.  Their mission is to lead the hungry and homeless to self-sufficiency by providing food, shelter, housing, education, advocacy and compassion through the strength of the community.  Each year, with the assistance of over 3,000 volunteers, Share serves more than 10,000 hungry and homeless clients in southwest Washington.  From their start in 1979 Share has been a leader in making positive changes in the lives of many people. 

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What are the defenses available to trustees against claims brought by trust beneficiaries?   How much does one disclose – and when – in regards to trust accounting and background?  What due diligence should be in place when accepting a successor fiduciary position; or when a trust relationship is terminated?  Why is it important to have a proactive strategy in order to minimize potential conflicts?  This presentation will discuss the fundamentals of trust reporting and ways to more fully expand on defensive strategies. 

Hilary A. Newcomb has worked in the estate and trust field for her entire legal career.  She practices fiduciary litigation, probate and trust administration, estate planning, guardianships and conservatorships.  She has prior experience in the areas of taxable estate planning, charitable foundations, business formation, trust and estate dispute resolution and trial practice.  She earned her J.D. at Santa Clara University’s School of Law and her B.A. from Santa Clara University. Hilary has presented before many groups and has authored published articles about estate planning. 

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Kristen Standifer is a Financial Legal Examiner for the Washington state Securities Division.  In this position, she provides the licensing and examination unit with enforcement and legal support relating to investment adviser and broker-dealer business practices. In addition, she regularly gives presentations on topics such as regulatory compliance, financial education, Washington’s vulnerable adult statute, and preventing fraud. She serves on the Senior Issues Advisory Committee for the North American Securities Administrators Association, also known as NASAA, an association of state and provincial securities regulators. She is the chair of NASAA’s Broker-Dealer Regulatory Policy and Procedure project group.  Kristen previously worked at the Office of the Attorney General where she litigated issues related to health care and senior abuse.  She was a financial analyst prior to obtaining her law degree.

Gene Christian Presentation

Chris Cline Presentation

The Humane Society for SW Washington is hosting at their headquarters the Estate Planning Council of SW Washington.   This special event will include a facilities tour and an action packed panel discussion about estate and charitable planning.  The panelists, all of whom are experts in their fields of practice, will share experiences as to what works — and what can go bad — in estate planning. They will share their insights on starting a dialogue on how a charitable trust can benefit a client, their heirs as well as a nonprofit organization.  Of course no presentation would be complete without the psychological significance of listening to a client and being able to meet their estate planning goal.  Finally the panelists will discuss the benefits of including provisions in an estate plan for one’s beloved pet.     

Alicia “Lisa” Lowe is an attorney with Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt and brings a realistic approach to estate planning.   Gene Christian is an authority in the fields of planned giving and advancement.   Chris Cline leads the Riverview Trust Company team and will share his perspective as to how one can effectively administer an estate plan.  

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The Clark County Food Bank is hosting the Estate Planning Council of SW Washington.   Annually the Clark County Food Bank distributes over 6 million pounds of food and 5 million meals to people in need.   Through valued partnerships with 37 local agencies and multiple programs the food bank is able to collectively work toward alleviating hunger and its root causes in our community.  This presentation will include a philanthropy discussion about estate and charitable gift planning as well as tour of the food bank facilities. 

With nine years of charitable gift planning experiences in addition to 20 years in the wealth management field of trust and investments, Arlene Cogen is able to share philanthropic life lessons learned.   The presentation will discuss the important role that an advisor has in starting a philanthropic conversation with their client.  She will share practical insights on how to start this conversation, explain why it is important to listen to philanthropic oriented clients, and most importantly how it will enhance relationships. 

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Slides

Jenifer A. Jewkes is a member of the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Lane Powell PC and focuses her practice on estate and succession planning, as well as estate and trust administration for high net worth families and individuals.  As a former Tax Manager with Deloitte Tax LLP, Jenifer has experience in planning and compliance with regard to income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. She advises individuals, trusts, estates, tax-exempt organizations, corporations and partnerships on tax and planning matters.

Jamie R. Lanier is a member of the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Lane Powell PC and works with individuals and families to help them achieve their estate and personal planning goals.  Specifically, she focuses her practice on gift and estate tax issues and trust and estate administration. Jamie also has experience advising nonprofit organizations with respect to formation and compliance issues.  Prior to joining Lane Powell, Jamie served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Marc Barreca in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington.