The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) is a national association of leading trust and estate attorneys.  ACTEC contributes to the field of trusts and estates law through scholarship, teaching, and bar leadership activities.  BakerHostetler's private wealth planning attorneys have a long and active history with ACTEC.  Recently, BakerHostetler's participation helped with the design and launch of the ACTEC Wealth Advisor App.  BakerHostetler partner Edward Beckwith collaborated with other ACTEC Fellows to produce this powerful planning resource for wealth management professionals, which is available free of cost for the iPad®.

One nationally recognized private wealth attorney noted that the app offers a remarkable compilation of trust and estate resources previously available only to ACTEC members.

The ACTEC Wealth Advisor App offers users state-by-state summaries of important estate planning statutes, relevant tax rates and calculators, and articles that examine current developments in trusts and estates law.  More specifically, the app offers the following summaries:

  • State Transfer Taxes: Estate and inheritance tax highlights for each state
  • Taxation of Non-grantor Trusts: A state-by-state quick reference guide for income taxation of non-grantor trusts
  • Rule Against Perpetuities: A state-by-state quick reference guide for rules against perpetuities in effect in each state
  • Domestic Asset Protection: Laws of those states that have enacted self-settled domestic asset protection legislation
  • Trust Investment Statutes: Uniform Prudent Investment Act (UPIA) guide for each state that has enacted a version of the UPIA, as well as other modern trust investment statutes
  • Decanting: Rules in those states that have passed trust decanting statutes, as well as proposed decanting legislation in other states
  • No-contest Clauses: Rules regarding the enforceability of no-contest clauses in wills and trusts

The app also offers a regularly updated reference to the Applicable Federal Interest Rates, as well as the monthly 7520 rates for valuing charitable interests in trusts.  The app's GRAT calculation feature allows users to quickly analyze the feasibility of Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts under varying assumptions as to amount, interest rate, term, and payment increases.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.