The Connecticut High Net Worth Conference

7:30am – 8:30am

Registration and Breakfast

8:30am – 8:40am

Welcome Remarks

Dean John Chalykoff, Sacred Heart University, Jack Welch College of Business

8:40am – 10:10am

The Impact of the 2017 Tax Act on Tax & Estate Planning

The 2017 Tax Act introduced sweeping changes to tax and estate planners and provides for new opportunities for estate tax and tax basis planning.  Our panel of experts will review the relevant changes to income and estate tax rules and will discuss the effects of these changes on lifetime and testamentary planning.

Moderator: Shelby Wilson, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Danny Pannese, Professor, Sacred Heart University
• Barry Fischman, CPA, Marcum, LLP
• Anthony Vitiello, Esq., Connell Foley, LLP

10:10am – 10:30am

Coffee Break

10:30am – 12:00pm

New Opportunity Zone Legislation & Planning

Perhaps the most novel new provision of the Tax Code is Section 1400Z, which changes the way unrealized capital gains are treated to encourage long term investments in low-income communities.  This panel will provide a brief introduction to the provisions of the statute, review the status of the proposed regulations, and will discuss the potential ways that the statute could assist clients in using this legislation to minimize capital gains while making a profitable investment.

Moderator: Heather Lee, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Jay Serpe, JP Morgan Private Bank
• Mark Wilensky, Esq., Meltzer Lippe, Golstein & Breitstone, LLP
• Dina Friedman, JP Morgan Private Bank

12:00pm – 1:00pm

Lunch

1:00pm – 2:00pm

Track A: Creeping Palm Disease: Residency & Domicile Planning

Given the high cost of living, and tax rates, and estate taxes, more and more taxpayers are seeking to shift their residency to other locations and leave their old state behind.  Unfortunately, most do not consider the many factors the states look at when determining a taxpayer’s residency and domicile for tax purposes.  Our panel of experts will review the factors considered by states, and what practitioners and their clients need to consider when making a change of domicile that will withstand scrutiny.

Moderator:  Eric L. Green, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Noelle Geiger, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC
• Felicia Hoeniger, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC
• Anthony Switajewski, CPA, BlumShapiro

Track B: Transferring the Family Business

Whether through interfamily transfer or sale to a third party, counseling families in the transfer of closely-held business interests can be the most challenging and rewarding assistance professionals can provide.  Aside from income and estate tax considerations, industry regulations, valuation issues, and family relationships all enter into the picture.  This panel will review some of the components and considerations professionals face in planning for families with businesses across a wide range of industries, and how various professionals can work together to help clients formulate and carry out a workable (and hopefully successful) plan.

Moderator:  Shelby Wilson, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• J. Robert Turnipseed, Esq., Armbrecht Jackson
• Mark Sklarz, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC
• Larry Ganim, Ganim Financial

2:00pm – 2:50pm

Track A: Selecting a Domicile for the Family Trust

While most trusts are established in the jurisdiction in which the Grantor resides, there are many reasons to establish trusts in other states.  This program will discuss reasons why a client should consider other jurisdictions, and what factors they and their practitioners should consider when “jurisdiction shopping.”

Moderator:  Shelby Wilson, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Al King, South Dakota Trust Company
• Anthony Vitiello, Esq., Connell Foley, LLP

Track B: Dealing with a Decedent’s Tax Issues

Hidden offshore bank accounts, a second set of books, unreported taxable gifts and fraudulent income tax returns. This panel will discuss these issues as well as issues for the fiduciary who has to probate the estate, file returns and distribute assets.

Moderator: Eric L. Green, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Frank Agostino, Esq., Agostino & Associates
• Barbara Kaplan, Esq., Greenberg Traurig
• J. Robert Turnipseed, Esq., Armbrecht Jackson

2:50pm – 3:05pm

Coffee Break

3:05pm – 4:00pm

Track A: Divorce Part I: Planning to Protect the Client and the Family Business before and During the Marriage

Given that almost half of all marriages end in divorce, planners need to consider this prospect when helping the family business plan for survival and a successful transition.  Join us as our panel covers the issues and potential divorce, and what practitioners need to have their clients consider when planning for the family business.

Moderator: Ron Insana, Tengler Wealth Management

Panelists:

• Shelby Wilson, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC
• Sheila Charmoy, Esq., Charmoy & Charmoy
• William Murray, CPA, MPI

Track B: The Sale of Personal Goodwill: What Every Corporate Owner Needs to Know!

When corporate owners sell their business, the tax consequences can be significant: corporate level capital gains, followed by ordinary income distribution.  However, if planned properly, the owner can sell his “personal goodwill” and avoid most of that, ending up with a personal capital gain only.  Listen in as our panel of experts – including the attorney who actually tried the case authorizing this planning technique – walk you through what clients need to do to maximize their return on the sale of their business!

Moderator: Jason Marsh, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Frank Agostino, Esq., Agostino & Associates
• Mark Sklarz, Green & Sklarz LLC

4:00pm – 5:00pm

Track A: Divorce Part II: What to do When All Hell Breaks Loose

So now the divorce occurs, and of course the client did not listen to their planners.  We have hidden accounts, screwed up planning, assets in the names of nominees, etc.  All the fun things in life are now on the table, and we are scrambling to salvage what we can.  Our panel of experts will explain the various pitfalls, what happens when clients do not do the planning we told them to do, what the fallout of that looks like, and what can be done to help fix these issues.

Moderator:  Eric L. Green, Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Christopher Hansen, Esq., Law Offices of Christopher M. Hansen
• Peter Bryniczka, Esq., Schoonmaker, George, Colin, Blomberg, PC
• Walter Pagano, CPA, CFP, Eisner Amper

Track B: What Happens When the Planning is NOT Done: The Ins-and-Outs of Probate Litigation

Client’s either plan for a smooth transition of assets in the planner’s office, or head to the litigators office when they don’t.  Our panel will discuss the most litigated issues and why so many families end up at each other’s throats when mom and dad “leave it to the kids to sort out later.”

Moderator:Jeffrey Sklarz, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC

Panelists:

• Kellianne Baranowsky, Esq., Green & Sklarz LLC
• Lawrence Grossman, Green & Sklarz LLC

5:00pm

Program Ends