Greetings from the Steering Committee
Welcome to the October edition of the Estates, Trusts and Probate Section Newsletter! Your steering committee has been busy planning events and we have many exciting announcements.
We hope you will join us at our 2009-2010 Luncheon Program Series. Our Program Committee, under the leadership of Paul D. Pearlstein and with the invaluable assistance of Kate M.H. Kilberg, Andrea Sloan, and Kimberly Martin Turner, has assembled some outstanding speakers on a variety of topics. You will find details on this year’s program series in this newsletter. Members who subscribe to the entire series by October 31st will receive a reduced rate. For those of you on the Fiduciary Panel, Judge Burgess is giving credit for attendance at our luncheon programs. Forms will be available at the registration desk.
We continue our community outreach by volunteering at Bread for the City’s Advice and Referral Clinic on the second Saturday of the month and at the Probate Resource Center on every Tuesday. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Ed Varrone for Bread for the City and Elizabeth Campbell (D.C. Bar Pro Bono Office, 202-737-4700, ext. 3295) for the Probate Resource Center. We have also received permission from the Board of Governors to sponsor our second annual Holiday Gift Drive for nursing home residents and are hopeful to receive its response soon.
This year, at the suggestion of Judge Rhonda Reid Winston, we are expanding our community outreach to include a new seminar for D.C. residents called Planning Ahead. Please read Judge Reid Winston’s article to learn more about this community outreach effort, which launched on Tuesday, October 13th at THEARC in Southeast. This is not a professional development course, but is intended to educate D.C. residents who have little or no experience in estate planning. Many thanks to Judge Winston and Larry Frazier who have been instrumental in the planning for our launch; to Judge Burgess for his support of this project and his willingness to moderate the panel; and to the members of our first panel: Larry Frazier, Kimberly Martin Turner, and Ed Varrone. Please spread the word about this program to your clients and friends. If you are interested in participating in a future seminar, please contact us.
The leadership of the D.C. Bar has selected our Section for two pilot programs this year: the Telephone Registration Pilot Project and the Section Listserv Pilot Project. Details on these two exciting pilot programs are included in this newsletter. Our experiences in these pilots will help determine whether all D.C. Bar sections participate in the future. Stay tuned!
Section membership has many rewards: professional development through our programs, CLE, and Guardian Support Group; community outreach opportunities through the Advice and Referral Clinic at Bread for the City, the Probate Resource Center, and the Planning Ahead seminars; networking at all of our events and at our annual Judicial Reception. If you have not already joined, please do! If you are already a member, please encourage your colleagues to join the section!
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events! The opinions and feedback of section members are important to us. Please contact us regarding legislation, newsletter articles, event themes, or projects of interest. If you have any suggestions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact one of us.
Kimberly Kyle Edley and Catherine Mary Rafferty,
Cochairs, steering committee of the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law
Section
Back to Top
Community Outreach Program for the Public
By Judge Rhonda Reid Winston
The Estates, Trusts and Probate Section of the D.C. Bar will kick-off a series of seminars designed to provide the public with information about wills, durable financial and health care powers of attorney, and other means of protecting and managing assets during their lives, during periods of incapacity, and after death. The first program, “Planning Ahead,” will be held at THEARC in Ward 8 on October 13, 2009 at 6:00–8:00 p.m. and will feature a panel of estate planning attorneys. Subsequent programs will be held in other wards of the District to reach as many District of Columbia citizens as possible.
The Probate Division is very excited about this informational series. It is important that people know 1) they can decide how their assets will be handled when they die or become incapacitated; 2) the proper means of ensuring that their wishes are followed; and 3) the consequences of failing to make the proper plans. It is clear from the cases that are handled in this Division that many of our citizens simply are not informed or have inadequate knowledge about these issues. Our hope is that having access to information about advance planning will help many citizens avoid the necessity for guardianships and conservatorships, and will facilitate the pre-death management and the post-death transfer of their assets without expensive litigation.
Each week, the judges in the Probate Division handle, on average, eight to ten initial hearings in new interventions, hearings to decide whether to grant intervention petitions, and hearings to decide issues arising post-appointment. A large number of these cases would not be in court had the subjects executed the proper advance planning documents before becoming incapacitated. Moreover, in those cases in which challenges are made to properly executed advance planning documents, the time and expense—financial and emotional—involved in hearings would be greatly reduced.
Similarly, in administration cases, the Probate Division judges must often decide issues which would not have arisen if decedents had executed testamentary documents before death—and had executed them properly. Frequently, individuals believe all they need to do is simply tell their relatives who should have their property after they die, and their wishes will be honored. Frequently they believe that their survivors will cooperate with one another and do what is “fair” in distributing their property. Frequently they are wrong. Unfortunately, the consequences of these and other beliefs are litigation and the attendant expenditure of much time, money, and emotional energy—none of which the decedent would have wanted. And unfortunately the litigation often results in dispositions of property and assets—at least, what remains after litigation—which may be inconsistent with the decedent’s wishes. In short, had the decedents known the requirements of the law, litigation could have been avoided.
Surely the information disseminated during this series will not prevent
all the problems that exist in cases in the Probate Division. However,
it will undoubtedly go a long way toward reducing some of the “unintended”
results of failure to plan. Kudos and many thanks are extended to the
Estates, Trusts and Probate Section of the Bar for recognizing the importance
of educating the public about the need to plan ahead.
Back to Top
Save the Dates for the 2009-2010 Program Series!
To keep members abreast of legal concepts and current developments, the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section offers a luncheon program series.
All of the programs will be held in the D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1101 K Street, NW, Washington, D.C., from 12:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. EST. A light lunch will be served at each.
This year’s programs are as follows:
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Anomalies in the Law and the Nuts & Bolts of Old Law Probate Practice
Speakers: James Larry Frazier, Esquire, Law Offices
of James Larry Frazier
William E. Davis, Esquire, Jackson & Campbell, P.C.
Nicholas D. Ward, Esquire, Law Office of Nicholas D. Ward
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Intimacy Issues in Elder Law
Speakers: Arnettia S. Wright, Esquire, Wright Law Group,
P.C.
Marie Therese Connolly, Esquire, Woodrow Wilson Center Senior Scholar;
Coordinator, Elder Justice and Nursing Home Initiative US Department
of Justice; and Senior Trial Counsel, Civil Division
Mattie Labrador, Director of Nursing, The Specialty Hospital of Washington
– Hadley Skilled Nursing Facility
Moderator: James Larry Frazier, Esquire, Law Offices
of James Larry Frazier
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The New D.C. Vacant Property Tax
Speakers: Nicholas Majett, Chief, Exemption Section,
D.C. Tax Office
Mark G. Griffin, Esquire, Griffin & Murphy LLP
Roy L. Kaufmann, Esquire, Jackson & Campbell, P.C.
Moderator: Leroy M. Fykes, Jr., Expert Legal Services
Chartered
Cosponsoring Sections: D.C. Affairs & Real Estate, Housing and Land
Use
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Dealing with Mentally Ill and Aging Clients & Capacity Issues
Speakers: Charlie Sabatino, Esquire, Director, American
Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging
Carol Cole Kleinman, MD, JD, DFAPA
Moderator: Paul D. Pearlstein, Esquire, Attorney at
Law
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Community Property for the East Coast Practitioner
Speakers: Deborah Y. Luxenberg, Esquire, Founder and
Senior Partner, Luxenberg, Johnson & Dickens PC
Jane Moretz Edmisten, Esquire, Trusts and Estates Professor, The George
Washington University Law School
Moderator: Kate M.H. Kilberg, Esquire, Law Offices
of Virginia A. McArthur
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries
Speaker: Robert Bunn, Esquire, Law Offices of Robert
Bunn
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Ask the Register of Wills
Speaker: Anne Meister, Esquire, D.C. Register of Wills
Moderator: Kimberly Kyle Edley, Esquire, Attorney at
Law
Thursday, June 17, 2010
D.C., MD & VA Update
Speakers: William E. Davis, Esquire, Jackson &
Campbell, P.C.
Charles S. Abell, Esquire, Furey, Doolan & Abell, LLP
Kimberly Martin Turner, Esquire, Law Office of Kimberly Martin Turner,
PLLC
Moderator: Morris Klein, Esquire, Attorney at Law
Cosponsoring Section: Taxation
Fees for the Series, if subscribed for the series by October
31, 2009
$250.00 for Section Members and Subscribers
$330.00 for Non-Section Members
Fees for Individual Programs:
$28.00 Section Members and Subscribers
$35.00 Non-Section Members
$25.00 Government and Non-profit Employees
$15.00 Law Students
Registration
Series Registration:
Registration for the entire series is only available by telephone, fax
or postal mail. The deadline for series registration is October 31,
2009. Contact the D.C. Bar Sections Office at 202-626-3463 for more
information.
Individual Program Registration:
Online registration for individual programs is available at the D.C.
Bar Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section.
Back to Top
D.C. Superior Court Probate Divison Telephone Directory (2009-2010)
CLERK’S OFFICE |
|
Order Desk/Deputy Clerk |
879-9460/879-9461 |
Cashier/Deputy Clerk |
879-9420 |
Jeremie E. Johnson, Supervisor |
879-9408 |
AUDITING BRANCH |
|
Duty Auditor |
879-9447 |
Vandell Swann, Appraiser |
879-9445 |
Maria Kancev, Auditing Deputy Clerk |
879-9434 |
P. Allen Butler, III, Branch Manager |
879-9429 |
Alicia A. Purkapile, Supervisory Auditor |
879-9431 |
LEGAL BRANCH |
|
(includes Small Estates) |
|
Cassandra Signifis, Legal Deputy Clerk |
879-9448 |
Janice McDowell, Small Estate Specialist |
879-9411 |
Michael L. Barnes, Small Estate Specialist |
879-9410 |
Karla Saguil, Deputy Register of Wills and Legal Branch Manager |
879-9402 |
QUALITY ASSURANCE OFFICE |
|
(includes order processing and courtroom support) |
|
Jonathan Motley, Supervisor |
879-9421 |
Toni King, Quality Assurance Specialist |
879-9426 |
SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION OFFICE |
|
(includes Web site and remote public access and appointments, Computers in the Courtroom pilot project) |
|
Dung Nguyen, Administrator |
879-9406 |
Allen Baylor, Systems Deputy Clerk/archives requests |
879-9476 |
OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OF WILLS |
|
Carla Gales, Administrative Assistant, Register of Wills |
879-9401 |
Nana Perry, Guardianship Assistance Program Manager |
879-9407 |
PROBATE COURTROOMS |
|
Courtroom 51 |
879-9468 |
Courtroom 48 |
879-2848 |
Back to Top
Community Outreach and Pro Bono Opportunities
Community Outreach Program for the Public
The D.C. Bar Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section will host a series of seminars for the public. The first program, “Planning Ahead,” featured a panel of estate planning attorneys who shared information about wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents. The program was held at THEARC in Ward 8 on October 13, 2009 from 6:00–8:00 p.m. Subsequent programs will be held quarterly in other locations across the District of Columbia. The goal is to disseminate information to as many District of Columbia residents as possible. If you are interested in volunteering to speak to the public at one of the seminars, please contact James Larry Frazier at (202) 544-9455 or frazieresq@aol.com or Catherine Mary Rafferty at 202-244-0608 or cm.rafferty@verizon.net.
D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program Advice & Referral Clinic
Section members are encouraged to participate in the D.C. Bar Pro Bono
Program's Advice and Referral Clinics held on the second Saturday of
each month from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon (orientation at 9:30 a.m.)
at Bread for the City, 1525 Seventh Street, NW The D.C. Bar Pro Bono
Program Advice & Referral Clinic is designed to provide brief services
by offering pro se individuals the opportunity to discuss with volunteer
attorneys certain kinds of matters governed by D.C. or federal law,
including bankruptcy/debt collection, consumer law, employment law,
family law, health law, housing law, immigration/asylum, personal injury,
probate, public benefits, and tax law. All services are provided free
of charge. The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program's Advice and Referral Clinic
is limited to providing general information, advice, and brief services,
and does not provide representation. To volunteer, contact the D.C.
Bar Pro Bono Program at (202) 737-4700, ext. 3380.
D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program’s Probate Resource Center
The Probate Resource Center is operated by the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program
to provide free legal services to unrepresented parties or potential
parties in the Probate Division of D.C. Superior Court. The Probate
Resource Center represents a continuum of services currently offered
by the Pro Bono Program’s Advice and Referral Clinics, with the
capacity to provide customers with an extended level of analysis and
brief services, including assistance with the Petition for Probate,
explanation of the distribution of assets and general help navigating
the probate process. Volunteer attorneys are not expected to retain
clients served through the Resource Center. Volunteers should have experience
in estate administration. Volunteer attorneys sign up to staff the Probate
Resource Center (in Building A of D.C. Superior Court) on a Tuesday
afternoon, 12:30-4:30 pm, and receive pre-screened customer packets
(for the appointments scheduled that day) that the volunteer attorney
can review in advance. Attorneys interested in volunteering for the
Probate Resource Center should contact Elizabeth R. Campbell, esq.,
at ecampbell@dcbar.org, or
(202) 737-4700 ext. 3295.
Back to Top
Superior Court News
Technology in the Court!
Wireless Internet: Wireless Internet access is available during regular business hours in Building A, Building B and in the Moultrie Courthouse. Wireless internet service is not available at the public computers. To access this service from your phone or laptop, click on the Internet Explorer icon; you will be directed to the WiFi login page. Type the word “guest” in the user ID field and “guest1” in the password field. Once you review and accept the terms and conditions (including the provision that prohibits the use of wireless internet in the courtrooms without permission), you will be able to surf the web.
Computers in the Courtroom: The computers in the Probate
Division Courtrooms can be used to make presentations to the Court while
the court is in session.
Back to Top
Other Notes and Annoucements
Join the Estates, Trusts, and Probate Law Section of the D.C. Bar!
Joining the section can provide you with opportunities to advance your skills and interests and network with colleagues. Section members receive mailings, newsletters, e-mail announcements, and special discounts on events and publications, including our popular lunch programs and CLE courses. Join online at www.dcbar.org.
Judge Burgess Offers Credit to Members of the Fiduciary List for Attendance at a Luncheon Program
Members of the Fiduciary List can receive credit when they attend one or more of 10 luncheon programs sponsored by the D.C. Bar Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section. Forms to apply for credit will be available at the D.C. Bar registration desk. To remain on the Fiduciary List, each attorney is responsible for 6.00 CLE credit hours per year. The deadline to for these credits is December 1, 2009. For more information on the luncheon program series, including how to register see the article above titled “Save the Dates for the 2009-2010 Program Series!”
Holiday Gift Program
The Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section Steering Committee will
be repeating its successful and much appreciated Holiday Gift Giving
Drive from last year. The steering committee is inviting members to
contribute a small gift or two. This year, we hope to collect, wrap
and distribute more than 500 gifts for the residents of two Washington,
D.C. nursing homes: Washington Nursing Facility and Rock Creek Manor
Nursing Center. Here are some suggestions: Socks, belts, sweaters, t-shirts,
toiletries, tote bags, soaps, lotions, calendars, playing cards, holiday
music CD’s, radios, and CD players. Gifts can be brought to one
of the section’s monthly luncheon programs. If that’s not
convenient, contact Andrea Sloan at asloancat@aol.com
or (703) 438-9200 to work out other arrangements. The Estates, Trusts
and Probate Law Section, thanks you in advance for your generosity.
The Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section has been Selected to Participate in Two New Pilot Programs
ListServ Pilot Program: The D.C. Bar selected three sections, the Law Practice Management Section, the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section and the Litigation Section to participate in the ListServ Pilot Project. The Pilot Program is scheduled to launch on November 1, 2009. Paul D. Pearlstein, Morris Klein, and Andrea Sloan are serving as ListServ coordinator and alternate coordinators for the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section. A survey of all ListServ participants will be conducted in February 2010 and recommendations made to the Board of Governors shortly thereafter. If the Pilot Program is a success, it is possible that all sections will have the option of a listserv next fiscal year.
Telephone Registration Pilot Program: The D.C. Bar selected two sections, the Taxation Section and the Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section, to participate in the Telephone Registration Pilot Program. The D.C. Bar began accepting both Series and individual program registrations by telephone on August 27, 2009. To register by phone or for more information, contact the Sections Office at (202) 626-3463.
Guardian and Conservator Support Group Announces Four New Meetings
The Guardian and Conservator Support Group will meet from noon to 2:00 PM on November 13th, January 8th, March 12th, and May 7th in the third-floor conference room at the Office of the Register of Wills. The first meeting on November 13, 2009 at noon, will be conducted as a roundtable discussion. For more information, on the Guardian and Conservator Support Group, contact Leroy M. Fykes, Jr. at lfykes@mba1971.hbs.edu, or Archie L. Palmore at alpalmore@juno.com.
Back to Top
Thank You, Volunteers!
The steering committee thanks the following individuals who gave presentations at our September and October lunch programs:
Michael Maschke, Director of Computer Forensics, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Jesse Lindmar, Assistant Director of Computer Forensics, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Saul Singer, Esquire, D.C. Bar, Senior Legal Ethics Counsel
Julia O’Brien, Esquire, Furey, Doolan & Abell, LLP
We also thank the following individuals who volunteered for the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program’s Probate Resource Center in May, June, July, August, and September:
Barbara Betsock, Attorney at Law
Susan G. Blumenthal, Bryan Cave LLP
Kimberly Fahrenholz, Phyllis J. Outlaw & Associates
Tanya A. Harvey, Bryan Cave LLP
Kiran Hassan, Attorney at Law
Aidan D. Jones, Attorney at Law
Kenneth Rosenau, Rosenau & Rosenau
Katherine M. Wiedmann, Crowley, Hoge & Fein, P.C.
We also thank the following individuals who volunteered as probate mentors for the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program's Advice and Referral Clinics in July, August, September and October:
Catherine Mary Rafferty, Law Offices of Catherine Mary Rafferty
Andrea Sloan, Attorney at Law
Leroy M. Fykes, Jr., Expert Legal Services Chartered
Archie L. Palmore, Attorney at Law
Back to Top
Steering Committee Officers and Committee Assignments
Cochairs: Kimberly Kyle Edley and Catherine Mary Rafferty
Community Outreach Coordinators: James Larry Frazier
CLE Committee: Paul D. Pearlstein, Kate M. H. Kilberg, and Kimberly Martin Turner
D.C. Digest: Anne Meister, Kate M. H. Kilberg, Catherine Mary Rafferty, Kimberly Martin Turner, and Ed Varrone
D.C. Practice Manual Coordinator: Kimberly Kyle Edley
Elder Law Representative: Morris Klein
Finance: James Larry Frazier and Kate M. H. Kilberg
Secretary and Newsletter Editor: Ellen M. Klem
Guardianships & Conservatorships: Leroy M. Fykes, Jr. and Archie L. Palmore
Internet Coordinator/Listserv & E-Mail Monitor: Paul D. Pearlstein, Morris Klein and Andrea Sloan
Judicial Reception: Catherine Mary Rafferty
Legislative Updates: Morris Klein
Nominating Committee Chair: Morris Klein
Membership Drive: Ed Varrone
“Planning Ahead” Educational Panel: James Larry Frazier and Catherine Mary Rafferty
Pro Bono Liaison: Ed Varrone
Programs Committee: Paul D. Pearlstein, Kate M. H. Kilberg, and Kimberly Martin Turner
Public Statements: Anne Meister
Back to Top
Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section Steering Committee 2009-2010
The steering committee welcomes your comments and suggestions on the operation of the section, programs, and newsletter. For your convenience, our contact information is listed below:
For more information see the steering committee.
The Estates, Trusts and Probate Section Newsletter is produced up to
four times a year and is available online at the section's webpage.
The newsletter always welcomes material and suggestions for material
on recent developments in D.C., Maryland and Virginia law. Contact Ellen
M. Klem, editor at kleme@staff.abanet.org
for more information.
Back to Top
