About the Author: Martin Shenkman
Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, AEP, JD, is an attorney in private practice in Paramus, New Jersey and New York City. His practice concentrates on estate and tax planning and estate administration. Mr. Shenkman is active in many charitable causes and founded RV4TheCause, which educates professional advisers on planning for clients with chronic illness. Mr. Shenkman has written 38 books and more than 750 articles. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Wharton School, with a concentration in accounting and economics; an MBA from the University of Michigan, with a concentration in tax and finance; and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law, New York City. Mr. Shenkman is admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. He is a CPA in New Jersey, Michigan, and New York.
Jonathan Blattmachr is a principal of Eagle River Advisors, a boutique advisory firm dedicated to developing and implementing innovative wealth and gift and estate tax planning strategies on behalf of high net worth individuals and families. Mr. Blattmachr has more than 35 years of experience in trusts and estates law. He is a retired member of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and the Alaska, California, and New York Bars. He writes and lectures extensively on estate and trust taxation and charitable giving and has authored or co-authored five books and over 400 articles on estate planning topics.
He has served as a lecturer-in-law of the Columbia University School of Law and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School in its Masters in Tax Program (LLM). He is a former chairperson of the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Mr. Blattmachr is a Fellow and a former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and past chair of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee.
Mr. Blattmachr graduated from Columbia University School of Law Cum Laude, where he was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and received his A.B. degree from Bucknell University, majoring in mathematics.
Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP and is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Accredited Estate Planners (Distinguished) award from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. He was named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States and one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession.
His practice includes family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration. Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift, and income tax examinations and appeals, and he has received more than 150 favorable private letter rulings including several key rulings of "first impression." He is the author of over 100 articles and columns and is the editor, author or co-author of many books and treatises on wealth transfer and taxation.
2012 may be the most important year in history for tax planning. More wealth may be transferred in the waning months of 2012 than any other year. What can and should you do to take advantage of the potentially astounding planning opportunities that are available? What are the risks associated with this planning and how can you minimize those risks? With much of the planning so complicated how can you make decisions as to which of various alternatives are best fore you?