Brendan Beatty is the Director of the Montana Department of Revenue. Director Beatty was appointed to the position by Governor Greg Gianforte in January 2021. Prior to his appointment, Director Beatty was Tax Counsel with the Montana Department of Revenue from 1996 through 2020. Prior to his tenure with the agency, he clerked for Justice Karla Gray of the Montana Supreme Court. Director Beatty grew up in Shelby, Montana, and graduated from Shelby High School in 1986. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a law degree from the University of Montana. Director Beatty and his wife operate a cattle ranch in Flatwillow, Montana.

Derek Bell has been the Division Administrator of the Montana Department of Revenue’s Business and Income Taxes Division since May 2021. From 2005 and mid-2021, Derek was Tax Counsel and later Deputy Chief Counsel with the Montana Department of Revenue and spent the bulk of his time working on corporate income tax issues, centrally assessed property tax disputes, and litigation involving the valuation of Montana’s oil refineries. Before joining the agency in 2005, he worked at the Great Falls, Montana, law firm of Church, Harris, Johnson & Williams. Derek has degrees from the University of Montana (B.A. in History), the University of Montana School of Law (Juris Doctor), and Georgetown University (LLM in Taxation).

Turney P. Berry is with the Louisville Office of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP and the leader of the firm’s Tax, Business & Personal Planning Service Team.  Mr. Berry concentrates his practice in the areas of estate and business planning, estate and trust administration, and charitable planning. 

Mr. Berry is past Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (better known as ACTEC), has been President of the ACTEC Foundation, Kentucky State Chair, and chair of the Charitable Committee and the Estate and Gift Committee, and is currently Chair of the State Laws Committee.  He is a Uniform Law Commissioner and a member of the Joint Editorial Board for Trusts and Estates.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, a member of the American Law Institute, and serves on the Heckerling Institute Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee for Bloomberg/BNA, and the Advisory Committee for Trusts and Estates monthly. 

He is a member of the National Association of Estate Planning Councils Hall of Fame, and is listed in Woodward/White’s The Best Lawyers in America®, Kentucky Super Lawyers, and Chambers. 

Mr. Berry is a frequent lecturer and writer, teaches Business Succession Planning in the University of Miami Estate Planning LLM program, and has been an adjunct professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Law, the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, and the University of Missouri School of Law.

He chairs Louisville’s Center for Interfaith Relations, is President of the Daily Walk Sunday School class at Christ Church United Methodist in Louisville, and is Vice-Chair of the Civilian Review and Accountability Board which investigates and reviews allegations of police misconduct. He is also a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and Louisville Downtown Rotary. 

Cassady V. “Cass” Brewer, Professor of Law, teaches Basic Federal Income Taxation, Nonprofit Organizations, Taxation of Business Organizations, Corporate Taxation, Partnership Taxation, and the Law of Social Enterprise. Brewer’s research and speaking engagements generally focus on federal income taxation. Brewer also writes and speaks on the legal and tax aspects of the intersection of tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations with for-profit enterprises and commercial activity (a/k/a “social enterprise”).

Samuel A. Donaldson is a Professor of Law at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining the Georgia State faculty in 2012, he was on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Law for 13 years. At UW, Professor Donaldson served for two years as Associate Dean for Academic Administration and for six years as the Director of the law school’s Graduate Program in Taxation. He teaches a number of tax and estate planning courses, as well as courses in the areas of property, commercial law, and professional responsibility. Professor Donaldson is an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a member of the Bar in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Among his scholarly works, he is a co-author of the West casebook, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach, and a co-author of the Price on Contemporary Estate Planning treatise published by Wolters Kluwer. Professor Donaldson has served as a visiting professor of law both at Northwestern University and at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. An amateur crossword constructor, his puzzles have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other outlets.

Mr. Fitzsimons is Managing Director and Senior Fiduciary Counsel at Bessemer Trust. In this role, he is responsible for working with clients and their advisors to develop practical and efficient wealth transfer plans, and for guiding the firm on fiduciary issues. He serves as Chair of the firm’s Fiduciary Counsel Committee and its Diminished Capacity Working Group.

Prior to joining Bessemer, Dana was a partner with McGuireWoods LLP, where he practiced in the areas of fiduciary litigation and estate planning.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serves as Chair of its Long-Range Planning Committee, on its Board of Regents and on its State Laws Subcommittee. Dana serves in the ABA RPTE Section leadership on its Planning Committee. He has been recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, is a 2021 inductee into the NAEPC Association Estate Planning Hall of Fame, and frequently lectures on fiduciary topics.

Dana earned a J.D. from William & Mary Law School, where he was a member of the law review and graduated Order of the Coif, and a B.A. in music from Ithaca College School of Music. He continues to actively perform and record as a jazz and rock drummer.

Steve Gorin is a partner in Thompson Coburn LLP. In addition to helping clients of his firm, he helps lawyers throughout the country, providing specialized assistance so that they can do projects they might otherwise have been uncomfortable doing without him.

Before practicing law, Steve practiced accounting for 8 years and was a partner in a local CPA firm; he still maintains his CPA license and CGMA designation and actively participates in the Missouri Society of CPAs. For the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, Steve chairs the Employee Benefits Committee and is a past chair of the Pass-Through Entities Subcommittee of the Business Planning Committee. He is a former chair of the Business Planning Group of Committees of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section.

He is a member of NAEPC’s Estate Planning Hall of Fame and in 2021 was the first person named Distinguished Estate Planner by St. Louis’ Estate Planning Council. Best Lawyers has twice named Steve as Lawyer of the Year for St. Louis in each of Tax Law and Business Organizations (including LLCs, and Partnerships), in addition to recognizing him for Trusts & Estates and for Closely Held Companies and Family Business Law. For more about him, see his website here.

Steve’s Structuring Ownership of Privately-Owned Businesses: Tax and Estate Planning Implications is a few thousand page fully searchable PDF. To obtain the PDF and join the thousands who have decided to receive quarterly a link to the most recent version, both at no charge, go to this link.

Kim Kamin is a partner at Gresham Partners LLC, an independent wealth management firm currently serving about 120 families nationally as a multi-family office. At Gresham, Ms. Kamin serves as Chief Wealth Strategist, leading Gresham’s development and implementation of estate, wealth transfer, philanthropic, educational, and fiduciary planning activities. Previously she was a partner in the Private Clients, Trusts and Estates Group at a large national law firm where for many years her legal practice involved all aspects of trust and estate planning, administration, and dispute resolution; advising families and their privately held businesses on a wide array of wealth preservation, asset protection and succession planning issues; and serving as counsel for the formation and operation of not-for-profit entities.

Ms. Kamin is an adjunct professor at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law where she was awarded the William M. Trumbull Lectureship, and has taught Advanced Trusts and Estates, Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates, and Estate Planning. She is also on faculty for the Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®) program through the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive Education.

Ms. Kamin is on the UHNW Families & Family Offices Committee of the Trusts & Estates Magazine Editorial Advisory Board and has authored numerous pieces at http://wealthmanagement.com/author/kim-kamin. She has published on a wide variety of topics and is also a frequent lecturer in a variety of venues across the country (including for ACTEC, ALI-CLE, Family Office Exchange, Heckerling Institute, Purposeful Planning Institute, Notre Dame Tax & Estate Planning Institute, and Tulane Tax Institute).

She is co-executive editor and co-author for the Leimberg Library Tools & Techniques book, Estate Planning for Modern Families (4th Edition forthcoming 2024), and she has been a contributing author for chapters in books, including the recent Wealth of Wisdom: Top Practices for Wealthy Families and Their Advisors.

Ms. Kamin is a Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), is Past President of the Chicago Estate Planning Council, and serves on the Advisory Board, Leaders Council and as Estate Planning & Legal Issues Domain Chair for the UHNW Institute. She also serves on the Founders’ Committee for the University of Chicago Center of Law and Finance.

She serves on advisory boards for multiple local philanthropic organizations: the Chicago Community Trust Professional Advisory Council, the Art Institute of Chicago Gift Planning Advisory Committee, the Northwestern Memorial Foundation Professional Council for Philanthropy, the Goodman Theatre Spotlight Advisory Council, the Chicago Foundation for Women Professional Advisory Council, WTTW/WFMT Planned Giving Advisory Committee, PAWS T&E Professional Advisory Board (Chair), and the Executive Committee for the Lurie Children’s Legacy Partners. She also serves on the Chicago Stanford Association’s Board of Leaders. She is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, where she has served on several committees.

Ms. Kamin received her B.A., with distinction and departmental honors in Psychology, from Stanford University and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. She is an AEP® (Distinguished) Nominee and a 21/64 Certified Advisor.

Larry Katzenstein is a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis, Missouri and practices in the firm’s private client services area with a concentration on estate planning and charitable giving, and representation of exempt organizations. He regularly speaks at American Law Institute estate planning programs, and has spoken at many other national tax institutes, including the Notre Dame Tax Institute, the University of Miami Heckerling Estate Planning Institute, and the Southern Federal Tax Institute. Larry has served as an adjunct professor at the Washington University School of Law where he has taught both estate and gift taxation and fiduciary income taxation. A former chair of the American Bar Association Tax Section Fiduciary Income Tax Committee, he is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of its Charitable Planning Committee and Fiduciary Income Tax Committe, a member of the advisory board of the New York University National Center on Philanthropy and the Law, and a director of the American Council on Gift Annuities. Larry is also the creator of Tiger Tables actuarial software, which is widely used by tax lawyers and accountants nationwide. He received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis and his law degree from Harvard.

Lester B. Law is a member of Franklin Karibjanian & Law PLLC and spends time in both the Naples and Washington offices. Lester is a Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel (ACTEC), serving on various committees. He has held many leadership positions at the ABA’s RPTE section, including being a past-chair of the Income and Transfer Tax Group.  He is an active member of the Florida Bar’s RPPTL Section and is board certified in Wills Trusts and Estates law by the Florida Bar. Lester has held many leadership roles at the Florida Bar’s Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section, including chairing committees, being an editor of the Tax Notes for the Florida Bar Journal. Lester is also a member of the DC Bar. Lester is a nationally recognized speaker and author.  Presentations and venues include, University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, the Notre Dame Tax & Estate Planning Institute, ABA-RPTE meetings, Washington School of Law – Annual Estate Planning Council, and Montana Tax Institute. He was an adjunct professor at the Ave Maria School of Law, was an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, Graduate Estate Planning Program (for the past eight years), and has lectured at the Florida Banker’s Wealth Management and Trust School for the past 18 years.  Lester’s writings have been published in many national journals and publications, including Trusts & Estates, The Florida Bar Journal, Probate and Property, Bloomberg/BNA Estates, Gifts & Trusts Journal, Estate Planning, and LISI’s Newsletters. Lester is also a co-author of a book on estate planning titled Tools and Techniques of Trust Planning. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Lester was a CPA in Florida with Price Waterhouse (now PWC).

Bruce A. McGovern is a member of the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston, where he also serves as Director of the school’s Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic. Previously, he served for many years as the school’s Vice President and Associate Dean for Academic Administration. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law. After law school, he served as a judicial clerk for Judge Thomas Meskill on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. He then practiced law with the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. He subsequently earned an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he taught as a visiting faculty member before joining the faculty at South Texas College of Law Houston.

Professor McGovern teaches and writes in the areas of business organizations and taxation. He is a co-author of the treatise Federal Income Taxation of Individuals (Thomson Reuters 2003 and Supp. 2023) (with Boris I. Bittker, Martin J. McMahon, Jr., and Lawrence A. Zelenak) and a co-author of the casebook Agency, Partnerships, and Limited Liability Companies (Carolina Academic Press 2013) (with Gary S. Rosin and Michael L. Closen). His courses include Federal Income Taxation, U.S. Taxation of International Transactions, Partnership and Subchapter S Taxation, and Federal Tax Procedure. He frequently speaks on recent developments in federal income taxation. Professor McGovern is a member of the Council of the State Bar of Texas Tax Section, a former Chair of the Houston Bar Association Section of Taxation, and a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.

David Merrien is the Bureau Chief of the Audits and Pass-through (AP) Bureau at the Montana Department of Revenue. The AP Bureau is responsible for administering and auditing returns filed by partnerships and S corporations. The AP Bureau also audits individual income tax returns with a particular focus on sole proprietorships and other complex issues. David has an LLM in U.S. income taxation with an emphasis on the sourcing of income from the University of Michigan Law School. Prior to obtaining his LLM, he worked on tax treaty cases and exchange of information matters at the Embassy of France in Washington, DC.

Rachael Milne is a Tax Specialist at the Montana Department of Revenue in the Business and Income Taxes Division. She’s worked at the department for ten years, first as a Pass-Through Auditor, then as the Pass-Through Unit Manager. In her current role, she works on Montana income tax forms, administrative rule review, and assists with legislative implementation. Rachael is an Enrolled Agent and received her bachelor’s degree from Valdosta State University.

Charles A. “Clary” Redd is a partner with the firm of Stinson LLP in St. Louis, Missouri. His practice concentrates in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration and estate and trust-related litigation. He is a nationally recognized speaker and author. He is the lead presenter in Cannon Financial Institute’s monthly estate planning teleconference series. For many years he taught as an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law. Clary serves as Co-Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of, and writes a regular column in, Trusts & Estates magazine. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a fellow and past regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Clary was the principal draftsman of the Missouri Family Trust Company Act. In 2018 Clary was inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame® by the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils.

Jim Walker is a senior tax partner and a senior trust and estate partner with Lewis Roca practicing in the firm’s Denver office. His broad practice includes expert income tax planning and wealth transfer planning. In addition to planning, Jim also has decades of experience defending clients on all types of tax and T&E issues, securing landmark wins in the United States Tax Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals and in the Colorado Supreme Court. Jim is fifth-generation Coloradoan with his family homesteading in Douglas County when Colorado was still a U.S. territory. He has practiced with the firm for more than 35 years.

7:00 - 7:55 a.m.	Registration and Continental Breakfast	Breakfast is generously sponsored by Bessemer Trust
7:55 - 8:00 a.m.	Welcome	Dean Elaine Gagliardi, Section I sponsored by Parsons, Behle & Latimer
8:05 - 9:05 a.m.	Review of the Past Year’s Significant, Curious, or Downright Fascinating Fiduciary Cases	Dana Fitzsimons Jr. - This session will review selected reported fiduciary litigation decisions from 2021 that relate to multiple areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, the fiduciary duties of agents, administrators, trustees, and other fiduciaries, related trial practice, and identifying and navigating contemporary fiduciary challenges.
9:05 - 10:05 a.m.	Easement Payments: Planning Can reduce the Income Tax Bite	Jim Walker - This session covers the unique and challenging income tax issues associated with public utility easement payments. Characterizations of utility payments can vary from ordinary income to capital gain (with several different basis offset options) to gain deferral under Section 1033's favorable condemnation rules. The session will provide tax practitionaers with the tools necessary to navigate clients through alternative structuring possibilities.
10:05 - 10:20 a.m.	Break	Sponsored by UM School of Law
10:20 - 11:20 a.m.	The Income Tax Charitable Deduction:  What’s Deductible, What’s Not, and How to Plan for Lifetime Charitable Gifts	Larry Katzenstein - This talk addresses the complex rules governing the income tax deduction for charitable contributions. Expect answers to granular questions such as: What are the limitations on amount? What are the substantiation requirements by recipients? This presentation also covers the bigger-picture planning considerations: Why are some lifetime gifts better than bequests? Why are some gifts to charity not deductible at all? This presentation will address it all.
11:20 - 12:20 p.m.	Selected Estate Planning Recent Developments - Part I	Turney Berry & Charles A. “Clary” Redd – This presentation reviews the most recent cases, rulings, and regulations promulgated in the area of wealth transfer taxation. The presentation discusses implications of the developments and offers estate planning and drafting techniques in response.
12:20-1:15	Lunch
1:15 - 2:15 p.m.	Selected Estate Planning Recent Developments - Part II	Section II Sponsored by WIPFLI Turney Berry & Charles A. “Clary” Redd - This presentation reviews the most recent cases, rulings, and regulations promulgated in the area of wealth transfer taxation. The presentation discusses implications of the developments and offers estate planning and drafting techniques in response.
2:15 - 3:15 p.m.	A Potpourri of Estate Planning Considerations for Modern Families	Kim Kamin – As the traditional nuclear family has changed, estate planning professionals must be prepared to both identify concerns and thoughtfully problem solve for issues clients face. This discussion will touch upon a variety of issues to consider, including: marital status (single, divorced, unmarried couples, and polyamorous relationships), defining descendants (stepchildren, adoption, nonmarital -children, and assisted reproductive technologies), other forms of diversity (disability, LGBTQIA+, religious, racial, and cultural inclusion), drafting for flexibility. . . and more!
3:15 - 3:30 p.m.	Break	Sponsored by UM Foundation
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.	Nuances of Estate and Gift Tax Preparation	Lester Law - This presentation addresses a number of key issues to consider when filing federal estate and gift tax returns. It reviews key decision points when deciding whether to make a portability election, opt out of the GST automatic allocation rules for GST tax, and make certain funding decisions.
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.	Montana Legislative Update	Brendan Beatty, Derek Bell, David Merrien, & Rachael Milne – This presentation brings experts from Montana’s Department of Revenue to discuss tax administration in the state of Montana. The presentation will focus on recapping the 2023 legislative session and new laws that impact state and local tax matters.
5:30 - 6:15 p.m.	Cocktail Reception in the Atrium	Sponsored by First Trust Company

7:00 - 7:50 a.m.	BETTR Law Section of the State Bar of Montana	Annual meeting in the back of the seminar room.
8:00 - 9:00 a.m.	Revenue Procedure 2022-19: Inadvertent Termination Relief for S Corporations	Steve Gorin – Revenue Procedures 2022-19 and 2013-30 provide guidance on relief from inadvertent terminations of S Corporations. This presentation explains the ways S Corporations and their shareholders can avoid having to request a private letter ruling and get retroactive relief.
9:00 - 9:45 a.m.	Current Developments in Partnership and Corporate Taxation	Bruce McGovern & Cass Brewer – This current year brings a number of developments in the areas of partnership and corporate taxation. This session reviews the most significant statutory enactments, judicial decisions, IRS rulings, and Treasury regulations promulgated during the last 12 months that affect the domestic income taxation of corporations and partnerships.
9:45 - 10:00 a.m.	Break	Sponsored by UM School of Law
10:00 - 10:45 a.m.	Current Developments in Partnership and Corporate Taxation	Bruce McGovern & Cass Brewer – This current year brings a number of developments in the areas of partnership and corporate taxation. This session reviews the most significant statutory enactments, judicial decisions, IRS rulings, and Treasury regulations promulgated during the last 12 months that affect the domestic income taxation of corporations and partnerships.
10:45 - 12:15 p.m.	Annual Income Tax Update	Sam Donaldson shares his annual overview of all of the cases, rulings, regulations, and legislation from the past 12 months.  Hang on to your hats, Sam won’t slow down for any of us!