ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL OF SEATTLE

Tales from the Dark Side: What Corporate Trustees Wish Advisors Would Consider and Discuss with Clients

Wealth transfer advisors focus on achieving their client’s goals and objectives while minimizing income and transfer taxes.  Emphasis is often on the initial planning and drafting of the client’s estate planning documents and not the ultimate implementation and administration of the client’s overall wealth plan.  Sometimes the best intended plan goes awry because of the failure to consider how the plan impacts existing credit, the ability to secure future lending, family dynamics, diversification and a panoply of other issues.  Our discussion will focus on issues professional fiduciaries wish advisors would consider when advising clients and drafting their documents.

We hope to achieve the following learning objectives: 1. Attorneys will hopefully come away from this presentation with a better understanding of how to draft documents to avoid ambiguities and unintended consequences; 2. Advisors and fiduciaries will develop an appreciation for the risks inherent in their roles and how to mitigate this risk while advancing the interests of the client; and 3. Client advisors (attorneys, accountants, financial advisors) will have a better understanding of how they can effectively partner together to achieve the goals and objectives of their client.

This presentation is continually updated with examples of scenarios we encounter in our fiduciary practice.  Karen originally wrote this presentation for the Hawaii Tax Institute in 2018, and has subsequently presented to the San Francisco Bar Association, Marin County Bar Association, Hawaii Estate Planning Council, Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council, Stanislaus County Estate Planning Council, and the Diablo Valley Estate Planning Council.

Karen Sugihara is the Regional Fiduciary Wealth Manager leading BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s fiduciary team in California. Karen is responsible for the management and administration of client trust relationships and collaborates with local and regional wealth management teams on existing and prospective investment management and fiduciary client relationships. Karen is also responsible for implementing strategic national fiduciary priorities in coordination with regional fiduciary needs. Karen joined BNY Mellon Wealth Management in September of 2021. Prior to joining the firm, Karen was the Senior Regional Fiduciary Manager for Wells Fargo Private Bank, managing the San Francisco, North Bay, East Bay and South Bay regions for over three years. She was also a Senior Wealth Planning Strategist with Wells Fargo Private Bank in Southern California for over five years. Before entering the wealth management industry, Karen practiced law for over 20 years, and has attained an AV-Preeminent Martindale Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™. Karen frequently presents to bar associations and estate planning councils on topics related to fiduciary, estate planning and estate administration issues. In 2021, Karen presented to the Redwood Empire Estate Planning Council, Stanislaus County Estate Planning Council, Hawaii Tax Institute and the Peninsula Estate Planning Council. On a personal note, Karen is the proud mother of a son, Jonathan, who is a teacher in Los Angeles; and a daughter, Amanda, who is a recent graduate of U.C. Berkeley and applying for medical school in 2022. Karen is a former professional show dog handler of champion German Shepherd Dogs