Estate Planning in a world of limited relationship recognition poses serious and complicated legal questions. Sometimes having a will is not enough, particularly when your client’s asset portfolio is substantial. Couples with disparate wealth may be protected by marriage at the state level, but the lack of relationship recognition and attendant tax benefits at the Federal level make it necessary for many LGBT couples to avail themselves of certain trust and gifting strategies that many practitioners are not familiar with.
Speakers: Anthony Brown, Tamara Kolz
Family Law
Becoming a Successful Family Law Practicioner for the LGBT Community
Assess the needs of the LGBT community and hear about the various demands of transactional and litigation practice: agreements, court orders, and problem management, including the emerging needs and demands within children’s and elder law.
Speakers: Allison Mendel, Lynn Perls, Liz Schwartz, Susan Silber, Michele Zavos, Judith Sperling-NewtonBeyond Marriage: A Legal Vision Statement (2006)
In 2006, a group of lawyers, academics and activists developed a legal assessment and strategy designed to recognize the important benefits and values of non-marriage, non-traditional family forms.
Speakers: Nancy D. Polikoff, Julie ShapiroFamily Law Practice Group: Dissolution
Come to this workshop to learn about the state of the law and get practice tips on marriage, dissolution of relationships (including divorce), life planning, and property ownership for LGBT clients. Not only will this panel include the standard issues about breaking up, but also feature collaborative law, a CPA to discuss tax issues, and how Massachusetts practitioners are dealing with divorce in the real world without the benefit of federal
laws like QDRO’s.
Speakers: Richard Wilson, Joyce Kauffman, Deborah Wald, Marge Kaiser
Family Law Practice Group: Estate Planning and Elder Law
Join experienced family law practitioners as they guide you through the critically important and challenging practice areasof estate planning and elder law for the LGBT community and hear the details of recent LGBT family law decisions and statutes by the chief legal counsel for the National center for Lesbian Rights.
Moderator: Suzanne BryantSpeakers: Deb Kinney, Jane Bassett, Elizabeth Schwartz
Family Law Practice Group: Family Formation
This workshop will focus on assessing the needs of the LGBT community. Participants will learn about the various demands of transactional practice: donor agreements, co-parenting agreements, guardianship, adoption, parentage, surrogacy agreements, court orders, and problem management, including the emerging needs and demands within children’s
and elder law.
Speakers: Susan SilberAbby Rubenfeld, Deborah Wald
Family Law Practice Group: New Approaches to Family Law
What is on the cutting edge of LGBT family law? Among the topics to be addressed are how do we define “family” and protect same-sex couples and their children who are not in a recognized relationship? Are you familiar with collaborative practice? It offers LGBT clients a way to resolve family formation and dissolution issues without litigation to help them arrive at solutions uniquely suited to their circumstances.
Moderator: William SingerSpeakers: Nancy Polikoff, Mariette Geldenhuys, Danny Yu
From Massachusetts to California to Your State: Achieving Federal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationships
Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) defines marriage as between a man and a woman for purposes of the entire U.S. Code, effectively precluding same-sex couples from qualifying for the more than 1,100 federal rights, benefits and responsibilities that come with marriage. Now with same-sex couples marrying in Massachusetts and California, the broad impact of federal discrimination against same-sex couples is finally being felt. What are possible litigation strategies for dismantling this discriminatory law? What work is being done now to prepare to challenge Section 3, and what can you do to help in that effort?
Speakers: Shannon Minter, Jenny Pizer, Janson Wu, Nima Eshghi, Taylor FlynnJunior Scholars Forum
The objective of this panel is to encourage the development of the next generation of sexual orientation and gender identity scholarship by fostering cross-generational support and feedback from experts in the field. Topics from papers selected include the intersection of race, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination; the treatment of transsexual and intersexed prisoners; and the effect of marriage rules on children conceived via assisted reproductive technology.
Speakers: Taylor Flynn, James McGrath, Clifford J. Rosky, Erin Buzuvis, Russell RobinsonSame Sex Relationships
This workshop will examine the national patchwork of protections available to those in same-sex relationships, including marriage, civil unions, registered domestic partnerships, reciprocal beneficiary statuses, and the protections available through legal instruments and under common law and equitable theories. The workshop will present an overview of impact litigation and legislative measures to secure greater protections for same-sex couples and their children and discuss the interstate problems that are arising when couples with protections available in one state move or travel to states that do not provide comparable protections.
Speakers: Jon Davidson, David Codell, Jennifer Levi, Kara SuffrediniTax Issues through a Prism: From the Big Picture to the Particulars of the States
The laws impacting LGBT people across the United States could hardly be more diverse. Same-sex couples in Massachusetts can get married, while Virginia’s legislature passed a law that purports to ban even “partnership contracts” for gay and lesbian couples. The panel will survey the tax implications of the many forms of government recognition offered to same-sex couples across the nation.
Moderator: Brian ChaseSpeakers: Kate Fletcher, Patricia Cain, Karen Stogdill, Steve Sims, Nima Eshghi, Paul DiSango