REPORT AND LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
OF THE ESTATE PLANNING, PROBATE & TRUST SECTION:

The Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section has a great deal to offer its members throughout the year. This summer, the section is an official co-sponsor of the Solo and Small Firm Conference to be held June 23 - 25, 2005, at Tanglewood Resort, Lake Texoma. The section will hold its mid-year meeting at the conference and will directly sponsor two CLE programs. The Solo and Small Firm Conference offers 12 hours of CLE credit, including one hour of ethics. Also included in the Solo and Small Firm Conference registration fee are meals, hospitality, Doc Brown’s Disco Dance and Buffet and Marty McFly’s Masquerade Ball and Buffet. We encourage all our members to attend this informative and family fun event.

In the fall, the section will offer an advanced estate planning seminar. Also, the section will offer a one hour free CLE at the section’s annual meeting held in conjunction with the OBA Annual Meeting. This year, the OBA Annual Meeting will be held Nov. 2- 4, 2005, at the Sheraton Hotel (formerly Westin) in Oklahoma City.

The co-chairs of the section’s Legislative Committee, L. Michele Nelson and David Winslow, have been very active in developing and following legislative proposals that originated in this section, were proposed by the OBA and were considered by the Oklahoma Legislature.

Here are some of the section’s activities for 2005:

1. 2005 Mid-Year Meeting and Solo and Small Firm Conference, June 23-25, 2005 at Tanglewood Resort, Lake Texoma. The section will specifically sponsor two CLE programs, namely: “Recent Developments in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law” and “Advanced Strategies in Estate Planning and Trust Law.”
2. 2005 Advanced Estate Planning Seminar Featuring Don Hartmann of the Hallmark Consulting Group on Philanthropic Planning. On Nov. 30, 2005, the section co-sponsors its advanced estate planning seminar with the OBA. Don Hartmann is the featured morning speaker. The afternoon will feature local advanced estate planning attorneys.
3. 2005 Annual Meeting, Continuing Legal Education and Activities. The section will hold its annual meeting at 10 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2005 at the OBA Annual Meeting to be held in Oklahoma City. After the business meeting, the section will present a one-hour CLE program. The section plans to present an overall discussion of recent developments in estate planning, probate and trust law.
4. OBA informational brochures. The OBA Communications Committee distributes 14 informational brochures to help citizens understand some of the fundamentals about the law in Oklahoma. The section thanks Chair-Elect Susan Shields and Secretary Stacey Spivey for reviewing and updating the “What is an Advance Directive” and “The Advance Directive Form” informational brochures. In the past, the section assisted the OBA Communications Committee with the cost of reprinting these brochures.
5. Legislative Proposals — Uniform Trust Code. The Legislation Committee of the section has been very active in promoting the Uniform Trust Code. The status of the adoption of Uniform Trust Code will be addressed by L. Michele Nelson, co-chair of the Legislative Committee, at the Mid-Year Meeting.

I wish to commend and thank my fellow officers and the co-chairs of the section’s Legislative Committee for their excellent work and devotion to the section and its goal to provide informative continuing legal education, relevant and needed legislation and comradery for the members of the Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section.

Amanda Mclnnis-Nixon, Chair
Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section
13201 Blair Drive
Piedmont, OK 73078
(405) 522-1563
amanda.nixon@oscn.net