2006 Mid-Year Meeting: The Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section was an official cosponsor of the Solo and Small Firm Conference held June 22-24, 2006, at Tanglewood Resort, Lake Texoma. The Section held its mid year meeting at the conference on June 23, 2006. The Section sponsored three one-hour CLE programs: “Avoiding Guardianship Nightmares” presented by Lesa A. Creveling, Judy A. Tuggle and Paul E. Blevins Jr.; “Recent Developments in Oklahoma Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law” presented by L. Michele Nelson; and “Special Procedures in Probate” presented by Robert S. Farris. The Section also sponsored a hospitality suite for its members and other attendees of the conference.

Advanced Estate Planning Seminar: The Section along with the OBA cosponsored an advanced estate planning seminar on Nov. 30, 2006 titled, “Hot Topics in Advanced Estate Planning.” This seminar featured Professor Jeffrey N. Pennell, a nationally renowned speaker and the Richard H. Clark Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. A program entitled Ethical Issues in Estate Planning was also presented by Oklahoma City attorney Cynda C. Ottaway.

Professor Pennell teaches income tax, wealth transfer tax, trusts and estates, and estate planning at the School of Law of Emory University and began his teaching career at OU in 1978. A specialist in estate planning, trusts and estates, and wealth-transfer taxation, he has published classroom texts on the Income Taxation of Trusts, Estates, Grantors, and Beneficiaries, a second on Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation and a third on Estate Planning. He authored the Bureau of National Affairs Tax Management portfolio on the Estate Tax Marital Deduction and coauthored the portfolio on Estate Tax Payment and Apportionment and a text on Trust and Estate Planning published by the ABA. He is the successor author of the leading treatise on estate planning, originally written by the late Harvard Professor A. James Casner.

Annual Meeting and Continuing Legal Education: The Section offered a one-hour, free CLE in estate planning, probate and trust law during the Section’s annual meeting held on Nov. 16, 2006, in conjunction with the OBA Annual Meeting. The OBA Annual Meeting was held Nov. 14-16, 2006, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Seminar Sponsorship: The Section agreed to a $200 sponsorship of a seminar at the TU College of Law by Cruzan attorney Bill Colby on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006. Mr. Colby combined his TU appearance with his presentation the following day, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006, to the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Hospice & Palliative Care Association in Tulsa. The TU College of Law organized a morning program on recent changes in Oklahoma’s advance directive laws, interpretive problems with our DNR laws and decision making capacity issues to complement Mr. Colby’s lunchtime seminar.

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

Informational Brochures: The Section was directly involved in updating several OBA Informational Brochures. The OBA Communications Committee distributes 14 informational brochures to help citizens understand some of the fundamentals about the law in Oklahoma. Susan Shields, chair, and Stacey Spivey, chair-elect, reviewed and updated the “What is an Advance Directive” and “The Advance Directive Form.”

Section Officers for 2006:
Susan B. Shields, Chair
201 Robert S. Kerr Ave. Suite 1600
Oklahoma City
(405) 235 7000
fax: (405) 996 3403
sshields@hartzoglaw.com

Stacey D. Spivey, Chair-Elect
Crowe & Dunlevy
20 N. Broadway, Suite 1800
Oklahoma City, 73102
(405) 235 7752
fax: (405) 272 5963
spiveys@crowedunlevy.com

LeAnn P. Drummond, Secretary
711 S. Husband St., P.O. Box 1507
Stillwater, 74076
(405) 743 3770
fax: (405) 743 3773
lpdrum@swbell.net

Judy Tuggle, Treasurer
Suite 200, 15 E. 15th St.
Edmond, 73013
(405) 359-0701
fax: (405) 359-0806
jtuggle@mmmtlaw.com

Lesa Creveling, Mid-Year Meeting Coordinator
P.O. Box 3627
Tulsa, 74101
(918) 744-0553
fax: (918) 744-5088
lcreveling@trustok.com