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The National Bar Association Small Firms/Solo Practitioners’ Division

ESTATE PLANNING ISSUES FOLLOWING DIVORCE

THE PRACTITIONER

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E N A T I O N A L B A R A S S O C I A T I O N S M A L L F I R M S /

S O L O P R A C T I T I O N E R S ’ D I V I S I O N

Summer 2011

Volume 1, Issue 3

Fun Facts about

Maryland

The National Aquarium

is located in Baltimore's

Inner Harbor.

The Maryland State

House is the oldest

state capitol still in

continuous legislative

use.

Maryland was first to

enact Workmen's com-

pensation laws in

1902.

Estate Planning Issues Following a Divorce

1

Member Highlights 3

16th Annual SFSPD Conference

4

Message from the Chair

5

Greetings from Editor 5

Should NBA Take A More Active Role in

Politics?

6

How to Use Twitter in Business

7

Inside this issue: • Individual Retirement Ac-

counts (IRA)

• Life insurance

• Annuities

• Health savings accounts

2. Transfer on Death (TOD)

investment accounts

3. Payable on Death (POD)

bank accounts

4. Will

5. Health care powers of at-

torney and living wills

6. Powers of attorney

7. Revocable trusts

8. Advanced estate planning

structures such as irrevocable

trusts

Medical & General Powers of

Attorney

Generally speaking, if one

has chosen to no longer be

married to their spouse, they

usually no longer want to

leave their health care or fi-

nancial decisions in the ex-

spouse’s hands. It is therefore

imperative that amongst the

documents to be amended are

the client’s Advanced Health

Care Directive and Durable

Power of Attorney.

.

Guardianship & Re-marriage

Issues

In a perfect world, if something

happened to one parent, the

other parent would assume

guardianship of the minor

child. However, that assumes

that the non-custodial parent

desires to raise the child and is

fit to do so. If the ex-spouse is

likely to assume guardianship,

they will be responsible for

providing a residence for the

child, provide for care and sup-

port and education.

If the client is concerned that

monies left to a child may not

be used as the client wishes if

the ex-spouse has access, the

client can designate in the Rev-

ocable Living Trust (RLT) that

the client’s successor trustee

provide for specific items out

of the funds of the trust such as

private school tuition, extra-

curricular activities, a car at a

certain age, college applica-

tions and tuition. A parent can

protect a child’s inheritance by

having an RLT in place with a

trustee to carry out the gran-

tor’s wishes as specifically

designated. The money would

not be paid directly to the

guardian,

(Continued on next page)

The emotional turmoil of divorce

can be overwhelming or liberating

depending on the client’s perspec-

tive. While it is commendable and

responsible for families to do es-

tate planning, there are some is-

sues to be considered following

divorce.

In most cases, the husband and

wife seeking to dissolve their

marriage are no longer interested

in their ex-spouse being the bene-

ficiary to their estate OR leaving

their children in a position to be

disinherited due to the fact that

their ex-spouse may re-marry

following the divorce. If their

original plan was to leave every-

thing to their spouse and then to

their children, their spouse may

still get everything if they do not

modify their estate plans follow-

ing divorce.

Beneficiary Designations Following a divorce, the items

below should be amended unless

the client chooses to leave every-

thing to his/her ex-spouse:

1. Beneficiary designations

for the following financial

instruments:

• Employer retirement

plans



(Continued from Page 1)

but would truly be for the bene-

fit of the child. This also protects

the grantor’s assets, which

should be for the benefit of the

children, from getting into the

hands of the client’s ex-spouse’s

new spouse should he or she

remarry.

The client should also consider

naming successor guardians in

the event the ex-spouse does not

want to raise the kids or is other-

wise unavailable.

Re-marriage

Perhaps a newly-divorced parent

has a significant other in his or

her life, and remarries. This situ-

ation could result in a parent

unintentionally disinheriting ex-

isting children. Without legal

documentation to indicate other-

wise, a spouse is generally enti-

tled to one-half of the deceased

spouse’s estate. The second

spouse may not be the resulting

caretaker of the former step-

children, particularly if another

guardian has been named, yet he

or she has received half of the

assets intended to provide for

them.

A divorced parent may typically

desire to leave assets to care for

BOTH the new spouse and the

children. In such a situation, the

parent should sit down with a

financial advisor and an estate

planning attorney to assess the

options. An easy solution is the

use of additional life insurance to

assist the parent in his or her

wishes to provide for both the

minor children and the new

spouse. Term insurance can be a

low-cost solution to provide the-

se benefits until the children

reach adulthood, assuming the

parent is insurable.

In most cases, changing these

items is as simple as requesting,

completing and filing the appro-

priate form. Since retirement &

employer plans often represent

the most significant portion of an

an individual’s net worth and liquid

assets, it is particularly important to

amend the beneficiary designations

on these accounts.

If no changes are made, the ex-

spouse who was originally designat-

ed as the beneficiary will be entitled

to the benefit, despite the existence

of a will or trust designating other-

wise or a new spouse. Beneficiary

designation will always trump a

will or intestacy laws.

Complex changes

Advanced estate planning structures

such as irrevocable life insurance

trusts (ILIT’s), Qualified Personal

Residence Trusts (QPRT’s), and

charitable trusts may be very diffi-

cult, if not impossible, to amend,

since the original intent of creating

these structures was to make an

irrevocable election, usually struc-

tured to benefit both husband and

wife together. Should the husband

or wife assume the power to change

the irrevocable election, the tax

advantages gained by the structure

may be destroyed. It is imperative

that the client work closely with

his/her attorney, as well as the trus-

tee, to explore possible options.

The client should also keep in mind

that most states have an “elective

share statute” which provides that

the client’s spouse (whether es-

tranged or not) will automatically

be entitled to a certain percentage of

the estate. However, through proper

planning, there are a number of

ways to avoid or limit the assets

which are subject to the elective

share, and to provide that the es-

tranged spouse does not receive

more of the estate than the client

wants him or her to. This is another

reason it is imperative to re-visit the

client’s estate plan following di-

vorce.

In many cases, the family law attor-

ney is not as well-versed in estate

planning issues. that, it is advisable

that the client revisit his/her estate

plan with the assistance of a quali-

fied estate planning attorney to help

address the issues raised in this arti-

cle. Their focus is to help the client

dissolve the marriage and make deci-

sions regarding asset distribution, cus-

tody, child-support and such issues.

However, beyond that, it is advisable

that the client revisit his/her estate

plan with the assistance of a qualified

estate planning attorney to help ad-

dress the issues raised in this article.

Estate planning attorneys can work

closely with family law attorneys to

conclude this final step of the dis-

solution process.

______________________________

About the Author:

Charlene Usher is a graduate of Cali-

fornia State Polytechnic University

Pomona with a bachelor’s degree in

Business Administration, major: Fi-

nance, Real Estate & Law. She also

graduated from University of Califor-

nia, Hastings College of the Law,

where she is an active alum, sitting on

the Board of Trustees for their 1066

Foundation. Ms. Usher is active in her

community serving as a role model as

President of the Richard T. Fields Bar

Association in Southern California as

well as through her participation in

Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles,

Women Lawyers of Los Angeles, &

John M. Langston Bar Association.

She also works with Step Up Women’s

Network as a mentor. Ms. Usher is

passionate about assisting the next

generations in reaching their poten-

tial. Her estate planning practice is

dedicated to assisting families in mak-

ing informed and conscious decisions

about how their accumulated assets

will benefit their progeny and the next

generations coming after them.

Charlene Usher, Esq.



CONFERENCE

INFORMATION

A SEMINAR NOT TO MISS

Tips From the Masters-

Part XII

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

2:00 pm-4:00 pm

NBA ELECTIONS:

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2nd

PLEASE VOTE!!

Tonya L. Primus, Esq. is General Counsel for the Chicago

Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery, with

two (2) locations in Chicago, Illinois. Tonya focuses on the

acquisition, construction management, and sale of real es-

tate, the negotiation of lease agreements and general con-

tracts, and the management of real estate, employment, fed-

eral and state compliance, and financial matters for the clin-

ic, the physical therapy, and imaging divisions of the prac-

tice.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Division Member, Ronald E. Richardson, Baltimore, Maryland, was the co-lead counsel for the Law Offices of

Peter G. Angelos, in the class action case against ExxonMobil Corporation for a 2006 gasoline leak in rural Balti-

more County, Maryland that went undetected for more than five weeks. All told, compensatory and punitive dam-

ages totaled $1.542 billion. The jury of six women deliberated for two days on the amount of punitive damages in

the suit by 160 households and businesses in the area. Jurors had been hearing the case since January 2011. This

is the largest civil verdict in Maryland history.

Attorney Ronald E. Richardson, a native of Baltimore, graduated from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Cali-

fornia. He is currently seeking a Masters in Biblical Studies at the Capital Bible Seminary. He is admitted to

practice in Maryland, New York, and the District of Columbia.

Ron is the co-founder of the Monumental City Bar Foundation in 1998 and was Chair from 2000-2005 and contin-

ues as a member of its board of Directors. In addition, he has served as a member of the board of directors for the

Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland since 2001 as well as serving as President of the Monumental City Bar Associa-

tion. He has served on the board and committees of many other organizations.

Mr. Richardson is the author of Oneness With God and has assisted in the production of two documentary films:

Color At the Bar and Maryland State Bar Association: An Oral History. Ron is married with two children and

attends Mount Pleasant Church and Ministries.

DIVISION MEMBER RON RICHARDSON, IS CO-LEAD COUNSEL RESULTING IN

$1.5B VERDICT AGAINST EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION



16th Annual Small Firm/Solo Practitioner’s Division Conference Punta Cana, Dominican Republic March 16-20, 2011

This year the annual conference was co-sponsored

by the Young Lawyer’s Division (YLD). The con-

ference was held at the Iberostar Resort in sunny

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Attendees were

treated to four seminars which were eligible for

CLE credit.

SEMINARS

“Brand New Year; Brand New You: How to Generate Clients and Make it Rain Through the Brand Called You.” This program was moderated by Michelle C. Thomas and the panel included: Eric Mathis, Hughie Hunt and

Carl Collins.

“Client Intake and Counseling: Avoiding Pitfalls with Problem Clients” (co-sponsored by the Labor & Employment Section). This pro-gram was moderated by Aja Diamond and the panel included: Michelle Thomas, L. Chris

Stewart and Rita Cherry.

“Ethic-What They Never Taught in Law School-Part II” This program consisted of a panel discussion with past NBA Presidents Michael Rosier, Kim Keenan and Judge Morris

Overstreet.

“Tips from the Masters: Starting and Main-taining a Successful Law Practice, Part XI”

This seminar was moderated by Chair, Patricia Rosier and the panel included: Michael Rosier, Darryl Parks, Greg Primus, M.D. and Ed Fernandes.



Patricia M. Rosier, Esq.

Chair

Regardless of your practice, being a member of this Division means you never

need to practice alone. We look forward to providing and expanding our resources

to help our members become better lawyers and build successful practices. Of ap-

proximately 700,000 lawyers in private practice, approximately half are solo practi-

tioners and about 20% practice in small firms. This number continues to grow as

lawyers transition from larger law firms, government agencies, or corporate practic-

es. Thus, small-firms and solo practitioners are an extremely important and continu-

ally growing sector of the legal profession.

It is again my privilege to serve as the Chair of this fantastic Division. This year

we have worked closely with the Young Lawyers Division (YLD). In addition to co-

sponsoring the 16th Annual Conference with the YLD, we also co-sponsored a very

successful youth program during the Mid-Year Conference in Berkley, California.

I trust that all members of our Division have registered for the 86th Annual Convention in Baltimore, Mar-

yland from July 31-August 4, 2011. There is nothing quite like a NBA Convention, so be sure to register.

It is so important to attend the Convention and not only participate in the seminars, receptions, and parties,

but also the plenary sessions where the business of the organization occurs. This is where you can make

your voice be heard to help shape the future of our beloved National Bar Association. As you may already

know, I am a candidate for NBA President-Elect during this Convention, and urge you to vote on August

2, 2011. To register for the 86th Annual Convention, go to: www.nationalbar.org.

I am so excited about the 2011-2012 bar year. Our 17th Annual Conference will be held in conjunction

with the Young Lawyers and Judicial Council Divisions during the Mid-Winter Meeting in St. Maarten

from January 18-22, 2012. This will be a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills as well as network with

judges and young lawyers. Of course, our signature seminar, “Tips From the Masters”, will be the high-

light of the Division’s conference. Be on the lookout for this registration information for the Mid-Winter

Meeting.

I invite you to participate in our programs and activities. Also please keep us informed of your success-

es in practice, ideas for improvement and contribute articles to our newsletter.

Success and Continued Blessings,

Patricia Rosier

Chair

Message From the Chair

Greetings and Welcome to Baltimore, home of the 86th Annual Convention of the National

Bar Association. The Small Firm/Solo Practitioners’ Division of the National Bar Association

is pleased to present the third issue of The Practitioner. This issue contains informative articles

and updates from Division Members.

Please allow the Practitioner to inspire you, as an attorney in a small firm or as a solo practic-

ing attorney, to provide excellent client service and become the best advocate for your clients!

J. Renee Boston, Esq. is a member of the Boston Law Group, LLC. This is a small firm run by Renee and her

husband, Marcus. The firm’s practice areas include auto tort, premises liability, medical negligence and criminal

defense. She can be reached at 301-850-4832 or renee @bostonlawllc.com

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

http://www.nationalbar.org/



The civil rights battles were largely fought on the picket lines, at the ballot box and

in the courtroom. Today, we face new challenges and many of the gains we fought for are

being limited or reversed. As we face the challenges of today, including proposed voting

restrictions and proof of identity required in at least 25 states, proposed potential loss of

Medicare, restriction of access to the courts with mandatory arbitration clauses, caps and

limits of damage awards and unlimited use of corporate funds to fight against many rights

affecting minorities, are we as solo and small practitioners doing all we can do to preserve

our hard fought rights?

As solo and small practice lawyers, we are busy with our practices. We are grow-

ing active automobile, premises liability, products liability, medical malpractice, criminal

and other law practices. We have clients, staff, and family which we have to juggle. And every 2 years, an election

occurs. Depending on the stakes involved in the election, we vote, raise money for or give money to the candidates

whom we support. Then, we go home to live our lives centered on the law, clients and family. We vote just about

every 689 days. But should we do more in the area of political advocacy to effectuate real change in government

and the issues that concern us and our clients?

For those of us who practice as trial lawyers, our clients, their cases, the civil jury trial system and yes, our

livelihood are at stake in the fight going on right now. As of March 1, the present bill H.R. 5 would limit non-

economic damages to $250,000 and severely limit the legal rights of people injured by medical negligence, nursing

home negligence, defective drugs and medical devices, and meanwhile protect HMOs and insurance companies

from civil actions. Then there’s the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling which allows for unlimited spending by

corporations in elections. The “shellacking” of the 2010 midterm elections shows the results. The 2011 Supreme

Court recent ruling in the AT & T Mobility v. Concepcion case on mandatory arbitration clauses will make it diffi-

cult for future small consumer cases to proceed with a ban on class actions. In response, a bill in Congress was re-

cently re-introduced to eliminate forced arbitration clauses in civil rights and other cases. And these are just a few

examples of recent challenges.

While the NBA takes a leadership role to lobby on Capitol Hill, should the buck stop there? What else

should the solo and small practice lawyer do as individuals? We need to educate, empower and engage the public

and our clients. While the NBA fights the battle on the national level, getting our message out in our local commu-

nities is crucial. We need to engage our strongest allies, our clients in the battle by telling their stories. Using the

media to tell compelling local stories is politically advantageous as all politics are really local.

Writing editorials for local papers is another method available to get our message to the public. We speak

in the court room. So, appearing on local news shows certainly couldn’t but help our message. No matter what we

choose to do, we must do more as lawyers. We all know that to whom much is given, much is required. As we

have all been given much, it is incumbent upon us to do more. Our clients, practices, family and the justice system

depend on it.

If all we do is vote every 689 days or so, we are not doing all that we can do to support the success and bat-

tles that we have won in the past. While the vote is what our democracy is built on, it is also limited by itself. Rec-

ognizing that our civic duty to vote is somewhat limited by itself, we must turn to other means to secure the success

of a flawed system.

Debbie Hines, Esq. practices law in Washington, DC. She frequently appears in the media, including TV and radio addressing polit-

ical and legal issues on race and gender as a commentator. She also writes for the Huffington Post, Politic365, LegalSpeaks and

other major online media. Her works have also appeared in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. She has been quoted in Black

Enterprise, the Washington Post and on CNN. She holds a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University Law School and a

BA in African American history from the University of Pennsylvania.

Debbie Hines, Esq.

Should NBA Small Practice Lawyers Take A More Active Role in Politics?



Twitter is a "micro blogging" or web log service, meaning you can post short up-

dates limited to 140 characters or less. Why? Originally, the limitation was created

to make Twitter compatible with Mobile phones and text messaging. Now, it's a

useful characteristic that allows users to receive rapid-fire, concise information

from many, many people.

What are people tweeting about? Observations related to users' personal and pro-

fessional lives and interests are the most popular (72%) with 19% sending such

tweets daily. Sending work-related posts is the second-most popular activity

(62%) with 12% doing so daily.

You can use Twitter to:

1. Interact with your customer base. For a company that offers an online service,

let your followers know if you anticipate downtime or if there is a glitch you are

working to fix. Your customers will be less upset and more appreciative that your company is trying its best

to relieve the problem.

2. Develop and promote your brand. Using the Twitter Search tool (http://search.twitter.com), you can

search and track what people are saying about your company.

3. Create buzz around upcoming events. The next time your company holds an event, fundraiser or open

house, Tweet about it! Best practice is to send people directly to an event sign up page.

4. Promote other tools you've created, including webinars, blog posts or podcasts. Twitter users love new

toys, especially if they create some sort of outcome, grade or analysis of the person using the tool.

5. Develop direct relationships with bloggers and journalists for potential PR placement. Reporters and big

time bloggers are incredibly active in social networks, especially when gathering information for stories.

John Moore , Esq.is a solo-practitioner at The Moore Law Group, LLC located in Atlanta, Georgia. He founded the firm

in March 2008 and has a general practice concentrating in the areas of: commercial litigation, bankruptcy (commercial and consumer), real estate (transactional and litigation), and personal injury. Prior to founding The Moore Law Group,

John was a senior associate at the law firm of Powell Goldstein LLP located in Atlanta, Georgia, where he concentrated his practice in the areas of bankruptcy law, bankruptcy litigation, real estate law, real estate litigation and commercial litigation. John received his JD in 2000 from The Florida State University College of Law, where he served as the Writing

and Research Editor of The Florida State University Law Review. He received his BS, with distinction, in Business Admin-istration from Florida A&M University in 1996.Mr. Moore is also active in the community. He is a member of the 2006 class of L.E.A.D. Atlanta, a comprehensive leadership program for young professionals, the Chair of the Young Lawyer’s

Division of the National Bar Association, and a member of the Atlanta Young Professionals section of the National Urban League. In addition, Mr. Moore devotes a considerable amount of pro-bono time to the Georgia Justice Project and has

been selected as a 2005 and 2007 Georgia Super Lawyers' Rising Star.

John A. Moore, Esq.

HOW TO USE TWITTER IN BUSINESS



If you have any comments concerning The Practitioner or are a NBASFSD member who wants to submit an arti-cle for publication consideration, please contact J. Renee Boston, Esq.

at [email protected].

NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION SMALL FIRMS / SOLO PRACTITIONERS’ DIVISION 12251TH STREET, N.W.

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20001

Register for the 86th Annual Convention held from July 31-August 4, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland at:

www.nationalbar.org.

Non-Profit

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 7163

NBA ELECTIONS: TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2011.

PLEASE VOTE!!

17th Annual Conference for the Small Firm/Solo

Practitioner’s Division

Join the Small Firms/Solo Practitioners Division

during the Mid-Winter Meeting which will be jointly

co-sponsored with the Young Lawyers and Judi-

cial Council Divisions from January 18-22, 2012 in

St. Maarten at the Sonesto Maho Beach Resort

and Casino.

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