Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries

Robert S. Keebler, CPA/PFS, MST, AEP (Distinguished), CGMA is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP and the current chairman of the AICPA Advanced Estate Planning Conference.

In 2007 he was inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame of National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. He has also been named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States and one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession. His practice includes family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration.

Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift and income tax examinations and appeals, and he has received more than 200 favorable private letter rulings including several key rulings of “first impression”. He is the author of over 100 articles and columns and is the editor, author or co-author of many books and treatises on wealth transfer and taxation.

Mr. Keebler has been a speaker at national estate planning and tax seminars for over 20 years including the AICPA’s: Estate Planning, High Income, Advanced Financial Planning Conferences, ABA Conferences, NAPEC Conferences, The Notre Dame Estate Planning Conference and the Heckerling Estate Planning Institute.

Phil Kavesh is a nationally recognized attorney, authority, speaker, educator and technical innovator in estate planning.

Phil has earned significant recognition and accolades over his 33 plus years of practice as an estate planning attorney. Phil holds a Master Degree (LL.M.) in Tax Law and has been a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law since 1992. He also has been awarded the Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Consultant designations, and served his fellow estate planning and financial professionals by teaching in the Golden Gate University Graduate Tax Degree and Certified Financial Planner programs. Phil has represented the estate planning attorney community in testifying before State legislative committees seeking to regulate the estate and financial planning professions and to eliminate "trust mills". In fact, several of the practice forms and client disclosure pieces created by Phil have been incorporated into new legislation and regulations. Furthermore, Phil was one of three attorney co-founders of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, has been an honorary member of the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys and is currently a member of WealthCounsel.

Phil has been recognized and quoted as an estate and tax planning authority in numerous national, prestigious publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, Investors Daily, Personal Finance Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Business Journal, Consumer Reports Magazine, Ed Slott's IRA Newsletter, Journal of Retirement Planning, and Investment Advisor Magazine. He has appeared on several television and radio programs and his weekly TV show, "Preserve Your Estate", was broadcast on local Los Angeles TV for over six years.

He has also authored or co-authored several outstanding consumer publications including "The Ten Biggest Mistakes People Make When Setting Up a Living Trust," "The Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes Wealthy People Make," "21st Century Wealth" and "The Questions You Should Ask When Choosing Your Estate Planner." Most recently, Mr. Kavesh authored the Successor Trustee Manual and the Personal Asset Trust Manual for beneficiaries.

Even more impressive are Phil's accomplishments as a speaker and educator of the public and his professional peers. Phil has personally presented over 2,500 seminars on estate, tax and financial planning to the general public, to various major corporations and their employees, and to CPAs, financial planners and attorneys. His renowned seminars have been duplicated and sold to thousands of estate planning professionals and financial advisors in the U.S. and Canada. Phil has devoted substantial efforts to improving the standards in the estate planning and financial planning industries by personally training over 4,000 attorneys and financial planners. He regularly holds continuing education teleconferences on technical topics for other professionals through his separate company, The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc.