ORANGE COUNTY ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL

At its inception, a charitable remainder trust (CRT) is usually a perfect fit for a client’s situation. It’s just the right kind of CRT, has just the right payout rate, has just the right beneficiaries, etc. But a CRT is an irrevocable trust—its terms cannot be changed—and usually spans decades of a client’s life. Over time, this combination—an inflexible trust on one hand and a client’s changing life on the other—can lead to a misalignment between the client’s situation and the CRT. In these cases, some form of secondary planning is probably in order. Evan Unzelman, President of Sterling Foundation Management, will discuss the range of options available to clients who have CRTs and how to determine which option, if any, is a fit for a given client.

Notes:  This program qualifies for 1-hour of continuing education credit for Attorneys, CPA's, Professional Fiduciaries, and Trust Officers.  This program is approved for 1-hour of Life Insurance continuing education credit (Course: 385851), and with the CFP Board of Standards (Program ID: 291887).

**A-Zoom meeting link will be sent to you in your meeting confirmation and will be emailed with any meeting materials one-day prior to the meeting.

With fifteen years of specialized experience in the field of private foundations and charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), Evan Unzelman has risen quickly through the ranks of charitable and tax planning.

Mr. Unzelman began his career at a multifamily office, where he provided comprehensive solutions to the unique challenges faced by affluent families. In 2006, he joined Sterling, where he oversaw the administration of all of the firms’ charitable clients. In 2008, he was tasked with the expansion of the firm’s CRT secondary planning services.

Mr. Unzelman was elevated to Chief Operating Officer in 2010 to expand and sharpen Sterling’s service offering for charitable donors and their advisors. In 2015, he was promoted to President of Sterling, expanding his responsibilities to include the supervision of all aspects of Sterling’s business.

Mr. Unzelman is a recognized expert and sought-after speaker in the field of charitable planning, and CRTs in particular. He speaks to a variety of audiences including attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors, primarily on CRT secondary planning, tax implications of CRTs, and the role CRTs play in the estate and wealth planning of affluent clients.

Mr. Unzelman’s articles have appeared in publications such as Estate Planning, NAEPC’s Journal of Tax & Estate Planning, Taxation of Exempts, Atlanta Bar Association’s The Mortmain, Wealth Strategies Journal, and Atlantic Trust’s Trusted Advisor. He was also the lead editor of Managing Foundations and Charitable Trusts (John Wiley & Sons), which is largely regarded as the definitive guide to managing charitable entities.

He received his finance and economics degrees (summa cum laude) from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. At Pacific Lutheran, he was President of the Student Investment Fund, a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honors Society, and a winner of the Academic Excellence Award as the top finance student.