ORANGE COUNTY ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL

Ms. Kovar is a partner in the Litigation Group at Henderson, Caverly, Pum & Charney, LLP in San Diego.  Shirley L. Kovar’s practice focuses on complex trust and estate disputes, including international trust and estate litigation.

Ms. Kovar is certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization and is co-editor of the recently published Matthew Bender Practice Guide on California Trust Litigation.  She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), where she has chaired the Transfer Tax Study Committee.  She has been selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer (top 5% of lawyers in Southern California) from 2007 (first year awarded) through 2013.  She was recently named as Master Scholar of the Year 2013 by Colorado Women’s College.

Ms. Kovar has spoken and written extensively in the areas of trust and estate disputes and federal estate tax reform, including oral and written testimony before the U. S. Senate Finance Committee on federal estate tax reform.

Ms. Kovar graduated in 1974 from the University of Kansas Law School, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif, as Editor-in-Chief of the Kansas Law Review, and was co-recipient of the Samuel Mellinger Award, awarded by the law faculty for Leadership, Scholarship and Service.  She was named by the University of Kansas as Outstanding Woman Graduate in Academics for all graduate schools at the University of Kansas.

Program Registration: 5:30 to 6:15 PM / Dinner Program: 6:15 to 6:45 PM / Speaker Program: 6:45 to 8:00 PM

California Dreamin' - The Direction of CA Law Regarding Mistakes and Ambiguities in Wills and Trusts

Ms. Kovar will discuss how to fix ambiguities and mistakes in California wills and trusts.  Ms. Kovar will lead you through the disjointed maze of California law in this area and make sense of many confusing issues from the standpoint of the practitioner:

• A systemic way to analyze cases involving ambiguities or mistakes
• How to persuade the court to admit your extrinsic evidence
• The difference between ‘interpretation’ and ‘construction'
• Five sources of ‘testator’s intent'
• The rise and fall of the Plain Meaning Rule
• The use of ‘rules of construction’
• Gifts by implication and how they relate to ambiguities and mistake
• Barnes and Duke and why they matter
• The impact of a no contest clause on the choice of remedy

 Note: This program qualifies for 1-hour of Attorney, CPA, Professional Fiduciary and Trust Officer continuing education credit. This program is pending continuing education approval with the CFP Board of Standards and the CA Department of Insurance.