All it takes is one carelessly drafted provision for you to be placed in the hot seat for months or even years to come, where you might watch your personal, professional, and financial life crumble around you. One type of drafting error is the failure to anticipate that your client’s estate plan will be governed in whole or in part by the laws of a different state. This can happen for two reasons. First, your client may die domiciled in another state. Statistical studies show that approximately eight million people move to a different state each year. Second, your client may own real property in another state. This presentation focuses on the issues an estate planner should consider and the steps an estate planner should take if a client’s property could be governed by the laws of another state. Special attention will also be given to the issues that arise when a client moves between jurisdictions that use different marital property systems, i.e., common law and community property. Once you recognize these differences, you may then take proper steps to plan for them as you draft your clients’ wills and trusts. The session will equip attendees to do the following:

• Recognize and anticipate issues that could arise when a client moves to another jurisdiction with different laws
• Understand planning techniques to reduce the likelihood of problems when clients change their domiciliary jurisdiction
• Appreciate the special concerns that arise when clients move between common law and community property jurisdictions