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ABA ONLINE REVIEW COURSE FOR THE CTFA EXAMINATION --- Topics Covered

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Fiduciary and Trust Activities

Trust and Probate Law and Custom -- establishing a trust, express trusts, exercising discretionary and trust powers, trustee vacancies and sucessorship, trust enforcement, pertinent laws and doctrines.

Investment Responsibilities of a Trustee -- prudent management of assets, delegation of duties, collective investment and mutual funds, Chinese walls, securities sales, closely held business interests, transactions among trusts.

Environmental Law -- liability, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), a fiduciary's exposure to liability under CERCLA and other related state and environmental laws, precautionary measures, effects on property valuation, powers to protect trusts or estates, indemnification agreements.

Ethics -- duties of a trustee to trust beneficiaries, trustee's liability for breach of trust, characteristics of account relationships, establishment of an account and ancillary roles.

Tax Law and Tax Planning

Overview of the Current Tax Laws -- summary of changes; gradual reduction in transfer taxes to 2010; repeal of estate tax and GST; tax in 2010.

Individual Income Taxation-- computation of individual income tax; gross income; employee benefits plan distributions; exclusions from gross income; deductions; passive activities (IRC § 469); alternative minimum tax (IRC §§ 55-59); tax on unearned income of minors; Credits 41; estimated tax (IRC § 6654); and decedent's final return.

Income Taxation of Fiduciaries -- Grantor Trust rules (IRC §§ 671-679); trusts and estates as taxable entities; taxation of trust income: allocation between trust and beneficiaries and among beneficiaries; The Throwback Rule (distributions of accumulated income, IRC §§ 665-668); effects of distributions (basis, gain, and loss); income in respect of a decedent (IRC § 691); and tax returns.

Income Taxation and Charitable Entities -- types of charitable entities; taxation of income distributed to noncharitable beneficiaries of split-interest trusts; taxation of a private foundation; taxation of split-interest trusts; and income tax deductions for charitable contributions.

Federal Estate Taxation -- introduction to estate tax; gross estate; valuation (IRC §§ 2031, 2032, 2032A); deductible expenses, indebtedness, taxes (IRC § 2053) and losses (IRC § 2054); the marital deduction, reported on Schedule M (IRC § 2056); the charitable deduction (IRC § 2055); family-owned business deduction (IRC § 2057); credits available against the estate tax; and liability for estate tax.

Federal Gift Taxation -- transactions subject to gift tax; annual exclusion and applicable exclusion; college tuition programs; direct payment of certain educational or medical expenses; gift splitting; marital deduction (IRC § 2523); charitable deduction (IRC § 2522); computation of gift tax; liability for gift tax; and disclaimers (IRC § 2518).

Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax -- background; generation-skipping transfers; $1.5 million GST exemption; computing the tax; liability for the tax; miscellaneous provisions; and effective date rules.

Planning for Gifts -- annual exclusion gifts; gifts to minors; Crummey Trusts; removing appreciation from the estate; removing gift tax from the estate; income shifting with gifts; disadvantages to making gifts; gift of insurance; and other gift techniques.

Planning for Credit Shelter and Marital Trusts -- amount of marital deduction; marital trusts; provisions of the nonmarital trust; estate plan for spouses; selecting the trustee for marital and nonmarital trusts; and selecting a marital formula.

Effective Planning for Generation-Skipping Transfers -- goals in planning for generation-skipping transfers; effective use of the GST exemption at death; funding bequests that involve GST-exempt property; efficient use of the GST exemption and other exclusions; unique techniques for leveraging the GST exemption; and preserving and protecting grandfathered trusts.

Postmortem Planning -- income in respect of a decedent (IRC § 691); deductible expense options; timing of distributions; realization of gain; providing for estate liquidity; and use of disclaimers.

Planning For Retirement Benefits -- tax treatment of qualified retirement benefits and IRAs; payout rules applicable to qualified plans and deductible IRAs; coordinating with the estate plan; preserving spousal rollover treatment for benefits payable to the estate or a trust; excise tax on early and late distributions; gift tax and retirement benefits; life insurance under qualified plans; self-employed individuals; Roth IRAs; and tax-deferred annuities.

Estate Planning for the Closely Held Business -- integrating estate planning and family business succession strategies; direct lifetime gifts; capital structure devices; buy-sell agreements; shifting techniques that provide liquidity; redemptions of stock (IRC § 303); deferral of estate tax (IRC § 6166); estate tax deduction for value of a qualified family-owned business (IRC § 2057); family limited partnerships; and sale to an employee stock ownership plan.

Ethical Considerations -- fiduciary duties; duties of loyalty and impartiality in family planning; investments; unauthorized practice of law; and crossing state lines.

Investments Management

Economics and Markets -- Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation, unemployment, financial markets, interest rates, government fiscal policy (taxing and spending activities by government), monetary policy, and international influences.

Equity Markets, Debt Markets, and Portfolio Management -- equity markets, equity valuation, debt markets, valuation of debt instruments, mutual funds and portfolio management.

Alternative Investments -- hedge funds; derivatives such as options, forwards, futures, swap agreements; closely held corporations; private equity funds, exchange-traded funds, common trust funds, general and limited partnerships, real estate, and foreign investments.

Investment Policy -- expectations and responsibilities, constraints, asset allocation, investment manager.

Performance Measurement and Evaluation -- measuring return and measuring risk, risk-adjusted returns, setting and using benchmarks, performance attribution procedures.

Ethics and Legal Considerations -- insider information, fiduciary duty, conflict of interest, Prudent Man Standard, Prudent Expert Standard, Uniform Prudent Investor act, self-dealing, equal treatment of accounts, soft dollars, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Financial Planning

Personal Finance -- value measurements, statement of assets and liabilities, cash and debt management, income tax planning, income-shifting techniques.

Life Insurance -- types of insurance, tax considerations, inventory for current life insurance coverage, selecting a life insurance policy, selecting an insurance company, life insurance management, fiduciary-managed life insurance.

Other Types of Insurance -- disability insurance, long-term care insurance, medical insurance, property insurance, vehicle insurance, and liability insurance.

Retirement Planning -- capital sufficiency, investment strategies, wealth accumulation and distribution, and social security.

Estate Planning -- the flow of property at death, costs for transferring property, federal estate tax considerations, estate documents, and planning considerations.

Ethics -- ethical standards, conflicts of interest, relationships to other advisors, compensation arrangements, and unauthorized practices.

Questions:  Call NYBA Professional Development at 212-297-1679 or elegg@nyba.com.

The New York Bankers Association is a Local ABA Training Provider.