Ready to Register?

MyLawCLE All-Access Pass

Best choice

Add the All-Access Pass and get this program —
plus 1,000+ live CLE programs every year.


All specialty & ethics credits included
38 practice areas
New sections: AI & the Law, Practice Management
100s of current and trending legal topics
Nationally recognized and highly experienced presenters

$395 / year — this program included
Register with the All-Access Pass

This program + 1,000+ CLE programs, all year

Or register for just this program

On-Demand Video

Recorded access + self-study credit.
$195 Register

The Great Wealth Transfer and the Coming Wave of Probate Litigation: Contested Estates, Fiduciary Claims, and Heirs’ Property Disputes Through 2040

Master capacity contests, undue influence claims, and fiduciary breach litigation. Sharpen theory selection, expert deployment, and damages strategy to win contested estates and heirs’ property disputes through 2040.

2026-07-15 13:00:00

2 hours

Program Details

2026-07-15 13:00:00

Program Details

2026-07-15 13:00:00

Over 1,000+ webinars

2026-07-15 13:00:00

2 hours

Course Overview

When the Heirs Outnumber the Estate Plan

2026-07-15 13:00:00

The largest generational wealth transfer in history, $78 to $124 trillion, is about to collide with an aging donor population, rising dementia rates, and a documented estate planning gap, and the collision lands in surrogate and probate courts. Boomer mortality crosses its tipping point around 2030, and the capacity contests, undue influence claims, fiduciary breach actions, and inherited property disputes that follow will dominate dockets through 2040.

Trial and estate attorneys are already taking these cases, often working from instincts formed before the current case law. This program maps the doctrine that decides them: the Cunningham four-part capacity test, the insane delusion doctrine, Restatement § 8.3 burden-shifting on undue influence, UTC §§ 801–813 fiduciary duties and the no-further-inquiry rule, financial elder abuse remedies, and the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act alongside IRC § 1014 basis allocation.

Attendees will be able to select litigation theory, document capacity at execution, deploy and counter forensic experts, and model surcharge and partition damages with precision.

Format

CLE Credit

2h CLE Credits

Level

Intermediate

Length

2

Key topics that will be covered

01
Wealth transfer
The $78–124 trillion wealth transfer and its scale and generational concentration.
02
Demographic tipping points
Census projections, boomer mortality, and the 2030 crossover are shaping dispute drivers.
03
Insane delusion
The insane delusion doctrine as articulated in Strittmater and Honigman.
04
Tortious interference
Tortious interference with inheritance expectancy: elements, standing, and exhaustion requirements.
05
Step-up basis
IRC § 1014 step-up basis calculation and allocation disputes among co-heirs.
06
Reverse mortgages
Reverse mortgage payoff timelines and HUD Mortgagee Letter 2023-23 Cash-for-Keys provisions.

Program schedule

clock 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm EST

Why Probate Caseloads Are About to Explode

This session maps the demographic and economic forces driving the projected probate litigation surge through 2040: boomer wealth concentration, Census aging projections, cognitive decline, and the estate planning gap, giving attorneys a quantitative framework for the caseload ahead.

Brittany KaczmarczykBrittany Kaczmarczyk
Michael BrodyMichael Brody
Stephen CroffordStephen Crofford
Thomas E. SimmonsThomas E. Simmons
David Fowler JohnsonDavid Fowler Johnson
clock 1:30 pm - 2:00 pm EST

Litigating Fiduciary Breach Claims

This session examines UTC §§ 801–813 duty architecture, self-dealing under the no-further-inquiry rule, surcharge and removal remedies, POA agent breach, financial elder abuse statutes, and tortious interference with inheritance expectancy across multiple jurisdictions.

Brittany KaczmarczykBrittany Kaczmarczyk
Michael BrodyMichael Brody
Stephen CroffordStephen Crofford
Thomas E. SimmonsThomas E. Simmons
David Fowler JohnsonDavid Fowler Johnson
clock 2:10 pm - 2:40 pm EST

Litigating Capacity and Undue Influence Cases

This session covers the Cunningham capacity test, insane delusion doctrine, and Restatement § 8.3 burden-shifting, plus lucid interval evidence, forensic neuropsychological expert testimony, and the strategic choice between capacity and undue influence theories.

Brittany KaczmarczykBrittany Kaczmarczyk
Michael BrodyMichael Brody
Stephen CroffordStephen Crofford
Thomas E. SimmonsThomas E. Simmons
David Fowler JohnsonDavid Fowler Johnson
clock 2:40 pm - 3:10 pm EST

Resolving Inherited Real Property Disputes

This session addresses the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act’s procedural protections, IRC § 1014 step-up basis allocation among co-heirs, and reverse mortgage payoff timelines under HUD Mortgagee Letter 2023-23’s Cash-for-Keys provisions.

Brittany KaczmarczykBrittany Kaczmarczyk
Michael BrodyMichael Brody
Stephen CroffordStephen Crofford
Thomas E. SimmonsThomas E. Simmons
David Fowler JohnsonDavid Fowler Johnson
Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Reminger Co

Michael Brody

Michael Brody

Reminger Co

Stephen Crofford

Stephen Crofford

Cumberland Trust

Thomas E. Simmons

Thomas E. Simmons

South Dakota Knudson School of Law

David Fowler Johnson

David Fowler Johnson

Winstead PC

Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Reminger Co

Brittany Kaczmarczyk is an associate in Reminger Co., LPA’s Cleveland and Akron offices, where she focuses her practice on estates, trusts, probate litigation, and guardianship. She represents clients in the pursuit and defense of trust and will contests, power of attorney abuse, declaratory judgments to invalidate financial or real estate transactions, fiduciary liability, and breach of trust. Brittany counsels clients through all phases of the probate litigation process, including factual investigation, pleadings, discovery, motion practice, mediation, evidentiary hearings, and trial. Beyond litigation, she handles estate and trust administration and assists clients in applying for, as well as personally serving as, guardian. She has reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, researched complex issues of law, developed case strategies, and obtained results for her clients through motion practice, mediation, and trial.

Education & Credentials

Brittany earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from CSU College of Law in 2022, where she served as Executive Editor of the Cleveland State Law Review. She holds an M.A. in Biology (2019) from Kent State University, as well as a B.S. in Biology (2017) and a B.A. in Paralegal Studies (2017), both from Kent State University. She is admitted to practice in the State of Ohio (2022) and before the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (2024).

Recognition & Leadership

Brittany has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Litigation – Trusts and Estates. She received the CALI High A Award for Health Care Law and Ethics. She is a 2023 graduate of FDCC Ladder Down Cleveland and serves as an Executive Committee Member. During law school, she served as president of Cleveland State's law school chapter of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity.

Professional Involvement

Brittany is involved with FDCC Ladder Down Cleveland, the William K. Thomas Inn of Court, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the Akron Bar Association. She regularly presents on issues involving probate litigation, with speaking engagements including "Challenging a Will or Trust: Complex Tactics for Experienced Practitioners," "Proving or Defending Undue Influence in Litigation: Evidence, Experts, Remedies," the Reminger Co., LPA Advanced Probate Law Institute, and "Understanding Psychiatric Advanced Directives and Supported Decision Making." She has published in the Probate Law Journal of Ohio. She also remains active in the community through her continued involvement in Ladder Down, Cleveland, and several bar associations.

Experience

Brittany practices in estates and trusts, estates, trusts, and probate litigation, estate and trust administration, and guardianships. Her litigation experience spans trust and will contests, power of attorney abuse, declaratory judgments to invalidate financial or real estate transactions, fiduciary liability, and breach of trust, guiding clients through every phase from factual investigation through trial. Her results include a unanimous jury verdict in Summit County Probate Court in November 2024 awarding $110,000 plus attorney fees on behalf of four trust beneficiaries in a breach of fiduciary duty action, and a March 2024 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings in Cuyahoga County Probate Court in a will contest case, including dismissal of an Intentional Interference with an Expected Inheritance claim.
Michael Brody

Michael Brody

Reminger Co

Michael Brody is an associate in Reminger’s Cleveland office, where he focuses his practice primarily on litigating private and family wealth disputes arising from wills, trusts, power of attorney and fiduciary misconduct, and non-probate transfers of assets. He also assists clients with estate and trust planning and administration and provides guardianship services. Recognizing that estate and trust disputes often involve heightened emotions and unique family dynamics alongside their inherent economic considerations, Michael works closely to understand these factors so he can counsel clients effectively and help them reach pragmatic, equitable solutions.

Education & Credentials

Michael earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Cleveland State University College of Law in 2023, where he made the Dean's List, served on the CSU Law Moot Court Team, contributed as a writer for "The Gavel," the school's student newspaper, and received CALI "High A" Awards in Appellate Practice Clinic and Advanced Brief Writing. He holds a B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from John Carroll University, conferred in 2020, where he was named to the Dean's List. He is admitted to practice in the State of Ohio and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, both in 2023.

Recognition & Leadership

Michael has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Litigation – Trusts and Estates. He received the Best Brief Award at the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition in November 2022 and, during his undergraduate studies, earned the Kathleen L. Barber Scholastic Achievement Award from the Department of Political Science in 2020.

Professional Involvement

Michael is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. His speaking engagements include "Screening Probate Cases Before You File," "Proving or Defending Undue Influence in Litigation: Evidence, Experts, Remedies," "Fiduciary Misconduct Disputes in Detail," the Butler County Probate Seminar, and the Reminger Co., LPA Advanced Probate Law Institute presented before the Columbus Bar Association.

Experience

Michael concentrates his practice on estates, trusts, and probate litigation, estate and trust administration, estate planning, and guardianships. He represents clients in private and family wealth disputes involving wills, trusts, powers of attorney, fiduciary misconduct, and non-probate transfers of assets. In a representative matter before the Cuyahoga County Probate Court, Michael and Paul Shugar secured a favorable result in a trust dispute: after the trustee failed to communicate, manage the trust, or vacate the trust property, they brought the breach-of-trust case to an evidentiary hearing, where Michael established damages and the Court removed the trustee, appointed an independent fiduciary, and awarded the client a $15,900 estate debt, $24,000 in unpaid rent, full reimbursement of trust expenses, and attorney's fees. He joined Reminger's Cleveland office in December 2023.
Stephen Crofford

Stephen Crofford

Cumberland Trust

Stephen Crofford, Jr. serves as Vice President and Senior Fiduciary Counsel of Cumberland Trust, which he joined in 2016. In this role he reviews trust agreements and last wills and testaments from states across the country and drafts documents relating to the administration of trusts and estates. He provides counsel to Cumberland Trust on administrative questions that may arise and offers independent legal analysis of trusts, estates, and litigation matters. Stephen also has experience reviewing and preparing client documents and working with unique, illiquid, and hard-to-value assets held in trust.

Education & Credentials

Stephen received a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a J.D. from Belmont University College of Law in Nashville. He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.

Recognition & Leadership

Stephen has been accepted into Class III of the Southeast Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), beginning in Fall 2025 and concluding in Spring 2026.

Professional Involvement

Stephen serves on the Tennessee Bankers Association Trust Legislative Committee and is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Nashville Estate Planning Council, and the Estate Planning Council of Middle Tennessee. He is a frequent nationwide speaker on topics related to trust and estate matters and legislation, and he has been published in the ACTEC Law Journal and in Trusts & Estates.

Experience

Stephen serves as Vice President and Senior Fiduciary Counsel of Cumberland Trust, where he reviews and drafts documents relating to trust and estate accounts, reviews trust agreements and last wills and testaments from states across the country, and prepares documents relating to the administration of trusts and estates. He provides counsel on administrative questions and independent legal analysis of trusts, estates, and litigation matters, and he has experience reviewing and preparing client documents and working with unique, illiquid, and hard-to-value assets held in trust.
Thomas E. Simmons

Thomas E. Simmons

South Dakota Knudson School of Law

Thomas E. (Tom) Simmons is a tenured professor at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law, where he holds the McDowell, King, & South Dakota Trust Company Chair in Trust and Estate Law. His teaching and scholarship concentrate on trusts, estates, probate, attorney ethics, fiduciaries, and the estate tax, and his courses include Trusts & Wills, Estate Planning, Professional Responsibility, Remedies, a pair of Tribal Wills Clinic practicum courses, and occasionally a seminar titled Holocaust Law. He serves as a Commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission and an Associate Justice on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court. He is also the author of three collections of poetry: Tod Browning Looseleaf Encyclopedia, S is for Sentence, and Soviets on Venus.

Education & Credentials

Tom Simmons earned his J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1998, a B.S. in Education and English from the University of South Dakota in 1991, and a Graduate Certificate in Christian Wisdom from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in 2021. He is admitted before the South Dakota Bar, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, and the United States Tax Court. He is also admitted to practice before the Rosebud Sioux, Flandreau Santee Sioux, and Yankton Sioux Tribal Courts, and is an Accredited Attorney with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel.

Recognition & Leadership

Tom Simmons is the recipient of the Cutler Award for Excellence in Legal Education (2016) and has twice received the John Wesley Jackson Memorial Award for Outstanding Professor of Law (2018 and 2020). His additional honors include the AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll (2024), an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, recognition among America's Most Honored Lawyers, and selection as Best Lawyers' Lawyer of the Year for Trusts and Estates in Sioux Falls (2020). In leadership and fiduciary capacities, he serves as an Associate Justice on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court and a Commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission, and he holds the McDowell, King, & South Dakota Trust Company Chair. He is an academic fellow and former state chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and a life fellow and state chair of the American Bar Foundation.

Professional Involvement

Tom Simmons is an Academic Fellow and former state chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and a Life Fellow and state chair of the American Bar Foundation. He serves as a Commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission and on the South Dakota State Bar's Ethics Committee. A frequent continuing-legal-education presenter on trusts, estates, fiduciary, tax, and ethics topics, his scholarship has appeared in leading journals including the Elder Law Journal, the Missouri Law Review, the Gonzaga Law Review, and the South Dakota Law Review.

Experience

Tom Simmons has taught at every educational level, from pre-K (in a Head Start program) and primary school (in Rapid City), to secondary school (in Japan), to undergraduates (in a paralegal studies program), and finally to law students. At the Knudson School of Law his courses include Estate Planning, Professional Responsibility, Trusts & Wills, the Tribal Wills practicum, and Remedies. Prior to joining the academy, he was a partner with the law firm of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson & Ashmore; today he serves in an of counsel role with the Thompson Law firm. His practice and consulting work center on trusts, probate, ethics, and the estate tax, and he regularly serves as a consultant and expert in litigation involving the federal estate tax, legal malpractice, and fiduciary administration.
David Fowler Johnson

David Fowler Johnson

Winstead PC

David Fowler Johnson is widely regarded as a go-to fiduciary litigator in Texas, practicing from Winstead PC’s Fort Worth office. His practice concentrates on trust, estate, and closely held business disputes, and he writes and speaks frequently across the state on fiduciary law. He authors The Fiduciary Litigator, an award-winning blog tracking case law, legislative changes, and other developments affecting Texas fiduciaries.

Education & Credentials

Mr. Johnson earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Baylor Law School in 1997, where he received the Mid-Year Law Award from the Baylor Law Review, earned Academic Dean’s List honors, and held multiple scholarships. He received his B.B.A. in Accounting from Baylor University in 1994 and was admitted to the Texas bar in 1997. He is licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; the Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Federal Circuits; the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas; and the Texas Supreme Court and various Texas intermediate appellate courts.

Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Johnson is one of twenty attorneys in Texas, of the 84,000 licensed, holding triple Board Certification in Civil Trial Law, Civil Appellate Law, and Personal Injury Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He received the JD Supra 2020 Readers’ Choice Award for Wealth Management, his third consecutive year receiving the award, and was named a Go-To Thought Leader in Fiduciary Litigation by the National Law Review in 2020.

Professional Involvement

Mr. Johnson currently serves on the board of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, the Texas State Bar’s certifying body for attorney specialties, and previously served on the commission that wrote and graded the civil trial law examination. He has served as an adjunct professor at Baylor University Law School and Texas Wesleyan Law School, has delivered over 300 legal education presentations, and has published twenty law review articles cited repeatedly by the Texas Supreme Court, numerous Texas courts of appeals, and courts and commentators in other jurisdictions.

Experience

Mr. Johnson’s trust and estate work spans will contests, elder abuse, mental competency, undue influence, trust modification, reformation, and clarification, breach of fiduciary duty claims, decanting, severance and joinder, accountings, and suits to remove a fiduciary. His trial experience includes representing banks in disputes over distributions, trusteeship of more than 220 trusts, and management of oil and gas assets, and representing individual executors and trustees against beneficiary claims. He also maintains a transactional practice for trust departments and has been retained as an expert on fiduciary compliance, fiduciary compensation, and elder abuse.
Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Reminger Co

Brittany Kaczmarczyk is an associate in Reminger Co., LPA’s Cleveland and Akron offices, where she focuses her practice on estates, trusts, probate litigation, and guardianship. She represents clients in the pursuit and defense of trust and will contests, power of attorney abuse, declaratory judgments to invalidate financial or real estate transactions, fiduciary liability, and breach of trust. Brittany counsels clients through all phases of the probate litigation process, including factual investigation, pleadings, discovery, motion practice, mediation, evidentiary hearings, and trial. Beyond litigation, she handles estate and trust administration and assists clients in applying for, as well as personally serving as, guardian. She has reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, researched complex issues of law, developed case strategies, and obtained results for her clients through motion practice, mediation, and trial.

Education & Credentials

Brittany earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from CSU College of Law in 2022, where she served as Executive Editor of the Cleveland State Law Review. She holds an M.A. in Biology (2019) from Kent State University, as well as a B.S. in Biology (2017) and a B.A. in Paralegal Studies (2017), both from Kent State University. She is admitted to practice in the State of Ohio (2022) and before the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio (2024).

Recognition & Leadership

Brittany has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Litigation – Trusts and Estates. She received the CALI High A Award for Health Care Law and Ethics. She is a 2023 graduate of FDCC Ladder Down Cleveland and serves as an Executive Committee Member. During law school, she served as president of Cleveland State's law school chapter of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity.

Professional Involvement

Brittany is involved with FDCC Ladder Down Cleveland, the William K. Thomas Inn of Court, the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the Akron Bar Association. She regularly presents on issues involving probate litigation, with speaking engagements including "Challenging a Will or Trust: Complex Tactics for Experienced Practitioners," "Proving or Defending Undue Influence in Litigation: Evidence, Experts, Remedies," the Reminger Co., LPA Advanced Probate Law Institute, and "Understanding Psychiatric Advanced Directives and Supported Decision Making." She has published in the Probate Law Journal of Ohio. She also remains active in the community through her continued involvement in Ladder Down, Cleveland, and several bar associations.

Experience

Brittany practices in estates and trusts, estates, trusts, and probate litigation, estate and trust administration, and guardianships. Her litigation experience spans trust and will contests, power of attorney abuse, declaratory judgments to invalidate financial or real estate transactions, fiduciary liability, and breach of trust, guiding clients through every phase from factual investigation through trial. Her results include a unanimous jury verdict in Summit County Probate Court in November 2024 awarding $110,000 plus attorney fees on behalf of four trust beneficiaries in a breach of fiduciary duty action, and a March 2024 Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings in Cuyahoga County Probate Court in a will contest case, including dismissal of an Intentional Interference with an Expected Inheritance claim.
Michael Brody

Michael Brody

Reminger Co

Michael Brody is an associate in Reminger’s Cleveland office, where he focuses his practice primarily on litigating private and family wealth disputes arising from wills, trusts, power of attorney and fiduciary misconduct, and non-probate transfers of assets. He also assists clients with estate and trust planning and administration and provides guardianship services. Recognizing that estate and trust disputes often involve heightened emotions and unique family dynamics alongside their inherent economic considerations, Michael works closely to understand these factors so he can counsel clients effectively and help them reach pragmatic, equitable solutions.

Education & Credentials

Michael earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Cleveland State University College of Law in 2023, where he made the Dean's List, served on the CSU Law Moot Court Team, contributed as a writer for "The Gavel," the school's student newspaper, and received CALI "High A" Awards in Appellate Practice Clinic and Advanced Brief Writing. He holds a B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from John Carroll University, conferred in 2020, where he was named to the Dean's List. He is admitted to practice in the State of Ohio and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, both in 2023.

Recognition & Leadership

Michael has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch for Litigation – Trusts and Estates. He received the Best Brief Award at the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition in November 2022 and, during his undergraduate studies, earned the Kathleen L. Barber Scholastic Achievement Award from the Department of Political Science in 2020.

Professional Involvement

Michael is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. His speaking engagements include "Screening Probate Cases Before You File," "Proving or Defending Undue Influence in Litigation: Evidence, Experts, Remedies," "Fiduciary Misconduct Disputes in Detail," the Butler County Probate Seminar, and the Reminger Co., LPA Advanced Probate Law Institute presented before the Columbus Bar Association.

Experience

Michael concentrates his practice on estates, trusts, and probate litigation, estate and trust administration, estate planning, and guardianships. He represents clients in private and family wealth disputes involving wills, trusts, powers of attorney, fiduciary misconduct, and non-probate transfers of assets. In a representative matter before the Cuyahoga County Probate Court, Michael and Paul Shugar secured a favorable result in a trust dispute: after the trustee failed to communicate, manage the trust, or vacate the trust property, they brought the breach-of-trust case to an evidentiary hearing, where Michael established damages and the Court removed the trustee, appointed an independent fiduciary, and awarded the client a $15,900 estate debt, $24,000 in unpaid rent, full reimbursement of trust expenses, and attorney's fees. He joined Reminger's Cleveland office in December 2023.
Stephen Crofford

Stephen Crofford

Cumberland Trust

Stephen Crofford, Jr. serves as Vice President and Senior Fiduciary Counsel of Cumberland Trust, which he joined in 2016. In this role he reviews trust agreements and last wills and testaments from states across the country and drafts documents relating to the administration of trusts and estates. He provides counsel to Cumberland Trust on administrative questions that may arise and offers independent legal analysis of trusts, estates, and litigation matters. Stephen also has experience reviewing and preparing client documents and working with unique, illiquid, and hard-to-value assets held in trust.

Education & Credentials

Stephen received a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a J.D. from Belmont University College of Law in Nashville. He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.

Recognition & Leadership

Stephen has been accepted into Class III of the Southeast Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), beginning in Fall 2025 and concluding in Spring 2026.

Professional Involvement

Stephen serves on the Tennessee Bankers Association Trust Legislative Committee and is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, the Nashville Estate Planning Council, and the Estate Planning Council of Middle Tennessee. He is a frequent nationwide speaker on topics related to trust and estate matters and legislation, and he has been published in the ACTEC Law Journal and in Trusts & Estates.

Experience

Stephen serves as Vice President and Senior Fiduciary Counsel of Cumberland Trust, where he reviews and drafts documents relating to trust and estate accounts, reviews trust agreements and last wills and testaments from states across the country, and prepares documents relating to the administration of trusts and estates. He provides counsel on administrative questions and independent legal analysis of trusts, estates, and litigation matters, and he has experience reviewing and preparing client documents and working with unique, illiquid, and hard-to-value assets held in trust.
Thomas E. Simmons

Thomas E. Simmons

South Dakota Knudson School of Law

Thomas E. (Tom) Simmons is a tenured professor at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law, where he holds the McDowell, King, & South Dakota Trust Company Chair in Trust and Estate Law. His teaching and scholarship concentrate on trusts, estates, probate, attorney ethics, fiduciaries, and the estate tax, and his courses include Trusts & Wills, Estate Planning, Professional Responsibility, Remedies, a pair of Tribal Wills Clinic practicum courses, and occasionally a seminar titled Holocaust Law. He serves as a Commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission and an Associate Justice on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court. He is also the author of three collections of poetry: Tod Browning Looseleaf Encyclopedia, S is for Sentence, and Soviets on Venus.

Education & Credentials

Tom Simmons earned his J.D. from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1998, a B.S. in Education and English from the University of South Dakota in 1991, and a Graduate Certificate in Christian Wisdom from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in 2021. He is admitted before the South Dakota Bar, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, and the United States Tax Court. He is also admitted to practice before the Rosebud Sioux, Flandreau Santee Sioux, and Yankton Sioux Tribal Courts, and is an Accredited Attorney with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel.

Recognition & Leadership

Tom Simmons is the recipient of the Cutler Award for Excellence in Legal Education (2016) and has twice received the John Wesley Jackson Memorial Award for Outstanding Professor of Law (2018 and 2020). His additional honors include the AALS Pro Bono Honor Roll (2024), an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, recognition among America's Most Honored Lawyers, and selection as Best Lawyers' Lawyer of the Year for Trusts and Estates in Sioux Falls (2020). In leadership and fiduciary capacities, he serves as an Associate Justice on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court and a Commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission, and he holds the McDowell, King, & South Dakota Trust Company Chair. He is an academic fellow and former state chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and a life fellow and state chair of the American Bar Foundation.

Professional Involvement

Tom Simmons is an Academic Fellow and former state chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and a Life Fellow and state chair of the American Bar Foundation. He serves as a Commissioner of the Uniform Law Commission and on the South Dakota State Bar's Ethics Committee. A frequent continuing-legal-education presenter on trusts, estates, fiduciary, tax, and ethics topics, his scholarship has appeared in leading journals including the Elder Law Journal, the Missouri Law Review, the Gonzaga Law Review, and the South Dakota Law Review.

Experience

Tom Simmons has taught at every educational level, from pre-K (in a Head Start program) and primary school (in Rapid City), to secondary school (in Japan), to undergraduates (in a paralegal studies program), and finally to law students. At the Knudson School of Law his courses include Estate Planning, Professional Responsibility, Trusts & Wills, the Tribal Wills practicum, and Remedies. Prior to joining the academy, he was a partner with the law firm of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson & Ashmore; today he serves in an of counsel role with the Thompson Law firm. His practice and consulting work center on trusts, probate, ethics, and the estate tax, and he regularly serves as a consultant and expert in litigation involving the federal estate tax, legal malpractice, and fiduciary administration.
David Fowler Johnson

David Fowler Johnson

Winstead PC

David Fowler Johnson is widely regarded as a go-to fiduciary litigator in Texas, practicing from Winstead PC’s Fort Worth office. His practice concentrates on trust, estate, and closely held business disputes, and he writes and speaks frequently across the state on fiduciary law. He authors The Fiduciary Litigator, an award-winning blog tracking case law, legislative changes, and other developments affecting Texas fiduciaries.

Education & Credentials

Mr. Johnson earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Baylor Law School in 1997, where he received the Mid-Year Law Award from the Baylor Law Review, earned Academic Dean’s List honors, and held multiple scholarships. He received his B.B.A. in Accounting from Baylor University in 1994 and was admitted to the Texas bar in 1997. He is licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; the Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Federal Circuits; the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas; and the Texas Supreme Court and various Texas intermediate appellate courts.

Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Johnson is one of twenty attorneys in Texas, of the 84,000 licensed, holding triple Board Certification in Civil Trial Law, Civil Appellate Law, and Personal Injury Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He received the JD Supra 2020 Readers’ Choice Award for Wealth Management, his third consecutive year receiving the award, and was named a Go-To Thought Leader in Fiduciary Litigation by the National Law Review in 2020.

Professional Involvement

Mr. Johnson currently serves on the board of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, the Texas State Bar’s certifying body for attorney specialties, and previously served on the commission that wrote and graded the civil trial law examination. He has served as an adjunct professor at Baylor University Law School and Texas Wesleyan Law School, has delivered over 300 legal education presentations, and has published twenty law review articles cited repeatedly by the Texas Supreme Court, numerous Texas courts of appeals, and courts and commentators in other jurisdictions.

Experience

Mr. Johnson’s trust and estate work spans will contests, elder abuse, mental competency, undue influence, trust modification, reformation, and clarification, breach of fiduciary duty claims, decanting, severance and joinder, accountings, and suits to remove a fiduciary. His trial experience includes representing banks in disputes over distributions, trusteeship of more than 220 trusts, and management of oil and gas assets, and representing individual executors and trustees against beneficiary claims. He also maintains a transactional practice for trust departments and has been retained as an expert on fiduciary compliance, fiduciary compensation, and elder abuse.

Credits by state

AK2.0
AL2.0
AR2.0
AZ2.0
CA2.0
CO2.0
CT2.0
DC2.0
DE2.0
FL2.0
GA2.0
HI2.0
IA2.0
ID2.0
IL2.0
KS2.0
KY2.0
LA2.0
MA2.0
MD2.0
ME2.0
MI2.0
MN2.0
MO2.4
MS2.0
MT2.0
NC2.0
ND2.0
NE2.0
NH120.0
NJ2.4
NM2.0
NV2.0
NY2.0
OH2.0
OK2.5
OR2.0
PA2.0
RI2.5
SC2.0
SD2.0
TN2.0
TX2.0
UT2.0
VA2.0
VT2.0
WA2.0
WI2.0
WV2.4
WY2.0

Upcoming Live Online CLE Broadcasts

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

70,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

70,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

10,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

1000+

Live stream programs

24/7

Access to live webinars & recordings

70,000+

Trusted by Legal Professionals

MCLE Credits

Alabama
Approved
Alaska
Approved
Arizona
Approved
Arkansas
Approved
California
Approved
Colorado
Pending
Connecticut
Approved
Delaware
Pending
District of Columbia
No Required
Florida
Pending
Georgia
Pending
Hawaii
Approved
Idaho
Pending
Illinois
Approved
Iowa
Pending
Kansas
Pending
Kentucky
Pending
Louisiana
Pending
Maine
Pending
Maryland
No Required
Massachusetts
No Required
Michigan
No Required
Minnesota
Pending
Mississippi
Pending
Missouri
Approved
Montana
Pending
Nebraska
Pending
Nevada
Approved
New Hampshire
Approved
New Jersey
Approved
New Mexico
Approved
New York
Approved
North Carolina
Pending
North Dakota
Approved
Ohio
Approved
Oklahoma
Pending
Oregon
Pending
Pennsylvania
Approved
Rhode Island
Pending
South Carolina
Pending
South Dakota
No Required
Tennessee
Approved
Texas
Approved
Utah
Pending
Vermont
Approved
Virginia
Not Eligible
Washington
Approved
West Virginia
Pending
Wisconsin
Pending
Wyoming
Pending

Alabama

Requirements

The Alabama State Bar MCLE Commission requires attorneys to complete 12 credits, including 1 ethics, by December 31 of each year. All credits must be reported by February 15 of the following year. A maximum of 12 credits, including 1 ethics credit, may be carried over for 1 year only.  

Formats

  • Attorneys can earn unlimited “live” credit through live seminars, live webcasts, and co-sponsored locations with MyLAWCLE-Alabama approved programs
  • Attorneys are limited to 6 credits per compliance period of “online” programs through MyLAwCLE On-Demand programs