Correcting Unfavorable Beneficiary Designations in TrustsCorrecting Unfavorable Beneficiary Designations in Trusts

Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP and is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Accredited Estate Planners (Distinguished) award from the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.  He has been named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States and one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession.  His practice includes family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration. Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift and income tax examinations and appeals, and he has received more than 150 favorable private letter rulings including several key rulings of “first impression”. He is the author of over 100 articles and columns and is the editor, author or co-author of many books and treatises on wealth transfer and taxation.  Mr. Keebler has recently been quoted in The New York Times in an article titled: “The 1040 Blues” where he provided insight on capital gains tax.  Mr. Keebler has been a speaker at national estate planning and tax seminars for over 20 years including the AICPA’s: Estate Planning, High Income, Advanced Financial Planning Conferences, ABA Conferences, NAPEC Conferences, The Notre Dame Estate Planning Conference and the Heckerling Estate Planning Institute.

Michelle Ward is a partner at Keebler & Associates in Green Bay, Wis. 

Michelle received her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and her law degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School and is scheduled to receive her LLM in estate planning from Western New England College of Law in 2011. Her professional affiliations include the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Green Bay Estate Planning Forum.

Michelle is also co-author of Panel Publishing's Roth IRA Answer Book (2008 and 2009 Editions) and Quick Reference to IRAs (2008 and 2009 Editions) and AICPA's The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010: Tools, Tips, and
Tactics. Michelle has also authored articles appearing in Trusts & Estates, Investments and Wealth Monitor, and Journal of Retirement Planning.

Prior to joining Keebler & Associates, LLP Michelle was in private law practice in Green Bay and was also a Senior Consultant with Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP. 

Peter J. Melcher, MBA, JD, LLM-- is a consultant with Keebler & Associates, LLP where he focuses on estate planning, income tax planning for high net worth individuals, transactional tax planning for businesses and Ponzi scheme losses. He is a tax planning columnist and frequent contributor to national tax journals. Prior to joining Keebler & Associates, Peter served as an editor at CCH, Inc., an executive compensation consultant at HayGroup and as an estate planning manager at Grant Thornton.

[email protected]
414-421-4992