Estate Planning 101: Creating an estate plan for your client from scratch

Michael Sneeringer
Michael Sneeringer | Brennan Manna & Diamond

Michael Sneeringer is an attorney in the Bonita Springs, Florida, and Cleveland, Ohio, offices of Brennan Manna & Diamond where his practice focuses on trust and estate planning, probate administration, asset protection planning, and tax law.

Re-Broadcast: July 21, 2025

2 hour CLE

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Program Summary

In this CLE, we will discuss how an attorney can create an estate plan for a client from scratch. By the end of this CLE, you should be able to prepare a will and revocable trust. You will learn the legal provisions that should be drafted into a will and revocable trust. You will understand the difference between an optional legal provision and mandatory legal provision. This CLE will give you an idea of signing formalities should go into the execution of a will and revocable trust. Finally, this CLE will discuss facts and circumstances that dictate when a will and revocable trust should be edited or revoked.

This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.

Key topics to be discussed:

  • What factors typically drive an initial conversation when a client is looking to have a will and/or revocable trust prepared?
  • What is a will, what mandatory legal provisions should be drafted into a will, and what optional legal provisions may, but are not required, to be drafted into a will?
  • What is a revocable trust, what mandatory legal provisions should be drafted into a revocable trust, and what optional legal provisions may, but are not required, to be drafted into a revocable trust?
  • When should a will or revocable trust be amended or revoked?

Date / Time: July 21, 2025

  • 2:00 pm – 4:10 pm Eastern
  • 1:00 pm – 3:10 pm Central
  • 12:00 pm – 2:10 pm Mountain
  • 11:00 am – 1:10 pm Pacific

Closed-captioning available

Speakers

Michael Sneeringer_myLawCLEMichael Sneeringer | Brennan Manna & Diamond

Michael Sneeringer is an attorney in the Bonita Springs, Florida, and Cleveland, Ohio, offices of Brennan Manna & Diamond where his practice focuses on trust and estate planning, probate administration, asset protection planning, and tax law.

He serves as chair of the Asset Protection Committee of the Florida Bar’s Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section, and is a reporter at the Heckerling Institute for the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. Michael is the Editor, Trust and Estate, for Probate & Property Magazine.

Michael received his B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College, his J.D., cum laude, St. Thomas University School of Law, and his LL.M. from the University of Miami School of Law

Agenda

I. What factors typically drive an initial conversation when a client is looking to have a will and/or revocable trust prepared? | 2:00pm – 2:30pm

II. What is a will, what mandatory legal provisions should be drafted into a will, and what optional legal provisions may, but are not required, to be drafted into a will? | 2:30pm – 3:00pm

Break | 3:00pm – 3:10pm

III. What is a revocable trust, what mandatory legal provisions should be drafted into a revocable trust, and what optional legal provisions may, but are not required, to be drafted into a revocable trust? | 3:10pm – 3:40pm

IV. When should a will or revocable trust be amended or revoked? | 3:40pm – 4:10pm

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