Total Credits: 6.5 CLE, 6.5 Estate & Trust Law Specialization, 1.25 Ethics
Our annual advanced probate, trust and estate planning seminar will present the latest in new cases, current legislation, tax, tribal law, and practice management. Jerome Elwell and Marlene Appel will discuss select new cases and recent developments. Deb Polly will discuss transferee liability for a decedent's taxes. Probate & Mental Health Division Presiding Judge Dean Fink will present a view from the bench in the probate court and current Arizona legislation. Alisa Gray will be joined by Judge Malcolm P. Begay, Chief Judge Anthony J. Hill, Colin Bradley and Helen Burtis for a discussion of important aspects of Tribal and Arizona probate law. Topics include: unique jurisdictional issues, the role of the federal government, traditional peacemaking court and fundamental laws affecting any probate that involves tribal members or assets on tribal lands. TJ Ryan will present practical applications of artificial intelligence. Continental breakfast and lunch are included in the price, together with the happy hour sponsored by the State Bar of Arizona Probate & Trust Section after the seminar.
Seminar Co-Chairs:
Marlene Appel, Marlene Appel, PLLC
John R. Fitzpatrick, Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold, LLP
Faculty:
Presiding Judge Dean Fink, Probate & Mental Health Division, Maricopa County Superior Court
Judge Malcolm P. Begay, Window Rock Judicial District, Navajo Nation
Chief Judge Anthony J. Hill, Gila River Indian Community Court
Colin Bradley, Zwillinger Wulkan
Helen Burtis, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Jerome K. Elwell, Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Fromanek, PLC
Alisa Gray, Tiffany & Bosco PA
Jeffrey G. Pollitt, Jeffrey G. Pollitt, P.C.
Debra J. Polly, Fennemore
T.J. Ryan, Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold, LLP
| Legislative Update Slides (253.7 KB) | 10 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| AdvProbate05032024Materials (6.7 MB) | 189 Pages | Available after Purchase |
concentrates her practice in the areas of probate, trust and G/C administration and litigation. She is a certified specialist in estate and trust law and a licensed fiduciary. She is the 2007 Recipient of the Eleanor Ter Horst Distinguished Service Award given by the Probate & Trust Section of the State Bar for superior knowledge in probate and trust law; consultation to the bar, the courts and the public; participation in related committees and projects and enhancement of public awareness of trust and probate issues. She is rated AV-Pre-eminent (30+ years) and Top Rated Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell and has been listed by SuperLawyers, Arizona’s Finest Lawyers and Best Lawyers of America (2023 & 2025 Best Lawyer of the Year, 2023 & 2025 Best Law Firm, Phoenix: Elder Law, Trusts & Estates, Litigation - Trusts Estates). She has served as a Judge Pro Tem for the Probate/Mental Health Division of the Maricopa County Superior Court since 1988; and is a certified arbitrator and settlement judge in the probate and civil divisions. She attended Northwestern University and Arizona State University College of Law (JD 1977). She is a former member (1988-92) and co chair (1990-91) of the Executive Council of the State Bar’s Probate & Trust Section, and the State Bar’s Continuing Legal Education Committee (1991-95). She served on the Advisory Commission on Estate and Trust Specialization (1991-98 and 2012-16, chair in 2016), the board of the Maricopa County Bar’s Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Section and the Arizona Supreme Court’s Probate Rules Committee. She was a Senior Editor of the Probate Practice Manual, 5th ed.2014 and 6th ed. 2022. She served on the 2014-15 Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy/Training Group which developed new policies, procedures and mandatory probate ADR training for the Maricopa County Superior Court. She was a member of the Arizona Supreme Court’s Task Force from 2017 through 2019, which re-wrote the Rules of Probate Procedure. She was a faculty member for the State Bar’s College of Trial Advocacy (2014-2018) and the Arizona Supreme Court’s mandatory training program for court appointed attorneys and guardians ad litem. She is a Fellow of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, and a member of the Sole Practitioner’s Probate Litigation Committee, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Arizona Fiduciary Assn and the Arizona Assn of Women Lawyers. She is a volunteer with the MCBA Probate Lawyer Assistance Program. She is qualified as an expert witness, special master, GAL, litigation conservator, arbitrator and mediator; and is a frequent speaker on probate and trust administration, GCs, litigation and professional ethics.
is admitted to practice in the Arizona Supreme Court and all lower courts within the state. He has been admitted to practice law in Arizona since 1989. In 2008, Mr. Elwell was admitted to the United States Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is also a member of the American Bar Association. Since 1989, Mr. Elwell has practiced law at Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC. Mr. Elwell's law practice is devoted to elder law issues with specific focus on administration and litigation involving contested and uncontested decedent's estates, trusts, advanced directives, guardianships, and conservatorships. Much of Mr. Elwell's experience has focused on emergent circumstances where estates, trusts, or individuals are threatened with economic or medical harm unless prompt action is taken. He received his Bachelor of Science-General Business from The University of Arizona in 1986, and his Juris Doctorate from The University of Arizona College of Law in 1989. (5/2019)
Jeff focuses his practice on complex financial divorce litigation, business valuation litigation, prenuptial agreement litigation, mediation engagements and family law appellate cases. Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee 2011-2020; State Bar of Arizona Certified Family Law Specialist; Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers; Best Lawyers in America; State Bar Family Law Rules Committee 2024; Arizona Supreme Court Rules of Family Law Procedure Task Force; Past Chair, State Bar Executive Council Family Law Section; Past Chair, Maricopa County Bar Association Family Law Section; Past Member, State Bar Member Assistance Committee, Family Law Practice and Procedure Committee and Consumer Protection Committee; Frequent speaker at basic through advanced State and County Bar Family Law and Probate Seminars; Author: “The Drahos Formula,” “Drahos and Its Progeny,” “Separate Property Business Litigation Under Rueschenberg,” “Apportionment Under Arizona Case Law,” “The Trouble with Math and Law,” “125-plus Arizona Family Law Cases,” “The Preliminary Injunction and Its Effect on Estate Planning,” “Registration, Enforcement and Modification of Foreign Orders Under UIFSA,” “Valuation Reports and Valuation Experts,” “Interspousal Torts,” “Integrity” and “Tracing Commingled Assets; The Status of Arizona Law.” He received his J.D. from Arizona State University, his M.B.A. from the University of Kentucky and his B.B.A. from Eastern Kentucky University. Jeff@ComplexDivorceLaw.com
Alisha Gray is an AV-rated shareholder at Tiffany & Bosco, P.A. in Phoenix, Arizona. Her practice emphasizes probate-related litigation, administration, and mediation, representing corporate trustees, professional fiduciaries, and individuals in such matters as complicated or contested guardianships, conservatorships, estates, and trusts. Alisa also serves as an expert witness or consultant in probate-related matters. She has served on numerous State Bar Sections and Committees, including the Probate and Trust Law Section and the Mental Health and Elder Law Section (now, the Elder Law, Mental Health and Special Needs Planning Section), as well as two terms on the CLE Committee. Alisa is a certified yoga instructor and, in addition to teaching regularly at Desert Song Healing Arts Center, frequently offers her yoga instruction and insights to lawyers, judges and other professionals in the legal world. In 2015, Alisa was selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Arizona Business. She has recently been recognized as an AZ Business Leader for 2019. Alisa is a frequent lecturer not only on probate, trust and elder law matters, but also ethics, stress management and mindfulness.
JOHN R. FITZPATRICK is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and has more than 35 years of legal experience, the last 32 of which have been with the Phoenix law firm Frazer, Ryan, Goldberg & Arnold, LLP, where he is a senior partner, member of its management committee, and the senior litigator in its significant and growing trust and estate litigation department. John's state-wide trust and probate litigation practice covers a wide variety of topics, including validity contests, interpretation disputes, beneficiary rights and fiduciary duties, appointment, removal and priority disputes, creditor controversies, financial exploitation claims, forfeiture controversies, as well as accounting, fee and surcharge disputes. John received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame after graduating with honors from Arizona State University. He has served the judiciary as a Judge Pro Tempore of the Superior Court and of the Justice Courts. He is the former Chairman (2018-2019), Chair-Elect (2017-2018) and Secretary (2015-2017) of the Executive Council of the State Bar’s Probate and Trust Section. John enjoys a long-standing AV Preeminent®* rating from his peers and is named a "Top Rated Lawyer in Trusts & Estates" by Martindale-Hubbell and American Lawyer Media. He was also named among "Arizona's Finest Lawyers," "Southwest Super Lawyers," and "The Best Lawyers in America" in the field of Trust & Estate Litigation, where he was chosen for this year’s “Lawyer of the Year” award. Also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, John is a frequent speaker at professional education seminars in his field, including CLE by the Sea, the State Bar Convention, and the State Bar's annual Advanced Probate presentation. John can be reached at jfitzpatrick@frgalaw.com or (602) 277-2010.
Judge Dean M. Fink is the Presiding Judge of the Probate and Mental Health Department of the Maricopa County Superior Court. He has been on the Superior Court bench since June 2004. He began his judicial career as a commissioner. In August 2007, Governor Janet Napolitano appointed him as a judge. In addition to Probate/Mental Health, Judge Fink has served in the Family, Civil and Criminal departments of the Superior Court. He was also the Presiding Judge of the Arizona Tax Court from 2009 to 2014. Judge Fink currently serves on the Judicial Performance Review Commission of the Arizona Supreme Court. He previously served on the State Bar of Arizona’s Civil Practice and Procedure Committee, the Arizona Supreme Court’s Fiduciary Board, the Board of Directors of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Phoenix, the University of Arizona Student Life National Leadership Board, and the State Bar of Arizona’s Communications Advisory Committee. Judge Fink received his undergraduate degree in 1990 from the University of Arizona, where he served as the student body president. He received his law degree from the Columbia University School of Law in 1993. Prior to joining the bench, he worked at the law firms of Fennemore Craig, Kirkland and Ellis, and Lewis and Roca.
T. J. Ryan is a senior partner with the law firm of Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold, LLP, in Phoenix. T.J.'s practice encompasses virtually all aspects of estates and trusts, including estate and business planning, probate and trust administration, and litigating contested issues related to estates and trusts. An AV Preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, Best Lawyers in America selected T.J. as "Lawyer of the Year" in Trust Litigation for 2015. In 2017, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) named T.J. as a Fellow of the college. T.J. received his law degree from the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona in 2002, after graduating with a BBA from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Along with colleagues Darren Case and Brent Nelson, T.J. is the co-author of the Arizona Estate Planning and Probate Handbook, published by Thompson Reuters as a part of the Arizona Practice Series. T.J. has assisted with the editing of the Arizona Probate Practice Manual and the Arizona Attorneys’ Fees Manual (both publications of the Arizona State Bar) and served on the Task Force which revised the Arizona Rules of Probate Procedure in 2017-2019. T.J. served as the President of the Maricopa County Bar Association in 2015. T.J. is a native of Phoenix, Arizona who enjoys golf, Crossfit™, baseball, and spending time with his wife and two sons.
Debra Polly is a director in our Trusts & Estates practice group who works out of their Phoenix office. Her practice focuses on probate; estate & trust administration; estate planning; retirement benefits planning and administration; estate tax, gift tax, and generationskipping transfer tax planning, strategy and compliance; and family settlement agreements and negotiation. Deb is also an Arizona Certified Public Accountant. Originally from Sioux City, Iowa, Deb began her professional career working for KPMG, one of the “Big Four” – the four largest accounting firms in the United States. She gravitated to work involving consulting for estate planning strategies, however, to fully assist her clients, it was evident that she needed to become an attorney – and this led her to law school and a rewarding career in the legal profession. In her work involving estate planning and administration, Deb takes great pride in creating customized solutions – never a “one size fits all” approach – on behalf of her esteemed clients. Deb is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a group of peer-elected trust and estate attorneys spanning the U.S. and abroad.
Professor Helen Burtis dedicates her legal career to representing tribal nations and Indigenous Americans. Her practice includes representing clients in tribal, federal, and state court and specializing in estate planning and probate in Indian Country. She is a member of the faculty at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, working with the Indian Legal Clinic, where she supervises student attorneys in estate planning and estate administration matters. In addition to her work with the Clinic, Helen teaches American Indian Law. Her program work includes leading the Clinic's Tribal Court Trial Skills College, an intensive seminar for tribal advocates. Helen is also of counsel with a national federal Indian Law firm, Rosette, LLP. Helen earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, and Certificate in Indian Law in 2007 from the Sandra Day O'Conner College of Law.
Colin Bradley assists clients in all phases of civil litigation, and has practiced in numerous courts and administrative venues ranging from the Navajo Nation Labor Commission to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Bradley also represents a wide array of clients, including Indian tribes and entities, businesses, and individuals. Mr. Bradley has extensive experience in the field of Indian law. He has represented clients regarding tribal jurisdiction, employment, torts, commercial disputes, land, energy, and others. Additionally, Mr. Bradley regularly teaches continuing legal education courses related to Indian law. Moreover, Mr. Bradley assists individuals and business with employment law issues. He has represented clients in cases ranging from wrongful termination, wage and hour, harassment, discrimination, and others. He also provides trainings to employers regarding best practices. Given his experience representing both employers and employees, he has a unique perspective on employment issues. Furthermore, Mr. Bradley works with clients related to tort claims such as personal injuries. He has represented clients related to car accidents, wrongful death, slip and falls, sexual abuse, and others. Mr. Bradley enjoys fighting to help clients obtain the relief they deserve.
Navajo Nation Judge Malcolm Begay is a 2009 graduate of Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon and has been on the bench since October 2014. Judge Begay currently presides over district and family cases in Window Rock, Arizona. Prior to being on the bench, Judge Begay was legal counsel to the Kayenta Judicial District and a Senior Prosecutor with the Navajo Nation Prosecutor’s Office. His past presentations have included Indigenous Courts in the United States Court system, as well as criminal law on the Navajo Nation, and his experience presiding in tribal court.
Chief Judge Anthony Hill is serving his fourth term as Chief Judge for the Gila River Indian Community. He previously served as Associate Judge and handled criminal, civil and family law cases. As Chief Judge, Judge Hill helped implement the federal Tribal Law and Order Act and the Violence Against Women Act. Judge Hill received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Classics Studies from the University of Arizona and a law degree from Arizona State University. Judge Hill is from Co-Op Village in Laveen, Arizona. His mother is Janet Hill and Kyle Hill is his brother. Judge Hill serves as the president of the Gila Crossing Community School board. He is an Elder at the Gila Crossing Presbyterian Church and a member of the commission on ministry for the state Presbyterian Church USA. Judge Hill thanks the Community for the honor of serving as Chief Judge.
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