2024 Probate Case Law and Legislation Update

Marlene Appel Related Seminars and Products

Marlene Appel PLLC

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.

Mark E House Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Becker & House PLLC

Mark E. House is a partner at Becker & House, PLLC. Mark’s primary focus is on trust and estate litigation. His litigation background includes will contests, financial exploitation, fiduciary litigation and most other contested matters involving an estate or trust. Additionally, Mark has the expertise to represent fiduciaries administering an estate or trust involved in litigation. Mark has an excellent background in estate planning and all aspects of estate, gift and income taxes and tax planning. Because of his experience with complicated estate tax issues, Mark is often retained to provide guidance in estate litigation where tax problems are likely to arise. Mark speaks regularly on topics ranging from drafting to avoid litigation to the income tax issues of trust funding and has been an Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University School of Law, where he teaches Trusts and Decedents Estates. He formerly taught at Arizona Summit Law School from 2009 - 2018, where he taught Trusts and Estates, Estate and Gift Tax, Estate Planning, Federal Income Taxation, and Remedies. Mark also serves as a Judge Pro Tempore for the Maricopa County Superior Court. Mark is a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Mark received his B.S.B.A. degree in Business Economics from Northern Arizona University in 1995 and received his J.D. degree, with distinction, in 1998 from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.

T J Ryan Related Seminars and Products

Senior Partner

Frazer Ryan Goldberg & Arnold LLP

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.