THE ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA, INC

Join us for our 9th Annual Joint CE Meeting with the Estate Planning Council of Central PA!  This meeting includes lunch, continuing education and a networking happy hour from 4-5:00 pm.  Applications have been submitted for CFP, PA Insurance, CPA, CTFA and PA Bar Credits.  “In this era of higher than ever estate/gift tax exemptions, many of us encounter a segment of clients who could be called, the “Middle Rich”.   We will discuss the unique challenges of planning for the Middle Rich, including several possible planning techniques which seem to fit many of this clientele.”

with Keynote speaker:  ROBERT K. KIRKLAND

Bob Kirkland is a Member of the law firm of Kirkland Hochstetler PLLC, which has offices in Naples, Florida, Kansas City, Missouri, and Canton, Ohio. He is licensed to practice law in Florida, Missouri and Kansas. He works with a variety of individual clients, handling the preparation of estate planning instruments, and counseling clients in the areas of estate and gift tax minimization, probate avoidance, gifting techniques, IRA distribution planning, asset protection, charitable planning and business succession planning. He also advises fiduciaries on estate, conservatorship and trust administration matters. Mr. Kirkland has successfully completed the Effective Probate Mediation Training course sponsored by ACTEC and frequently serves as a mediator of trust and estate disputes.

Mr. Kirkland is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”), is a past Missouri State Chair of ACTEC, and a past member of the ACTEC Board of Regents and ACTEC Executive Committee. He is also a member of the ACTEC Employee Benefits Committee (past Chair), Fiduciary Administration Committee, and Long Range Planning Committee, as well as a past Chair of the ACTEC Sponsorship Advisory Committee and Bylaws and Manuals Committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the ACTEC Foundation. He is listed in the last thirty editions of The Best Lawyers in America and the most recent additions of Super Lawyers. Kirkland is Chambers ranked in High Net Worth.

Mr. Kirkland is also the founding Chancellor of the Heart of America ACTEC Fellows Institute. He is a recent inductee into the Kansas City Estate Planning Society Hall of Fame. He also was recently elected to serve on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section. In July 2025, Kirkland was presented with the Missouri Lawyers Media “Icon” award.

Mr. Kirkland is a frequent author and lecturer in the estate planning and charitable giving areas. He has lectured on a variety of topics at seminars sponsored by ACTEC, The Heckerling Institute, ALI-CLE, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, The Missouri Bar, The Kansas Bar Association, The Iowa Bar, IICLE, The Ohio Bar, The Idaho Bar, The Florida Bar, The Oklahoma Bar Association, the Hawaii Tax Institute, the Southern Federal Tax Institute, the Notre Dame Estate Planning Institute, the Duke University Estate Planning Conference, the Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation Symposium, the Community Foundation of Louisville, the ACTEC Florida Fellows Institute, the UCLA Institute on Estate Planning, The MO-KAN Trust Conference, the American Heart Association, and the Estate Planning Councils of Baltimore, Charlotte, Greenville, Little Rock, Louisville, Naples, New York City, Philadelphia, Springfield (Missouri), St. Louis, Boca Raton, Broward County and West Palm Beach.

Mr. Kirkland holds a B.S. in accounting from William Jewell College (1980), a J.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law (1983), and an L.L.M. in estate planning from the University of Miami, Florida School of Law (1985). During his tenure at the UMKC School of Law, he served as Managing Editor of the UMKC Law Review.

PLUS - 

"An Update on Artificial Intelligence in Estate Planning"

• What do client meetings look like when both the advisor and the client walk in with AI?
• How are AI agents going to change the way advisory work actually gets done?
• What will clients expect from us in the age of AI?
• If AI changes how work gets done, what happens to how advisors create, signal, and defend their value?
• What work will advisors stop doing—not because it’s automated, but because it no longer makes sense?
• When AI can generate answers instantly, what distinguishes advice from information?
• Are we designing AI‑enabled practices—or inheriting the ones our software vendors design for us?

 With Special Guest Speaker Ross Bruch

As a Senior Wealth Planner in the Philadelphia office, Ross Bruch works with and advises successful individuals and business owners on the preservation, growth, and transfer of wealth. Prior to joining the firm, Ross was in private legal practice at a large Philadelphia law firm, where he focused on estate and gift tax planning, tax-exempt organizations, and closely held business succession planning.

Ross received a B.A. cum laude and an M.S. in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, an LL.M. in taxation from the Temple University Beasley School of Law, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

AND "Special needs and Guardianship"

with Kristen L. Behrens | Dilworth Paxson LLP, Co-Managing PartnerKristen Behrens is an experienced and accomplished trusts and estates attorney. Her practice involves all aspects of trust and estate planning and administration.  Kristen focuses on Special Needs Trusts, Post-Litigation Planning, Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Guardianships and Orphans’ Court Matters. Her practice also includes planning for family members with disabilities.  Kristen routinely represents banks and corporate fiduciaries on the fiduciary aspects of trust administration and is a recognized authority on the laws governing special needs trusts and court-supervised trusts. She also represents individuals and families, assisting them in navigating these complexities.  Kristen has worked on numerous large-scale mass tort settlements, as well as many high-profile cases in her career.  Kristen has been a speaker at seminars for the Fiduciary Education Foundation, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers, Special Needs Alliance, NAELA, New Jersey Association of Justice, ICLE, and the Academy of Special Needs Planners.