# American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) was established in 1949. It is a professional organization of lawyers, fiduciary counsel and law professors, peer-elected to membership by demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, expertise, and experience as trust and estate counselors. Members of ACTEC are also known as 'Fellows'. Fellows specialize in the fields of trust and estate law, tax law, estate planning and other related legal specialties by speaking, writing, teaching and participating in local, state and national bar association activities. ACTEC is a legal organization based in the United States.
ACTEC has more than 2,400 members or 'Fellows' who practice or teach in the United States, Canada and other countries. ACTEC's national headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. This organization relates to Law in the United States.

## History

ACTEC was established in 1949 as the Probate Attorney Association. After several name changes, The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel was selected in 1990 as the new name for the not-for-profit corporation under the laws of the State of California. In 2009–10, the college moved the national office from Los Angeles to Washington, DC and became a Delaware corporation. ACTEC's headquarters in downtown DC is blocks from the US Department of Treasury and lawmakers.

## Mission

The mission of the college is to maintain an association, international in scope, of lawyers skilled and experienced in the practice of trust and estate law and the related practice areas mentioned above, and to: serve as an educational source in those areas; study, improve and reform probate, trust, and tax laws, procedures, and professional responsibility; bring together qualified lawyers whose character and ability contribute to the achievement of the purposes of the college; and cooperate with bar associations and other organizations with similar purposes.

## Membership

There are six classes of membership of the college: Fellow, International Fellow, Academic Fellow, Judicial Fellow, Honorary Fellow and Retired Fellow. Fellows are elected to membership by their peers.

## Amicus Briefs with Supreme Court

An amicus brief in The North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust was filed on March 1, 2019, with the Supreme Court by ACTEC.

## Legislative and Regulatory Comments by ACTEC

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, ACTEC, will periodically provide technical comments and expertise to the US Congress, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Department of the Treasury in regard to proposed or existing regulations, forms, or other administrative rulings.
| Date | Comment |
| May 4, 2021 | ACTEC comments to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on questions pertinent to the implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), enacted into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA) in response to the advance notice of proposed rulemaking RIN 1506-AB49 and FINCEN-2021-0005 (ANPRM) |
| April 19, 2021 | ACTEC comments concerning IRS Form 8971, information regarding Beneficiaries acquiring property from a Decedent |
| April 5, 2021 | ACTEC request for further postponement relief for tax return filings, tax payments, and certain other matters due to the COVID-19 Emergency |
| October 5, 2020 | ACTEC comments on Treasury Notice 85 Fed. Reg. 49754 and commends Treasury and the IRS for drafting such a well-organized package of proposed regulations under Code Section 1061. |
| July 29, 2020 | ACTEC submits Part 2 of its request for guidance from Treasury regarding Section 401 of the SECURE Act, providing Treasury with detailed and comprehensive comments that address varying issues under the SECURE Act. |
| July 14, 2020 | ACTEC requests guidance from Treasury that will assist taxpayers with issues raised by the changes to the Required Minimum Distributions (“RMDs”) after the death of an Employee found in Section 401 of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, Pub. L. 116–94, part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “SECURE Act”) |
| June 22, 2020 | ACTEC submits comments on Treasury Notice 85 Fed. Reg. 27693 (5/11/20): Proposed Regulations on Income Tax Regulations (26 CFR part 1) under sections 67 and 642 of the Internal Revenue Code |
| June 22, 2020 | ACTEC Fellow Gregory V. Gadarian's request for a public hearing and the opportunity to speak at the hearing on the proposed regulations on Income Tax Regulations (26 CFR part 1) under sections 67 and 642 of the Internal Revenue Code |
| April 24, 2020 | ACTEC submits request for guidance from Treasury regarding Section 2203 of the CARES Act |
| March 31, 2020 | ACTEC request for interim guidance from Treasury that ACTEC believes will be needed by taxpayers in 2020 to adequately address the changes the SECURE Act made in the law relating to distributions from inherited plan accounts and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) after the death of the plan participant or IRA owner |
| March 27, 2020 | ACTEC submits memorandum setting forth its request for further postponement relief for tax return filings, tax payments, and certain other matters due to the COVID-19 emergency |
| Source: Legislative and Regulatory Comments by ACTEC ||

## Affiliations

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Foundation was formed in 1982 as the philanthropic arm of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

## Publications

The ACTEC Law Journal is a high-level academic journal on topics related to tax, trust and estate law.