As lawyers, our primary obligation is to serve the best interests of the client. One way estate planners do this is by putting a plan in place to protect both the client and the client’s assets in the event of incapacity. In the ideal situation, that planning takes place well before any questions regarding the client’s capacity arise. Unfortunately, for many, the first signs of diminished capacity are also the first trigger for contemplating this type of planning. Once capacity has begun to diminish, it is often the client’s family that contacts and arranges the visit to the lawyer, who is faced with the difficult task of determining whether the client has sufficient capacity to put the necessary planning documents in place. Often, the lawyer feels pushed in different directions by both ethical obligations and requests made by the client and family. On one side is the duty to serve the client by putting the appropriate plan in place; on the other side is the duty to protect the client against undue influence. Similar challenges may arise for lawyers dealing with a guardian or attorney-in-fact acting on behalf of a client who lacks capacity.
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Vanessa Kanaga currently serves as InterActive Legal’s Special Advisor on Estate Planning and Legal Strategy. She is the former CEO of InterActive Legal. Vanessa received her J.D. from Cornell Law School and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wichita State University, as well as an Advanced Professional Certificate from New York University School of Law. She is licensed in New York, Kansas, and Arizona, and currently lives in Arizona.
Prior to joining InterActive Legal in 2013, Vanessa practiced in New York, at Milbank LLP and Moses & Singer LLP, and in Kansas, at Hinkle Law Firm, LLC. She has experience in a range of estate planning matters, including high net worth tax planning and asset protection planning.
In 2024, Vanessa returned to the practice of law. She is an Associate Attorney at Greengard Law Firm, PLC in Phoenix, Arizona.
Elizabeth (“Beth”) Boehmcke graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993. After graduation from law school through 2003, she specialized in high net worth estate planning, with an emphasis on cross-border and asset protection planning, and the representation of fiduciaries managing complex trusts and family businesses.
During her career in New York, she was an associate attorney at both Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) and Hodgson Russ in New York City. After a hiatus in her legal career to care for her children, she resumed her legal career by passing the Virginia bar in 2014 and began working for the Hook Law Center, P.C., where she expanded her estate planning practice to include elder law, specifically focusing on asset protection planning for Medicaid and Veteran’s benefits.
She is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia where she received a B.A. with distinction in Psychology in 1988 and is also a graduate of SUNY-Buffalo where she received an M.A. in Clinical Psychology in 1990.
Tina Green of Capshaw, Green, LLC in Texarkana, Texas is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law and Tax Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She is a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Tina is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs, and she has authored a number of articles related to estate planning, probate, and estate taxes.
Scott Solkoff is President of Elder Law College and a Florida Bar Board Certified Elder Law Attorney. He is a Past-Chair of The Florida Bar’s Elder Law Section, Past-President of the Academy of Florida Elder Law Attorneys and has also served as a Board Member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Florida State Guardianship Association. Scott is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the co-author, with his father, of a 1000-page two-volume set, Florida Elder Law Practice Guide, for Thomson Reuters. Scott started Elder Law College as a tribute to his father, Jerome Ira Solkoff, one of the pioneers of the field and Scott’s mentor (and many other lawyers) in Elder Law. Elder Law College provides attorneys with a guided path into the field of Elder Law through its three and a half day “360 Elder Law Practice Builder Program,” a robust Member Portal with hundreds of hours and video and audio for Elder Law training and solution-spotting, regular meetings and seminars and a private listserv. With members from thirty-six states, state chapters have also formed and the organization itself has a state resources section on its Member Portal. In both his practice and for Elder Law College, Scott’s guiding business principle, instilled by his father, is to do well by doing good and he sees Elder Law as an ideal vehicle for doing so.
Todd Whatley is a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Todd is Past President of The National Elder Law Foundation. He has been in practice since 1999 focusing all but one year of practice to Elder Law. While still running a very busy Elder Law practice, Todd is also the creator of The Elder Law Coach, a national coaching business working with attorneys just getting into Elder Law and attorneys who want to become very proficient in Elder Law and grow their practice and LOVE their work. He is also co-host to two podcasts The Elder Law Coach and the Top 10 Senior related podcast, Answers on Aging.
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