ACTEC Foundation History

The Articles of Incorporation for the American College of Probate Counsel Foundation (ACPC Foundation) were delivered to the California Secretary of State on June 30, 1982, one month after the Foundation Committee was formed, and the corporation came to life on July 2, 1982. ACTEC Fellow Rudolph "Rudy" Schwartz of Manitowoc, WI, was elected the first president.

Foundation Board approved its first grant: $2,000 to Professor Jeffrey N. Pennell for work in assistance to the ACPC Committee on Professional Standards.

March 5, 1989 ten brave members of ACPC (W. Thomas Coffman of Tulsa, the originator of the idea and organizer of the event, Leopold Amighetti and James G. Carphin of Vancouver, Robert J. Durham, Jr. of San Diego, Irwin D. Goldring and Bruce S. Ross of Los Angeles, Stanard T. Klinefelter of Baltimore, Robert J. Rosepink of Scottsdale, Kenneth L. Schubert, Jr., of Seattle, and Fredric A. Sytsma of Grand Rapids) departed from San Diego and rode on to Tucson in time for the Annual Meeting of the College on March 9, 1989.

On August 31, 1994, the total assets of the Foundation were $519,949.

Professor John R. Price produced the first edition of the Foundation-funded Commentaries on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

At the 1999 Annual Meeting, the Foundation Board approved a $100,000 grant for an episode of a PBS program, Inside the Law, called "Death and Taxes." There were two additional segments, "Are You Prepared for Death" and another regarding disability and property decision-making.

The Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition was created to honor the late Mary Moers Wenig, an Academic Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), who served as a law school professor for over 30 years. The competition was started with an annual budget of $10,500 and has been held every year since.

At the 2005 Annual Meeting, the Foundation approved its first grant to the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), in the amount of $5,000, to provide funds for the inception of the Trust and Estate eJournal. The Foundation continues to fund SSRN's Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law eJournal, which is available to subscribers at no cost.

The ACTEC Foundation Biennial Symposium series is the premier academic symposium on trust and estate law in the United States. The first Symposium was "Trust Law in the 21st Century" at Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law at Yeshiva University. Each symposium aims to foster scholarly work in trust and estate law, connect academics with practitioners, offer junior academics a platform to present their research and engage with senior scholars, facilitate interactions among trust and estate professors, involve experts from other fields in trust and estate discussions, and enhance ACTEC’s reputation as the premier organization for trust and estate lawyers, both in practice and academia.

In 2007, the Foundation approved a grant of $14,000 to support the publication of the ACTEC Engagement Letters: A Guide for Practitioners.

In 2009, The Foundation also approved a grant of $30,000 over a three-year period to Hofstra Law School (which was renamed the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University in 2011) to support the student editorial board for The ACTEC Law Journal. The Student Editorial Board provides law students with an opportunity to review articles for publication. Students are appointed by the Academic Editor in consultation with the Editor. Funding for this initiative has continued every year since the first grant in 2009.

Early in 2010, Lloyd Leva Plaine died, and an ad hoc group of Fellows formed an advisory committee to raise funds to be managed by the Foundation as a tribute to her. This fund was to be endowed and used to fund the cost of a lecture to be presented at the Heckerling Institute every other year. The Foundation agreed to hold the contributions in Lloyd’s memory for this purpose in a fund named the Lloyd Leva Plaine Memorial Fund. The advisory committee that would arrange for these presentations at the Heckerling Institute was then formally approved. A resolution forming this advisory committee was adopted at the 2010 Summer Meeting.

The Young Leaders Program was established in 2015 by ACTEC’s Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, under the leadership of then-Chair Judy McCue. The initiative was launched with a grant proposal authored by Terry Franklin, aiming to support and elevate diverse voices in the trust and estate field. In 2018, the committee was renamed the Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Committee to reflect its broader mission.

Just prior to the 2016 Summer Meeting, The Foundation approved a grant—$18,100—to support the production of two pilot "TED Talk" style videos for the general public. These inaugural videos were recorded during the meeting and later evolved into the series now known as ACTEC Estate Planning Essentials.

At the 2017 Fall Meeting, the Board approved a $16,500 grant request to fund an Estate Planning Fellow to work with Susan Gary to administer Oregon’s Wills for the Underserved Program.

Several bike fundraisers have supported The ACTEC Foundation, including the notable Natchez Trace Bike Ride led by ACTEC Fellow Bob Temmerman. Held prior to the 2017 Fall Meeting, the ride spanned from Asheville, North Carolina, to Nashville, Tennessee, and raised over $39,000 for the Foundation.

(Bob Temmerman is met by L. Henry Gissel, Jr. upon arrival.)

ACTEC’s first podcasts were recorded at the 2017 Fall Meeting in Nashville with a professional recording engineer. By the 2018 Fall Meeting, ACTEC podcasts had reached 10,000 downloads.

The Dennis I. Belcher (DIB) Young Leaders Program is an initiative developed by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Committee. The program began in 2015 and was later named in honor of Dennis I. Belcher, a respected leader in the legal profession and a Past President of ACTEC, who passed away in 2017. Following an influx of gifts in his memory (exceeding $85,000), the Foundation Board voted at the 2018 Annual Meeting to rename the ACTEC Young Leaders Program in his honor.

The Board also approved the establishment of the ACTEC Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award to recognize individuals who have made worthwhile contributions to the profession and have provided extraordinary support to the Foundation. The first ACTEC Foundation Distinguished Service award was presented to Judith W. McCue and Howard M. “Scott” McCue, III.

The Board approved a $7,000 grant to support the production of 12 educational videos on diversity and racism, created by ACTEC’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity Committee.

The ACTEC Foundation’s Disaster Preparedness Task Force built on earlier efforts by the Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations Committee to create a free resource for ACTEC Fellows, legal professionals, and philanthropic organizations. This guide outlines options and best practices for providing charitable assistance after disasters, including references to in-depth sources that support disaster relief efforts from formation through recovery.

The Foundation created a charitable fund to receive and administer gifts in memory of longtime Fellow Rudy Ogburn.

ACTEC Fellow L. Henry Gissel, Jr. made a lasting impact through his service as President of both The ACTEC Foundation and the College. In recognition of his extraordinary contributions, the Board of Regents and the Foundation’s Board of Directors established the L. Henry Gissel, Jr. Spirit of ACTEC Lecture. The 2025 lecture, titled "Minnesota Nice," was delivered by Ann Burns during the Annual Meeting. (Ann is pictured here with Foundation President John Rogers.)

On March 30, 2025, The ACTEC Foundation's Online Spring Fundraiser not only surpassed its $40,000 goal but soared to a remarkable total of $76,020! The Challenge concluded at 3:00 PM ET with a dramatic finish, as the Rocky Mountain Region’s Lora “Pink Panther” Davis surged ahead to claim victory—raising an impressive $25,715.