AMARILLO AREA ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL

Amarillo Area Estate Planning Council's Thirty - Fourth Annual Spring Institute

Wednesday May 6th, 2026

Amarillo Club

600 S Tyler St., Amarillo -  31st Floor

Please join us for our 34th Annual Spring Institute for a day of engaging speakers and meeting your fellow AAEPC members.

7:30 am – Registration and light breakfast

8:00 am to 12:30 pm – Morning session

12:30 pm to 1:30 pm – Lunch

1:30 pm to 5:00 pm – Afternoon session

Featured Speakers:

Joyce Marter, LCPC, CSP is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, licensed psychotherapist, and award-winning author of The Financial Mindset Fix: A Mental Fitness Program for an Abundant Life. Known as “America’s Workplace Therapist,” Joyce helps individuals, families, and organizations thrive mentally, emotionally, and financially.

With over 25 years of experience, Joyce has spoken for hundreds of organizations including financial institutions, professional associations, corporations, and universities. Her work bridges psychology, behavioral finance, and leadership—helping professionals better understand the human side of money, decision-making, and legacy planning. Joyce is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a Forbes contributor, and a frequent media expert on mental health and financial well-being.

Bradley Burnett, J.D., LL.M. is a practicing Colorado tax attorney with 41 years of tax practice experience. His practice emphasis is on tax planning and tax controversy resolution. He has served as adjunct professor at the University of Denver School of Law Graduate Tax Program. He has delivered more than 3,800 live, in-person presentations on U.S. tax law and authored texts of 48 CPE and CLE courses. He has authored and been lead instructor for CCH’s Federal Tax Update course for nine consecutive years, presented at AICPA’s Engage national convention and been quoted in Tax Notes Today in a feature article on S Corp shareholder basis. His seminar style is to deliver the subject matter in briskly paced, enthusiastic and witty fashion. His forte’ is the candid communication of practical ideas relating to tax law.

Brian Hickey has over 29 years of experience in the insurance industry, I currently serve as Vice President at Insuractive, overseeing the company’s P&L, strategic initiatives, and operational management. My work focuses on empowering consumers and advisors by delivering effective solutions in Medicare, life insurance, and wealth protection through our consumer and advisor brands, including Medicare BackOffice, Medicare MarketPlace, Travel Insurance Center and Alliant Medicare Solutions.

R. Shaun Rainey is an attorney in Midland, Texas, serving as a shareholder and Section Head of the Estate Planning and Probate practice at Cotton Bledsoe Tighe & Dawson. Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, he focuses on sophisticated estate planning, probate, fiduciary litigation, and asset protection. His work includes designing complex estate plans, drafting revocable and irrevocable trusts, advising family offices and private foundations, and handling both contested and uncontested probate matters, including first-chair jury trials. He is licensed in Texas, New Mexico, and multiple federal courts, including the United States Tax Court.

Mr. Rainey earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law, where he served as Student Bar Association President and Vice-Chair for Trial Advocacy, and competed on the national mock trial team. He received his undergraduate degree from Rice University, where he was a varsity football player and Scholar Athlete. He is also an author, speaker, and adjunct professor, contributing to TexasBarCLE programs and publications, and remains active in professional and community leadership roles, including service with local civic and nonprofit organizations.

Darlene Payne Smith is a member of her firm’s Fiduciary Litigation and Probate, Trust, and Guardianship groups. Her practice focuses on representing fiduciaries and beneficiaries in probate, guardianship, and trust litigation, including disputes involving incapacity and contested estate matters. She is also an experienced mediator and a frequent writer and speaker for continuing legal education programs.

Darlene holds a B.S. magna cum laude from the University of Houston and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. She is an adjunct professor at South Texas College of Law and co-author of the Texas Jury Charge for Probate and Trust. Her honors include Texas Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America for Litigation—Trusts and Estates, and Texas Trailblazer recognition.

Courses:

Joyce Marter, LCPC, CSP: The Financial Mindset Fix for Estate Planning Professionals

Estate planning is rarely just about documents, numbers, or tax strategy—it’s about human behavior, emotional decision-making, family dynamics, and deeply held money beliefs. Even the most technically sound plans can fall apart when fear, avoidance, conflict, or scarcity thinking go unaddressed.

In The Financial Mindset Fix, internationally recognized psychotherapist and financial mindset expert Joyce Marter explores the psychology that drives how individuals and families make financial decisions, plan for the future, and navigate wealth transfer. Drawing from behavioral finance, clinical psychology, and her work with high-performing professionals and organizations, Joyce reveals how unconscious money beliefs impact client behavior, communication, and long-term outcomes.

This engaging and practical session helps estate planning professionals better understand the emotional drivers behind client resistance, indecision, family conflict, and legacy concerns—while offering tools to foster clearer conversations, stronger trust, and more sustainable planning outcomes.

Bradley Burnett, J.D., LL.M.: Utilizing Generative Artificial Intelligence in Tax and Estate Planning Practice Hands-On Skill Sets for Success

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) has taken tax and estate planning practice by storm. Blink your eyes and it will change (and likely get a lot better very quickly). If practitioners do not jump on the GAI train now, they’re likely to get left at the station. This session focuses on skill sets needed to capably employ GAI in practice and keep from getting your head handed to you in the process. This session provides approaches, checklists and case studies of GAI search techniques and practices.

Brian Hickey: Managing Healthcare Expenses In Retirement: What Baby Boomers Need to Know About Medicare and Long-Term Care

This presentation explains why enrolling in Medicare on time and making informed coverage decisions are critical to protecting your health and finances in retirement. Overall, this presentation emphasizes the importance of timely enrollment, selecting appropriate supplemental coverage, and proactively planning for rising health care expenses to ensure financial security and access to care in retirement.

R. Shaun Rainey: “Navigating Sudden Death: A Roadmap for Guiding Clients Through Unexpected Loss”

This program is designed to help attorneys with additional considerations and concerns in representing a client through unexpected loss and the unique role we can play as advisor and counselor during these difficult times.  

Darlene Payne Smith: Estates, Trusts, Mental Commitments, and Guardianships: Dealing with Firearms

Not all estate planners give thought to firearms in the planning process, any more than they do a detailed inventory of your tools.  Much improvement is needed in the education of attorneys to inquire about firearms, firearm supplies, and NFA firearms.  Once a person possessing firearms dies, with or without a Will, firearms can be a problem.  Are firearms a consideration in the Will?  Is there a Gun Trust, fully funded and appropriately drafted?  If, does the Decedent own an NFA firearm such as a silencer? Will a Court appointed administrator sell firearms that the Decedent treasured to a stranger?  Will anyone know where the Decedent would have left his firearms?  Trusts created during life (intervivos) or at death (testamentary) come with their own protections and problems.  Finally, mental issues, incapacity, invoking the use of powers of attorney and guardianship, which a large focus of this article, may deprive the incapacitated of all firearms and ammunition, as well as hamper the lives of those with whom the incapacitated resides.

CE has been requested for ABA, CPE, TX MCLE, and CFP.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: 

Please review the following information carefully before completing your registration.

Please carefully select ALL applicable CE credit types when completing your registration. Certificates and credit reporting will reflect ONLY the options you choose on your registration. Your certificates will be emailed within one week of the institute—please save them for your records.

Fees: **REGISTRATION FEES MUST BE RECEIVED PRIOR TO THE EVENT TO RECEIVE CE. **

Must include the participant's name(s) in the memo line of your check or PayPal payment to ensure proper processing.

Members - $250

(Please make sure your membership is active/renewed before selecting this option.)

Non-Member - $350

Questions, please contact Amber Womble at aaepc1@gmail.com

Please Note: We will not be able to provide refunds for cancellations after April 29th or for no-shows.