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Message from the President
Lawrence J. (Larry) Macklin, CPA, JD, AEP®, 2025 Outgoing President
Dear Members and Friends:
First and foremost, thank you to our remarkable community of estate planning professionals. Your commitment to excellence, collaboration, and ethical practice continues to elevate our profession and strengthen the value of the Accredited Estate Planner® designation.
Together, we’ve advanced meaningful initiatives, expanded the reach of our programs, and welcomed a record number of new designees into our ranks. The momentum is real, and it is energizing!
As we look ahead to 2026, I am excited for what’s to come. With new pathways to the AEP® designation and continued evolution of our educational events, the future of our association is brighter than ever. The torch is ready to be passed, and I am confident that the leadership that follows will guide NAEPC® and our designees into the next chapter with vision and purpose. I welcome those who will be joining in this capacity in the coming year and know your experience with NAEPC will be as gratifying as mine.
To every volunteer, committee member, board colleague, event attendee, council leader, and staff member who makes this work possible, your dedication has been both inspiring and humbling. It has been one of the greatest honors of my professional career to serve as your president.
It is with deep sadness that I acknowledge the recent loss of two of our profession’s true luminaries, Alexander A. Bove, Jr. and Clark B. McCleary. Alexander Bove, a 2014 inductee into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame®, practiced law at the Law Offices of Bove and Langa in Boston, MA. He was widely respected as an accomplished author, a passionate educator, and a trusted friend to many in our community. Clark McCleary, inducted into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame® in 2006, served as NAEPC’s president in 2012 and was honored with the Hartman Axley Lifetime Service Award in 2024, just months before returning to the board as a director emeritus. Clark will be remembered not only for his remarkable contributions to our profession, but also for his devotion to family, his loyalty to friends both within and outside the estate planning community, and his steadfast, decades-long support of NAEPC. Both Alexander and Clark leave behind legacies that will continue to inspire and guide our community for years to come, for which I am personally grateful.
Big Changes Ahead for the Annual Conference
You may have been wondering why we’ve been quiet about the 2026 Annual Conference… the wait is over! NAEPC has been hard at work reimagining the conference experience for leaders in the estate planning community, and we have BIG NEWS for both 2026 and 2027:
- There will not be an in-person Annual Conference in 2026, but we are excited to introduce the ESTATE PLANNERS FORUM in 2027… set for late April/early May on Florida’s West Coast, the reimagined experience will feature:
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- Subject matter aligned with your clients’ needs
- Reduced registration cost
- A condensed mid-week schedule designed with busy professionals in mind
- More free time to cultivate lasting professional and personal relationships
- Continuing the 62-year tradition of educational excellence and during the transition year, NAEPC will offer:
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- Ten complimentary webinars through the Robert G. Alexander Webinar Series
- Two virtual continuing education conferences:
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- Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET (registration opens soon)
- Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | 11:30 AM – 4:30 PM ET
- Three Regional Leadership Day conferences for council leaders and staff executives: June (West coast), August (East Coast), and November (Central)
Please contact us with any questions about these changes. We’re standing by to help.
Sponsorship opportunities will be released shortly.
We are grateful to the many sponsors and exhibitors that allow us to bring the annual conference to our membership each year, including those below.
2025 Partners
- CIBC Private Wealth
- Glenmede
- Trust & Estates
2025 Directors
- Adapt
- Bridgeford Trust Company
- Commonwealth Savers
- Coventry
- Lafayette life Insurance Company
- Screenfire Estate Law Marketing
- National Care Advisors
- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
- South Dakota Trust Company
- Valbridge Property Advisors
Accredited Estate Planner® Designation News
2025 marked a record-breaking year for the Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®) program. The oversight committee remained hard at work managing administrative responsibilities while also taking a strategic and forward-thinking look at the program’s future. Here’s a snapshot of what you may have missed:
- A record number of qualified new applicants joined the community
- Meaningful growth occurred within the accounting, philanthropic, and trust disciplines
- The number of Estate Planning Councils participating in the council nomination program doubled
- Several national firms enhanced their support of the designation program
Looking ahead, here’s a preview of two key developments coming in 2026:
- The Accredited Trust Fiduciary Advisor (ATFA) certification, administered through the Campbell University Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, is now recognized as a qualifying credential for the AEP® designation
- Individuals who earned a Juris Doctor, passed a state bar examination, were duly licensed to practice law by a state supreme court, have no disciplinary history, and who voluntarily elected inactive status may apply for the AEP® designation
It’s official… 2026 has been declared the “Year of the AEP® Designee, Chapter Two” by incoming president David Green! If you’ve been considering joining the ranks of leaders in the estate planning community who hold the Accredited Estate Planner® designation, there’s no better time to begin your journey. Start today!
Member Benefits
Opportunities to Save
As an AEP® designee or council member, you have access to benefits spanning a range of categories. Look today to make sure you’re not leaving an opportunity to save behind!
We are excited to announce two brand new benefits!
ProtectHeir
ProtectHeir offers an award-winning solution to guard estates against deceased identity theft. Our online executor tool quickly generates notifications to over 70 institutions—helping prevent identity theft and estate fraud—then provides you with timely executor contact information at the time of settlement.
Developed by credit industry professionals, ProtectHeir is a safe, fast, and affordable service that makes estate protection simple for clients and advisors alike.
Features & Benefits for NAEPC Members
- Streamlines estate settlement with personalized notifications to credit bureaus, banks, government agencies, social media platforms, and more—saving executors weeks of work.
- Takes just 15 minutes to complete, offering fast peace of mind.
- Automatically shares executor contact info with the referring advisor.
- Creates a natural opportunity to support heirs and manage estate transitions.
- Helps financial planners retain assets and build lasting multigenerational relationships.
- A powerful marketing tool to attract new clients and spark meaningful conversations.
- Secure, compliant, and easy to use—no digital vaults, no need for clients to pre-enter information, and no sensitive PII required.
For more information and exclusive NAEPC pricing (up to 50% off), visit: https://www.protectheir.net/naepc
Quorum Legacy Solutions
Quorum Legacy Solutions helps estate planners manage clients' digital assets inheritance securely without taking custody of the assets. First, a client's private key or seed phrase is encrypted, then divided into pieces using Shamir's Secret Sharing. These pieces are given to trusted parties such as the estate planner, executor, or family members. No single piece is enough to access the assets, but when the required number are combined, the key can be restored. This allows estate planners to hold a piece for a client without holding the full key or the crypto itself, reducing liability while ensuring heirs can access the assets when needed.
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