About Us

What is the Purpose of the Council?

 

The New Hampshire Estate Planning Council is dedicated to promoting the interests of estate planning professionals by promoting continuing education in estate planning issues, fostering a mutual understanding among the estate planning disciplines of the problems encountered in estate planning and potential solutions offered by each discipline. Another important mission of the Council is to provide an opportunity for networking and developing friendships and alliance between members that will result in better service to clients and the communities in which our members live.

 

Who Is Able to Join the Council?

 

Membership in the Council is divided into two categories, Regular Members and Associate Members.

Regular Members fall into any one of the following categories:

1. Members of the New Hampshire Bar Association

2. Members of the New Hampshire Society of Certified Public Accounts

3. Officers of banks having trust powers located in the State of New Hampshire.

4. Financial Services Professionals who are registered with the State of New Hampshire under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (Series 65 or 66) and/or registered with the State of New Hampshire under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Series 6 or 7) and/or licensed with the Insurance Department of the State of New Hampshire as an Insurance Producer.

 

Associate Membership is open to persons outside the above categories who provide services directly or indirectly related to estate planning. Examples include college or private school development directors, business consultants and financial service professionals not covered by #4 above. According to our by-laws, Associate Members may not serve on the board of directors or vote on issues discussed at official meetings of the membership.

Regardless of discipline,all members must have at least one year of experience practicing estate planning in New Hampshire.

 

What Does It Cost to Become a Member? And How Do I Go About It?

Membership dues for fiscal year 2023-2024 are $275. Proration of dues is available only for new members applying for approval prior to the March and May meetings. An applicant must be sponsored by an existing member.

A membership application can be downloaded and printed from this web site by clicking on the “Application Form” button located on the left hand side of this page. You may also join on line via our website. For the online process, complete the short form but also ask our member sponsor to send a recommendation to info@nhepc.org which the board will review along with your application. 

Upon receipt of your completed application and dues payment, your application will be reviewed by the board of directors at the next regular board meeting. You will receive an email invitation to the nexxt Council event in anticipation of your membership approval.

What About Guests?

All regular and associate members are welcome to invite non-member colleagues, business associates and friends to attend a dinner meeting program. If a guest is a potential member, the sponsor should indicate that to the Council’s Administrator at the time of registration. The current cost for a guest is $50. If you plan to bring a guest, we ask that you include them when you RSVP online for our events. The guest fees can be paid on line with a credit or debit card. 

I’m Already A Member. Can’t I Simply Show Up On the Night of the Dinner Meeting?

The honest answer? It is preferable that you not do this.  The pandemic has markedly changed how our event venues are able (or not) to cope with changes in attendance. For some staffing remains an issue, including in the kitchen. Some simply cannot prepare extra entrees beyond our reported counts. Your dues still include the cost of attendance for five dinner meetings held during the year, but today's situation emphasizes the importance of advance registration. 

The more accurate our counts, the more we save on the bottomline, not to mention less food going to waste. We realize that schedules and plans change, but whenever possible, please contact us – even on the day of the event – to let us know if you plan to attend. Not all of our host facilities are able to make up extra meals to cover walk-in attendees. We appreciate your understanding on this matter.