If GRATs have great potential for wealth transfer right now, their precursors, called grantor-retained income trusts, or GRITs, were once considered even better. These instruments say simply that income from the trust can go to the grantor of the trust while the trust is in place. So if property that generates no income were put into the trust, the children would get more wealth transferred to them and very little would be subject to the gift tax.

Congress has outlawed GRITs for use by family members, however, because it viewed them as abusive. Unmarried couples, however, can still use GRITs. This represents one of the advantages of being unwed for the purposes of estate planning, says Joshua S. Rubenstein, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP who will be giving a talk at the Heckerling conference entitled, "Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples: Detriment or Opportunity." While unmarried couples may not be eligible for some of the basic estate planning strategies used by those who are married-the biggest being the ability to pass wealth between spouses tax-free-there are a lot of estate tax loopholes that were closed for married couples that remain open for those who haven't tied the knot, Rubenstein says. An economic environment with depressed asset values can give these transactions a bit more juice.

But falling asset values cut both ways. While they benefit individuals who want to transfer assets now, those people who made significant wealth transfers six months ago-and who will be taxed according to the assets' values at that point-are finding those assets have gone down in value. Like people who now hold mortgages that are higher than their home's value, some wealthy individuals may have to pay a high gift tax on what was once a valuable asset only to find the asset is now worth a lot less. Moreover, as asset values fall, so, too, does one's net worth.

From a client's perspective, the good news of the depressed economic times is that key assets can be assessed at below their market value, say conference speakers. "But the trade-off is that someone [who was] worth $50 million and is now worth $20 million doesn't feel like giving property away," Rubenstein says.

This issue is likely to come up in the "Recent Developments" panel on the opening day of the conference. Dennis Belcher, a partner at McGuire Woods LLP in Richmond, Va., and one of the panel's three speakers, says he has been hearing from colleagues that a lot of clients are unhappy about those transfers now.

"We will be talking about how the significant changes in the valuation of assets presents challenges to our clients, and whether those clients feel as comfortable as they did before," Belcher says. "Are they more interested in asset preservation now, as opposed to estate planning? That will be one of the main challenges presented."

Belcher says the net worth of some of his clients may have gone down as much as 20%. Their attitude toward estate planning is likely to depend on where they fall in the wealth spectrum: Those with less than, say, $20 million in assets probably want to put estate planning on hold right now while those with more assets probably want to take advantage of the opportunities created by the current economic climate.

Jonathan Rikoon, a partner with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York was supposed to give a talk on how private equity and hedge fund managers could most effectively transfer their "carried interest" income to their children. But with so many alternative investment funds fighting for survival, Rikoon says he may now focus on exit strategies as well-that is, he may tell these managers how they can unwind some of the estate planning structures they set up in the past.

"After you give something away, you want to make sure there's enough left for you," Rikoon says. "Now, I ask my clients, do you really want to do this?"

While Rikoon agrees with his fellow speakers that the economic downturn has created opportunities to transfer depressed assets more cheaply, alternative investment managers may have to put their estate planning goals on the sidelines for now if they want to assure they have enough current income to live comfortably.