The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

76 NOVEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Federal Benefits Series: Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts For the 10th installment in the ongoing speaker series on federal benefits, AFSA hosted attorneys Jonathan Kinney and Lauren Keenan Rote, of Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C., on Sept. 23. Kinney and Rote discussed the importance of estate planning, wills and trusts with a large, AFSA-members-only crowd. Kinney noted that estate planning is essential to help protect assets for future generations and can aid in distributing assets at the time of death. Both speakers also touched on the tools for estate planning, the different types of trusts, the issue of taxes and spousal rights. They stressed a key point to remember: estate plans should be reviewed after any major life event (e.g., inheritance, out-of-state move, career change, birth of a child) or changes in tax law, and every five years. The Federal Benefits Speakers Series is one of AFSA’s most popular programs. Previous topics include: federal long-term care and survivor annuities, the coordination of FEHB and Medicare, Social Security, divorce in the Foreign Ser- vice, geriatric care manage- ment, a Thrift Savings Plan pre-separation briefing and the future of Medicare. You can find video record- ings of all of these presenta- tions at www.afsa.org/ retiree. n –Matthew Sumrak, Retiree Counselor and Legislative Assistant Attorney Jonathan Kinney discusses the importance of estate planning. AFSA/DEBRABLOME AFSAAppeals to FS Grievance Board on 2013 Meritorious Service Increases AFSA appealed to the Foreign Service Grievance Board on Aug. 5 regarding the State Department’s denial of AFSA’s implemen- tation dispute concerning the payment of Meritorious Service Increases from the 2013 Selection Boards (see STATE 95194 at www.bit.ly/ MSI_cable). AFSA had filed the imple- mentation dispute (which is a grievance alleging a breach of a collective bargaining agreement) on May 16 (see July/August 2014 FSJ ). In advocating on behalf of the 554 MSI recipients recog- nized in 2013, AFSA urged the State Department’s senior leadership to honor promo- tion-worthy performance with the monetary com- ponent in accordance with the negotiated procedural precepts. When the depart- ment did not, AFSA filed the grievance. AFSA hopes to have an FSGB decision this winter to finally resolve the issue. While AFSA prefers to work with management to resolve differences, in this case the association had no choice but to appeal to the FSGB to ensure that its negotiated agreement, the 2013 procedural precepts, is enforced. Every year AFSA negoti- ates the procedural precepts with the department that instruct the Selection Boards on how to identify individu- als for promotion and MSIs. Under the agreement, the Selection Board recommen- dations for promotion and MSI conferral are binding on the department. n AFSA BOOK MARKET Start your holiday shop- ping at AFSA! The first annual AFSA Book Market will feature books from “In Their Own Write” (p. 30). Stop in to shop for books and meet the authors. Coffee and tea will be served. Date: Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 Time: 1 – 4 p.m. Place: AFSA Headquarters Who: Open to the public