Retirements Assets: IRAs, 401[k]s, and Best Practices to Manage your Estate (2026 Edition)

Vanessa L. Kanaga, Partner | Becker & House, PLLC

Vanessa L. Kanaga is an estate planning attorney with nearly two decades of experience guiding individuals and families through the preservation of their legacies. A member of the Becker & House team in Phoenix, she combines deep technical knowledge of estate planning with the problem-solving discipline she developed as a technology company executive, delivering personalized, practical solutions for her clients.

• Education & Credentials

Vanessa earned her J.D. from Cornell Law School and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wichita State University. She also completed an Advanced Professional Certificate from New York University School of Law. She is licensed to practice in Arizona, New York, and Kansas.

• Recognition & Leadership

Vanessa served as Chief Executive Officer of InterActive Legal, a provider of practice solutions for estate planning attorneys. In that role she led the company’s transformation into an online service provider and guided it through the emergence of AI-based technology — a tenure that reflects both her standing in the estate planning community and her capacity to lead an organization through significant change.

• Professional Involvement

Vanessa works directly with clients at Becker & House, focusing on understanding each family’s circumstances and helping them achieve peace of mind. Her career bridges private practice and the legal-technology industry, giving her a perspective on estate planning informed by both client service and the tools that support the field.

• Experience

Vanessa began her legal career in New York, practicing at Milbank LLP and Moses & Singer LLP before returning to her hometown of Wichita, Kansas, to practice at Hinkle Law Firm LLC. In 2013, she moved into legal technology as CEO of InterActive Legal, applying her estate planning background to the development of practice solutions for attorneys. In 2023, she returned to private practice in Phoenix, joining Becker & House, where she concentrates on estate planning and draws on her combined legal and business experience to serve her clients.

Sahri D. Zeger, Partner | CohnReznick, LLP

Sahri D. Zeger is a Partner at CohnReznick Advisory LLC and leader of the firm’s Trust & Estates group. A tax attorney with more than 20 years of experience, she serves as a trusted advisor to high-net-worth individuals and successful business owners, developing sophisticated tax strategies and multi-generational estate plans that align with her clients’ business, family, and charitable goals.

• Education & Credentials

Sahri earned her J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Connecticut. She holds a B.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Illinois. In addition to English, she speaks French and German.

• Recognition & Leadership

Sahri leads CohnReznick’s Trust & Estates group, where she brings comprehensive technical knowledge of estate and gift reporting rules and extensive experience identifying exposure points for clients. Before joining CohnReznick, she served as a principal in a Boston-based accounting, tax, and advisory firm, a role that reflects her standing as a senior practitioner in the trust and estates field.

• Professional Involvement

Sahri is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants. She also serves on the Networking Committee of the Boston Estate Planning Council.

• Experience

Over a career spanning more than two decades, Sahri has focused on wealth preservation, estate planning, and business succession for private clients. Before joining CohnReznick, she was a principal at a Boston-based accounting, tax, and advisory firm, where she provided high-net-worth individuals and family groups with tax compliance, fiduciary planning, and estate, trust, private foundation, and gift tax services. At CohnReznick, she leads the Trust & Estates group, drawing on her combined legal, accounting, and finance background to design estate and tax strategies for sophisticated clients.

SESSION 1 – Key Strategies for Managing Retirement Assets and Estate Planning | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Retirement accounts demand planning treatment unlike real estate or business interests. This session examines the tax and non-tax rules governing 401(k)s and IRAs, required minimum distributions, trust beneficiary designations, and how recent regulatory changes reshape estate planning strategy.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Trusts as Beneficiaries of Retirement Accounts | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

Naming a trust as a retirement account beneficiary carries distinct tax consequences. This session examines how dispositive language controls distribution timing, when a trust beneficiary makes sense, and how SECURE 2.0 and recent guidance govern RMDs for inherited IRAs.