Professional Wills and Estate Planning: Ethical Best Practice for a Clinician’s Incapacitation or Death

Description

This course is a live, interactive webinar held on October 23, 2026, from 1pm-3pm Eastern Daylight Time.

This reduced price webinar does not offer CE Credits. The same live event is available for purchase and offers 2 Ethics CE hours for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

Registration closes at midnight (EDT) the day before the event

A clinician’s ethical responsibilities do not necessarily end when illness, incapacity, or death makes continued practice impossible; without a clear professional will and estate plan, clients’ confidentiality, records, continuity of care, and access to essential information may be left in the hands of family members or estate representatives who are unprepared to manage them.

Planning for an unexpected or permanent absence can help clinicians protect their clients, reduce confusion during a difficult transition, and spare loved ones from having to make complex professional decisions without adequate guidance, making this live training a valuable opportunity to address responsibilities that are easy to postpone but too important to overlook.

Ann Ordway, JD, PhD, brings an uncommon combination of legal, clinical, academic, and ethics expertise to this topic. A retired family law attorney with more than 20 years of private-practice experience and nearly 14 years of graduate-level teaching experience, Dr. Ordway holds a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision, is the author of the forthcoming ninth edition of The Counselor and the Law, and serves on the Ethics Revision Task Force contributing to the development of new ethics-code provisions related to forensic practice.

Through focused instruction and practice-relevant examples, Dr. Ordway will connect clinicians’ ethical responsibilities to the practical decisions involved in preparing a professional will and coordinating it with a personal estate plan. Her interdisciplinary perspective will help participants consider not only what provisions should be included, but also why those provisions matter for clients, records, confidentiality, continuity of care, and the people responsible for carrying out the clinician’s wishes.

The course examines ethical obligations that may continue when a clinician becomes unavailable because of incapacitation or death, including the protection of client files, preservation of confidentiality, notification of clients, and transition of care to another qualified professional. Participants will explore the purpose of a professional will, the role of a designated professional in managing practice closure or transition, and the relationship between professional planning and the clinician’s broader estate plan. The training will also address essential provisions to include, the risks of leaving these decisions to beneficiaries or estate representatives without clinical credentials, and best practices for reducing avoidable harm, confusion, legal exposure, and hardship.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize continuing ethical responsibilities: Understand the ethical considerations that may extend beyond a clinician’s life or ability to remain actively engaged in practice.
• Plan for responsible practice transition: Learn how professional wills and estate planning can support confidentiality, record protection, client communication, and continuity of care during a long-term or permanent absence.
• Include essential safeguards: Identify necessary provisions that can guide the qualified professional, family members, or estate representatives responsible for carrying out the clinician’s plans.

Why This Course?

• Addresses an often-overlooked ethical risk: Prepare for incapacitation or death with the same professional care used to plan for vacations, emergencies, and other anticipated absences.
• Integrates legal and clinical perspectives: Benefit from Dr. Ordway’s combined experience as an attorney, counselor educator, ethics contributor, author, and graduate-level instructor.
• Provides practical, profession-specific guidance: Move beyond general estate planning to consider the specialized protections needed for client records, confidentiality, case transitions, and responsible practice closure.

Learning Objectives

• Identify 2 key ethical considerations that transcend a clinical mental health practitioner’s death.
• Discuss best practices for professional wills and estate planning as a means of meeting responsibilities to clients beyond practice.
• Explain 3 necessary provisions to include in a professional will and estate plan.

Thoughtful professional estate planning can safeguard clients while also giving colleagues, family members, and estate representatives clearer direction during an already difficult time. This two-hour live webinar offers clinicians a structured way to begin or strengthen that planning so their ethical commitments remain protected even when they are no longer able to manage the practice themselves.

Format and Access

This course is a live, interactive webinar.

Course Details

Schedule: (listed in Eastern Daylight Time)

• 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Lecture
• 2:00 pm - 2:05 pm Q&A
• 2:05 pm - 2:50 pm Lecture
• 2:50 pm - 3:00 pm Q&A

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a live, interactive webinar. Enrollment includes access to live event(s) but does not include recordings of the presentations.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Ann Ordway, JD, Ph.D.

Ann Ordway, JD, PhD, has a law degree and a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. She is a retired family law attorney following approximately 20+ years of private practice in New Jersey, where she primarily worked with high-conflict divorce dynamics, parenting coordination, and child advocacy. She received her MA and EdS in Counseling from Seton Hall University and completed her Practicum and Internship at the Counseling Services program on campus. Ann has been trained as a family mediator, a Guardian Ad Litem, and a Parenting Coordinator. Clinical experience has included work with high-conflict families, victims of domestic violence, anger management with accused offenders of domestic violence, and school counseling. Ann has taught graduate-level clinical mental health and school counseling for nearly 14 years, both in-person and via distance learning. She was the College Academic Director of Counseling at a University in Phoenix, Arizona, and she is a former president of the Arizona Counseling Association.

She is currently the program director at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, where she facilitates the delivery of trainings for an international, interdisciplinary audience of family law professionals. She is also the author of the 9th edition of the Counselor and the Law, due out at the end of 2026, and is on the Ethics Revision Task Force, having participated in the architecture of the new section of the code devoted to forensic practice.
Dr. Ordway’s doctoral dissertation on the experiences of parenting coordinators working with high-conflict couples engaged in intimate partner violence dynamics is the foundation of her current research. She is a national and international presenter and has published in peer-reviewed journals on topics related to high-conflict families, the impact of divorce on children, ethics, and the preparedness of counselors for court-involved roles and general court involvement.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

This reduced price webinar does not offer CE credits, just great content.

The same live event is available for purchase and offers 2 Ethics CE hours for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of attendance to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Agreement

By registering for this event you are agreeing to the following:

• 24 hour notice is required if you are not able to make it to a live event. Recordings are not provided to webinar registrants.
• To update and test using Zoom.us/test before the event to ensure you are ready for the event.
• Since this is a live interactive event it means that your interaction during the event is expected.  Your name and image will be visible to other participants during the live event. You will NOT be included in any recording made.
• An evaluation must be completed within one week of the event. Continuing Education credit(s) cannot be issued unless you attend the event and the evaluation is submitted.  (Evaluation is not mandatory for APA hours)
• Partial CE credits are not possible; therefore you are required to be present throughout the event in order to receive CE credits.
• Respect all other participants during the event as though you would if you were sitting with the other attendees at a conference table:
  • Dress appropriately
  • Be in a private location void of distractions
  • Do not multitask
  • Do not drive during an event
  • Remain on mute unless you are sharing with the group

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement