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Full-Text Articles in Law
Who Is Afraid Of Perpetual Trusts?, Bridget J. Crawford
Who Is Afraid Of Perpetual Trusts?, Bridget J. Crawford
Michigan Law Review First Impressions
Throw a stone into a room full of law professors, and it is virtually impossible to hit someone who will defend perpetual trusts. Yet since 1995, eighteen states have repealed their rules against perpetuities, and there are now twenty-one states that permit trusts to last forever. Many academics have responded with a virtual pile-on, calling the repeals a "race to the bottom" at best and "loony" at worst. Lawrence Waggoner, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan School of Law and Reporter for the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers, has made another contribution to the scrum. …
Family Caregiving And The Law Of Succession: A Proposal, Thomas P. Gallanis, Josephine Gittler
Family Caregiving And The Law Of Succession: A Proposal, Thomas P. Gallanis, Josephine Gittler
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
As the American population ages, the need for long-term care, already great, will become even greater. Some of this care is paid for by government programs, such as Medicaid, and by individual long-term care insurance policies. But the combination of the public fisc and private insurance are, and will continue to be, insufficient to pay for all of the care our seniors and adults with disabilities need. The provision of care in a family residence by one or more family members is an important component of our health care delivery system and must be supported and encouraged by public policy …
Deliberative Accountability Rules In Inheritance Law: Promoting Accountable Estate Planning, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy
Deliberative Accountability Rules In Inheritance Law: Promoting Accountable Estate Planning, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In the last few decades, the emerging trend in trust and estate law has been a steady loosening of the limitations on testamentary freedom. The 1990 Uniform Probate Code pioneered some of these developments. Construction rules are no exception. It is widely accepted that testamentary construction rules should track the owner's presumed intent. In this Article, I argue that there is also room, alongside these intent-furthering rules, for intent-defeating rules in inheritance law. A property owner lacks incentives to internalize the relational, familial, or economic effects of her allocation. Such rules, termed deliberative accountability rules, are therefore designed to foster …
Non-Judicial Estate Settlement, John H. Martin
Non-Judicial Estate Settlement, John H. Martin
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Estate settlement through probate procedures satisfies no one. The public is hostile to the delay, expense, and lack of privacy that accompanies probate. Attorneys respond to public dissatisfaction by counseling probate avoidance. Legislatures facilitate some settlements by enacting simplified procedures for low-value estates. In large measure, the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) was a response to criticisms leveled at probate. Alternative settlement procedures are offered by the UPC, including informal testacy determinations and informal appointment procedures. These alternatives, however, remain imbedded in a judicial system, with it procedural rigidities. The UPC informal settlement alternatives did not silence the criticism. The continued …
Children Of Assisted Reproduction, Kristine S. Knaplund
Children Of Assisted Reproduction, Kristine S. Knaplund
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
More than three decades after the birth of the first child conceived through in vitro fertilization, few states have comprehensive statutes to establish the parentage of children born using assisted reproduction techniques (ART). While thousands of such children are born each year courts struggle to apply outdated laws. For example, does a statute terminating paternity for a man who donates sperm to a married woman apply if the woman is unmarried? In 2008, the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) added two much-needed sections on the complicated parentage and inheritance issues that arise in the field of assisted reproduction. Yet it is …
Retirees Beware: Don't Worry About The British, 'Taxmageddon' Is Coming, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Retirees Beware: Don't Worry About The British, 'Taxmageddon' Is Coming, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
"Taxmageddon" is coming. Unless Congress extends the current rates or reaches an agreement on tax reform, dividends will then be taxed as ordinary income at a marginal rate as high as 39.6 % and net capital gains will then be taxed at 20%. For high-income taxpayers, a 3.8% Medicare surtax will be added to the taxation of net capital gains, dividend income, interest, and other investment income, bringing the highest marginal rate to 43.4%.
What's In The Third And Final Volume Of The New Restatement Of Property That Estate Planners Should Know About, Lawrence W. Waggoner
What's In The Third And Final Volume Of The New Restatement Of Property That Estate Planners Should Know About, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
Professor John Langbein and I have just concluded a twenty-year project for the American Law Institute to restate the law of donative transfers. The official title of our three-volume Restatement is the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers.1 We refer to it herein simply as the Property Restatement. The third and final volume of the work was published in the last days of 2011. Professor Langbein spoke about certain of the initiatives in the two earlier volumes, which set forth the principles governing the law of wills, intestacy, interpretation of instruments, and the nonprobate system. The concluding …
Message To Congress: Halt The Tax Exemption For Perpetual Trusts, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Message To Congress: Halt The Tax Exemption For Perpetual Trusts, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
The federal estate tax is in abeyance this year. The popular press has picked up on the possibility that the estates of billionaires such as the late George Steinbrenner, who owned the New York Yankees, will escape the tax. The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Representative Sander Levin of Michigan, and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Max Baucus of Montana, are now considering two questions: what the maximum rate and exemption will be when the estate tax returns and whether the tax will be reinstated for this year. Lurking behind the headlines but equally important is …
Estate Planning Expert Forward, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Estate Planning Expert Forward, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Other Publications
There is no doubt that a self-help book devoted to financial and estate planning is of much interest to remarried partners, but can such a book be interesting? Jon Fitzpatrick has made his book interesting. This is no ordinary non-fiction book Jon has come up with a unique way of presenting his material: as fiction. The setting for his novel is an adult course conducted at night in a local high school. His players are a couple of lawyers who teach the course and the students in the class. Each chapter addresses the classroom topic for that evening. The dialogue …
The 2003 Revised Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act, Douglas A. Kahn
The 2003 Revised Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
Editors' Synopsis: This Article describes the significant sections of the 2003 Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act (the "2003 Uniform Act'). The Article explains the purpose and operation of the 2003 Uniform Act's various sections and notes some of the differences between the 2003 Uniform Act and its prior version.
The Uniform Probate Code Upends The Law Of Remainders, Jesse Dukeminier
The Uniform Probate Code Upends The Law Of Remainders, Jesse Dukeminier
Michigan Law Review
Nothing is more settled in the law of remainders than that an indefeasibly vested remainder is transmissible to the remainderman's heirs or devisees upon the remainderman's death. Thus, where a grantor conveys property "to A for life, then to B and her heirs," B's remainder passes to B's heirs or devisees if B dies during the life of A. Inheritability of vested remainders was recognized in the time of Edward I, and devisability was recognized with the Statute of Wills in 1540.
Reforming The Law Of Gratuitous Transfers: The New Uniform Probate Code, John H. Langbein, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Reforming The Law Of Gratuitous Transfers: The New Uniform Probate Code, John H. Langbein, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
In the mid-1980s the Uniform Law Commission undertook a landmark revision of the American law of gratuitous transfers. These reforms culminated in a drastically revised Uniform Probate Code ("UPC"). The revisions inspired the Albany Law Review to organize this symposium issue for the purpose of examining the 1990 UPC. In this introductory paper, we point to the main themes of the reform movement, discuss some of the traits and constraints of the uniform law process, and comment on some of the suggestions and insights that appear in the symposium articles.
Reformulating The Structure Of Estates: A Proposal For Legislative Action, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Reformulating The Structure Of Estates: A Proposal For Legislative Action, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Book Chapters
Professor Waggoner points out various major inadequacies of the present structure of estates and traces them to the distinctions between conditions and limitations, between conditions precedent and conditions subsequent, and between reversionary and nonreversionary interests. Eschewing such distinctions as artificial, he pre- sents a reformulated structure of possessory and future interests and urges its enactment into law.
The Emergence Of A General Reformation Doctrine For Wills, Lawrence W. Waggoner, John H. Langbein
The Emergence Of A General Reformation Doctrine For Wills, Lawrence W. Waggoner, John H. Langbein
Articles
In this article, which both summarizes and updates an extensively footnoted article published last year ("Reformation of Wills on the Ground of Mistake: Change of Direction in American Law?" 130 University of Pennsylvania Law Rmiew 521 (1982)), we report on this new case law and discuss the analytic framework that we think it suggests and requires.
Closely Held Stocks—Deferral And Financing Of Estate Tax Costs Through Sections 303 And 6166, Douglas A. Kahn
Closely Held Stocks—Deferral And Financing Of Estate Tax Costs Through Sections 303 And 6166, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
The enactment of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (hereinafter referred to as "the 1981 Act") will reduce both the impact of federal wealth transfer taxes and the number of persons still subject to them. Nevertheless, even after the 1981 Act takes full effect, a category of persons remains for whom wealth transfer taxes will constitute a meaningful burden and whose estates face a liquidity problem in satisfying the estate tax liability. The focus of this article is on two statutory techniques: redemptions of stock pursuant to section 3031 and deferral of estate tax payments under section 6166.2 These …
Reformation Of Wills On The Ground Of Mistake: Change Of Direction In American Law?, John H. Langbein, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Reformation Of Wills On The Ground Of Mistake: Change Of Direction In American Law?, John H. Langbein, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
Although it has been "axiomatic" that our courts do not entertain suits to reform wills on the ground of mistake, appellate courts in California, New Jersey, and New York have decided cases within the last five years that may presage the abandonment of the ancient "no-reformation" rule. The new cases do not purport to make this fundamental doctrinal change, although the California Court of Appeal in Estate of Taff and the New Jersey Supreme Court in Engle v. Siegel did expressly disclaim a related rule, sometimes called the "plain meaning" rule. That rule, which hereafter we will call the "no-extrinsic-evidence …
Recent Developments In Gift And Estate Taxation, Douglas A. Kahn
Recent Developments In Gift And Estate Taxation, Douglas A. Kahn
Other Publications
A summarization of recent tax cases.
A Guide To The Estate And Gift Tax Amendments Of 1970, Douglas A. Kahn
A Guide To The Estate And Gift Tax Amendments Of 1970, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
The Excise, Estate, and Gift Tax Adjustment Act of 1970 [Pub. L. No. 91-614 (Dec. 31, 1970) made a number of amendments to the federal estate and gift tax laws. The estate tax laws were amended to shorten the period of time for filing estate tax returns and for the alternate valuation date and for several related items. In addition, for income tax purposes, the holding period of property that was included in a decedent's gross estate and that was acquired from the decedent was altered; and fiduciaries were granted additional means of obtaining a discharge of their personal liability …
Restructuring Federal Estate And Gift Taxes: Impact Of Proposed Reforms On Estate Planning, Verner F. Chaffin
Restructuring Federal Estate And Gift Taxes: Impact Of Proposed Reforms On Estate Planning, Verner F. Chaffin
Michigan Law Review
It is undeniable that estate and gift taxes, in contrast to income taxes, have not received the legislative attention that they deserve. Congress has largely ignored these important segments of our tax structure for many years, and during that time a host of defects and inequities have become apparent. This congressional indifference in the estate and gift tax field can be attributed to the fact that these taxes, unlike the income tax, affect relatively few people, and that they produce less than two per cent of our total tax revenue. It is understandable, therefore, that while the major thrust of …
Intestate Succession Under The Uniform Probate Code, Thomas J. Mulder
Intestate Succession Under The Uniform Probate Code, Thomas J. Mulder
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The pervasive social policy underlying the Anglo-American law on succession of property at death is freedom of testation. Our law makes meaningful one's right to decide who shall inherit his property by providing a legal instrument, the will, to distribute property to chosen recipients. When a man dies without having exercised this right, however, the laws of intestate succession determine who shall receive his property, and in what shares it shall be received. In effect, the laws of intestate succession are an estate plan written for the decedent by his state legislature. These laws do not function as a restriction …
Mandatory Buy-Out Agreements For Stock Of Closely Held Corporations, Douglas A. Kahn
Mandatory Buy-Out Agreements For Stock Of Closely Held Corporations, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
A buy-out of a shareholder's stock is a sale of his stock holdings in a specific corporation pursuatnt to a pre-existing contract. In recent years such arrangements have, deservedly, become an increasingly popular planning device for shareholders in closely held corporations; they make it possible to limit the class of potential shareholders, provide liquidity for the estate of a deceased shareholder, and establish a value for stock which has no active market. There are two popular categories of buy-out plans. If the prospective purchaser of a decedent's shares is the corporation that issued them, the plan is called an "entity …
Review Of Michigan And Federal Estate And Tax Planning, By P. Chirco And S. Ward, Douglas A. Kahn
Review Of Michigan And Federal Estate And Tax Planning, By P. Chirco And S. Ward, Douglas A. Kahn
Reviews
Any evaluation of a book of this nature must be made in light of its purpose and its intended audience. The authors recognize that estate and tax planning is too broad a subject to be treated comprehensively in a single volume, and, consequently, they quite properly made no effort in that direction. Rather, their apparent purpose was to furnish the non-specialist with an annotated form book containing textual discussions of tax and estate planning problems, with particular emphasis on local Michigan law.
Retroactive Legislation Affecting Interests In Land, John Scurlock
Retroactive Legislation Affecting Interests In Land, John Scurlock
Michigan Legal Studies Series
Professor Scurlock's monograph covers an area of the law which is commonly by-passed in treatises and in classroom instruction. If we could merely tear Maitland's "seamless web" of the law and retain all the shreds, no part of the legal system would escape us. What we actually do, however, is to set up, in a more or less arbitrary fashion, numerous centers of legal classification, such as contracts, torts, property and constitutional law, to which closely related legal materials are attracted as to a magnet. But those legal materials which stand midway between two centers of attraction are likely to …