Law Commons^™

Death, Taxes, And Property (Rights): Nozick, Libertarianism, And The Estate Tax, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The primary purpose of this Article is to dispute the moral claims to post-death property rights made by libertarians when they argue against the estate tax. As I will show later in this Article, my argument does not necessarily entail enacting an estate tax, nor does it require a particular level of tax. I am merely trying to demonstrate that those who argue that the estate tax is an immoral violation of the private property rights of the deceased are mistaken. This is not to say that the estate of the deceased should necessarily pass to the government. It is …

The Specter Of Civil Law Clawback Actions Haunting U.S. And Uk Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Estate Planning For Persons With Less Than $5 Million, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Individuals of modest wealth may face significant estate taxes but do not have such a large base of wealth that they can 'afford' to make major lifetime gifts or other transfers to reduce estate taxes. But there are planning techniques that can help. Individuals in the ‘modest‘ wealth category face special hurdles in estate planning. This article will assume that the ‘modest‘ wealth category includes individuals whose net worth exceeds the amount of taxable gifts that may be protected by the unified credit (the equivalent of $1 million and herein referred to as the ‘gift tax exemption‘), but does not …

From The Dead Hand To The Living Dead: The Conundrum Of Charitable Donor Standing (Symposium), Evelyn Brody

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Rev. Proc. 2005-24 And The Upc Elective Share, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This article discusses Revenue Procedure 2005-24, which came as a bombshell to the estate-planning bar. The Rev. Proc. requires a spousal waiver of elective-share rights in order for a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) or a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) created on or after June 28, 2005, to qualify for a charitable deduction. The elective share is a statutory provision common to most probate codes in non-community-property states that protect a decedent’s surviving spouse against disinheritance.

The Rev. Proc. is primarily though apparently not exclusively addressed to the elective share of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC). Unfortunately, the Rev. Proc. …

Estate Tax Repeal And The Budget Process, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

This article examines the Bush Administration’s proposal, as part of its proposed fiscal year 2005 budget, to extend permanently the repeal of the federal estate tax. The article considers the budgetary impact of permanent estate tax repeal and discusses procedural impediments to use of the reconciliation process for permanent tax cuts. The article also notes the possibility of a durable compromise solution involving retention of the estate tax with lower rates and a higher exemption.

Sample Forms, In Estate Planning Law And Taxation, 4th Ed., Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sample estate planning forms.

Selected Estate Planning Strategies For Persons With Less Than $3 Million, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Individuals in the “modest” wealth category face special hurdles in estate planning. This article assumes that the “modest” wealth category includes individuals whose net worth exceeds the amount that may be protected by the unified credit (for 1999, the equivalent of $650,000 and herein referred to as the “estate tax exemption,” the “gift tax exemption” or the “applicable exemption amount”), but does not exceed approximately $3 million. In general, people of modest wealth cannot easily afford to give up significant amounts of wealth during lifetime to achieve estate planning goals, although the lifetime transfer of wealth is one of the …

21st Annual Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law, Turney P. Berry, Theodore B. Atlass, James E. Hargrove, Jerold I. Horn, Edwin S. Pyle, Charles J. Lavell, Lady E. Booth, Dale L. Gettelfinger, David B. Tachau, David K. Bohannon, Wiley Dinsmore

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from UK/CLE's 21st Annual Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute held in July 1994.

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.

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 …

Taxation Of Distributions From Accumulation Trusts: The Impact Of The Tax Reform Act Of 1976, David T. Link, Michael J. Wahoske

Journal Articles

The complex rules governing the taxation of income from trusts and estates have at times been described as incomprehensible. Perhaps the most confusing of these are the accumulation distribution throwback rules. In an effort to alleviate some of this confusion, Congress included accumulation trusts within the purview of the Tax Reform Act of 1976. Though Congress claimed that the rules are now "considerably simplified," it is not without some effort that one is able to translate the statutory language into a form useful to the practitioner.

Given the complexity of the rules, it is necessary to begin with a caveat. …