Law Commons^™

Book Reviews, Robert J. Lynn (Reviewer), William J. Bowe (Reviewer), Samuel J. Foosaner (Reviewer), Stanley D. Ross (Reviewer)

Vanderbilt Law Review

Handbook on the Law of Future Interests

By Lewis M. Simes

St.Paul, West Publishing Co., 1951. Pp. xv, 495. $8.00

reviewer: Robert J. Lynn

============================

Tax Savings in Real Estate Transactions

Prepared by Bureau of Analysis, Davenport, Iowa. Chicago: Published under auspices of National Institute of Real Estate Brokers of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, 1951. Pp. 98. $5.00

reviewer: William J. Bowe

============================

Income Tax Treatment of Life Insurance proceeds and other Tax Articles

By William J. Bowe

Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press,1951. Pp. 90. $2.10

reviewer: Samuel J. Foosaner

============================

Justice According to Law

By Roscoe Pound …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CHARLES EVANS HUGHES AND THE SUPREME COURT

By Samuel Hendel

New York: King's Crown Press, 1951. Pp. 337

==================================

DUE PROCESSES OF LAW

By Virginia Wood

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1951. Pp. 436. $6.00.

==============================

LEGAL AID IN THE UNITED STATES

By Emery A. Brownell

Rochester: The Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Co., 1951. Pp. 333. $4.50.

================================

LEVIATHAN AND NATURAL LAW

By F. Lyman Windolph

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951. Pp. 147. $2.50.

======================================

OIL AND LAW

Articles reprinted from the Texas Law Review

Austin:Texas Law Review, 1951. Pp. 1736. Bound copies $15.00, unbound copies $12.00.

===================================

PRICE POLICIES …

Formal Requirements For Creation Of The Oil And Gas Lessee's Interest, William D. Warren

Vanderbilt Law Review

The practice of the courts of employing almost as many varying and contradictory descriptions of the nature of the lessee's interest under the usual oil and gas lease as there are petroleum producing states has a historical origin which is clearly traceable. In the latter half of the nineteenth century as each of the known oil bearing states was slowly explored and developed for petroleum, it fell the lot of their courts to solve the complicated legal problems arising in this new and unique industry. Equipped with but little accurate scientific knowledge about the physical behavior of oil and gas, …

Alienability Of Future Interests In Tennessee, Ernest C. Matthews, Iii

Vanderbilt Law Review

One of the most technical problems in the field of property law is the manner in which future interests in realty and personalty may be alienated. The term, future interest, is used here to mean a presently existing interest which is deprived of possession but which looks forward to possession in the future. The term is a misnomer. Such an interest is "future" only in the sense that it looks toward becoming possessory in the future. Just as future interests is a law of words, so the alienability of future interests is, in the absence of statute, a law of …

Reformation Of Voluntary Conveyances, Henry D. Bell

Vanderbilt Law Review

It has frequently been stated that equity will not reform a conveyance which is merely voluntary and based on no consideration.' As thus broadly stated the rule is manifestly inaccurate, for it is universally recognized that a grantor is entitled to have a voluntary conveyance reformed. Moreover,the rule is unhelpful and even misleading, for it does not define the term "voluntary" and it ignores a line of authority which allows reformation of concededly voluntary conveyances in favor of parties other than the grantor.

The continued recital of this rule is probably due to a spontaneous reaction of abhorrence on the …

Bills To Remove Cloud In Tennessee, Henry D. Bell

Vanderbilt Law Review

The bill in equity to remove cloud from title has been recognized in all of the American states. There has been, however, no agreement among the states as to the cases which come within the scope of the bill. Every bill to remove cloud presents two essential questions: (1) does the complainant have an interest in the property which entitles him to maintain the bill, and (2) does the adverse claim constitute a "cloud" on the title which equity will remove? The purpose of this Note is to review the authorities to determine what is necessary to satisfy these two …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Automobiles--Family Purpose Doctrine--Automobile Owned by other than Head of Family

Contracts--Effect of Illegality--Recover Where No Moral Turpitude involved and Purpose of Statute Not Violated

Corporations--Liability of Officer to Creditors for Excessive Salary--Burden of Proof on Defendant to Show Reasonableness

Criminal Law--Proximate Cause--Responsibility for Death Due to Acts of Persons Opposing a Felony

Criminal Law--Violation of the Mann Act--Actual Transportation Entirely within a Single State

Evidence--Confidential Communications between Spouses--Admissibility of Testimony as to Conduct of Party Spouse

Insurance--Commercial--Radius Endorsement in Automobile Insurance--Effect of Breach after Return to Designated Area

Personal Property--Finding Lost Goods--Chambermaid's Right to Goods Found by Her …

The Constitutionality Of The New Federal Estate Tax Definition Of A Transfer Taking Effect At Death, Charles L.B. Lowndes

Vanderbilt Law Review

The manifest reluctance in recent years on the part of the Supreme Court to declare any provision of the Federal Estate Tax unconstitutional may have given rise to the assumption that there are no constitutional limitations on the transfers which Congress can tax under the estate tax. One of the 1949 amendments to the tax should test the validity of this assumption. In an effort to bring some order out of the chaos stemming immediately from Helvering v. Hallock, and immediately from Spiegel's Estate v. Commissioner, Congress provided recently that a transfer after October 7, 1949, shall be deemed to …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CONFLICT OF LAWS--DOMICIL FOR PURPOSES OF INCOME TAXATION--ABSENCE OF FIXED INTENT TO REMAIN IN RESIDENCE OR TO RETURN TO DOMICIL OF ORIGIN

=================================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INTERSTATE COMMERCE--VALIDITY OF STATE TAX UPON GROSS RECEIPTS OF SEGMENT OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE

=================================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--PEACEFUL PICKETING--POWER OF STATE COURT TO ENJOIN

=================================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--POWER OF COURT TO PUNISH FOR DIRECT CONTEMPT--OPPORTUNITY TO OBTAIN COUNSEL

=================================

EVIDENCE--ADMISSIBILITY OF SCIENTIFIC TESTS--HARGER DRUNKOMETER TEST TO DETERMINE INTOXICATION

=================================

FEDERAL JURISDICTION--REQUIREMENT THAT FEDERAL QUESTION APPEAR ON FACE OF COMPLAINT--APPLICATION TO DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION

==================================

INCOME TAXES--DEDUCTION OF BUSINESS EXPENSES--DEDUCTIBILITY OF PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF PRICE REGULATIONS

==================================

INSURANCE--"COMPREHENSIVE" COVERAGE …

Replevin Of The Contents Of Safe Deposit Boxes, Beverly Douglas Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

It is often stated that a plaintiff cannot recover in replevin' or detinue unless the defendant is in possession of the disputed goods at the commence- ment of the action. This requirement is fundamentally one of practicality. Since possession of the chattel is the primary object of an action for specific recovery, replevin is inappropriate unless the defendant is in a position to restore this possession to the plaintiff. But one may sometimes be able to put another in possession and have a duty to do so without himself having that combination of physical control and intent which the law …

John Howard Moore, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

This issue of the Vanderbilt Law Review is dedicated to Mr. John Howard Moore. At the end of this current school year Mr. Moore will have served a quarter of a century as a Professor of Law at the Vanderbilt University School of Law and will retire from active teaching.

Mr. Moore has been and remains an idealist and perfectionist in the law. This has been the theme of his teaching. We that had him as a teacher know that it is his belief that neither he nor anyone else is qualified to answer a nice legal question until the …

Replevin Of The Contents Of Safe Deposit Boxes, Beverly Douglas Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

It is often stated that a plaintiff cannot recover in replevin' or detinue unless the defendant is in possession of the disputed goods at the commencement of the action. This requirement is fundamentally one of practicality. Since possession of the chattel is the primary object of an action for specific recovery, replevin is inappropriate unless the defendant is in a position to restore this possession to the plaintiff. But one may sometimes be able to put another in possession and have a duty to do so without himself having that combination of physical control and intent which the law calls …

Part Performance And Equitable, Estoppel In Tennessee, Cecil D. Branstetter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Tennessee chancery courts have repeatedly been petitioned for the specific enforcement of parol contracts for the sale of land, on the basis of part performance.' The Tennessee Supreme Court has consistently refused to give such relief, emphatically laying down the rule that part performance of a parol contract for the sale of land does not serve as a substitute for the writing required by the Statute of Frauds...

The purpose of this note is to determine the extent to which Tennessee courts will recognize and enforce parol contracts for the sale of an interest inland when the petitioner relies …

Book Reviews, Harold Shepherd, Rollin M. Perkins, Stanley D. Rose

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Rational Basis of Contracts and Related Problems in Legal Analysis By Merton L. Ferson Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc.,1949. Pp. i-ix, 1-330. $4.00

reviewer: Harold Shepherd

===============================

Beutel's Brannan, Negotiable Instruments Law By Frederick K.Beutel Cincinnati: The W. H. Anderson Company Seventh Edition,1948. Pp. xiii, 1628. $15.00

reviewer: Rollin M. Perkins

================================

Social Meaning of Legal Concepts--No. 1, Inheritance of Property and the Power of Testamentary Disposition Edited by Edward N. Cahn New York: New York University School of Law, 1948.Pp. vi, 90. $1.50

reviewer: Stanley D. Rose

Options And Valuation Of Property For Federal Tax Purposes, William J. Bowe

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Estate of John Q. Strange, there was an agreement between two brothers, engaged in business in a close corporation, which provided that upon the death of either, the survivor might acquire the stock of the other upon payment of $10,000 to his estate. Payment was so made following the decedent's death. The fair market value of the stock on the date of death was stipulated to be $238,126.54. The Board of Tax Appeals held that the option price of $10,000 was the proper amount to be included in the decedent's gross estate as the value of his stock.

In …

A Symposium On Estate Planning: Foreword, Mayo Adams Shattuck

Vanderbilt Law Review

The power and increasing value of conferences and symposia of the sort which the Vanderbilt Law Review has arranged is that a team of first class men are gathered together to give testimony and useful advice upon the various independent factors which must be taken into account in solution of this fascinating problem. When a group of distinguished scholars and practitioners like those participating in this symposium are willing to make thoughtful contributions to this sort-of round table, without hope of compensation except for the satisfaction that comes from the provision of sound ideas and the education that stems from …

Foreword, Mayo A. Shattuck

Vanderbilt Law Review

In order to get a proper measure of modern Estate Planning I think it may be useful to consider, very briefly, some aspects of its history. The family trust was born into our jurisprudence in an environment which had been moulded in that solid and immovable pyramid called feudalism. In that social order there was nothing of imaginative elasticity. Lateral allegiances or entanglements were as little known as lateral movements. All lines of authority moved from the top; all discharges of duties were rendered vertically to the liege lord next above. As with human relationships so also with property. The …

A Planner's Primer, William M. Reynolds

Vanderbilt Law Review

Anyone undertaking an assignment to write within a few pages under this comprehensive title must limit his coverage. This general article on a subject as intangible as estate planning omits entirely or gives short treatment to many considerations which may be of great importance to the conscientious planning of relatively complicated estate situations. Emphasis will be placed on the tax aspects of estate planning, particularly federal taxes, but consideration will be given to other aspects which may be of equal or even greater importance. This deliberate emphasis is certainly not intended to add to the misleading impression, too frequently held, …

Valuation Of The Family Controlled Business For Estate Tax Purposes, James O. Wynn

Vanderbilt Law Review

The starting point in the determination of the federal estate tax is the valuation of the property included in the gross estate.' While the Internal Revenue Code does not use the term "fair market value" in defining the gross estate, the regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue as an interpretation of the estate tax provisions of the Code provide that "the value of every item of property includible in the gross estate is the fair market value thereof." While a creditable argument could be made that Congress, in using the term "value" in defining the gross estate, intended …

Tennessee Death Taxes, Charles K. Cosner

Vanderbilt Law Review

The leading articles in this symposium stress the problems which federal death duties create in the planning of estates. The purpose of this note is to discuss the Tennessee Inheritance Tax,' and to indicate how its treatment of particular types of property and forms of ownership differs from the federal succession tax.

The federal tax poses no problem to the Tennessean of moderate means in planning his estate. By some elementary advance planning, all but very substantial estates may be made free of federal tax. In no event will an estate be subject to federal tax which is valued at …

Some Aspects Of Estate Planning In Tennessee, Alec B. Stevenson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Not many years ago a large New York bank circulated privately booklet with the provocative title "The Passing of the Simple Will." The choice of the title and the text itself underlined the complexities which surround the owner of property and his advisers when they jointly attempt to plan the disposition of a modern estate for modem needs. The now almost legendary owner of Blackacre could, indeed, write a simple will, quite effective and satisfactory as a plan for the disposition 'and use of the family property. One need scarcely recite the changes which have taken place in more recent …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

CONFLICT OF LAWS--FULL FAITH AND CREDIT--DOMESTIC SEPARATE MAINTENANCE DECREE SURVIVES FOREIGN DIVORCE

==============================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--DUE PROCESS--USE OF PEREMPTORY'CHALLENGE TO EXCLUDE ALL MEMBERS OF ACCUSED'S RACE FROM TRIAL JURY

==============================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--FREEDOM OF SPEECH--USE OF AMPLIFICATION DEVICE IN PUBLIC PARK HELD WITHIN CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE

==============================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--SEARCHES AND SEIZURES--EVIDENCE OBTAINED WITHOUT SEARCH WARRANT INADMISSIBLE THOUGH SEIZED IN PROCESS OF LAWFUL ARREST

==============================

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--RACIALLY RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS--JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT AS STATE ACTION

==============================

CONTRACTS--BROKER'S COMMISSIONS--RIGHT TO RECOVER UNDERDOCTRINE OF SUBSTITUTED PERFORMANCE

==============================

CONTRACTS--COMMERCIAL FRUSTRATION--REQUIREMENT THAT A BASIC PURPOSE OF THE CONTRACT BE FRUSTRATED

==============================

CRIMINAL LAW--CUMULATIVE SENTENCES--EFFECT OF STATE PAROLE UPON COMMENCEMENT OF …