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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Future Of Testamentary Capacity, Reid Kress Weisbord, David Horton Apr 2022

The Future Of Testamentary Capacity, Reid Kress Weisbord, David Horton

Washington and Lee Law Review

Recently, the #FreeBritney saga cast a harsh spotlight on state guardianship systems. Yet despite their serious flaws, guardianship regimes have benefited from waves of reform. Indeed, since the 1970s, most jurisdictions have taken steps to protect the autonomy of people with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities (CIDD). Likewise, lawmakers are currently experimenting with supported decision-making (SDM): an alternative to guardianship designed to help individuals with CIDD make their own choices. These changes are no panacea, but they have modernized a field that once summarily denied “idiots” and “lunatics” power over their affairs.

However, in a related context, the legal system’s …


Probate Funding And The Litigation Funding Debate, Jeremy Kidd May 2019

Probate Funding And The Litigation Funding Debate, Jeremy Kidd

Washington and Lee Law Review

Third-party funding of legal claims is becoming more common, and increasingly more controversial. Whether in the legislative arena or in the courts, the fight over whether and how independent parties might provide funding to litigants has become heated. The fight now threatens to spill over into the probate realm, where funders have begun purchasing probate rights from putative heirs. These probate funding transactions share many characteristics with broader litigation funding but also differ in important respects. The meager existing literature tends to address the issue in a pre-biased and methodologically unsound way, making it impossible to properly assess the nature …


The Federal Law Of Property: The Case Of Inheritance Disclaimers And Tenancy By The Entireties, David Gray Carlson Jan 2018

The Federal Law Of Property: The Case Of Inheritance Disclaimers And Tenancy By The Entireties, David Gray Carlson

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Irresolute Testators, Clear And Convicing Wills Law, Jane B. Baron Jan 2016

Irresolute Testators, Clear And Convicing Wills Law, Jane B. Baron

Washington and Lee Law Review

Controversial recent wills law reforms, embodied in new provisions of both the Uniform Probate Code and the Restatement of Property, excuse so-called harmless errors in will execution and permit judicial correction of erroneous terms in a will or trust. Both reforms pose evidentiary dangers, as proof of the error must come from outside the attested instrument and will be offered after the testator’s death. To respond to this concern, both the error and the testator’s true intent must be established by “clear and convincing” evidence. This Article is the first to examine how courts have applied the clear and convincing …


Asset Preservation And The Evolving Role Of Trusts In The Twenty-First Century, Jay A. Soled, Mitchell M. Gans Jan 2015

Asset Preservation And The Evolving Role Of Trusts In The Twenty-First Century, Jay A. Soled, Mitchell M. Gans

Washington and Lee Law Review

For the vast majority of the twentieth century, trusts served two pivotal roles. The first was as a vehicle to help mitigate federal and state estate tax burdens, the rates of which could be quite significant. The second was to assist in asset preservation, safeguarding trust beneficiaries from their profligacy, former spouses, creditors, and the like.

At the start of the twenty-first century, Congress passed legislation that curtailed the impact of the federal estate tax, and many state legislatures have followed suit, either eliminating or significantly reducing their estate taxes. As a result of these legislative changes, trust instrument reliance …


Toward A Model Law Of Estates And Future Interests, D. Benjamin Barros Jan 2009

Toward A Model Law Of Estates And Future Interests, D. Benjamin Barros

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Leaving More Than Money: Mediation Clauses In Estate Planning Documents, Lela P. Love, Stewart E. Sterk Mar 2008

Leaving More Than Money: Mediation Clauses In Estate Planning Documents, Lela P. Love, Stewart E. Sterk

Washington and Lee Law Review

When probate disputes arise, an increasing number of courts have been referring those disputes to mediation. Estate planners, however, have been less proactive about drafting wills to include mediation clauses that would anticipate estate disputes and channel them away from litigation. When a will mandates mediation, the will provides a dispute resolution mechanism designed to preserve family harmony, conserve estate assets, and avoid airing the family's "dirty laundry "-objectives common to many testators. Mediation clauses in wills are no panacea. They are of little value to testators who exalt control over estate assets above all other concerns, and they are …


The Future Of Future Interests, T. P. Gallanis Mar 2003

The Future Of Future Interests, T. P. Gallanis

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Life After Death? The Role Of Postmortem Events In Valuing Deductions For Claims Against Estates, Benjamin Clark Brown Mar 2003

Life After Death? The Role Of Postmortem Events In Valuing Deductions For Claims Against Estates, Benjamin Clark Brown

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Bequests For Purposes: A Unified Theory, Adam J. Hirsch Jan 1999

Bequests For Purposes: A Unified Theory, Adam J. Hirsch

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Chasing Down The Devil: Standards Of Prudent Investment Under The Restatement (Third) Of Trusts, W. Brantley Phillips, Jr. Jan 1997

Chasing Down The Devil: Standards Of Prudent Investment Under The Restatement (Third) Of Trusts, W. Brantley Phillips, Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


An Analysis Of The Virginia Wills Act Formalities And The Need For A Dispensing Power Statute In Virginia, Kelly A. Hardin Jun 1993

An Analysis Of The Virginia Wills Act Formalities And The Need For A Dispensing Power Statute In Virginia, Kelly A. Hardin

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Future Of Transfer Taxation: Repeal, Restructuring And Refinement, Or Replacement, John E. Donaldson Mar 1993

The Future Of Transfer Taxation: Repeal, Restructuring And Refinement, Or Replacement, John E. Donaldson

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Fear And Loathing In Perpetuities, John W. Weaver Sep 1991

Fear And Loathing In Perpetuities, John W. Weaver

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Right Of Election Against A Foreign Testator's Will Sep 1986

Right Of Election Against A Foreign Testator's Will

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Constitutionality Of Notice In Virginia Probate And Estate Administration Sep 1985

Constitutionality Of Notice In Virginia Probate And Estate Administration

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Ix. Trusts And Estates Mar 1985

Ix. Trusts And Estates

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Discharges Of Legal Obligations, Section 2036 And Consideration In Estate And Gift Taxation, Joel E. Newman Jan 1978

Discharges Of Legal Obligations, Section 2036 And Consideration In Estate And Gift Taxation, Joel E. Newman

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Estate And Gift Tax Revisions Of The Tax Reform Act Of 1976, Howard Zaritsky Mar 1977

The Estate And Gift Tax Revisions Of The Tax Reform Act Of 1976, Howard Zaritsky

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Five Or Five Power: An Obscure Estate Planning Tool, Edward W. Turley, Jr. Jun 1976

The Five Or Five Power: An Obscure Estate Planning Tool, Edward W. Turley, Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Estate Taxation Of Life Insurance Under §2042: Recent Decisions Defining Incidents Of Ownership Jun 1976

Estate Taxation Of Life Insurance Under §2042: Recent Decisions Defining Incidents Of Ownership

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Ii. Testamentary Transfers Sep 1975

Ii. Testamentary Transfers

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Iii. Annuities Under § 2039 Sep 1975

Iii. Annuities Under § 2039

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Who's Afraid Of Erisa Wolf?: § 405(D) And Other Houses Of Straw For Trustees Under The Employee Retirement Income Security Act Of 1974 Sep 1975

Who's Afraid Of Erisa Wolf?: § 405(D) And Other Houses Of Straw For Trustees Under The Employee Retirement Income Security Act Of 1974

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


V. Life Insurance Proceeds Under § 2042 Sep 1975

V. Life Insurance Proceeds Under § 2042

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


I. Valuation Of Property In The Gross Estate Sep 1975

I. Valuation Of Property In The Gross Estate

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Iv. Powers Of Appointment Under § 2041 Sep 1975

Iv. Powers Of Appointment Under § 2041

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Vi. Deductions Sep 1975

Vi. Deductions

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Viii. Tax Procedure Sep 1975

Viii. Tax Procedure

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Vii. Gift Taxation Sep 1975

Vii. Gift Taxation

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.