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Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts
Equitable Relief For Erisa Benefit Plan Designation Mistakes, Raymond C. O'Brien
Equitable Relief For Erisa Benefit Plan Designation Mistakes, Raymond C. O'Brien
Scholarly Articles
Since its enactment in 1974, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and related insurance and disability programs provided retirement security for employees and employers, amassing more than $9 trillion in protected assets. Congress preempted conflicting state laws so as to promote certainty of distribution and ease of administration, two hallmarks of ERISA-governed plans. Nonetheless, since 1974, American society embraced spousal equality, an increased number of marriages end in divorce, and wealth most often passes through nonprobate transfers such as insurance contracts and pension policy plans. To accommodate these societal and wealth changes, states enacted statutes to provide elective share …
Integrating Marital Property Into A Spouse’S Elective Share, Raymond C. O'Brien
Integrating Marital Property Into A Spouse’S Elective Share, Raymond C. O'Brien
Scholarly Articles
First, this Article begins with history, as this forms the basis of electiveshare law. It is necessary to begin with the historical basis of a spouse's right to support, and then proceed to examine how and why a spouse obtained a share of the property acquired during marriage. Second, because a spouse's rights at death were often very different from those that a spouse would obtain at divorce, it is necessary to explain the various judicial and statutory models adopted by the states to provide a modicum of protection to a surviving spouse at death. There are many models and …