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Property Law and Real Estate

University of Michigan Law School

Wills

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Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts

Divorcees Turn About In Their Graves As Ex-Spouses Cash In: Codified Constructive Trusts Ensure An Equitable Result Regarding Erisa-Governed Employee Benefit Plans, Sarabeth A. Rayho Jan 2007

Divorcees Turn About In Their Graves As Ex-Spouses Cash In: Codified Constructive Trusts Ensure An Equitable Result Regarding Erisa-Governed Employee Benefit Plans, Sarabeth A. Rayho

Michigan Law Review

A revocation-by-divorce statute essentially nullifies a devise in a divorced decedent's will when the devise bequeaths property to the decedent's ex-spouse and the will was executed during their marriage. Until recently, state revocation-by-divorce statutes unquestionably applied not only to wills but also to will substitutes, including ERISA-governed employee benefit plans. In 2001, the Supreme Court held in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff ex rel. Breiner that ERISA preempts traditional state revocation-by-divorce statutes as applied to ERISA-governed employee benefit plans. In the wake of the Egelhoff decision, plan administrators may automatically pay proceeds to the listed beneficiary, even an ex-spouse, regardless of the …


The Conflict Of Laws: A Comparative Study. Volume Four Property: Bills And Notes: Inheritance: Trusts: Application Of Foreign Law: Lntertemporal Relations, Ernst Rabel Jan 1958

The Conflict Of Laws: A Comparative Study. Volume Four Property: Bills And Notes: Inheritance: Trusts: Application Of Foreign Law: Lntertemporal Relations, Ernst Rabel

Michigan Legal Studies Series

With this fourth and final volume, the monumental survey of existing systems of conflicts law, initiated by the late Ernst Rabel in 1939 under the auspices of the American Law Institute but conducted after 1942 through the generous sponsorship of the University of Michigan Law School, is completed. It is most fortunate that, despite the fact that the present volume was prepared in various institutions during the years immediately preceding the author's death on September 7, 1955, he not only finished but also revised the proofs of the text; the various tables were later compiled at Ann Arbor.


The Wills Branch Of The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris Feb 1956

The Wills Branch Of The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to examine the history and origin of the wills branch of the worthier title doctrine, to ascertain the extent of its application and the manner of its application, to determine the legal consequences flowing therefrom, and to consider the desirability of its continued existence.


Soviet Law Of Inheritance: Ii, Vladimir Gsovski Jan 1947

Soviet Law Of Inheritance: Ii, Vladimir Gsovski

Michigan Law Review

Wills. Neither the Civil Code nor any other statute sets forth any specific requirements for capacity to make a will. Therefore, the soviet jurists deem any person who is generally competent to enter into legal transactions (Civil Code, Section 8) capable of making a will. Thus, minors under the age of eighteen years and persons adjudged unable to manage their affairs because of mental disease or weak-mindedness do not have testamentary capacity. Likewise, a will executed by a testator while "in a state of mind which precluded his understanding the significance of his acts," has no validity (id., Section 3r).


Problems In Probate Law: Including A Model Probate Code, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye Jan 1946

Problems In Probate Law: Including A Model Probate Code, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The publication of the Model Probate Code, together with related monographs and appendix notes, serves a dual purpose. It is the report of a committee of the Probate Division of the American Bar Association. It is also the product of a research project carried on by the University of Michigan Law School. Mr. R. G. Patton, in his "Presentation of the Report of the Committee on Model Probate Code," printed elsewhere in this volume, has provided an appropriate preface for this publication in its first aspect.


The Development Of The Massachusetts Probate System, Thomas E. Atkinson Dec 1943

The Development Of The Massachusetts Probate System, Thomas E. Atkinson

Michigan Law Review

American lawyers and laymen alike take for granted a system of probate of wills and administration of decedents' estates under the supervision of a single tribunal usually called a probate court. We are familiar with the setting up of the will, appointment of the personal representative, filing of bond and inventory by the latter, granting of allowances for support of the family, notice to creditors to present their claims, and settlement of accounts of the administration, all accomplished by this court's orders or under its scrutiny. While real property is deemed to pass directly to the heirs or devisees, it …


The Disposition To Be Made Of Property The Subject Of A Power If The Power Is Not Exercised, John R. Rood Mar 1917

The Disposition To Be Made Of Property The Subject Of A Power If The Power Is Not Exercised, John R. Rood

Articles

The object sought in this article is to collect and classify the cases in which the courts have passed on the question as to what shall be done with property over which a power of appointment has been given; when it finally turns out for some reason that the power has not been exercised. It is not the object to establish any particular thesis, but rather to ascertain how the adjudicated cases stand.