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Estates and Trusts Commons

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Cleveland State University

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Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts

"I'M Not Quite Dead Yet!": Rethinking The Anti-Lapse Redistribution Of A Dead Beneficiary's Gift, Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod Jan 2013

"I'M Not Quite Dead Yet!": Rethinking The Anti-Lapse Redistribution Of A Dead Beneficiary's Gift, Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod

Cleveland State Law Review

A persistent challenge in law is how to achieve the necessary balance between individual decision-making and societal goals. This struggle of autonomy versus societal goals manifests itself in the context of anti-lapse law for wills and trusts. This article highlights how the current rules of construction regarding anti-lapse statutes fail both the goal of implementing intent and ensuring societal goals. An examination of the current statutes demonstrates that they are flawed, controversial, and, at times, result in inconsistent application. The current statutory scheme leads to unanswered questions: Should statutes presuppose distributions when an instrument does not explicitly address the specific …


The Cy Pres Doctrine In The United States: From Extreme Reluctance To Affirmative Action, Frances Howell Rudko Jan 1998

The Cy Pres Doctrine In The United States: From Extreme Reluctance To Affirmative Action, Frances Howell Rudko

Cleveland State Law Review

Perhaps no legal principle illustrates the use of Fourteenth Amendment equal protection jurisprudence more poignantly than the relatively obscure cy pres doctrine. The ancient doctrine which allowed both courts and the Crown in England to change trust purposes when the original trust purposes proved no longer viable was adopted belatedly, sporadically and partially by jurisdictions in the United States. In Part I, the author illustrates how the United States jurisdictions differ from England in the requirement for charitable intent. Earlier cases reveal the United States, unlike England, has resisted relaxation of the requirement. In Part II, the author uses the …