Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts
Transfer On Death Deeds: It Is Time To Establish The Rules Of The Game, Stephanie Emrick
Transfer On Death Deeds: It Is Time To Establish The Rules Of The Game, Stephanie Emrick
Florida Law Review
A transfer on death deed is a form of deed that allows real property assets to pass at death outside of the probate process. Through the twentieth century, there has been a movement in the world of property law—dubbed “the nonprobate revolution”—that focuses on using will substitutes to transfer personal property assets at death without the typical probate process. This is important because the probate process can be quite lengthy and expensive. Until recently, the nonprobate option was not readily available where real property assets were a part of the estate. The transfer on death deed essentially evolved from the …
Congress And Commercial Trusts: Dealing With Diversity Jurisdiction Post-Americold, S.I. Strong
Congress And Commercial Trusts: Dealing With Diversity Jurisdiction Post-Americold, S.I. Strong
Florida Law Review
Commercial trusts are one of the United States’ most important types of business organizations, holding trillions of dollars of assets and operating nationally and internationally as a “mirror image” of the corporation. However, commercial trusts remain underappreciated and undertheorized in comparison to corporations, often as a result of the popular but mistaken belief that commercial trusts are analogous to traditional intergenerational trusts or that corporations reflect the primary or paradigmatic form of business association. The treatment of commercial trusts reached its nadir in early 2016, when the U.S. Supreme Court held in Americold Realty Trust v. ConAgra Foods, Inc. that …
The Stranger-To-The-Marriage Doctrine: Judicial Construction Issues Post-Obergefell, Lee-Ford Tritt
The Stranger-To-The-Marriage Doctrine: Judicial Construction Issues Post-Obergefell, Lee-Ford Tritt
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article tracks the evolution of inheritance law for adopted children and suggests that courts use construction approaches that worked in the context of a new understanding of the parent-child relationship as a guide to construing wills in the context of changing social and legal definitions of the martial relationship. In this regard, Part II offers a brief overview of pertinent construction doctrines. Next, Part III summarizes the history of inheritance law for adopted children. Finally, Part IV draws an analogy between the stranger-to-the-adoption doctrine and an approach to inheritance law for same-sex spouses that this Essay calls the "stranger-to-the-marriage" …
Disrupting The Wealth Gap Cycles: An Empirical Study Of Testacy And Wealth, Danaya C. Wright
Disrupting The Wealth Gap Cycles: An Empirical Study Of Testacy And Wealth, Danaya C. Wright
UF Law Faculty Publications
In an empirical study of all decedents dying in 2013 in Alachua County, Florida whose estates were probated, either testate or intestate, the data show striking correlations between intestacy and lower wealth, and testacy and greater wealth. And the demographics of those who died intestate correspond to the demographics of those people at risk of falling into the cycle of wealth-dissipation. To explore the possible effects of intestacy and testacy on wealth and property succession, I analyzed 408 estates (293 testate and 115 intestate) across a variety of categories, including wealth, age, race, sex, and marital status. All of these …
Tearing Down The Wall: How Transfer-On-Death Real-Estate Deeds Challenge The Inter Vivos/Testamentary Divide, Danaya C. Wright, Stephanie Emrick
Tearing Down The Wall: How Transfer-On-Death Real-Estate Deeds Challenge The Inter Vivos/Testamentary Divide, Danaya C. Wright, Stephanie Emrick
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article will examine one of the most recent will substitutes, the transfer-on-death (“TOD”) real-estate deed. Nearly half of the states have recognized, through common-law forms or legislation, a mechanism to allow for the transfer of real property on death without using a will, without following the will formalities, and without necessitating probate. This new tool in the estate planner’s toolbox is invaluable: revocable trusts have proven too expensive for decedents of modest means, and wills continue to require formalities that can easily frustrate non-lawyer-drafted estate documents. But the variety of TOD deed rules and mechanisms that the different states …