Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts
Marvin Claims At Death, Patricia A. Cain
Marvin Claims At Death, Patricia A. Cain
ACTEC Law Journal
In 1976, the California Supreme Court handed down its decision in Marvin v. Marvin, recognizing the enforcement of contract and equitable claims that could be asserted when an unmarried partnership was dissolved. Most states have followed the basic holding in Marvin, although important differences in state law have developed over time. Recently, the Uniform Law Commission has approved a uniform act dealing with these issues, the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act (UCERA). This essay will focus, instead, on claims to Marvin rights that are asserted after the death of one partner, typically in probate court.
Death By Deduction: Section 2058 And The Decline Of State Death Taxes, Jeffrey A. Cooper
Death By Deduction: Section 2058 And The Decline Of State Death Taxes, Jeffrey A. Cooper
ACTEC Law Journal
This article illustrates how, and seeks to explain why, the deduction for state estate taxes (Internal Revenue Code Section 2058) seems to have had no meaningful effect on state tax policy.
Trust Alteration And The Dead Hand Paradox, Jeffrey N. Pennell, Reid Kress Weisbord
Trust Alteration And The Dead Hand Paradox, Jeffrey N. Pennell, Reid Kress Weisbord
ACTEC Law Journal
Trusts are popular instruments for wealth transmission because they can be crafted to suit almost any imaginable estate planning goal that is not contrary to public policy. With the abrogation of the Rule Against Perpetuities in most states, settlors may impose trust terms that will be legally enforceable for scores of future generations, if not in perpetuity. Long-term and perpetual trusts, however, present a paradox of dead hand control, because the specificity and the durability of settlor-imposed restrictions tend to be inversely related. As donative preferences become increasingly specific and restrictive, trusts become less durable with the passage of time, …
Gifts In Contemplation Of Death: Why Can't Section 2035 Simply Die?, Stephanie J. Willbanks
Gifts In Contemplation Of Death: Why Can't Section 2035 Simply Die?, Stephanie J. Willbanks
ACTEC Law Journal
Income and wealth inequality has become a popular topic. There are a myriad of ways to reduce such inequality utilizing the tax system, either the income tax or the transfer taxes. Revitalizing the estate tax by reducing the exemption amount and adjusting the rate structure would reduce inequality. Much has been written about the viability of the estate tax and possible alternatives. This article does not revisit that analysis. Instead, it assumes that the estate tax will remain a viable component of the overall tax system. It analyzes one small segment of the estate tax – §2035 – and argues …
Family Limited Partnerships And Section 2036: Not Such A Good Fit, Mitchell M. Gans, Jonathan G. Blattmachr
Family Limited Partnerships And Section 2036: Not Such A Good Fit, Mitchell M. Gans, Jonathan G. Blattmachr
ACTEC Law Journal
The IRS has struggled to close down abusive family limited partnerships. At first unreceptive to IRS arguments, the courts eventually embraced section 2036 as an estate-tax tool for attacking such partnerships. Because the section was not designed to apply to partnerships, difficulties have arisen as the courts have struggled with the fit. In its most recent encounter, the Tax Court in Powell grappled with a fit-related issue that implicates the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Byrum. The Powell court, it will be argued, misread Byrum, conflating the majority opinion with the dissent – and converting the rule-based approach …
Foreword -- The Supreme Court's Estate Planning Jurisprudence, Bridget J. Crawford
Foreword -- The Supreme Court's Estate Planning Jurisprudence, Bridget J. Crawford
ACTEC Law Journal
This short essay introduces a special issue of the ACTEC Law Journal devoted to the estate planning jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the United States. The issue includes two invited essays on the role of the court in developing the law in this area, as well as commentaries on seventeen of the most important estate planning-related cases decided by the Supreme Court between 1925 and 2013.
I Dig It, But Congress Shouldn't Let Me: Closing The Idgt Loophole, Daniel L. Ricks
I Dig It, But Congress Shouldn't Let Me: Closing The Idgt Loophole, Daniel L. Ricks
ACTEC Law Journal
By combining three tools that independently are beneficial to taxpayers, clever estate planners have devised a transaction - the installment sale of discounted assets to an intentionally defective grantor trust - that saves their ultra-wealthy clients millions of dollars in estate and gift taxes. This transaction, which is a foundational part of many estate plans, takes advantage of rules that Congress never intended to be used in this way. Becasue the Internal Revenue Service has conceded its inability to challenge the transaction based on current law, any solution lies with Congress. This Article proposes an amendment to § 2036 that …