Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Blockchain Wills, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Blockchain technology has the potential to radically alter the way that people have executed wills for centuries. This Article makes two principal claims--one descriptive and the other normative. Descriptively, this Article suggests that traditional wills formalities have been relaxed to the point that they no longer serve the cautionary, protective, evidentiary, and channeling functions that scholars have used to justify strict compliance with wills formalities. Widespread use of digital technology in everyday communications has led to several notable cases in which individuals have attempted to execute wills electronically. These wills have had a mixed reception. Four states currently recognize electronic …

In Re. Estate Of Easterday, Corey Michelle Timpson

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Whether pending divorce has an effect on entitlement to life insurance; and whether ERISA preempts state law specifically relating to enforcement of a contractual waiver in relation to pension benefits.

Empirical Inheritance Law, Alexander Boni-Saenz

All Faculty Scholarship

Empirical legal scholars tell it like it is. The nature of the “it” that we might want to know about varies significantly by legal field, however, and it also differs based on one’s scholarly position within that field. This Comment explores the major ways that empirical legal scholarship can be valuable to those of us working on normative or theoretical legal scholarship in inheritance law.

What Probate Courts Cite: Lessons From The New York County Surrogate’S Court 2017-2018, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

By knowing what a judge cites, one may better understand what the judge believes is important, how the judge understands her work will be used, and how the judge conceives of the judicial role. Empirical scholars have devoted serious attention to the citation practices and patterns of the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals, and multiple state supreme courts. Remarkably little is known about what probate courts cite. This Article makes three principal claims — one empirical, one interpretative, and one normative. This Article demonstrates through data, derived from a study of all decrees …

Parens Patriae And The Disinherited Child, Michael J. Higdon

Washington Law Review

Most countries have safeguards in place to protect children from disinheritance. The United States is not one of them. Since its founding, America has clung tightly to the ideal of testamentary freedom, refusing to erect any barriers to a testator’s ability to disinherit his or her children—regardless of the child’s age or financial needs. Over the years, however, disinheritance has become more common given the evolving American family, specifically the increased incidences of divorce, remarriage, and cohabitation. Critics of the American approach have offered up reforms based largely on the two models currently employed by other countries: (1) the forced …

Sveen V. Melin, Steven J. Reading

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Does the retroactive application of a revocation-on-divorce statute to contracts entered into prior to the enactment of the statute violate the Contracts Clause of the Constitution?

Dieringer V.Comm'r Of Internal Revenue, Christian Ramos

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Whether the Tax Court 1) should have valued the charitable gift at Victoria’s Date of Death, 2) even if post-death events could be considered, the Tax Court erred by not accounting for a decline in value of Victoria’s shares caused by economic forces, and 3) the Tax Court erred by upholding the accuracy-related penalty under I.R.C. § 662.

In Re. Sealed Case, Christian Ramos

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Whether the Tax Court abused its discretion in denying the Appellant’s request to proceed anonymously because he is a serial filer who relies upon public information

N.C. Dep’T Of Revenue V. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, Corey Michelle Timpson

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Whether a State can tax a trust income for the benefit of a North Carolina resident when no income was, or could have been, received by the trust and when no connection to the Trust existed outside of the beneficiary’s residence in North Carolina.

Advanced Health Care Directives In Nebraska: Health Care Power Of Attorney And Living Wills, J. David Aiken

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

During this period of coronavirus pandemic, some Nebraskans may be concerned about how medical decisions will be made for them if they are unable to communicate their wishes to their health care providers themselves. In these circumstances, health care providers will normally consult with the patient’s family members who may be available (spouse, then adult children–consensus, then parents, etc.) If no family members are present, the health care providers will use their best medical judgment in making health care decisions for the patient.

Disclaimer

This information is intended for educational purposes only; it must not be taken as …

Accounting For Ag: Step Up While Passing Down, Austin Duerfeldt

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

Summary

Through this article, I hope you’ve gained a better understanding of the basics of a step up in basis. A step up in basis can be viewed as an opportune time to sell long held farm ground that appreciated in value, with little to no capital gain issues. It plays a vital role in estate planning. In the individual case of each farmer/rancher, how the step up in basis might work for your operation varies on many specific circumstances. Developing an estate planning team that includes professionals such as an attorney and accountant, as well as, investment and insurance …

In Terrorem Clauses: Broad, Narrow, Or Both?, Evan J. Shaheen

Notre Dame Law Review

While the idea of the “carrot and stick” seems simple in theory, in terrorem clauses are governed by state law, with their application varying in large part by jurisdiction. Nevertheless, this Note seeks to identify some of the broad principles on which many in terrorem clauses rely, while also delineating several of the different state law approaches thereto. It does this by describing some of the potential problems with in terrorem clauses and posing potential solutions in the context of a variety of state law jurisprudence.

This Note will first address what will be defined as the “puppet problem.” By …

Fraying The Knot: Marital Property, Probate, And Practical Problems With Tribal Marriage Bans, Suzianne D. Painter-Thorne

Brooklyn Law Review

While marriage equality is thought to be the law of the land, that is not necessarily true for members of nearly a dozen Indian tribes that continue to prohibit same-sex marriage. Whether a tribe permits same-sex marriage rests on the tribes’ inherent authority to govern their own internal affairs. Acting pursuant to that inherent authority, many tribes were leaders on the issue of marriage equality, legalizing same-sex marriage when most states prohibited such marriages. Other tribes, however, like the Navajo Nation, limit marriages to “one man and one woman.” As a consequence, a married Indian couple may have their marriage …

Utilizing Estate Plans To Achieve Economic Justice, Geber Penate

Poverty Law Conference & Symposium

Bayview has been the home to many black families for decades. However, the inability of title-holders to create distribution plans for their estate before their death has contributed to their ultimate displacement. When a title-holder of property dies, their property is required to go through a court system known as probate. The probate court system has various functions ranging from identifying assets, calculating any owed taxes and fees, and distributing property. The only way to avoid probate is through the execution of a probate-avoidance distribution document, which is mentioned in further detail below. The probate court system, to say the …

Assumptions (Mistakes) That Parents Make With Estate Plans, Allan Vyhnalek

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

Excerpt:

The main take-home message should be that the parents: 1) have a plan and continue to revise that plan from time to time and 2) be sure to think through the unintended consequences of your plan. Hopefully, some of the common assumptions mentioned here can be put into place so that the family does stay together for decades to come.

This is not an exhaustive list of assumptions that can go awry. It is being presented as a place for family thought and discussion to start. For more information go to: http://agecon.unl.edu/succession. There are other articles and video …

United States V. Dimartino, Christian Ramos

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Whether the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, abused its discretion in denying DiMartino’s request for a competency hearing and giving no weight to Defendant’s psychologist’s report prepared at counsel’s request.

The Oregon Stewardship Trust: A New Type Of Purpose Trust That Enables Steward-Ownership Of A Business, Susan N. Gary

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Fiduciaries, Natalya Shnitser

University of Cincinnati Law Review

The regulation of employer-sponsored retirement plans in the United States relies on fiduciary standards drawn from donative trust law to regulate the conduct of those with authority or discretion over plan assets. The mismatch between the trust-based fiduciary framework and the rights and interests of employers and employees has contributed to the high cost of pension fund investing and the significant gaps in pension coverage in the private sector. In recent years, state and local governments have stepped in to reduce the retirement coverage gap by creating state-facilitated retirement savings programs for private-sector workers who lack access to employment-based coverage. …

Fraying The Knot: Marital Property, Probate, And Practical Problems With Tribal Bans, Suzianne D. Painter-Thorne

Articles

In the summer of 2015, marriage equality advocates celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state prohibitions on same-sex marriage.The Court found that “[t]he right of same-sex couples to marry . . . is part of the liberty promised by the Fourteenth Amendment.” Two years earlier, the Court had struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), finding that the federal government could not discriminate against same-sex married partners. With these two decisions, the Court ensured that the marriages of same-sex couples would be recognized by the federal government and in …

Salce V. Cardell, Corey Michelle Timpson

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Whether either party violated the in terrorem clause as stated in both the trust and last will and testament.