Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Libraries, Authors, And Literary Estates: The Complex Case Of Rosenbach V. Sendak (2016), Patrick Roughen

Charleston Library Conference

This research examines a lawsuit filed by the Rosenbach Museum and Library of Philadelphia in 2016 against the Estate of Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) to determine the distribution of some of Sendak’s collection of rare books. In the lawsuit, the Rosenbach claimed the executors of the Sendak estate had withheld a portion of the rare books to which it was entitled under Sendak’s will. This paper suggests possible ways in which institutions such as libraries, archives, and museums might anticipate and address some of the ownership-related problems that arise during the acquisition and/or loss of collections of an artist or author …

Honoring Probable Intent In Intestacy: An Empirical Assessment Of The Default Rules And The Modern Family, Danaya C. Wright, Beth Sterner

Danaya C. Wright

This article provides preliminary analysis of an empirical study of nearly 500 wills probated in Alachua and Escambia Counties in the State of Florida in 2013. The particular focus of the study is to determine if there are noticeable patterns of property distribution preferences among decedents based on their diverse family relationships. Earlier empirical studies of distribution preferences indicated that a majority of married decedents wanted to give all or most of their estates to their surviving spouses. As a result of these studies, most states amended their probate codes to give surviving spouses a sizable percentage of a decedent …

Inheritance Equity: Reforming The Inheritance Penalties Facing Children In Non-Traditional Families, Danaya C. Wright

Danaya C. Wright

This Article examines how more than 50% of children living today may be disadvantaged by 1950s era inheritance laws that privilege and protect only those children living in nuclear families with their biological parents. Because so many children today are living in blended families — single-parent families, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) families, or are living with relatives — their right to inherit from the persons who function as their parents are severely limited by most state probate codes, even though they would likely be entitled to child support under the parent-child definitions of most of those states' …

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

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 …

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes: A Tale Of Two Testaments, Stephen R. Alton

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Can The Apple Teach The Orange? Lessons U.S. Land Trusts Can Learn From The National Trust In The U.K., Jessica Owley, Lauren Gwin, Sally K. Fairfax

Articles

The National Trust in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland is one of the oldest and most revered private land conservation organizations in the world. While the private land conservation movements in the United States and the United Kingdom began at a similar time and with similar tools, conservation attitudes and methods in the two countries diverged. Today, the National Trust dominates land conservation in the U.K. while the strength of the U.S. movement is the energy of over 1,500 smaller organizations operating at different scales across the country. Despite the differences, this project looks to the National Trust in England …

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes: A Tale Of Two Testaments, Stephen R. Alton

Faculty Scholarship

Author's Note: This Article takes the form of an epistolary exchange across the centuries, comparing and contrasting two noted wills in Victorian literature. To preserve verisimilitude, the author lets these letters and emails speak for themselves, without any formal introduction, just as would have occurred in Victorian epistolary fiction. It is the author's hope that the relevant testaments and the legal issues they present will make themselves clear as these exchanges proceed. Any reader desiring a more formal introduction to this Article is directed to the first email (below) written by the author to Mr. Utterson and Mr. Holmes; this …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Method In Fiduciary Law's Mixed Messages, Evan J. Criddle

Evan J. Criddle

No abstract provided.

Liberty In Loyalty: A Republican Theory Of Fiduciary Law, Evan J. Criddle

Evan J. Criddle

Conventional wisdom holds that the fiduciary duty of loyalty is a prophylactic rule that serves to deter and redress harmful opportunism. This idea can be traced back to the dawn of modern fiduciary law in England and the United States, and it has inspired generations of legal scholars to attempt to explain and justify the duty of loyalty from an economic perspective. Nonetheless, this Article argues that the conventional account of fiduciary loyalty should be abandoned because it does not adequately explain or justify fiduciary law’s core features.

The normative foundations of fiduciary loyalty come into sharper focus when viewed …

Virginia Survey Of Law: Property Section; Trusts And Estates Section, Lynda L. Butler

Lynda L. Butler

No abstract provided.

Bank Liability For Fiduciary Fraud, Marion W. Benfield Jr., Peter A. Alces

Peter A. Alces

No abstract provided.

Your Money Or Your Wife's?: Social Security Changes Considered, Neal Devins

Neal E. Devins

No abstract provided.

Of Piketty And Perpetuities: Dynastic Wealth In The Twenty-First Century (And Beyond), Eric Kades

Eric A. Kades

For the first time since independence, in a nation founded in large part on the rejection of a fixed nobility determined by birth and perpetuated by inheritance, America is paving the way for the creation of dynastic family wealth. Abolition of the Rule Against Perpetuities in over half the states along with sharp reductions in, and likely elimination of, the federal estate tax mean that there soon will be no obstacles to creating large pools of dynastic wealth insuring lavish incomes to heirs for generations without end. The timing of these legal changes could hardly be worse. Marshaling innovative economic …

Purpose Trusts As A Planning Tool For The 21st Century, Thomas E. Simmons, Brad Myers

Thomas E. Simmons

No abstract provided.

In Re Fund For Encouragement Of Self Rel., 135 Nev. Adv. Op. 10 (Apr. 25, 2019), Skylar Arakawa-Pamphilon

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

NRS § 163.556 does not permit a court to disregard trustees' objections and appoint half of a wholly charitable trust’s assets to a new trust when, pursuant to the trust instrument’s terms, all trustees must consent before distributing half of the trust’s assets.

Proposed New York Trust Code, Surrogate’S Court Advisory Committee To The Chief Administrative Judge Of The Courts Of The State Of New York

Other Scholarship

Text of a proposed New York Trust Code to be submitted to the New York Legislature.

Welcoming E-Wills Into The Mainstream: The Digital Communication Of Testamentary Intent, Paige Hall

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Alternative Dispute Resolution And The Uniform Trust Code -- Colorado's Approach, Darla L. Daniel

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.