Law Commons^™

Intellectual Heirs Property: Why Certain Musical Copyrights Should Be Included In The Heirs Property Reform Movement, Austin Weatherly

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The modern heirs property reform movement seeks to ameliorate the issues caused by the procedures governing the inheritance of real property from landowners who die intestate. This procedure can have a negative impact on heirs and the value of their inherited property. The reform movement, as it stands, only seeks to resolve the issues created by these procedures in the real property context. The rhetorical basis for the modern heirs property reform movement largely focuses on closing the racial wealth gap in the United States and slowing the wealth bleed from one black generation to the next. Many of the …

Planned Parenthood: Adult Adoption And The Right Of Adoptees To Inherit, Richard C. Ausness

ACTEC Law Journal

This Article is concerned with the effect of adult adoptions on the inheritance rights (in the broad sense of that term) of adult adoptees. The Article contends many adult adoption statutes assume the existence of a parent-child relationship in which the adopter is the "parent" and the adoptee is a "child" even though this is not true of all adult adoption cases. In addition, legislatures and courts frequently fail to differentiate between "quasi-familial" adoptions and "strategic" adoptions, particularly where inheritance rights are concerned.

Protecting Freedom Of Testation: A Proposal For Law Reform, Eike G. Hosemann

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article addresses a problem ever more pressing in wealthy and aging societies like the United States: interference with freedom of testation by the use of wrongful means such as undue influence or will forgery to acquire benefits through inheritance. A detailed analysis of the remedies against interference with freedom of testation under inheritance law, tort law, and equity reveals that there is currently a significant under-deterrence of this undesirable behavior. Hence, this Article proposes a new remedy in order to protect freedom of testation more effectively: a disinheritance statute barring wrongdoers that have infringed upon someone’s freedom of testation …

Incomplete Wills, Adam J. Hirsch

Michigan Law Review

This Article explores the problems that arise when a will fails to dispose of an individual's entire estate, so that she dies partially testate and partially intestate. The questions then raised include (1) whether provisions contained in the will purporting to redefine the individual's intestate heirs should supersede the statutory designations of those heirs, (2) whether inter vivos gifts to heirs should qualify as advancements on the inheritances of those heirs under conditions of partial intestacy, and, most broadly, (3) whether courts should fill in the incomplete portion of an individual's estate plan by extrapolating from the distributive preferences set …

The Uniform Probate Code Upends The Law Of Remainders, Jesse Dukeminier

Michigan Law Review

Nothing is more settled in the law of remainders than that an indefeasibly vested remainder is transmissible to the remainderman's heirs or devisees upon the remainderman's death. Thus, where a grantor conveys property "to A for life, then to B and her heirs," B's remainder passes to B's heirs or devisees if B dies during the life of A. Inheritability of vested remainders was recognized in the time of Edward I, and devisability was recognized with the Statute of Wills in 1540.

Property Rights Of Unmarried Cohabitants In New York: Proposal For Legislative Action Towards A More Equitable Future, Helene Kulczycki

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Twentieth-Century Revolution In Family Wealth Transmission, John H. Langbein

Michigan Law Review

The main purpose of this article is to sound a pair of themes about the ways in which these great changes in the nature of wealth have become associated with changes of perhaps comparable magnitude in the timing and in the character of family wealth transmission. My first theme, developed in Part II, concerns human capital. Whereas of old, wealth transmission from parents to children tended to center upon major items of patrimony such as the family farm or the family firm, today for the broad middle classes, wealth transmission centers on a radically different kind of asset: the investment …

Inheritance, Wealth, And Society, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Inheritance, Wealth, and Society by Ronald Chester

Giving Or Leaving--What Is A Will?, Olin L. Browder

Michigan Law Review

The question raised by the title of this essay should be essentially as simple as that: Do you want to give property, so that, having given it, it is no longer yours, or do you want to leave it behind at your death, directing who will receive it at that time? The statement of that issue suggests obvious differences in the consequences of inter vivos and testamentary dispositions. Most people also understand that a testamentary disposition invokes the elaborate machinery involved in the administration of a testator's estate, which confers special rights in the creditors and the spouse of the …

Trusts And The Doctrine Of Estates, Olin L. Browder Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The "doctrine of estates" is the common law system for the classification of divided ownership. Its primary purpose is to differentiate the legal consequences of the variety of concurrent, present, and future estates, but it also serves to differentiate the dispositive language required to create or transfer such estates. The doctrine of estates, therefore, embraces a sizable part of the law of conveyancing, including the large body of doctrine known as rules of construction.

In modern practice the classification and construction of present and future interests usually occurs with respect to beneficial interests in trust. It has not been sufficiently …

Effect Of Subsequently Probated Will Upon Bona Fide Purchaser From The Heirs - Matthews V. Fuller, Saul J. Mcgrane

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protection Against Doubtful Claims During Probate

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Real Property-Tenancy By Entireties-Creation By Deed From Husband To Husband And Wife, Richard P. Matsch S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

H owned real estate in fee simple. His wife, W, joined with him in a warranty deed conveying the land to themselves with the expressed intention of creating a tenancy by entireties. H died and his heirs challenged W's right to take the fee by survivorship. The trial court held that a tenancy by entireties had been created and the wife properly took the fee. On appeal, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. An Arkansas statute providing that a married man may convey "the interest specified in the deed" directly to his wife permits a husband, already owner …

Future Interests - Statute Abolishing The Rule In Shelley's Case Applied To The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff set up an irrevocable trust of $75,000 to pay the income to himself for life, and upon his death to distribute the remainder of the trust to his heirs at law according to the laws of succession of the State of California in existence at his death. He later brought suit to terminate the trust on the theory that the worthier title doctrine prevented the creation of a remainder in his heirs at law, and that as sole beneficiary of the trust, he was entitled to termination. Held, the worthier title doctrine was inapplicable because of a statute …

Construction Of Private Instruments Where Adopted Children Are Concerned: Ii, J. Wesley Oler

Michigan Law Review

Thus far in the discussion the attempt has been to consider a number of common terms of general designation, such as "children," "issue," and "heirs," detached from other language with which they may be found and disassociated from the circumstances under which they may be used, with a view to estimating their intrinsic significance in resolving questions as to the effect of adoption upon the identification of persons designated by them. The examination from this point: of view could lead to the deduction that in themselves the particular terms of designation furnished varying degrees of assistance to the interpreter of …

Construction Of Private Instrument's Where Adopted Children Are Concerned: I, J. Wesley Oler

Michigan Law Review

The institution of adoption is of ancient tradition, knowing primitive origin and tracing its history through many civilizations. Today its universality still bespeaks the human needs from which it springs.

Recent growth of statutory reforms, procedural and substantive, in our adoption system reflects the increasing social interest of the state in this field. Procedurally, extensive strides have been made to safeguard those directly concerned in adoption, and through them to protect the public in general. Substantively the lagging but nonetheless noticeable trend is toward complete legal equivalence between relationship by adoption and relationship by blood. At present, however, such equivalence …

The Organization Of The Probate Court In America: Ii, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of the discussion which follows to consider how far the court organization in typical jurisdictions is adapted to a differentiation between contentious and noncontentious business. The sharp differentiation in English law will first be pointed out. Then the probate judicial organizations of various typical states will be considered in connection with the questions: How far have they retained the distinction between contentious and noncontentious business emphasized in the English system which served as their model? How far have they developed a basis of differentiation unlike the English model? The answer to these questions will involve some …

Trusts - What Constitutes Revocation When No Method Specified, Dickson M. Saunders

Michigan Law Review

By trust deed of 1927, settlor conveyed two mortgages {the first for $5,200, and the second for $1,000, both given by Harry E. Hough and wife) to trustees, in trust for herself for life, and providing for certain disposition upon her death. The trust deed was revocable with reserved power in the settlor to convey, release or otherwise dispose of the property. In 1928 the settlor released both mortgages but took in lieu thereof one mortgage for $6,200 from the same mortgagors on the same property. This substitution was effected to accommodate the mortgagors and no money changed hands. The …

Wills - Construction Of Technical Terms, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix' will executed in 1916 provided, inter alia, "In case of the death of any of the above named children, I give . . . his share to his heirs." A son of testatrix died in 1929, survived only by his widow, complainant here, and his mother. In March 1938, the New York Decedent Estate Law was amended to provide that the word "heirs" when used in a statute, will or in any other written instrument prescribing the devolution of property rights, without express or implied declaration to the contrary, should be construed to mean the distributees, including a surviving …

Joint Tenancy - Right To Transfer By One Party - Right Of Survivorship, John H. Pickering

Michigan Law Review

In two recent cases the Supreme Court of Michigan has had occasion to pass upon the doctrine of survivorship in joint tenancies. In one case the deed ran to father and son as joint tenants and contained a covenant that neither would sell without the written consent of the other. The father conveyed his interest without the son's consent and died. The court held that the deed created a joint tenancy, that since the restrictive covenant was void as a restraint on alienation and repugnant to the grant, the joint tenancy was severed by the father's conveyance, and therefore the …

Appeal And Error - The Administrator As A Party Aggrieved By Probate Of Will, John H. Uhl

Michigan Law Review

In an action to prove the existence of a lost will executed by the deceased, judgment was rendered setting up the lost will and revoking the letters of administration which had been issued. The administrator appealed from this order, and the appellee moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the administrator had no such interest as entitled him to review. The governing statute permitted appeal by "any party aggrieved by any final order, judgment, or decree." Held, that the administrator who has qualified as such was entitled to appeal under the statute, as the party aggrieved by …

Taxation - Income Tax - Settlement Of Will Contest As Taxable, Anthony L. Dividio

Michigan Law Review

Taxpayer commenced suit to contest the probate of his grandmother's will, by which she had made nominal bequests to her grandchildren, and had created a charitable trust with the large residue. The parties agreed upon a settlement, as a result of which taxpayer received $141,404.03, all of which the tax commissioner claimed was taxable income. Held, the amount received by taxpayer came to him because he was an heir and did not constitute taxable income. Lyeth v. Hoey, (U. S. 1938) 6 U. S. Law Week 421 (Dec. 6, 1938).

Parent And Child - Effect Of Adoption On Legal Status Of Child, Marcus L. Plant

Michigan Law Review

In 1933 the appellants adopted the child of the appellees, and the decree declaring them to be the adoptive parents concluded with the words, "With leave to parents to occasionally see the child." The natural parents, who were living apart, filed several petitions in the court to see the child at stated intervals. These petitions were granted. The adoptive parents, in 1936, filed a petition alleging that the repeated visits of the natural father and mother were prejudicially affecting the child's nervous condition, and impairing his health, and praying that the provision under the decree be altered. Upon submission of …

Adoption--Effect Of Informal Adoption In Equity, Charles W. Caldwell

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Future Interests-Rule In Shelley's Case

Michigan Law Review

In a recent North Carolina case a trustee under a deed of trust brought suit for specific performance against defendant who was the highest bidder, subject to approval of title, at a public sale of the property. Defendant contended that the trustee could not convey a title in fee since the deed to his grantor was "to R. W. for life with remainder to his bodily heirs by ------ if any," otherwise to another. Held, that defendant must perform his contract since the deed in question gave R. W. a contingent fee tail under the rule in Shelley's case, …

Transfer Of Future Interests, W. Lewis Roberts

Michigan Law Review

In considering to what extent future interests are transferable in this country it is proposed to limit the investigation to those future interests known as contingent remainders, executory devises, and defeasible vested remainders. It has not been deemed necessary to consider vested remainders as they have long been treated by the law in much the same way as present estates have been as far as alienation is concerned.

Equity - Power To Rescind Conveyance For Fraud - Survival

Michigan Law Review

When a party has been induced by fraud to make a conveyance of real estate, he has a choice of remedies against the defrauding grantee. He may seek restitution of the land or its proceeds in equity or at law on a theory of rescission, or he may affirm the transaction and bring an action for the recovery of damages for the deceit. The actions being logically inconsistent, the granter is not allowed to proceed in both, and must elect whether he will have his property returned to him in specie on his restitution of the price received from the …

Torts - Fraud - Spoliation Of Will

Michigan Law Review

In a suit in tort for damages, plaintiff alleged that defendant, heir-at-law of the decedent, suppressed a genuine will under which the plaintiff was devisee, and forged and fraudulently probated a will which did not contain the devise to the plaintiff who remained in ignorance of both the fraud and the existence of the genuine will for more than twenty years. The defendant demurred. Held, that the plaintiff has a cause of action in tort. Morton v. Pettit, 38 Ohio App. 348, 176 N.E. 494 (1930), aff'd., (Ohio 1931) 177 N.E. 591.

Parent And Child-Legitimation-Statutory Construction

Michigan Law Review

J W, a resident of Oklahoma, died leaving an estate consisting of property entirely within that state. Plaintiff, an illegitimate child of J W, claimed as heir. Plaintiff was born in Kansas where both her parents were then domiciled. J W while still a resident of Kansas recognized plaintiff as his daughter. Plaintiff claimed that by virtue of this recognition and a Kansas statute allowing illegitimates to inherit from the father whenever he had recognized them as his children, that she had been legitimated in Kansas and was therefore entitled to a share of J W's estate. Held, that …

Implication Of Life Estates, Distributive Construction And Disposition Of Intermediate Income, Albert M. Kales

Michigan Law Review

The Problems Stated. Suppose a testator makes a devise or bequest to take effect after the death of A, without however expressly giving any interest to A. Does A take a life estate by implication? If not, what happens to the income or the rents and profits? Suppose a testator devise Blackacre to A for life and after the death of A said Blackacre together with other property is devised to B. Here three questions at once arise. Does A take a life estate by implication in the property other than Blackacre? If not, then are the words "after the …