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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Law
Letters Non-Testamentary, Deborah Gordon
Letters Non-Testamentary, Deborah Gordon
Deborah S Gordon
Letters written in anticipation of death, so-called “last letters,” appear frequently in American case law, especially when inheritance is at issue. One common appearance is when such letters are offered to serve as wills for decedents who leave no other written indication of testamentary intent. Even where a properly attested will exists, though, many courts have construed letters as codicils – addenda – to the more traditional instruments, though such letters sometimes contradict or substantially alter the original wills. Courts also use letters as tools for interpreting ambiguous documents and as mechanisms for determining whether a formal property arrangement, a …
The Probate Definition Of Family: A Proposal For Guided Discretion In Intestacy, Susan N. Gary
The Probate Definition Of Family: A Proposal For Guided Discretion In Intestacy, Susan N. Gary
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Intestacy statutes may not match the wishes of many people who die intestate. Changes to the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) include or exclude potential takers, as the drafters attempt to bring the UPC provisions closer to the intent of more intestate decedents. As the UPC tries to fine-tune the intestacy statutes, however, family circumstances continue to get more and more complicated. Families headed by unmarried couples, blended families with children from multiple marriages, and families in which adults raise children who are not legally theirs, have become commonplace. For some decedents, non-family friends and caregivers may be more important than …
It Is Logic Rather Than Whom You Trust: A Rejoinder To Prof. Cohen, Douglas A. Kahn
It Is Logic Rather Than Whom You Trust: A Rejoinder To Prof. Cohen, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
This article is the continuation of an exchange that has taken place between Prof. Stephen B. Cohen and me concerning the validity of criticisms leveled by Chief Justice John Roberts on an opinion by then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor writing for the Second Circuit in the case of William L. Rudkin Testamentary Trust v. Commissioner. While affirming the Second Circuit’s decision, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a unanimous Supreme Court, criticized and rejected Justice Sotomayor’s construction of the relevant statutory provision. In an article in the August 3, 2009, issue of Tax Notes, Cohen defended Justice Sotomayor’s construction of the statute and …
Rudkin Testamentary Trust -- A Response To Prof. Cohen, Douglas A. Kahn
Rudkin Testamentary Trust -- A Response To Prof. Cohen, Douglas A. Kahn
Articles
In the August 3 issue of Tax Notes, Prof. Stephen Cohen wrote an article about Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions in three tax cases. Of those three cases, only the opinion she wrote in William L. Rudkin Testamentary Trust v. Commissioner, 467 F.3d 149 (2d Cir. 2006), Doc 2006- 21522, 2006 TNT 203-4, is worthy of comment. Although the Second Circuit’s decision in that case was affirmed by the Supreme Court under the name Knight v. Commissioner, the construction of the critical statutory language that Justice Sotomayor adopted was rejected and criticized by Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a unanimous court. …
The Emergence Of A General Reformation Doctrine For Wills, Lawrence W. Waggoner, John H. Langbein
The Emergence Of A General Reformation Doctrine For Wills, Lawrence W. Waggoner, John H. Langbein
Articles
In this article, which both summarizes and updates an extensively footnoted article published last year ("Reformation of Wills on the Ground of Mistake: Change of Direction in American Law?" 130 University of Pennsylvania Law Rmiew 521 (1982)), we report on this new case law and discuss the analytic framework that we think it suggests and requires.
Reformation Of Wills On The Ground Of Mistake: Change Of Direction In American Law?, John H. Langbein, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Reformation Of Wills On The Ground Of Mistake: Change Of Direction In American Law?, John H. Langbein, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
Although it has been "axiomatic" that our courts do not entertain suits to reform wills on the ground of mistake, appellate courts in California, New Jersey, and New York have decided cases within the last five years that may presage the abandonment of the ancient "no-reformation" rule. The new cases do not purport to make this fundamental doctrinal change, although the California Court of Appeal in Estate of Taff and the New Jersey Supreme Court in Engle v. Siegel did expressly disclaim a related rule, sometimes called the "plain meaning" rule. That rule, which hereafter we will call the "no-extrinsic-evidence …
Creation Of Joint Rights Between Husband And Wife In Personal Property: Ii, R. Bruce Townsend
Creation Of Joint Rights Between Husband And Wife In Personal Property: Ii, R. Bruce Townsend
Michigan Law Review
The net effect of the general legislation pertaining to the creation of joint tenancy has been to make lawyers sensitive to language expressing an intent to create joint tenancy, tenancy by the entireties and other types of survivorship rights which may or may not fall within the foregoing concepts. And so the law has busied itself with the task of giving technical meanings to words used by members of the public in their efforts to create joint rights in property-a task that has not been fully appreciated by people who acquire personal property from bankers, brokers, clerks and the like …
Future Interests-Powers Of Appointment-Exclusive And Nonexclusive Powers And The Doctrine Of Illusory Appointments, John Houck S.Ed
Future Interests-Powers Of Appointment-Exclusive And Nonexclusive Powers And The Doctrine Of Illusory Appointments, John Houck S.Ed
Michigan Law Review
Testatrix, after making certain specific bequests, devised the residue of her estate to her son George for life. The will stated that upon the death of George, the property should pass to his widow and descendants, "provided, however, that [George] may devise his interest to his widow, his descendants or my descendants." The will further provided that if George should die leaving no widow or descendants, and without having made a testamentary disposition, the property was to pass one-half to George's brother and his descendants, and one-half to a sister. George died without having married and left a will which …
Trusts And Estates - Relationship By Affinity-Meaning Of The Word "Stepchild" In A Tax Statute, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed.
Trusts And Estates - Relationship By Affinity-Meaning Of The Word "Stepchild" In A Tax Statute, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
A widower with two children married Sarah Bordeaux and predeceased her. A child of the marriage died in infancy. The two children were raised by Sarah as if she had been their natural mother. A strong filial relationship developed, and at the death of Sarah in 1949, the bulk of her property passed to the two children by will. The inheritance tax division of the tax commission contended that the relationship by affinity had been terminated and that the children, no longer being "stepchildren," were not entitled to the lower tax rates under Class A of the inheritance tax statute …
Testamentary Disposition To The Trustee Of An Inter Vivos Trust, George E. Palmer
Testamentary Disposition To The Trustee Of An Inter Vivos Trust, George E. Palmer
Michigan Law Review
The problem of this paper is narrow but important in connection with testamentary dispositions. A man establishes an inter vivos trust, in writing, and later attempts by will to add to the corpus of the trust without repeating in the will the terms of the trust. In some instances he thereafter amends the trust with the expectation that the property bequeathed to the trustee will be held in accordance with the amended terms. This is a simple and convenient method of disposing of property at death and most people probably would take for granted that the disposition is effective. Yet …
Wills-Construction-Meaning Of Word 'Widow" When Used By Testator, Walter L. Dean S. Ed.
Wills-Construction-Meaning Of Word 'Widow" When Used By Testator, Walter L. Dean S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Testatrix set up a testamentary trust which was to continue "until the death of the last survivor of such of my children, grandchildren and any widow of my son, surviving him as shall be living at my decease." Upon the death of any child the trustee was directed to pay to "the husband or widow" of such child a part of the principal or an annuity from the income of the trust. Testatrix' son remarried after her death and on his death the trustee brought this action to determine whether the second wife who was living at testatrix' death, was …
Wills-Construction-Use Of Extrinsic Evidence, John A. Hellstrom S. Ed.
Wills-Construction-Use Of Extrinsic Evidence, John A. Hellstrom S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
An action for a declaratory judgment was brought by William C. Borah, Jr. against the Lincoln Hospital Association and William H. H. Moore. In July 1912, Robert E. Moore made a will bequeathing $10,000 each to his nieces, Gertrude and Julia Byerly. Gertrude had been married but her husband and only child died in 1908. Julia was married and had a son, the plaintiff. In June 1916, testator visited the nieces and the plaintiff and in December 1916, he added a codicil to his will reducing the bequests to the nieces to life estates with remainder to "the child of …
Wills-Failure Of Residuary Clause To Pass Undevised Property, Robert T. Haines
Wills-Failure Of Residuary Clause To Pass Undevised Property, Robert T. Haines
Michigan Law Review
Decedent, in his will, declared that he had, by trust agreement of even date, "disposed of all my intangible personal property, both during the remainder of my lifetime and after my death. Said Trust Agreement does not include within its terms my real estate, my tangible personal property, or any money. . . . This will is, therefore, specifically designed to provide for the distribution of said real estate, tangible personal property, and money." After certain specific gifts decedent directed that, "all the rest and residue of my estate, of every description, real, personal and mixed, and wherever situated," be …
Wills-Incorporation By Reference-Comparison With Secret Trusts And Acts Of Independent Significance, T. L. Tolan, Jr. S.Ed.
Wills-Incorporation By Reference-Comparison With Secret Trusts And Acts Of Independent Significance, T. L. Tolan, Jr. S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Legal doctrines have been developed to define the extent to which events outside the will itself may control the testamentary dispositions. Incorporation by reference, acts of independent significance, and secret trusts are related in their concern with testators' attempts to determine major parts of testamentary schemes by acts not written on the attested paper first presented for probate. The present discussion investigates the degree to which the courts adhere to the definitions of these doctrines and the traditional distinctions between them.
What Words Create A Power?, John R. Rood
What Words Create A Power?, John R. Rood
Articles
As the right to sell may exist either as a result of ownership, or by virtue of a power without or independent of ownership, it is sometimes a question whether words indicating a right to sell, contained in an instrument granting an estate, are intended to give a power, or are merely descriptive of the rights incident to the estate given. When property is devised without any designation of the estate given, and the devise is followed by words indicating that the devisee is to have the right of absolute disposal in fee, or to sell in fee, it has …