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Articles 1 - 30 of 91
Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts
Divorcees Turn About In Their Graves As Ex-Spouses Cash In: Codified Constructive Trusts Ensure An Equitable Result Regarding Erisa-Governed Employee Benefit Plans, Sarabeth A. Rayho
Divorcees Turn About In Their Graves As Ex-Spouses Cash In: Codified Constructive Trusts Ensure An Equitable Result Regarding Erisa-Governed Employee Benefit Plans, Sarabeth A. Rayho
Michigan Law Review
A revocation-by-divorce statute essentially nullifies a devise in a divorced decedent's will when the devise bequeaths property to the decedent's ex-spouse and the will was executed during their marriage. Until recently, state revocation-by-divorce statutes unquestionably applied not only to wills but also to will substitutes, including ERISA-governed employee benefit plans. In 2001, the Supreme Court held in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff ex rel. Breiner that ERISA preempts traditional state revocation-by-divorce statutes as applied to ERISA-governed employee benefit plans. In the wake of the Egelhoff decision, plan administrators may automatically pay proceeds to the listed beneficiary, even an ex-spouse, regardless of the …
What Causes Fundamental Legal Ideas? Marital Property In England And France In The Thirteenth Century, Charles Donahue Jr.
What Causes Fundamental Legal Ideas? Marital Property In England And France In The Thirteenth Century, Charles Donahue Jr.
Michigan Law Review
Categorizing broadly, the marital property systems of the Western nations today are divided into two types: those in which husband and wife own all property separately except those items that they have expressly agreed to hold jointly (in a nontechnical sense) and those in which husband and wife own a substantial portion or even all of their property jointly unless they have expressly agreed to hold it separately. The system of separate property is the "common law" system, in force in most jurisdictions where the Anglo-American common law is in force. The system of joint property is the community property …
Uniform Probate Code--Illegitimacy--Inheritance And The Illegitimate: A Model For Probate Reform, Michigan Law Review
Uniform Probate Code--Illegitimacy--Inheritance And The Illegitimate: A Model For Probate Reform, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The Uniform Probate Code (Code), which was approved by the American Bar Association in August 1969, deals with the problem of inheritance by illegitimates both with regard to intestate succession-section 2-109-and also with regard to the construction of a bequest to "children" by will-section 2-611. This Note will examine the issue whether the Code, which presents a comprehensive model for probate reform, deals with the problem of inheritance by illegitimates in an appropriate, desirable, and constitutional manner. The Code provisions concerning illegitimacy relate to many other provisions of the Code in which childhood status is relevant; therefore, it will be …
Through A Test Tube Darkly: Artificial Insemination And The Law, George P. Smith Ii
Through A Test Tube Darkly: Artificial Insemination And The Law, George P. Smith Ii
Michigan Law Review
A surge of interest and direct involvement with artificial insemination has interposed complicated and presently unsolved legal, social, cultural, religious, emotional, and psychological problems. It is not the purpose of this Article to undertake an exegesis of these interrelated areas or their ramifications. Central consideration, instead, is given to the special legal problems of adultery, illegitimacy, and support and inheritance manifest in any discussion of artificial insemination.
An Inquiry Into The Utility Of "Domicile" As A Concept In Conflicts Analysis, Russell J. Weintraub
An Inquiry Into The Utility Of "Domicile" As A Concept In Conflicts Analysis, Russell J. Weintraub
Michigan Law Review
No attempt is made here to conduct an exhaustive case study of any one particular area in which the concept of "domicile" is used as a tool for analysis in the conflict of laws. A number of thorough and useful studies have been made in narrow areas and are cited at appropriate places in the body of this article. Instead, this article will review the use of "domicile" in analyzing certain typical conflicts problems, particularly its use as the contact or pointing word in choice of law rules concerning the testate and intestate distribution of movables, and, as is newly …
Marital Deduction Formula Clauses In Estate Planning-Estate And Income Tax Considerations, Alan N. Polasky
Marital Deduction Formula Clauses In Estate Planning-Estate And Income Tax Considerations, Alan N. Polasky
Michigan Law Review
Once upon a time, and not so very long ago, a child was born, much to the delight of its lawyer-parents. As children will, it brought much joy and only occasional moments of dismay and concern during its early, formative years. But one day it entered the terrible teens, and at age sixteen it became, like many teen-agers, baffling, confusing, and frustrating, giving rise to frenzied attempts to cope with and control the complexities of its behavior. Its name? The Federal Estate Tax Marital Deduction.
Widows' Allowances And Marital Deductions-The Date-Of-Death Rule, Michigan Law Review
Widows' Allowances And Marital Deductions-The Date-Of-Death Rule, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In every state there are statutes that provide for widows' allowances in an attempt to assure adequate support for widows during the time it takes to settle their husbands' estates. A common feature in most of these state support statutes is that the local probate judge is permitted to order an amount which the court finds to be reasonably necessary for the maintenance of the widow during the period of settlement to be set aside for her from the rest of the estate. The maximum amount permitted, the method of payment, the duration of the allowance, the extent to which …
Fiduciary Administration-Power Of Court To Authorize Inter Vivos Distribution From Incompetent's Estate, Robert C. Bonges
Fiduciary Administration-Power Of Court To Authorize Inter Vivos Distribution From Incompetent's Estate, Robert C. Bonges
Michigan Law Review
The guardians of an eighty-six-year-old incompetent multi-millionaire petitioned for authorization to give a portion of the ward's assets to his children and grandchildren. It was not suggested that the proposed beneficiaries were currently in need of funds, but rather the sole purpose of the inter vivas distribution was to minimize the impact of federal estate taxes on the ward's estate at his death. It was alleged and proved, however, that the proposed distribution would follow a plan which accorded substantially with the terms of the ward's will, and which the ward presumably would have followed himself, had he remained competent …
International Law-Treaties-Inheritance Rights Of Residents Of Yugoslavia, Charles F. Niemeth
International Law-Treaties-Inheritance Rights Of Residents Of Yugoslavia, Charles F. Niemeth
Michigan Law Review
All the heirs at law of a Pennsylvania resident who died intestate resided in Yugoslavia. The Orphans' Court found that the distributees would not have the actual benefit, use, enjoyment or control of their intestate shares. In accordance with a state statute providing for such contingency,1 the funds were ordered paid, without escheat, into the state treasury. On appeal, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. Because the statute is custodial rather than confiscatory, it is not repugnant to the most-favored-nation clause of the treaty between the United States and Yugoslavia which provides for reciprocal rights of inheritance between citizens of …
Wills--Sequestration--Acceleration Of Life Interest Upon Renunciation Of Prior Interest, Daniel R. Elliott Jr.
Wills--Sequestration--Acceleration Of Life Interest Upon Renunciation Of Prior Interest, Daniel R. Elliott Jr.
Michigan Law Review
Testator made an inter vivos agreement in which he promised to bequeath to his son a certain portion of his estate. Upon testator's failure to comply with this agreement, the bequest actually given, a life interest in sixty percent of the estate, was renounced by the son, who instead elected to receive one million dollars from the estate in settlement of his claim. The will gave a remainder interest for life to the son of the renouncing legatee, testator's grandson. The ultimate remaindermen of the corpus of this part of the estate were two hospitals. In regard to the remaining …
Property-Joint Bank Accounts-The Donee's Inter Vivos Interest, David K. Kroll S.Ed.
Property-Joint Bank Accounts-The Donee's Inter Vivos Interest, David K. Kroll S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
The use of joint bank accounts has become widespread throughout the United States in recent years and has been the source of considerable litigation and comment. The predominant importance of this type of account is that it allows funds remaining at the death of a co-depositor to pass to the survivor without the necessity of a will. This aspect of the account, causing it to be known sometimes as a "Poor Man's Will," has been the focal point of the attention given to the transaction; and today, after more than half a century of uneven treatment by the courts, all …
Wills - Probate - "Fraudulent" Destruction Notwithstanding Testator's Knowledge, Alan Rothenberg
Wills - Probate - "Fraudulent" Destruction Notwithstanding Testator's Knowledge, Alan Rothenberg
Michigan Law Review
Decedent executed a will in which he exercised a general testamentary power of appointment making plaintiff beneficiary of a trust. The will was delivered for safekeeping to a notary in Germany and subsequently destroyed in a bombing raid. Decedent, having learned of the destruction of his will, died ten months later without executing a new will in the interim. The Surrogate admitted the will for probate as one "fraudulently destroyed" under New York law. The Appellate Division reversed. On appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, held, reversed, three judges dissenting. The will was "fraudulently destroyed" within the meaning …
Macdonald: Fraud On The Widow's Share, Max Rheinstein
Macdonald: Fraud On The Widow's Share, Max Rheinstein
Michigan Law Review
A Review of FRAUD ON THE WIDOW'S SHARE. By William D. Macdonald
Chancery Practice On The American Frontier: A Study Of The Records Of The Supreme Court Of Michigan Territory, 1805-1836, William Wirt Blume
Chancery Practice On The American Frontier: A Study Of The Records Of The Supreme Court Of Michigan Territory, 1805-1836, William Wirt Blume
Michigan Law Review
The act of Congress of January 11, 1805, which created Michigan Territory out of Indiana Territory, provided that the new territory should have a government "in all respects similar" to that provided for the Northwest Territory by the Ordinance of 1787. The Ordinance had provided for the appointment of a court to consist of three judges who should have "a common law jurisdiction. "
Real Property - Tenancy By The Entireties - Alienabilry Of Right Of Survivorship, Robert Brooks
Real Property - Tenancy By The Entireties - Alienabilry Of Right Of Survivorship, Robert Brooks
Michigan Law Review
At an execution sale to satisfy a judgment against her, plaintiff's interest in certain lots which she and her husband held as tenants by the entireties was conveyed to A by sheriff's deed. Subsequently, plaintiff's husband joined A and his wife in a deed of their interest to B, who later conveyed to defendants. After the death of her husband, plaintiff instituted an action as surviving spouse for possession of these lots. The trial court entered a summary judgment for plaintiff, holding that the sheriff's deed conveyed only a severable one-half interest in use and profits of the land …
Wills - Contract To Devise - Rights Of Subsequent Spouse With Notice Of Prior Contract At Time Of Marriage, Glenn O. Fuller
Wills - Contract To Devise - Rights Of Subsequent Spouse With Notice Of Prior Contract At Time Of Marriage, Glenn O. Fuller
Michigan Law Review
Decedent and his first wife executed reciprocal wills pursuant to a contract appearing on the face of the instruments. Each gave the other a life estate, with remainders to substantially identical beneficiaries. After his first wife's death, decedent remarried and in an antenuptial contract agreed to bequeath a sum of money to his second wife in lieu of all her claims against his estate. The second wife had actual notice of the prior agreement at the time of their marriage. Decedent then executed a new will which expressly revoked all prior wills, confirmed the terms of the antenuptial contract, and …
Personal Property - Gifts - Delivery To Third Party, Thomas A. Dieterich S.Ed.
Personal Property - Gifts - Delivery To Third Party, Thomas A. Dieterich S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
A husband changed the beneficiary of his life insurance policy from his wife to his mother during a temporary separation and failed to restore his wife as beneficiary after reconciliation. Subsequent to his death the mother, in the presence· of the wife, signed a memorandum "waiving" her policy rights "to" the wife and handed the writing to the insurer's district manager. Before payment of the proceeds the mother discovered that the wife was the beneficiary of another policy and attempted to revoke the memorandum. In insurer's interpleader action, a gift to the wife was recognized. On appeal, held, affirmed. …
Descent And Distribution - Joint Ownership - Imposition Of Constructive Trust On Murderer Of Co-Tenant, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.
Descent And Distribution - Joint Ownership - Imposition Of Constructive Trust On Murderer Of Co-Tenant, John B. Schwemm S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
A husband, owning land with his wife as tenants by the entireties, killed her and immediately thereafter committed suicide. In an action to determine ownership of the realty, both the probate and appellate courts declared that since a relevant disinheritance statute was inapplicable, full title vested in the husband and, upon his death, descended to his heirs. On appeal, held, reversed. Despite the common law nature of such tenancies, equity will impose on the husband a constructive trust in one-half the property for the benefit of the victim's estate. National City Bank of Evansville v. Bledsoe, (Ind. 1957) …
Future Interests - Construction - Implied Condition Of Survivorship, Herbert A. Bernhard S.Ed.
Future Interests - Construction - Implied Condition Of Survivorship, Herbert A. Bernhard S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Decedent's will gave the income from his estate to his widow for life. After her death the estate was to be held for an additional ten years, during which time the income was to be equally divided among his named daughters, Jennie, Bertha, Ida and Martha. At the end of the ten-year period, the estate was to be divided among the four daughters in equal shares, with the children of a daughter not surviving the ten-year period to take her share. Martha died three years after decedent's widow died. Plaintiff, as administrator of Martha's estate, objected to the payment by …
Transfers Of Joint Property In Contemplation Of Death: A Call For Immediate Statutory Revision, L. Hart Wright
Transfers Of Joint Property In Contemplation Of Death: A Call For Immediate Statutory Revision, L. Hart Wright
Michigan Law Review
For years the Tax Court sided with the government and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in asserting that the contemplation-of-death provision of the estate tax act was sufficiently elastic to include the tax concept of ownership reflected in the joint-property provision of the same act. The alliance between those tribunals on this point was recently broken, however, when the Tax Court shifted to the competing view supported by taxpayers and the appellate court for the Ninth Circuit. It now believes that the two provisions mentioned above are complete strangers even though at one time these two were …
Descent And Distribution - Ancestral Property - Exclusion Of Next Of Kin Other Than Half Bloods, George F. Lynch
Descent And Distribution - Ancestral Property - Exclusion Of Next Of Kin Other Than Half Bloods, George F. Lynch
Michigan Law Review
The decedent died intestate owning land which he had inherited from his father. His only next of kin were four blood aunts and uncles on his mother's side, and three blood aunts and uncles on his father's side. The paternal aunts and uncles contended that the land descended to them alone by virtue of a section of the Alabama code, which provides: "There is no distinction made between the whole and the half blood in the same degree, unless the inheritance came to the intestate by descent, devise or gift, from or of some one of his ancestors; in which …
Wills - Religious Conditions In Restraint Of Marriage - Validity At Common Law And Effect Of Shelley V. Kraemer, Jack G. Armstrong S.Ed.
Wills - Religious Conditions In Restraint Of Marriage - Validity At Common Law And Effect Of Shelley V. Kraemer, Jack G. Armstrong S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Testator devised and bequeathed his property to his children, but with a proviso that the gift to any child who should marry a person not born in the Hebrew faith should lapse. Subsequent to the testator's death, the defendant married a woman who had been born a Roman Catholic. The other beneficiaries brought a proceeding to declare that the defendant had lost his rights under the will by reason of his marriage. The probate court granted a decree substantially as sought by the plaintiffs. On appeal, held, affirmed. This partial restraint on marriage is not so unreasonable as to …
Wills - Revocation By Change In Circumstances - Effect Of A Separation And Property Settlement Agreement, Paul R. Haerle
Wills - Revocation By Change In Circumstances - Effect Of A Separation And Property Settlement Agreement, Paul R. Haerle
Michigan Law Review
Testator's will, executed in 1944, named his wife executrix and sole devisee. One month before his death in 1952 he entered into a detailed separation and property settlement agreement with her in which, though not referring directly to the will, the wife released any present, future or after-acquired interest in the same realty as was devised in the will. The widow's offering of the will for probate was contested by the heirs. The lower court directed a verdict for the contestants on the ground that the agreement operated to revoke the will. On appeal, held, reversed. Since neither a …
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 …
Advancements: Iii, Harold I. Elbert
Advancements: Iii, Harold I. Elbert
Michigan Law Review
Many states have statutes which provide that support, maintenance and education of a child will not be considered an advancement unless the parent intended it as such. The Kentucky statute is typical and it reads in part as follows: " . . . the maintaining or educating or the giving of money, to a child or grandchild without any view to a portion or settlement in life, shall not be deemed an advancement." Most states do not have statutes of that type but by judicial decision reach a result that is in accord with the statutory provision just quoted.
Trusts - Validity And Effect Of Assignment Of Beneficial Interest In Trust For Support - Claims Of Beneficiary's Divorced Wife And Children, William E. Parmenter Jr.
Trusts - Validity And Effect Of Assignment Of Beneficial Interest In Trust For Support - Claims Of Beneficiary's Divorced Wife And Children, William E. Parmenter Jr.
Michigan Law Review
A testamentary trust required the trustee to apply income in such amounts as might be necessary for the education, support and maintenance of H until he attained the age of 35 years; then to hand over the corpus and accrued interest. Contingent interests were created for children of H who might survive his death before the age of 35. After the death of testatrix, H married W and had two children. In an agreement subsequently incorporated in a California decree of divorce obtained by W, H promised to make monthly payments to W for her own support and for the …
Advancements: Ii, Harold I. Elbert
Advancements: Ii, Harold I. Elbert
Michigan Law Review
A voluntary inter vivos transfer by a parent to a child is not an advancement so long as the transferor lives. The purpose of the doctrine is to equalize an intestate' s property among his children. It is auxiliary to the distribution of his estate that the question of advancement is raised. The death of the transferor is not enough to give rise to the doctrine. The person seeking to charge the intestate's heirs with an advancement must prove several additional facts. The legislation of each state determines what must be proved in order to charge the transferee with an …
Rights Accruing To A Husband Upon Marriage With Respect To The Property Of His Wife, James W. Day
Rights Accruing To A Husband Upon Marriage With Respect To The Property Of His Wife, James W. Day
Michigan Law Review
Attention is directed in this article to the principles of the common law and the features of the subsequent developments that are believed to be of greatest current value either because the particular doctrine still persists or because it aids in the evaluation of a precedent for use in a legal background that differs from that of the period or jurisdiction in which the decision was rendered.
Real Property-Tenancy By Entireties-Creation By Deed From Husband To Husband And Wife, Richard P. Matsch S. Ed.
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 …
Trusts-Illusory Transfer-Rights Of Surviving Spouse, Carl S. Krueger
Trusts-Illusory Transfer-Rights Of Surviving Spouse, Carl S. Krueger
Michigan Law Review
ln 1939 Henry Halpern drafted a will naming his wife executrix and sole beneficiary of his estate. In 1946, about the time he and his wife separated, Halpern opened four savings accounts in his own name in trust for his infant granddaughter. While Halpern made subsequent deposits in two of them, he made no withdrawals; nor did he in any other manner revoke the trusts. Although evidence did not establish them as irrevocable trusts, it did show that Halpern on occasion indicated he meant the bank books to go to his granddaughter. Subsequently his wife, as executrix, instituted proceedings to …