Estates and Trusts Commons^™

The Rise Of The Perpetual Trust, Jesse Dukeminier, James E. Krier

Articles

For more than two centuries, the Rule against Perpetuities has served as the chief means of limiting a transferor's power to tie up property by way of successive contingent interests. But recently, at least seventeen jurisdictions in the United States have enacted statutes abolishing the Rule in the case of perpetual (or near-perpetual) trusts. The prime mover behind this important development has been the federal Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax. This Article traces the gradual decline of the common law Rule against Perpetuities, considers the dynamics behind the recent wave of state legislation, examines the problems that might result from the rise …

When The Endowment Tanks, Jeffrey J. Haas

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Why Craft Isn't Scary, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

In April 2002, the Supreme Court of the United States decided United States v. Craft. The Court held that the federal tax lien attaches to a tax-debtor spouse’s interest in property held in tenancy by the entirety even when the other spouse does not owe tax and state law provides that entireties property and interests cannot be reached by separate creditors of only one spouse.

Craft was correctly decided. The older, contrary view that Craft displaced was fundamentally at odds with federal tax collection analysis as laid out by the Court. In addition, the old view invited tax abuse and …

Estate Tax Repeal: Through The Looking Glass, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 promises dramatic reductions in income and estate taxes over a nine-year phase-in period, culminating in 2010 with complete repeal of the estate tax and introduction of a new carryover basis regime for inherited property. The Act's sunset provision automatically terminates these substantive changes at the end of 2010 and reinstates prior law for 2011 and subsequent years. In effect, the sunset provision transforms the large-scale tax cuts into a temporary measure and leaves open the question of whether to make those cuts permanent. Since the Act was signed into law, …

Last Gasp Estate Planning: The Formation Of Family Limited Liability Entities Shortly Before Death, Walter D. Schwidetzky

All Faculty Scholarship

Family limited partnerships have been popular gift and estate tax planning vehicles for many years. In recent years, family limited liability companies (LLCs) have also become common, particularly in those states that have updated their statutes to take the check-the-box regulations into account. LLCs with more than one member are usually classified as partnerships for federal income tax purposes. In a typical structure, when there is adequate planning, the donors form a limited partnership or an LLC (jointly, 'family limited liability entity' or FLLE), to which they contribute assets expected to appreciate in value. This article will focus on such …

Does A Life Insurance Subtrust Create A Prohibited Assignment Within A Qualified Plan?, 34 J. Marshall L. Rev. 727 (2001), Stephen Brooks

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Death Of The Income Tax (Or, The Rise Of America’S Universal Wage Tax), Edward J. Mccaffery

Indiana Law Journal

The killing of the income tax has not been open and notorious: such is not the style of contemporary politics. As with other markers of progressive social policy—the promises of universal health care, Obamacare, come to mind6—the income tax is dying a death by stealth, albeit stealth played out in plain view. The plot lines of the tragedy are apparent. The individual “income” tax has been split in two. One tax, for the masses, is a simple, increasingly formless wage tax. This wage/income tax adds higher brackets onto the payroll tax, the model toward which the wage/income tax aims, to …

Living Trusts In The Unauthorized Practice Of Law: A Good Thing Gone Bad, Angela M. Vallario

All Faculty Scholarship

An elderly man recently lost his wife and visits the lawyer's office for assistance in the administration of her estate. After the attorney expresses her condolences, she asks if his wife had a will. The client reaches into a brown shopping bag and retrieves a two-and-a-half inch black binder containing several trusts. The elderly gentleman and his deceased wife were told this would eliminate the expensive legal nightmare of probate. Unfortunately, like many others, this couple was victimized by a trust mill.

Tax Consequences Of Assigning Life Insurance - Time For Another Look, Douglas A. Kahn, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 furnishes the courts and the Internal Revenue Service an opportunity to close certain loopholes in the federal tax consequences of assigning life insurance. About twenty years ago, we published an article arguing that the tax consequences of assigning life insurance affords taxpayers unwarranted opportunities for tax avoidance. Since then, developments in the case law and Internal Revenue Service rulings have broadened the loopholes. In the update of our article, we show how the new tax law supports our original position.

Death By A Thousand Cuts: The Rule Against Perpetuities, Angela M. Vallario

All Faculty Scholarship

This article suggests the policy and social justifications against dead hand control far outweigh transfer tax advantages provided to wealthy settlors and the potential revenue expected to be generated by the abolishment legislation. The abolishment legislation may be readily adopted by other jurisdictions in light of the legislatures' failure to recognize the consequences of unlimited dead hand control.

This article recognizes that the Rule is complicated, and Rule violations present harsh consequences for practitioners and their clients. In fact, violations of the Rule, due to its complexity, have been held as an attorney error, not subject to a malpractice claim. …

Muddling Along With The Federal Wealth Transfer Tax: A Survey Of Practitioners And Law School Professors, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

Recent efforts to repeal the wealth transfer tax system have prompted enormous discussion. In this Article, the author presents the results of his survey of members of the American Bar Association Real Property, Probate and Law Section about this issue and other reforms which have been enacted or suggested.

Do They Practice What We Teach?: A Survey Of Practitioners And Estate Planning Professors, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

This article presents the results of a 1998 mail survey sent to members of the American Bar Association Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section and to law professors teaching estate planning. The principal goal of the survey was to compare the opinions of practitioners and law professors concerning the importance of 31 estate planning issues and techniques. The survey also included an open-ended solicitation of issues deemed significant by the participant.

The survey found consistency between practitioner and professor responses with respect to techniques such as Crummey planning. Legal education appears to be effective in dealing with core principles. …

Distributions From Qualified Plans And Ira' S, Oregon Law Institute, Everett R. Moreland, Bruce J. Temkin, Deborah L. Thomas

Oregon Law Institute, 1997

Course Materials from the June 13, 1997 Program in Portland

Estate Tax - Estate Of D'Ambrosio V. Commissioner: Reinterpretation Of Internal Revenue Code Section 2036(A) Nets Estate $330,000 In Tax Savings, Scott B. Connolly

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Probate Basics: Administering A Decedent's Estate, Oregon Law Institute, Wesley D. Fitzwater, Sam Friedenberg, Carolyn W. Miller, Richard A. Pagnano

Oregon Law Institute, 1996

Course Materials from the May 31, 1996 Program in Portland

The Oklahoma Estate Tax: Modest Proposals For Change, Mark R. Gillett

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Planning For Moderate Estates, Oregon Law Institute, Heather O. Gilmore, Richard A. Pagnano, Wesley D. Fitzwater, Shirley A. Bass, S. Jane Patterson, Mark M. Williams

Oregon Law Institute, 1995

Course Materials from the May 12, 1995 Program in Portland

Digging Up New Revenue: Retrospective Estate Taxation And The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, Michael George

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Equitable Apportionment In Oklahoma: What Hath The Courts Wrought?, Mark R. Gillett

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Perfecting The Special Use Election: Congress Giveth, And The Service Taketh Away, Mark R. Gillett

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Real Estate Law In Probate Practice: Tales Of Woe, Warning, And Wisdom, 23 J. Marshall L. Rev. 121 (1989), Frank J. Harrison

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ird And S Corporations, Gregory V. Gadarian, Jonathan G. Blattmachr

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Congressional Diversions: Legislative Responses To The Estate Valuation Freeze, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

No abstract provided.

Tax Treatment Of Revocable Trusts: Are They Associations Taxable As Corporations?, James F. Brown

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reliance On Counsel As Reasonable Cause: To The Back Burner After Boyle, Malcolm L. Morris

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Funding Of Children's Educational Costs, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

A plan for reduction of educational costs should take federal transfer taxes into account. The method chosen for reducing income tax liability usually will involve making gifts. To the extent that it is convenient to do so, the transfer tax consequences of making such gifts should be minimized. This article will examine the estate and gift tax consequences of the income tax reduction arrangements described herein and will consider means of structuring the transactions so as to minimize those consequences.

Taxation Of Qualified Plan Distributions: History And Analysis, Christopher R. Hoyt

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Drafting Considerations In Appointing The Surviving Spouse As Trustee Of The Nonmarital Trust, E. Edwin Eck

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article examines additional dispositive powers which might be given the surviving spouse as trustee of a more flexible nonmarital trust. Part II reviews the estate, gift, and income tax consequences of each of these powers. Part III briefly addresses special considerations relative to a nonmarital trust, which is to be funded by way of disclaimer by the surviving spouse. Part IV summarizes the administrative powers typically included in trust instruments insofar as these powers might compromise the testator’s objectives. Part V briefly discusses life insurance on the life of the spouse-trustee. Part VI addresses savings clauses and other defense …

Estate Planning For The Married Couple, Don W. Llewellyn

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

In Re Estate Of Gowling And In Re Estate Of Grant: The Limits Of Equitable Apportionment, Patricia Brosterhous

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.