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Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts
Wills & Trusts, Gerry W. Beyer
Wills & Trusts, Gerry W. Beyer
SMU Annual Texas Survey
This article discusses developments relating to the Texas law of intestacy, wills, estate administration, trusts, and other estate planning matters during the Survey period of December 1, 2021, through November 30, 2022. The reader is warned that not all cases decided during the Survey period are presented, and not all aspects of each case are analyzed. You must read and study each case’s full text before relying on it or using it as precedent. The discussion of most cases includes a moral, that is, the important lesson to be learned from the case. By recognizing situations that resulted in time-consuming …
Wills & Trusts, Gerry W. Beyer
Wills & Trusts, Gerry W. Beyer
Wills & Trusts, Gerry W. Beyer
SMU Annual Texas Survey
This article is a survey of the relevant developments in law of wills and trusts from December 1, 2019, through November 30, 2020. The article focuses on law likely to be influential to Texas practitioners.
Wills & Trusts, Gerry Beyer
Wills & Trusts, Gerry Beyer
Wills & Trusts, Gerry Beyer
Personal Reality: Delusion In Law And Science, Joshua C. Tate
Personal Reality: Delusion In Law And Science, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
The concept of an insane delusion appears in several branches of the law, including contracts, gifts, and wills. Critics of the traditional doctrine have made compelling arguments in favor of its modification or abolition in the context of wills, given that it is often used as an excuse to substitute the values of jurors for those of the testator. Moreover, recent scientific studies have shown correlations between delusions and other cognitive impairments, calling into question the need for an independent doctrine of insane delusion. Nevertheless, there is evidence that not all deluded individuals have additional cognitive biases, and those who …
Perpetuities And The Genius Of A Free State, Joshua C. Tate
Perpetuities And The Genius Of A Free State, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
The recent rise of perpetual trusts has brought new attention to previously obscure state constitutional prohibitions of perpetuities. This symposium commentary examines the historical origins of the first such prohibition, Clause 23 of the 1776 North Carolina Constitution and Declaration of Rights, which provided that “perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State, and ought not to be allowed.” Although many good reasons can be offered for the provision, it is curiously absent from the constitutions of the twelve other original states. Why did this provision emerge only in North Carolina, and not in Virginia, Massachusetts, …
Should Charitable Trust Enforcement Rights Be Assignable?, Joshua C. Tate
Should Charitable Trust Enforcement Rights Be Assignable?, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
In recent years, scholars have given much attention to the problem of charitable trust enforcement. Departing from the common law, section 405(c) of the Uniform Trust Code provides that “[t]he settlor of a charitable trust, among others, may maintain a proceeding to enforce the trust.” This Article addresses the question of whether, and to what extent, a settlor’s right to enforce a charitable trust should be assignable to third parties. Should the law permit the settlor of a charitable trust to assign her enforcement rights after the creation of the trust, or should assignments be recognized only if they are …
Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, And The Power Of Testation, Joshua C. Tate
Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, And The Power Of Testation, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Publicity rights, or the rights to the use of one’s image and likeness, are a relatively recent form of property. Several states now recognize rights of publicity as survivable, meaning that the heirs of deceased celebrities can inherit those rights. Because U.S. law has traditionally granted each individual the power of testation, a celebrity can also freely devise the rights to persons of her choosing. Nevertheless, some scholars have recently envisioned the adoption of hypothetical state statutes under which publicity rights would pass automatically to specified statutory heirs regardless of the celebrity’s wishes. Destroying the power of testation, these scholars …
Caregiving And The Case For Testamentary Freedom, Joshua C. Tate
Caregiving And The Case For Testamentary Freedom, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Almost all U.S. states allow individuals to disinherit their descendants for any reason or no reason, but most of the world's legal systems currently do not. This Article contends that broad freedom of testation is defensible because it allows elderly people to reward family members who are caregivers. The Article explores the common-law origins of freedom of testation, which developed in the shadow of the medieval rule of primogeniture, a doctrine of no contemporary relevance. The growing problem of eldercare, however, offers a justification for the twenty-first century. Increases in life expectancy have led to a sharp rise in the …
Conditional Love: Incentive Trusts And The Inflexibility Problem, Joshua C. Tate
Conditional Love: Incentive Trusts And The Inflexibility Problem, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This Article examines the contemporary phenomenon of incentive trusts: trusts that use money to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Using evidence from Internet websites, practitioner articles, and newspaper articles, the Article considers the likely provisions that a typical incentive trust might have, and explains how such trusts might lead to a problem of inflexibility when they are not drafted so as to take into account the possibility of changed circumstances. The Article also examines current law regarding trust modification and termination as well as recent reform proposals, and suggests some alternatives that might better take into account the particular characteristics …
Perpetual Trusts And The Settlor's Intent, Joshua C. Tate
Perpetual Trusts And The Settlor's Intent, Joshua C. Tate
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
In recent years, a number of American states have abolished the Rule Against Perpetuities, allowing for the creation of perpetual dynasty trusts. Some scholars have suggested that these states should also pass statutes making it easier for beneficiaries and trustees to undo a perpetual dynasty trust after the settlor has died. This article makes use of a novel source of empirical evidence - websites created by estate planners to entice clients to set up dynasty trusts - to show that settlors' goals would be frustrated by the proposed legislation.