Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Shattering And Moving Beyond The Gutenberg Paradigm: The Dawn Of The Electronic Will, Joseph Karl Grant

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Legislators in Nevada have already acted to modernize the law of wills. This Article advocates that other states follow their lead and depart from what is described as the "Gutenberg Paradigm" by adopting similar legislation and embracing electronic technology. Part One of this Article explores the history of print, Johann Gutenberg's role in this development, and the emergence of the "Gutenberg Paradigm." Part Two examines the history and policy underpinnings of will execution formalities, and the role of the "writing" requirement. Part Three explores the use of electronic wills as conforming and nonconforming testamentary instruments. More specifically, Part Three highlights …

A Comment On Unification, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article discusses recent proposals aimed at unifying the law of wills and nonprobate transfers. The author notes that default rules of construction present the strongest case for unification, but contends that distinctions between wills and nonprobate transfers remain important in the areas of formalities and restrictions affecting third-party rights. The author concludes that the policy goal should be to allow wills and nonprobate transfers to operate smoothly as complementary methods of deathtime wealth transmission.

Drafting Attorneys As Fiduciaries: Fashioning An Optimal Ethical Rule For Conflicts Of Interest, Paula A. Monopoli

Paula A Monopoli

The American Bar Association recently revised the ethical rules that govern lawyers. Its Ethics 2000 Commission proposed a number of changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including revisions to the rules that affect how the profession handles conflicts of interest in the area of attorneys who draft instruments that name themselves as fiduciaries. The intersection of these changes, with their subsequent clarification by an ABA opinion issued in May 2002, has broad implications for attorneys practicing in this area. Given the increasing elderly population, the trillions of dollars that they are transferring to their baby-boomer children, and the …

Probate Law Reform And Nonprobate Transfers, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

UF Law Faculty Publications

The advent of widespread, large-scale probate avoidance has added a new dimension to the project of probate law reform. When the Uniform Probate Code made its debut in 1969, its primary goal was to modernize traditional probate procedures and make them more uniform, flexible, and efficient. The Code's reforms were in part a response to the rise of will substitutes which offered a ready means of transferring property at death outside the probate system. In the intervening years, however, will substitutes have continued to proliferate, while traditional probate procedures have resisted comprehensive reform. The probate system has not become obsolete …

Revocable Trusts And The Law Of Wills: An Imperfect Fit, Alan Newman

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Over the centuries that wills have been used to dispose of testators’ property at death, the law of wills has developed to address issues that arose. Similarly, over the centuries that trusts have been used for non-testamentary purposes, the law of trusts has developed to resolve resulting issues.

In recent decades revocable trusts have become the most commonly used trust in the United States. To avoid estate administration, particularly in states in which administration involves cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive court supervision, settlors make inter vivos transfers of assets that otherwise would be subject to administration on their deaths in trust. …

Revocable Trusts And The Law Of Wills: An Imperfect Fit, Alan Newman

Alan Newman

Over the centuries that wills have been used to dispose of testators’ property at death, the law of wills has developed to address issues that arose. Similarly, over the centuries that trusts have been used for non-testamentary purposes, the law of trusts has developed to resolve resulting issues.

In recent decades revocable trusts have become the most commonly used trust in the United States. To avoid estate administration, particularly in states in which administration involves cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive court supervision, settlors make inter vivos transfers of assets that otherwise would be subject to administration on their deaths in trust. …

Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2006-2008), J. Rodney Johnson

Law Faculty Publications

The 2007 Session of the General Assembly enacted substantially more wills, trusts, and estates legislation than one typically expects, some of which was of a particularly significant nature, such as that (1) providing for the probate of wills not executed with the required statutory formalities; (2) preventing any future application of an unfortunate augmented estate decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia; (3) avoiding the impact of federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") preemption in certain insurance revocation and slayer statute cases; and (4) mandating notice to the public when modification or termination of a charitable trust, …

The Upc Authorizes Notarized Wills, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

This article reports on a 2008 amendment to the Uniform Probate Code that permits notarization as a method of will execution.