Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Protecting Freedom Of Testation: A Proposal For Law Reform, Eike G. Hosemann

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article addresses a problem ever more pressing in wealthy and aging societies like the United States: interference with freedom of testation by the use of wrongful means such as undue influence or will forgery to acquire benefits through inheritance. A detailed analysis of the remedies against interference with freedom of testation under inheritance law, tort law, and equity reveals that there is currently a significant under-deterrence of this undesirable behavior. Hence, this Article proposes a new remedy in order to protect freedom of testation more effectively: a disinheritance statute barring wrongdoers that have infringed upon someone’s freedom of testation …

Shakespeare In The Classroom: How An Annual Student Production Of King Lear Adds Dimension To Teaching Trusts And Estates, Karen E. Boxx

Articles

I always begin the first day of my Trusts and Estates course by discussing the reasons for taking the class. While I note that some students may take the class to help in passing the bar exam or because family members have already asked them to draft wills, my list of reasons instead include: (1) exposure to the fiduciary relationship; (2) the real life ethical dilemmas faced by the lawyers; (3) learning to read and interpret state statutes; and (4) consideration of how law responds to societal changes and governs human relationships. This last reason is critical: Trusts and Estates …

How Deep Are The Springs Of Obedience Norms That Bind The Overseers Of Charities?, Johnny R. Buckles

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Is A Trust Protector A Fiduciary?, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The use of trust protectors has become increasingly popular in the past twenty years. This is largely due to the fact that settlors can use trust protectors to provide more flexibility in trust management, especially for long-term trusts. However, the use of trust protectors is not without some risk. First of all, the legal status of trust protectors is not explicitly recognized in some states. Furthermore, even in those states which do recognize the legality of trust protectors, the nature and extent of their powers is sometimes not always clear. Finally, there is the vexing question of whether trust protectors …

The Digital Death Conundrum: How Federal And State Laws Prevent Fiduciaries From Managing Digital Property, Christina L. Kunz, Damien A. Riehl, James D. Lamm, Peter J. Rademacher

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses four types of fiduciaries, each of which is affected by the vast growth in and the need to manage digital property. The article begins by defining digital property and discussing why it must be managed. The article then discusses how digital property affects powers of attorney, conservatorships, probate administration, and trusts. After illustrating the problems that digital property creates for each fiduciary, the article shifts to resolving these problems. It begins by debunking purported solutions by both private and governmental entities. It concludes by offering a holistic approach to resolving the conflicts facing account holders, fiduciaries, and …

Memento Mori: Deaths And Wills, Karen J. Sneddon

Articles

Death. The mere mention of the word sends a shiver down the spine or provokes a nervous giggle. Modern reactions to death range from avoidance, as shown by the abundance of death euphemisms, to fascination, as shown by the number of movies and television shows centered on death, including Twilight's vampires and The Walking Dead's zombies. Estate planning is the legal environment in which a person con.fronts his or her mortality and participates in the formulation of his or her legacy. Contextualizing the experience as a memento mori experience promotes the function of the estate planning process, specifically …

A Critical Research Agenda For Wills, Trusts And Estates, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The law of wills, trusts, and estates could benefit from consideration of its development and impact on people of color; women of all colors; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals; low-income and poor individuals; the disabled; and nontraditional families. One can measure the law's commitment to justice and equality by understanding the impact on these historically disempowered groups of the laws of intestacy, spousal rights, child protection, will formalities, will contests, and will construction; the creation, operation and construction of trusts; fiduciary administration; creditors' rights; asset protection; nonprobate transfers; planning for incapacity and death; and wealth transfer taxation. This Article …

Save The Wealth! Trust Decanting And Oklahoma, Tara M. Niendorf

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Where Strict Meets Substantial: Oklahoma Standards For The Execution Of A Will, Katheleen R. Guzman

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trust Me? Estate Planning With Revocable Trusts, Bradley E.S. Fogel

Saint Louis University Law Journal

Revocable trusts are one of the most common estate planning techniques. Unfortunately, many advisors use them without considering the merits for the particular client. Like any other estate planning technique, they are appropriate only for some clients.

Typically, a settlor creates and funds a revocable trust during his or her lifetime. The settlor then uses trust funds to pay living expenses. Upon the settlor’s death, the successor trustee administers the trust, collects the settlor’s assets, pays creditors, and distributes the assets to the named beneficiaries. In the optimum case, this is done without any court involvement.

Due to the lack …

Dispatches From The Trenches Of America's Great Gun Trust Wars, Lee-Ford Tritt

UF Law Faculty Publications

Without question, the national dialogue pertaining to the right to bear arms and the possible expansion of gun control regulations is shaping up to be one of the more heated political topics of the twenty-first century. At the moment, fervent participants on both sides of this ongoing debate have focused a spotlight on an estate planning instrument commonly referred to as a “gun trust.” Typically, estate planning products rarely cause the kind of nationally impassioned discussion as seen with gun trusts. So why have trusts, a commonly used estate planning tool, become entangled in this lively, and often vitriolic, national …

Notarized Wills, Anne-Marie E. Rhodes

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Digital Properties And Death: What Will Your Heirs Have Access To After You Die?, Ashley F. Watkins

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tax Court Sends Message On Valuation In Richmond, Kerry A. Ryan

All Faculty Scholarship

In Estate of Helen P. Richmond, the Tax Court determined the proper value for estate tax purposes of a minority interest in a family-owned corporation holding mostly appreciated securities. The court also sustained an accuracy-related penalty against the estate, finding that it used an unsigned draft report by a noncertified appraiser as the basis for the stock valuation reported on Form 706.

Valuation Lessons From Estate Of Adell, Kerry A. Ryan

All Faculty Scholarship

In Estate of Adell, the Tax Court determined that the correct value of a decedent’s interest in a closely held corporation was the figure reported on the original estate tax return. The court rejected alternative values as either using the incorrect valuation method or failing to account for the significant value of a key employee’s personal goodwill.

Tax Recognition, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

This article was prepared for the St. Louis University Law Journal’s “Teaching Trusts & Estates” issue. Many law students take a course in Trusts & Estates, but comparatively few enroll in a class devoted to the federal wealth transfer taxes. For most law students, the Trusts & Estates course provides the only opportunity for exposure to some of the basic features of the estate tax, the gift tax, the generation-skipping transfer tax, and some related features of the income tax. The coverage demands of the typical Trusts & Estates course do not allow for intensive discussion of these issues, but …

Preserving Preservation: Long Green Valley Association, Conservation Easements, And Charitable Trust Doctrine, Alyssa J. Domzal

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The White Whale: Bringing Emotion And Relevance To The Contemporary Trusts And Estates Course, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

No abstract provided.

Why The Buffett-Gates Giving Pledge Requires Limitation Of The Estate Tax Charitable Deduction, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

The Buffett-Gates Giving Pledge, under which wealthy individuals promise to leave a majority of their assets to charity, is an admirable effort to encourage philanthropy. However, the Pledge requires us to confront the paradox that the federal estate tax charitable deduction is unlimited while the federal income tax charitable deduction is capped. If a Giving Pledger leaves his wealth to charity, the federal fisc loses significant revenue since the Pledger thereby avoids federal estate taxation as charitable bequests are deductible without limit for federal estate tax purposes. Despite its laudable qualities, the Giving Pledge is a systematic (albeit inadvertent) threat …

Where Strict Meets Substantial: Oklahoma Standards For The Execution Of A Will, Katheleen Guzman

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

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, …

A Fresh Look At State Asset Protection Trust Statutes, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the rise of state asset protection trust ('APT) statutes. It juxtaposes two apparently contrary trends: an increase in formal legal responses suggesting that the trusts created under these statutes are likely to have at best limited enforceability and an increase in the adoption and use of these statutes. After summarizing the legal background out of which these two trends arise, I analyze the characteristics of the states that have chosen to adopt them to date and conclude that the size of a state is less predictive of adoption than broader social and economic characteristics of the populace. …