Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Property Law and Real Estate (29)
- Legislation (16)
- State and Local Government Law (13)
- Family Law (11)
- Law and Society (8)
-
- Taxation-Federal Estate and Gift (8)
- Tax Law (6)
- Common Law (5)
- Comparative and Foreign Law (4)
- Contracts (4)
- Courts (4)
- Torts (4)
- Constitutional Law (3)
- Legal History (3)
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (3)
- Arts and Humanities (2)
- Banking and Finance Law (2)
- Bankruptcy Law (2)
- Conflict of Laws (2)
- Criminal Law (2)
- European Law (2)
- Insurance Law (2)
- Labor and Employment Law (2)
- Legal Education (2)
- Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2)
- Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law (2)
- Science and Technology Law (2)
- Taxation-Federal (2)
- Institution
-
- University of Michigan Law School (27)
- West Virginia University (26)
- University of Richmond (24)
- University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (14)
- Vanderbilt University Law School (10)
-
- University of Arkansas Little Rock (9)
- University of Kentucky (9)
- Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law (9)
- Pace University (5)
- University of Florida Levin College of Law (4)
- William & Mary Law School (4)
- American University Washington College of Law (3)
- Association of American Law Schools (3)
- Notre Dame Law School (3)
- Texas A&M University School of Law (3)
- Maurer School of Law: Indiana University (2)
- St. Mary's University (2)
- University of Oklahoma College of Law (2)
- Boston University School of Law (1)
- Florida International University College of Law (1)
- Georgia State University College of Law (1)
- Penn State Dickinson Law (1)
- University of Cincinnati College of Law (1)
- University of Maine School of Law (1)
- University of Missouri School of Law (1)
- University of Montana (1)
- University of Washington School of Law (1)
- Washington University in St. Louis (1)
- Washington and Lee University School of Law (1)
- Wayne State University (1)
- Publication Year
- Publication
-
- West Virginia Law Review (26)
- Law Faculty Publications (20)
- Articles (16)
- Maryland Law Review (13)
- Vanderbilt Law Review (9)
-
- Villanova Law Review (1956 - ) (9)
- Michigan Law Review (6)
- Faculty Publications (5)
- Law Faculty Scholarship (5)
- Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications (4)
- Faculty Scholarship (4)
- Law Faculty Scholarly Articles (4)
- UF Law Faculty Publications (4)
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review (4)
- University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform (4)
- University of Richmond Law Review (4)
- Journal Articles (3)
- Journal of Legal Education (3)
- Kentucky Law Journal (3)
- Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals (3)
- Faculty Articles (2)
- Indiana Law Journal (2)
- Arbitration Law Review (2009 - Present) (1)
- Book Chapters (1)
- Continuing Legal Education Materials (1)
- Court Decisions (1)
- Faculty Articles and Other Publications (1)
- Georgia State University Law Review (1)
- Law Faculty Popular Media (1)
- Law Faculty Research Publications (1)
- Publication Type
Articles 31 - 60 of 172
Full-Text Articles in Estates and Trusts
Incomplete Wills, Adam J. Hirsch
Incomplete Wills, Adam J. Hirsch
Michigan Law Review
This Article explores the problems that arise when a will fails to dispose of an individual's entire estate, so that she dies partially testate and partially intestate. The questions then raised include (1) whether provisions contained in the will purporting to redefine the individual's intestate heirs should supersede the statutory designations of those heirs, (2) whether inter vivos gifts to heirs should qualify as advancements on the inheritances of those heirs under conditions of partial intestacy, and, most broadly, (3) whether courts should fill in the incomplete portion of an individual's estate plan by extrapolating from the distributive preferences set …
A Supreme Court Ruling That's About Way More Than Preemption, Nancy Polikoff
A Supreme Court Ruling That's About Way More Than Preemption, Nancy Polikoff
Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals
No abstract provided.
The Specter Of Civil Law Clawback Actions Haunting U.S. And Uk Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach
The Specter Of Civil Law Clawback Actions Haunting U.S. And Uk Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach
Law Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Effectively Curbing The Gst Exemption For Perpetual Trusts, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Effectively Curbing The Gst Exemption For Perpetual Trusts, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
In "Effectively Curbing the GST Exemption for Perpetual Trusts," I criticized the Treasury Department’s proposal for dealing with perpetual trusts. My objection is that Treasury’s approach would leave many trusts and much wealth GST-exempt for much longer than Congress originally intended. For perpetual trusts created before enactment, Treasury’s approach would allow them to continue to be unburdened by a durational limit. For perpetual trusts created after the effective date of enactment, Treasury’s approach would still allow them to qualify for the GST exemption, but would have the exemption expire 90 years after the trust was created.
Non-Judicial Estate Settlement, John H. Martin
Non-Judicial Estate Settlement, John H. Martin
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Estate settlement through probate procedures satisfies no one. The public is hostile to the delay, expense, and lack of privacy that accompanies probate. Attorneys respond to public dissatisfaction by counseling probate avoidance. Legislatures facilitate some settlements by enacting simplified procedures for low-value estates. In large measure, the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) was a response to criticisms leveled at probate. Alternative settlement procedures are offered by the UPC, including informal testacy determinations and informal appointment procedures. These alternatives, however, remain imbedded in a judicial system, with it procedural rigidities. The UPC informal settlement alternatives did not silence the criticism. The continued …
What's In The Third And Final Volume Of The New Restatement Of Property That Estate Planners Should Know About, Lawrence W. Waggoner
What's In The Third And Final Volume Of The New Restatement Of Property That Estate Planners Should Know About, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
Professor John Langbein and I have just concluded a twenty-year project for the American Law Institute to restate the law of donative transfers. The official title of our three-volume Restatement is the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers.1 We refer to it herein simply as the Property Restatement. The third and final volume of the work was published in the last days of 2011. Professor Langbein spoke about certain of the initiatives in the two earlier volumes, which set forth the principles governing the law of wills, intestacy, interpretation of instruments, and the nonprobate system. The concluding …
Of Charities And Clawbacks: The European Union Proposal On Successions And Wills As A Threat To Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach
Of Charities And Clawbacks: The European Union Proposal On Successions And Wills As A Threat To Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach
Law Faculty Scholarship
In the United Kingdom, and to a lesser extent the United States, an inter vivos gift, once given, cannot be reclaimed by the giver's heirs. In civil law countries the situation is quite different: Not only spouses, but issue and in some cases even ascendants, are entitled to a forced share of a decedent's estate--and these forced shares are assessed against a notional “estate” that includes the testator's inter vivos gifts. If the total of these forced shares exceeds the amount actually available in the decedent's estate at death, the recipients of the gifts, or their successors, may be forced …
The Game Is Afoot!: The Significance Of Donative Transfers In The Sherlock Holmes Canon, Stephen R. Alton
The Game Is Afoot!: The Significance Of Donative Transfers In The Sherlock Holmes Canon, Stephen R. Alton
Faculty Scholarship
This article presents a recently discovered and previously unpublished manuscript written by John H. Watson, M.D., and annotated by Professor Stephen Alton. Dr. Watson’s manuscript records an extended conversation that took place between the good doctor and his great friend, the renowned consulting detective Mr. Sherlock Holmes, regarding issues of gratuitous transfers of property – issues involving inheritances, wills, and trusts – that have arisen in some of the great cases solved by Mr. Holmes. This felicitous discovery confirms something that Professor Alton has long known: these gratuitous transfer issues permeate many of these adventures. Often, the action in the …
Trusts & Estates (Annual Survey Of Michigan Law, June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2012), Susan E. Cancelosi
Trusts & Estates (Annual Survey Of Michigan Law, June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2012), Susan E. Cancelosi
Law Faculty Research Publications
The Survey period began only two months after the Michigan Trust Code took effect. Thus, attorneys handling matters subject to the new trust law were only beginning to delve into how their practices will change. At the same time, estate planners who handle larger estates spent the first part of the Survey period on edge about federal estate tax uncertainty. Although Congress in mid-December 2010 did act to extend the estate tax relief of the past decade, it did so only temporarily, leaving many questions for future planning. With the new Michigan Trust Code and the federal estate tax changes, …
There's A Will, But No Way--Whatever Happened To The Doctrine Of Testamentary Freedom And What Can (Should) We Do To Restore It?, Irene D. Johnson
There's A Will, But No Way--Whatever Happened To The Doctrine Of Testamentary Freedom And What Can (Should) We Do To Restore It?, Irene D. Johnson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
It is the purpose of this article to examine the current problems surrounding the issue of freedom of testation, to enumerate and evaluate various suggestions that have been proposed for the elimination of these problems, and to propose this writer's suggestion for the restoration of freedom of testation to those who wish to propound non-traditional estate plans. Part I examines, in some detail, the ways in which courts and juries have stymied the exercise of freedom of testation. Part II is devoted to the different suggestions that commentators have put forth for the protection of the non-traditional estate plan. Part …
In Re Est. Of Sure Chief, No. 2009-P-20 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., Jul. 1, 2010)., Blackfeet Appellate Court
In Re Est. Of Sure Chief, No. 2009-P-20 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., Jul. 1, 2010)., Blackfeet Appellate Court
Court Decisions
Court of Appeals held that petitioner could not appeal the appointment of personal representative for her mother’s estate until she had exhausted her remedies at the Lower Court “with verification of how her rights have been violated.”
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2009-2010), J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2009-2010), J. Rodney Johnson
Law Faculty Publications
The 2010 Session of the General Assembly enacted wills, trusts, and estates legislation (i) adopting the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, (ii) passing emergency legislation for the construction of tax-oriented wills and trusts of persons who die during 2010 with documents drafted prior thereto, (iii) revising the small-estate statutes, and (iv) clarifying the burial power of attorney. In addition, there were six other enactments, and seven opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia during the one-year period ending June 1, 2010 that present issues of interest in this area. This article reports on all of these legislative and judicial developments, …
A Suggested Solution To The Problem Of Intestate Succession In Nontraditional Family Arrangements: Taking The "Adoption" (And The Inequity) Out Of The Doctrine Of "Equitable Adoption", Irene D. Johnson
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Part I of this Article examines the doctrine of equitable adoption, focusing on its deficiencies in addressing some of the issues of the modern family. Part II considers the specific issue of intestate succession, the way that the equitable adoption doctrine falls short in providing a consistent rational result of heirship in the modern family, and the reasons for expanding inheritance rights to “family members” claiming an intestate share despite the fact that they were not born into or legally adopted into the family arrangement. Part III proposes answers to these difficult problems, suggesting a statutory provision defining “child,” for …
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia) Law, 2008-2009, J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia) Law, 2008-2009, J. Rodney Johnson
Law Faculty Publications
The 2009 Session of the General Assembly enacted wills, trusts, and estates legislation (1) preventing, in cases where persons die aft.er June 30, 2009, application of a regrettable 2008 Supreme Court of Virginia decision dealing with the rights of illegitimate heirs in intestate succession, and (2) amending Virginia's version of the Uniform Principal and Income Act to provide for taxpayer benefit and clarity in matters relating to total return unitrusts, the marital deduction, and the income taxation of trusts. In addition, there were several other enactments along with four opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia during the one-year period …
Shattering And Moving Beyond The Gutenberg Paradigm: The Dawn Of The Electronic Will, Joseph Karl Grant
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 …
Probate Law Reform And Nonprobate Transfers, Grayson M.P. Mccouch
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 …
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2006-2008), J. Rodney Johnson
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, …
Valuing All Families: An Introduction To The 2008 Santa Clara Law Review Symposium, Nancy Polikoff
Valuing All Families: An Introduction To The 2008 Santa Clara Law Review Symposium, Nancy Polikoff
Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals
The family has changed over time, as has the law concerning families and relationships. Thank goodness. Until recent decades, the law punished nonmarital sex, delineated separate spheres for men and women, and restricted the grounds for ending marriage. The sexual revolution, feminism, and the demand for divorce were the social phenomena that facilitated these changes. Today we take for granted that marriage is not the right dividing line for the rights and obligations of parents. We now must revise our laws to protect the economic security and emotional peace of mind of the full variety of today's families and relationships.
The Offshore Asset Protection Trust: A Prudent Financial Planning Device Or The Last Refuge Of A Scoundrel?, Richard C. Ausness
The Offshore Asset Protection Trust: A Prudent Financial Planning Device Or The Last Refuge Of A Scoundrel?, Richard C. Ausness
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
In recent years, a large number of Americans have established "asset protection trusts" in foreign countries. An asset protection trust is a self-settled spendthrift trust which is created in order to protect the settlor's property from the claims of creditors. Virtually all American jurisdictions recognize spendthrift trusts, which prohibit both voluntary and involuntary alienation of a third party beneficiary's interest in a trust; however, most do not allow a settlor who has retained a beneficial interest in a spendthrift trust to protect that interest from the claims of creditors. A growing number of present and former British possessions, however, have …
Class Gifts Under The Restatement (Third) Of Property, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Class Gifts Under The Restatement (Third) Of Property, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
The new Restatement (Third) of Property (officially the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers), in tandem with the Restatement (Third) of Trusts, is systematically proceeding through the whole field of wills, will substitutes, trusts, and estates. Both of the new Restatements should prove to be handy resources for trust and estate lawyers, not only in preparing to argue cases at both trial and appellate levels, but also in the everyday work of drafting and construing dispositive provisions in wills, trusts, and other types of donative documents. Each Restatement section is followed by a set of Comments explaining …
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2005-2006), J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2005-2006), J. Rodney Johnson
Law Faculty Publications
The General Assembly enacted legislation dealing with wills, trusts, and estates that added or amended a number of sections of the Virginia Code in its 2006 Session. In addition, there were six opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia during the period covered by this review that presented issues of interest to the general practitioner as well as the specialist in wills, trusts, and estates. This article reports on all of these legislative and judicial developments.
Drafting Attorneys As Fiduciaries: Fashioning An Optimal Ethical Rule For Conflicts Of Interest, Paula A. Monopoli
Drafting Attorneys As Fiduciaries: Fashioning An Optimal Ethical Rule For Conflicts Of Interest, Paula A. Monopoli
Faculty Scholarship
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 …
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2004-05), J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2004-05), J. Rodney Johnson
Law Faculty Publications
The General Assembly enacted legislation dealing with wills, trusts, and estates that added or amended a number of sections of the Virginia Code in its 2005 Session. In addition, there were two opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia that presented issues of interest to the general practitioner as well as to the specialist in wills, trusts, and estates during the period covered by this review. This article reports on all of these legislative and judicial developments.
Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson
University of Richmond Law Review
No abstract provided.
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2003-2004), J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2003-2004), J. Rodney Johnson
Law Faculty Publications
The General Assembly enacted legislation dealing with wills, trusts, and estates that added or amended a number of sections of the Virginia Code in its 2004 Session. In addition, there were four opinions from the Supreme Court of Virginia that raised issues of interest to the general practitioner as well as the specialist in wills, trusts, and estates during the period covered by this review. This article reports on all of these legislative and judicial developments.
Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson
University of Richmond Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Uniform Probate Code's Elective Share: Time For A Reassessment, Lawrence W. Waggoner
The Uniform Probate Code's Elective Share: Time For A Reassessment, Lawrence W. Waggoner
Articles
In this Article, Professor Waggoner proposes reforms to the Uniform Probate Code's (UPC) treatment of the elective share of the surviving spouse. First, the Article recommends that the UPC adopt a form of presentation that more transparently reflects the normative theories and empirical assumptions underlying the UPC's elective share framework. Second, the Article presents demographic data suggesting that the UPC's current elective share approximation schedule may be inappropriatef or a sizable faction of married couples, those remarryingf ollowing widowhood. Finally, the Article proposes two substantive revisions to the UPC's election share framework-the first proposal is to lengthen the approximation schedule; …
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2002-2003), J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts And Estates (Annual Survey Of Virginia Law, 2002-2003), J. Rodney Johnson
Law Faculty Publications
The General Assembly of Virginia enacted legislation dealing with wills, trusts, and estates that added or amended a number of sections of the Virginia Code in its 2003 Session. In addition, there were three opinions and one order from the Supreme Court of Virginia, and one Virginia Circuit Court opinion, that raised issues of interest to the general practitioner as well as the specialist in wills, trusts, and estates during the period covered by this review. This article reports on all of these legislative and judicial developments.
The Rise Of The Perpetual Trust, Jesse Dukeminier, James E. Krier
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 …
Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson
Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson
University of Richmond Law Review
No abstract provided.