Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Restricting Testamentary Freedom: Ex Ante Versus Ex Post Justifications, Daniel B. Kelly

Journal Articles

The organizing principle of American succession law — testamentary freedom — gives decedents a nearly unrestricted right to dispose of property. After surveying the justifications for testamentary freedom, I examine the circumstances in which it may be socially beneficial for courts to alter wills, trusts, and other gratuitous transfers at death: imperfect information, negative externalities, and intergenerational equity. These justifications correspond with many existing limitations on the freedom of testation. Yet, disregarding donor intent to maximize the donees’ ex post interests, an increasingly common justification for intervention, is socially undesirable. Doing so ignores important ex ante considerations, including a donor’s …

The Specter Of Civil Law Clawback Actions Haunting U.S. And Uk Charitable Giving, Aaron Schwabach

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Toward Economic Analysis Of The Uniform Probate Code, Daniel B. Kelly

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Insights from economics and the economic analysis of law may be useful in analyzing succession law, including intestacy and wills as well as nonprobate transfers such as trusts. After surveying prior works that have examined succession from a functional perspective, I explore the possibility of utilizing tools like (i) transaction costs, (ii) the ex ante/ex post distinction, and (iii) rules versus standards, to illuminate the design of the Uniform Probate Code. Specifically, I investigate how these tools, which legal scholars have employed widely in other contexts, may be relevant in understanding events like the nonprobate revolution and issues like "dead …

The Greatest Heritage Is The Love Of A Family: The Larson Case And The Mediation Of Probate Disputes, Susan N. Gary

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In 1981, two brothers, Ben and William Larson, began litigation that would last for four years. By the time the lawsuit ended, the "winning" brother was dead, and the other brother was bitter and estranged from the family of his only sibling. Although one can only speculate, had the brothers chosen mediation, rather than litigation, to resolve their dispute, both brothers might have achieved a better outcome.

Toward Economic Analysis Of The Uniform Probate Code, Daniel B. Kelly

Journal Articles

Insights from economics and the economic analysis of law may be useful in analyzing succession law, including intestacy and wills as well as nonprobate transfers such as trusts. After surveying prior works that have examined succession from a functional perspective, I explore the possibility of utilizing tools like (i) transaction costs, (ii) the ex ante/ex post distinction, and (iii) rules versus standards, to illuminate the design of the Uniform Probate Code. Specifically, I investigate how these tools, which legal scholars have employed widely in other contexts, may be relevant in understanding events like the nonprobate revolution and issues like “dead …

Inside Wills And Trusts: What Matters And Why, William P. Lapiana

Books

Inside Wills and Trusts: What Matters and Why offers students a concise, student-friendly study aid that provides a big-picture view of how all of the essential elements of this field fit together as part of a coherent framework of legal theory and practice. Using a wide variety of pedagogical aids, this new addition to the successful Inside Series offers basic coverage of the main themes of wills and trusts law, focusing on what matters and why, while providing students multiple opportunities for review.

Coming To Terms With The Uniform Probate Code's Reformation Of Wills, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

No abstract provided.

What Sex-Ed Didn't Teach You: Addressing The Inadequacies Of West Virginia Code Section 42-1-8 And The Future Of Posthumously Conceived Children, Andrew S. Felts

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

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

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 …

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 …

An Empirical Assessment Of The Potential For Will Substitutes To Improve State Intestacy Statutes, Mary Louise Fellows, E Gary Spitko, Charles Q. Strohm

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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, …

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 …

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.

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

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

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.

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. …

The Empire Of Illness: Competence And Coercion In Health-Care Decision Making, Marsha Garrison

William & Mary Law Review

The law's willingness to take account of factors that interfere with volition tends to vary in accordance with its underlying goals. The law of wills is dominated by the principle of freedom of testation; it has thus developed doctrines aimed at detecting coercive influences that interfere with the testator's free agency. The law of medical decision making, dominated by the analogous principle of patient autonomy, has not developed doctrines aimed at detecting coercive influences despite a large and growing body of evidence showing that disordered insight and major depression, two common medical conditions, often have a coercive, negative effect on …

Review Of Raymond C. O'Brien & Michael T. Flannery, Decedents' Estates: Cases And Materials (2006), Gerry W. Berry

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Divorcees Turn About In Their Graves As Ex-Spouses Cash In: Codified Constructive Trusts Ensure An Equitable Result Regarding Erisa-Governed Employee Benefit Plans, Sarabeth A. Rayho

Michigan Law Review

A revocation-by-divorce statute essentially nullifies a devise in a divorced decedent's will when the devise bequeaths property to the decedent's ex-spouse and the will was executed during their marriage. Until recently, state revocation-by-divorce statutes unquestionably applied not only to wills but also to will substitutes, including ERISA-governed employee benefit plans. In 2001, the Supreme Court held in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff ex rel. Breiner that ERISA preempts traditional state revocation-by-divorce statutes as applied to ERISA-governed employee benefit plans. In the wake of the Egelhoff decision, plan administrators may automatically pay proceeds to the listed beneficiary, even an ex-spouse, regardless of the …

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 …

Free Will To Will? A Case For The Recognition Of Intestacy Rights For Survivors To A Same-Sex Marriage Or Civil Union?, Christine A. Hammerle

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that courts should recognize intestacy rights for same sex couples that were validly married or civilly united in a state other than the one in which one of the partners died. Courts may validly recognize the marriage for intestacy purposes, even while refusing to recognize the marriage as against public policy. Part I details the recent provision of benefits in various states to same-sex couples. Part II argues that same-sex couples cannot necessarily rely on wills to effectuate their intent to leave their property to their spouses. Part III argues that when states refuse to recognize the …

A Uniform Probate Code For Indian Country At Last, David M. English

Faculty Publications

AIPRA makes major reforms to the Indian probate system. Federal law long provided that trust or restricted lands and IlM accounts owned by an Indian intestate are to be distributed to the heirs as determined under state law. AIPRA replaces this with one uniform intestacy scheme for the distribution of trust lands and IJIM accounts in lieu of the 30-plus state systems that now apply. AIPRA also fills out the federal law on wills, enacting numerous provisions on the interpretation of wills, most adapted from the Uniform Probate Code. In addition to providing Indian country with a uniform and more …

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.

Wills—Holographic Wills And Testamentary Intent—Extrinsic Evidence Is Inadmissible To Prove Testimentary Intent For Holographic Wills Lacking Words Of Disposition. Edmundson V. Estate Of Fountain, No. 03-1459, 2004 Wl 1475423 (Ark. July 1, 2004), J. M. Robinette

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

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

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.