Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Wills, Trusts, Guardianships, And Fiduciary Administration, Mary F. Radford

Mercer Law Review

This Article describes selected cases and significant legislation from the period of June 1, 2008 through May 31, 2009, that pertain to Georgia fiduciary law and estate planning.

Linton Family Llc And The Step Transaction Doctrine, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses Linton, a district court decision about a family limited liability company, indirect gifts, and the step transaction doctrine.

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. Rodney Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Longmeyer Exposes Or Creates Uncertainty About The Duty To Inform Remainder Beneficiaries Of A Revocable Trust, David M. English, Turney P. Berry, Dana G. Fitzsimons Jr.

Faculty Publications

This article discusses the surprising Longmeyer decision, handed down by the Supreme Court of Kentucky earlier this year in which a predecessor trustee was held to have a duty to give certain notifications to former remainder beneficiaries of a revocable trust. The authors then examine how Longmeyer might have been decided in other states and under other statutory schemes. The article concludes with observations concerning when certain notices to trust beneficiaries may be conducive to effective trust administration and suggestions to those who administer trusts on how best to comply with beneficiary notice requirements.

Rudkin Testamentary Trust -- A Response To Prof. Cohen, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

In the August 3 issue of Tax Notes, Prof. Stephen Cohen wrote an article about Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions in three tax cases. Of those three cases, only the opinion she wrote in William L. Rudkin Testamentary Trust v. Commissioner, 467 F.3d 149 (2d Cir. 2006), Doc 2006- 21522, 2006 TNT 203-4, is worthy of comment. Although the Second Circuit’s decision in that case was affirmed by the Supreme Court under the name Knight v. Commissioner, the construction of the critical statutory language that Justice Sotomayor adopted was rejected and criticized by Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a unanimous court. …

What Portability Means To Trust And Estate Professionals, Marc S. Bekerman

Articles & Chapters

One issue that has received much discussion over the last several years is the concept of allowing the estate of a surviving spouse to use the unused estate tax applicable exemption amount from the estate of his or her predeceased spouse. This concept has often been referred to as portability of the applicable exemption amount (frequently referred to as "portability" herein) and can serve in many cases to simplify estate plans of persons with significant wealth while also allowing some taxpayers to avoid traps for the unwary. This article will review the concept of portability and its potential effect, should …

Families For Tax Purposes: What About The Steps, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

At least 4.4 million families in the U.S. are blended ones that include step-children and step-parents. For tax purposes, these steps receive preferential treatment for their status because they are on the one hand included as family members for many income tax benefit sections, but on the other hand excluded as family members for business entity attribution purposes and for gift and estate tax anti-abuse provisions. In the interests of fairness and uniformity, steps should be treated as family members for all tax purposes where steps have in fact voluntarily acted as their biological or adoptive counterparts, both when such …

Can Estate Planners And Trust Administrators Offer Help To Trust Beneficiaries Who Want To Learn To Make Positive Life Planning Decisions, Robert Whitman

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

The Price Of Pictures, Lucille A. Roussin

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article explores the significant increase in the value of art since World War II, highlighting the evolution of the art market and the complexities surrounding the restitution of looted artworks. It examines the growth of the art market through specific examples, such as the sales of high-value paintings, and discusses the legal and emotional challenges of recovering artworks stolen during the Holocaust.

Art Deaccessions And The Limits Of Fiduciary Duty, Sue Chen

Duke Law Student Papers Series

Art deaccessions prompt lawsuits against museums, and some commentators advocate using the stricter trust standard of care, instead of the prevailing corporate standard (business judgment rule), to evaluate the conduct of non‑profit museum boards. This Article explores the consequences of adopting the trust standard by applying it to previously unavailable deaccession policies of prominent art museums. It finds that so long as museum boards adhere to these policies, their decisions would satisfy the trust standard. This outcome illustrates an important limitation of fiduciary law: the trust standard evaluates procedural care but cannot assess deaccessions on their merits. Yet this limitation, …

Innovation Or A Race To The Bottom? Trust "Modernization" In New Hampshire, Christopher Paul

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Late last summer, Governor Lynch signed into law Senate Bill 465, designed to further update New Hampshire‘s trust law. This bill follows similar legislation in Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, and several other states. It adds major new provisions to the existing statutory framework for irrevocable trusts. The bill allows for the creation of so-called self-settled asset protection trusts or domestic asset protection trusts (DAPTs). DAPTs represent the latest chapter in our State‘s move away from traditional trust and estate principles towards a system of dynastic and (theoretically) creditor-proof trusts.

This legislation results from New Hampshire‘s desire to retain and attract …

Negron: Circuits Now Split 2-2, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

The article discusses Negron and the circuit split on the issue of whether to value non-assignable lottery payments in a decedent's estate by means of the actuarial tables or whether that value needs to be discounted for non-marketability.

A Malthusian Analysis Of The So-Called Dynasty Trust, William J. Turnier, Jeffrey L. Harrison

UF Law Faculty Publications

Select financial institutions and members of the Bar have seized upon the presence of the limited exemption from the generation skipping transfer tax provided under the Internal Revenue Code to promote so-called dynasty trusts as a means whereby individuals can build dynastic wealth for a family forever free from transfer taxes. To realize such benefits, state law that does not impose the Rule Against Perpetuities must govern the trust. The promise of dynastic wealth is unlikely to be realized due to several factors. Administrative and tax costs are likely to reduce the yield on such trusts to a level where …

The Kids Aren't Alright: An Examination Of Some Of The Flaws In American Law Regarding Child Disinheritance, The Reasons That Children Should Be Protected, And A Recommendation For The United States To Learn From The Australian Model That Protects Children Against Disinheritance, Adam Dayan

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that American law should adopt a more balanced approach to testamentary freedom by incorporating protections for children against disinheritance, drawing inspiration from the Australian model. While the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) currently allows testators complete freedom to disinherit children, the elective share and the unspoken rule—where courts use the undue influence doctrine to override disinheritance—suggest that testamentary freedom is not absolute. The note advocates for reform, emphasizing the moral obligation of parents to provide for their children, particularly in light of societal changes such as rising divorce rates and an aging population.

Am I The Only Person Paying Taxes? The Largest Tax Loophole For The Rich - Exchange Funds, David J. Herzig

Law Faculty Publications

President Obama is faced with a national debt at over $11 trillion and needs to fund projects such as National Health Care with an ever-shrinking tax base. As the economy has slowed, so have tax revenues. It would then make sense for the government to reexamine tax carve-outs that only benefit the wealthy. In fact, President Obama is on record saying he wants to eliminate tax loopholes. After almost fifty years, the time is ripe to eliminate one of the few congressionally authorized tax loopholes—the $30 billion Exchange Funds.

This Article addresses the social equity arguments and the tax and …

Allowing Perpetuities In North Carolina, John V. Orth

Campbell Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Irs's Flawed Solution To The Controversy Over Deductible Claims Against The Estate And The Necessity For A Date-Of-Death Standard, 42 J. Marshall L. Rev. 789 (2009), Lisa K. Johnson

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Puzzling Case Of Max Feinberg: An Analysis Of Conditions In Partial Restraint Of Marriage, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 265 (2009), Jeremy Macklin

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trust, We Have A Problem: Chawla Ex Rel. Geisinger V. Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Company, Its Revelation Of A Problem In Insurable Interest Statutes And The Subsequent Effect On Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Mary Mahala Gardner

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marriage And Its Alternatives, Jeanine Elbaz

Tribeca Square Press

No abstract provided.

Sperms And Estates: An Unadulterated Functionally Based Approach To Parent-Child Property Succession, Lee-Ford Tritt

UF Law Faculty Publications

The Article argues that the sanguinary nexus test, the dominant standard for determining whether an individual has a right to inherit property when another dies, has become an increasingly frustrating, and arguably arcane, legal tool in light of the diversity of family relationships extant in modern American life. The sanguinary nexus test determines child status based upon ties of “blood.” Considering the evolving notions of family structures and advances in reproductive technologies involving cloning, surrogacy and egg/sperm donation, serious questions arise about whether the existing sanguinary nexus test can produce results consistent with the fundamental principle of testamentary freedom underlying …

The Upc Addresses The Class-Gift And Intestacy Rights Of Children Of Assisted Reproduction Technologies, Lawrence W. Waggoner, Sheldon F. Kurtz

Articles

Editor's Synopsis: Recent years' advances in assisted reproduction technology have enabled the conception of children in ways in addition to the traditional way. The Uniform Probate Code was amended last year to address the status of children born from assisted reproductive technologies for intestacy and class-gift purposes. This article discusses the relevant UPC provisions and offers several hypothetical cases to show how they operate. The article concludes expressing the hope that states will consider the new UPC approach.

Toward A Model Law Of Estates And Future Interests, D. Benjamin Barros

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ohio Trust Code Update: Recent Developments, Alan Newman

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article is based on the author’s presentations at the 20th Annual Estate Planning Conference on Wealth Transfer in Columbus on June 26, 2009.

Since its enactment in 2006, effective January 1, 2007, the Ohio Trust Code (“OTC”) has been amended, a number of cases have been decided under it, and a variety of issues related to or raised by it have been identified. This article will review those developments.

Copyright Acknowledgment: This material is reprinted from the Probate Law Journal of Ohio with permission of Thomson Reuters. Copyright permission is on file.

Goodbye, Norma Jean: Marilyn Monroe And The Right Of Publicity's Transformation At Death, Michael Decker

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Estate And Gift Tax Implications Of Self-Settled Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Can You Really Have Your Cake And Eat It Too?, Phyllis C. Taite

Faculty Articles

Self-settled asset protection trusts are wealth preservation trusts coupled with the spendthrift provisions. This type of trust permits the settler to have the benefit of treating the trust as a separate entity thereby protecting his assets from creditors while maintaining a pecuniary interest, as well as some level of control over what ultimately happens to the trust property. By providing asset protection from potential creditors while still having the ability to maintain a beneficial interest in the trust, the settler can essentially “have his cake and eat it too.” The typical domestic self-settled asset protection trust may not be treated …

Keynote Address: The Conflicted Trustee Dilemma, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Immortal Fame: Publicity Rights, Taxation, And The Power Of Testation, Joshua C. Tate

Georgia Law Review

Several states now recognize survivable publicity rights, allowing the heirs of a deceased celebrity to inherit the rights to her image and likeness. Under the default U.S. rule of testamentary freedom, a celebrity could also freely devise such survivable rights to persons of his or her choosing. Nevertheless, some scholars have recently proposed the adoption of state statues under which survivable publicity rights would pass automatically to specified statutory heirs regardless of the celebrity's wishes. This Article concludes that no such interference with testamentary freedom is warranted. There is admittedly some historical precedent for protecting the interests of surviving family …

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 …