Estates and Trusts Commons^™

In Defense Of The No Further Inquiry Rule: A Response To Professor John Langbein, Melanie B. Leslie

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Un Cygne Noir, Peter Goodrich

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter To Derrida/America, Anton Schütz

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Perpetuities Or Tax: Explaining The Rise Of The Perpetual Trust, Max M. Schanzenbach, Robert H. Sitkoff

Public Law and Legal Theory Papers

By abolishing the Rule Against Perpetuities, 21 states have validated perpetual trusts. The prevailing view among scholars is that the 1986 generation skipping transfer (GST) tax prompted the movement to abolish the Rule by conferring a salient tax advantage on long-term trusts. However, an alternate view holds that demand for perpetual trusts stems from donors’ preference for control independent of tax considerations. Proponents of both views have adduced supporting anecdotal evidence. Using state-level panel data on trust assets prior to the adoption of the GST tax, we examine whether a state’s abolition of the Rule gave the state an advantage …

A Prudential Exercise: Abstention And The Probate Exception To Federal Diversity Jurisdiction, Christian J. Grostic

Michigan Law Review

Ann-Marie Brege's parents established an irrevocable trust in 1985, with Ann-Marie as sole beneficiary. When Merrill Lynch Trust Co. took over as trustee years later, however, the trust's principal dropped sharply, losing over half its value in just a few years. Ann-Marie sued in Michigan probate court, alleging that Merrill Lynch had violated its legal duties in administering the trust. Since Ann-Marie was from New York and Merrill Lynch had its headquarters in New Jersey, Merrill Lynch had an apparently easy argument for diversity jurisdiction. In an unremarkable turn of events, Merrill Lynch filed a notice of removal to federal …

Can Business Learn To Love The Environment? The Case For A U.S. Corporate Carbon Fund, Sophie E. Smyth

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Dependent Relative Revocation Has Lost Its Way But Can Be Found And Better Understood, Frank L. Schiavo

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Beyond Our Conception: A Look At Children Born Posthumously Through Reproductive Technology And New York Intestacy Law, Erica Howard-Potter

Buffalo Women's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Use Of "Request," "Wish," "Desire": Precatory Trust Or Not?, Frank L. Schiavo

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Rev. Proc. 2005-24 And The Upc Elective Share, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This article discusses Revenue Procedure 2005-24, which came as a bombshell to the estate-planning bar. The Rev. Proc. requires a spousal waiver of elective-share rights in order for a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) or a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) created on or after June 28, 2005, to qualify for a charitable deduction. The elective share is a statutory provision common to most probate codes in non-community-property states that protect a decedent’s surviving spouse against disinheritance.

The Rev. Proc. is primarily though apparently not exclusively addressed to the elective share of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC). Unfortunately, the Rev. Proc. …

Lingering Questions Regarding The Devise Of Black's Acre: How Many Witnesses Are Required To Prove The Execution Of A Lost Will?, Sarah Shirey

Washington Law Review

Prior to the 1994 revisions to Washington's lost will statute, courts required that execution of a lost will be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. In In re Estate of Black, the Washington State Supreme Court announced that under the revised lost will statute, execution of a lost will must be shown by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. However, the Black court did not clearly define the quantum of proof necessary to meet this new burden. The dissent in Black read the majority opinion as creating a "two witness requirement," necessitating testimony from both attesting witnesses to meet …

32nd Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the 32nd Midwest/Midsouth Estate Planning Institute held by UK/CLE in July 2005.

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.

Practical Risk Management For Trustees And Other Fiduciaries, Office Of Continuing Legal Education At The University Of Kentucky College Of Law

Continuing Legal Education Materials

Materials from the conference on Practical Risk Management for Trustees and Other Fiduciaries held by UK/CLE in July 2005.

In Defense Of Porfiry Petrovich, Robert Batey

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Charity Governance: What’S Trust Law Got To Do With It? (Symposium), Evelyn Brody

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Section 1014(B)(6) And The Boundaries Of Community Property, Jeremy T. Ware

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Limited Liability Companies And Estate Planning, Michael D. Larobina J.D., L.L.M.

WCBT Faculty Publications

Discusses court cases involving the use of limited liability companies as an estate planning tool in the U.S. Facts of the case of Estate of Strangi versus Commissioner; Stance of the court on the transfers made to the limited partnership; Impact of the case of Kimbell versus U.S. on the use of limited liability companies as estate planning vehicles.

When Gift Planning Goes Awry, Thomas Simmons

Faculty Publications

Advisors to gift recipients need to be aware of the possibility of gifts with attached transferee liability.

Who's Your Daddy?: Challenging The Application Of The Best Interest Of The Child Standard To Adults And In The Context Of An Intestate Estate, Tyler E. Heffron

ExpressO

This article includes a discussion of (1) whether the best interest of the child standard should apply to an adult, (2) whether the best interest of the child standard should apply in the context of an intestate estate, and (3) whether the Kansas Probate Code should defer heirship challenges to the Kansas Parentage Act. The article, following case law from New Mexico and statutes from Georgia, concludes that the best interest of the child standard should not apply to an adult or in the context of an intestate estate. The article proposes an amendment to the Kansas Probate Code.

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 …

The Virginia Uniform Trust Code, Robert T. Danforth

Scholarly Articles

In its 2005 session the Virginia General Assembly enacted Senate Bill No. 891, thus adopting the Uniform Trust Code (UTC), with modifications considered appropriate to this state's institutions, traditions and jurisprudence. The Virginia Uniform Trust Code (Virginia UTC), set forth in new Chapter 31 of Title 55 of the Code, has an effective date of July 1, 2006, but, once in effect, will be applicable (with some exceptions) to trusts created before, on, or after that date.

The new Virginia UTC, which encompasses the great bulk of the principles and rules that comprise the law of trusts in Virginia, has …

Dynamic Conservation Easements: Facing The Problem Of Perpetuity In Land Conservation, Duncan M. Greene

Seattle University Law Review

Compared to traditional, static conservation easements, dynamic conservation easements capable of accommodating change over time are better suited to serving their unique conservation purposes. As a result, they are more likely to fulfill their promise to protect the land in perpetuity. For the purposes of this Comment, a "static conservation easement" is an easement whose terms provide unchanging land use restrictions. By contrast, a "dynamic conservation easement" is one whose terms provide land use restrictions that may change over time. Part II of the article provides a primer on land trusts and their use of conservation easements and discusses problems …

Death And Taxes: The Family Limited Partnership And Its Use In Estate Planning After The Third Circuit's Ruling In Estate Of Thompson V. Commissioner, Lauren E. Bishow

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Afterlife Of The Meretricious Relationship Doctrine: Applying The Doctrine Post Mortem, John E. Wallace

Seattle University Law Review

The meretricious relationship doctrine has received increased attention in recent years largely due to its application to same-sex couples' and the national debate on same-sex marriage. However, the importance of the doctrine, applicable also to heterosexual couples, extends beyond this recent focus. The number of unmarried, committed persons cohabitating has been increasing rapidly. Over eleven million people reported being unmarried but living with a partner in 2000, an increase of seventy-two percent since 1990. As the number of unmarried persons cohabitating increases, so will the importance of the doctrine. The meretricious relationship doctrine is a judicially-created equitable doctrine that allows …

Outdated Form Of Evidentiary Law: A Survey Of Dead Man's Statutes And A Proposal For Change, Ed Wallis

Cleveland State Law Review

In order to understand why Dead Man's statutes should be amended by state legislatures, it is important to look at the historical context of Dead Man's statutes and how they have been handled, interpreted and applied in different states. Consequently, Part II of this paper presents an historical outline of Dead Man's statutes; Part III surveys nine states that currently have a common law Dead Man's statute; Part IV analyzes the weaknesses behind the Dead Man's statute; Part V presents three separate alternatives that states should consider adopting in lieu of their current Dead Man's statutes. Finally, part VI concludes …

The Arkansas Trust Code: Good Law For Arkansas, Lynn Foster

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Prototype Carbon Fund: A New Departure In International Trusts And Securities Law, Sophie Smyth

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Resolution Procedures To Resolve Trust Beneficiary Complaints, Robert Whitman

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.