Estates and Trusts Commons^™

An Estate Plan For Kanye West, Thomas Simmons

Faculty Publications

One inventory item in megastar Kanye West’s vast portfolio of assets merits a unique sort of care and safeguarding—his right of publicity. The right of publicity is a property interest which represents the commercial value of a celebrity’s name, image, and likeness. In some states, including California, the right survives the celebrity’s death and is freely alienable and devisable. A protective arrangement, such as a trust, is often pursued to impose postmortem use and transferability restrictions on property that has particular importance to the testator. This Article proposes a noncharitable purpose trust as a means by which Kanye West’s right …

Keeping It In The Family: The Pitfalls Of Naming A Family Member As A Trustee, Richard C. Ausness

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This article is concerned with trusts in which either the settlor, trustee, or beneficiaries are members of the same family. For example, the settlors may be the parents, grandparents, or other relatives of the trust beneficiaries. Trustees may be settlors, parents of the beneficiaries, children of the settlor, and other family members, while beneficiaries may include either the settlor, the settlor's spouse, children, grandchildren, or other relatives of the settlor. These persons will be referred to as "family members."

Virtually all family members have disagreements with other family members and sometimes these disagreements can destroy relationships and even lead to …

Maintaining Client Privacy In An Increasingly Public World, Anne-Marie E. Rhodes, Mel M. Justak

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Individuals have long been interested in protecting their private family and financial matters from broad public disclosure. Motives vary, of course, but can range from safety concerns to saving certain family members from public embarrassment that could jeopardize future busi­ ness and social opportunities. 1 While motives may have changed little over time, the urgency to protect privacy is more pronounced in today's world.2 For example, 100 years ago the primary vehicle for wide dissemi­ nation of news - including a family's or individual's private matters - was newspapers. While disclosure through this medium could certainly be embarrassing, the disclosure …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Let The Author Do The Talking: Why Wyoming’S Holographic Will Statute Does Not Currently Give The Testator Final Say, Birney Brayton, Krystle Somers

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

Funeral Poverty, Victoria J. Haneman

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article makes a unique contribution to the literature by drawing attention to the financial burden of death service being shouldered by those who are “relatively poor,” or those for whom everyday life may be a financial struggle. The thesis is equal parts positive, normative, descriptive, and prescriptive: it is imperative that options be made available to transition human remains in a way that does not exacerbate cycles of poverty and allows for the living to preserve dignity. This need calls for important changes to existing legal structures, including modernization of consumer protection regulation, change to laws regulating the death …

Custom Of The Country: Trust And Marriage Planning In High-Wealth Families, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

That marriage has always been a property arrangement in some form or another – particularly for those families and couples with property to arrange – is a truism. It is a truism because marriage has significant property implications for the intended spouses, with the result that financial planning around marriage is both a historical and continuing reality, despite changes in the social and economic norms governing marriage. Moreover, the wealth management industry has, past and present, trained its eye and its expertise on marriage planning as part of a family’s larger wealth planning, offering services and products to help mitigate …

Hong Kong Small House Policy: Modernity, Crisis, Morality & Policies For Repair, Conor J. Hyatt

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The note critiques Hong Kong's Small House Policy (SHP), arguing that it is unconstitutional and perpetuates inequality by granting exclusive housing rights to male indigenous villagers, while failing to address the city's severe housing crisis. The policy discriminates based on gender, ethnicity, and class, violating the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights. The author contends that the SHP is outdated, unsustainable, and contributes to fraudulent practices, urging its replacement with a more equitable housing system.

Erisa Defined Benefit Plans Are Not "Trust" Worthy, Stewart E. Sterk

Articles

No abstract provided.

Fraudulent Transfers: Void And Voidable, David G. Carlson

Articles

This Article explores the civil procedure attendant to private fraudulent transfer litigation (primarily outside the context of bankruptcy). In such litigation, courts ponder whether fraudulent transfers are void or voidable. In fact, they are both simultaneously! According to the theory "at law," a fraudulent transfer is "void." That is, a creditor with a judgment could simply levy the property from a fraudulent grantee as if the grantee had no property rights. This Article questions the constitutional viability of this ancient attitude. Meanwhile, "equity" viewed the transfer as voidable. The grantee gets title, but the title might be set aside. The …

Keeping Current - Probate [Notes], Claire Hargrove, Paula Moore, Kerri G. Nipp, William P. Lapiana

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Legal Complications Of Repatriation At The British Museum, Hannah R. Godwin

Washington International Law Journal

The British Museum has been the target of criticism around the world for its failure to repatriate controversial cultural property to their respective countries of origin. In 1753, a private collector left his collection to Great Britain if it agreed to build a public museum and designate a Board of Trustees whose duty was to protect the collection for the public. Statutorily incorporating the collector’s intent, Parliament passed legislation binding the Board of Trustees to abide by certain principles, including preserving the collection and prohibiting disposal of objects, except in very few circumstances. As such, the Museum is administrated through …

Front Matter

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Marital Versus Nonmarital Entitlements, Raymond C. O'Brien

ACTEC Law Journal

The percentage of adult couples living in intimate nonmarital cohabitation continues to increase. The period of cohabitation is most often for a short period of time and entered into for several reasons. But for a small percentage of these and an increasing percentage of longer-term cohabitants, dissolution during life or at death often results in the unjust enrichment of one party. This Article examines methods of redress. In piecemeal fashion, a variety of states enforce nonmarital agreements, written and oral, during lifetime, while some enforce equitable remedies. Very few states enforce contract or equity remedies at death.

The paucity of …

Gifts In Contemplation Of Death: Why Can't Section 2035 Simply Die?, Stephanie J. Willbanks

ACTEC Law Journal

Income and wealth inequality has become a popular topic. There are a myriad of ways to reduce such inequality utilizing the tax system, either the income tax or the transfer taxes. Revitalizing the estate tax by reducing the exemption amount and adjusting the rate structure would reduce inequality. Much has been written about the viability of the estate tax and possible alternatives. This article does not revisit that analysis. Instead, it assumes that the estate tax will remain a viable component of the overall tax system. It analyzes one small segment of the estate tax – §2035 – and argues …

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

Mercer Law Review

This Article describes significant cases decided by the Georgia Court of Appeals during the period of June 1, 2020, through May 31, 2019, that pertain to Georgia fiduciary law and estate planning. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgia General Assembly suspended its 2020 session and thus no significant legislation was enacted during the reporting period. This report does however discuss relevant legislation that was pending during the reporting period and describes the Governor’s Order issued in April 2020 that permitted remote notarization and witnessing of estate planning documents during the pandemic.

Trusts And Jurisdiction Clauses - Crociani Revisited: Ivanishvili, Bidzina And Others V Credit Suisse Trust Ltd [2020] Sgca 62, Kian Peng Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the recent Singapore Court of Appeal decision of Ivanishvili, Bidzina and others v Credit Suisse Trust Ltd, the court analysed the effect of a forum administration clause in the trust context, holding that while the clause in question was a jurisdiction clause, it was not an exclusive jurisdiction clause governing the dispute between the trustees and beneficiaries.

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. William Gray Jr., Katherine E. Ramsey

University of Richmond Law Review

The 2020 Virginia General Assembly addressed a wide variety of matters affecting wills, trusts, and estates, ranging from a new article of the Virginia Uniform Trust Code and an expanded partition procedure to a $2 increase in the circuit court clerk’s recordation fees. Among the most helpful were new rules that clarify and expand the powers and responsibilities of non-trustees who may direct the trustee on certain issues and a revised procedure for partitioning real property while protecting the rights and interests of co-owners. The legislature also dealt with fiduciary issues, including express authorization for multiple-party bank accounts, additional duties …

Enough Is As Good As A Feast, Noah C. Chauvin

Seattle University Law Review

Ipse Dixit, the podcast on legal scholarship, provides a valuable service to the legal community and particularly to the legal academy. The podcast’s hosts skillfully interview guests about their legal and law-related scholarship, helping those guests communicate their ideas clearly and concisely. In this review essay, I argue that Ipse Dixit has made a major contribution to legal scholarship by demonstrating in its interview episodes that law review articles are neither the only nor the best way of communicating scholarly ideas. This contribution should be considered “scholarship,” because one of the primary goals of scholarship is to communicate new ideas.

Equity And Trusts, Hang Wu Tang, Yong Seng Tay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Jocelyn Rita d/o Lawrence Stanley v Tan Gark Chong1 (“Jocelyn Rita v Tan Gark Chong”) is an example of an attempt to set aside a trust deed in the wake of BOM v BOK. 2 This case takes place in the context of a husband and wife relationship.