Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Trust Me? Estate Planning With Revocable Trusts, Bradley E.S. Fogel

Saint Louis University Law Journal

Revocable trusts are one of the most common estate planning techniques. Unfortunately, many advisors use them without considering the merits for the particular client. Like any other estate planning technique, they are appropriate only for some clients.

Typically, a settlor creates and funds a revocable trust during his or her lifetime. The settlor then uses trust funds to pay living expenses. Upon the settlor’s death, the successor trustee administers the trust, collects the settlor’s assets, pays creditors, and distributes the assets to the named beneficiaries. In the optimum case, this is done without any court involvement.

Due to the lack …

Dispatches From The Trenches Of America's Great Gun Trust Wars, Lee-Ford Tritt

UF Law Faculty Publications

Without question, the national dialogue pertaining to the right to bear arms and the possible expansion of gun control regulations is shaping up to be one of the more heated political topics of the twenty-first century. At the moment, fervent participants on both sides of this ongoing debate have focused a spotlight on an estate planning instrument commonly referred to as a “gun trust.” Typically, estate planning products rarely cause the kind of nationally impassioned discussion as seen with gun trusts. So why have trusts, a commonly used estate planning tool, become entangled in this lively, and often vitriolic, national …

Notarized Wills, Anne-Marie E. Rhodes

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Digital Properties And Death: What Will Your Heirs Have Access To After You Die?, Ashley F. Watkins

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tax Court Sends Message On Valuation In Richmond, Kerry A. Ryan

All Faculty Scholarship

In Estate of Helen P. Richmond, the Tax Court determined the proper value for estate tax purposes of a minority interest in a family-owned corporation holding mostly appreciated securities. The court also sustained an accuracy-related penalty against the estate, finding that it used an unsigned draft report by a noncertified appraiser as the basis for the stock valuation reported on Form 706.

Valuation Lessons From Estate Of Adell, Kerry A. Ryan

All Faculty Scholarship

In Estate of Adell, the Tax Court determined that the correct value of a decedent’s interest in a closely held corporation was the figure reported on the original estate tax return. The court rejected alternative values as either using the incorrect valuation method or failing to account for the significant value of a key employee’s personal goodwill.

Preserving Preservation: Long Green Valley Association, Conservation Easements, And Charitable Trust Doctrine, Alyssa J. Domzal

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The White Whale: Bringing Emotion And Relevance To The Contemporary Trusts And Estates Course, Wayne M. Gazur

Publications

No abstract provided.

Perpetuities And The Genius Of A Free State, Joshua C. Tate

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The recent rise of perpetual trusts has brought new attention to previously obscure state constitutional prohibitions of perpetuities. This symposium commentary examines the historical origins of the first such prohibition, Clause 23 of the 1776 North Carolina Constitution and Declaration of Rights, which provided that “perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State, and ought not to be allowed.” Although many good reasons can be offered for the provision, it is curiously absent from the constitutions of the twelve other original states. Why did this provision emerge only in North Carolina, and not in Virginia, Massachusetts, …

A Fresh Look At State Asset Protection Trust Statutes, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the rise of state asset protection trust ('APT) statutes. It juxtaposes two apparently contrary trends: an increase in formal legal responses suggesting that the trusts created under these statutes are likely to have at best limited enforceability and an increase in the adoption and use of these statutes. After summarizing the legal background out of which these two trends arise, I analyze the characteristics of the states that have chosen to adopt them to date and conclude that the size of a state is less predictive of adoption than broader social and economic characteristics of the populace. …

Tax Recognition, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

This article was prepared for the St. Louis University Law Journal’s “Teaching Trusts & Estates” issue. Many law students take a course in Trusts & Estates, but comparatively few enroll in a class devoted to the federal wealth transfer taxes. For most law students, the Trusts & Estates course provides the only opportunity for exposure to some of the basic features of the estate tax, the gift tax, the generation-skipping transfer tax, and some related features of the income tax. The coverage demands of the typical Trusts & Estates course do not allow for intensive discussion of these issues, but …

Why The Buffett-Gates Giving Pledge Requires Limitation Of The Estate Tax Charitable Deduction, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

The Buffett-Gates Giving Pledge, under which wealthy individuals promise to leave a majority of their assets to charity, is an admirable effort to encourage philanthropy. However, the Pledge requires us to confront the paradox that the federal estate tax charitable deduction is unlimited while the federal income tax charitable deduction is capped. If a Giving Pledger leaves his wealth to charity, the federal fisc loses significant revenue since the Pledger thereby avoids federal estate taxation as charitable bequests are deductible without limit for federal estate tax purposes. Despite its laudable qualities, the Giving Pledge is a systematic (albeit inadvertent) threat …

Where Strict Meets Substantial: Oklahoma Standards For The Execution Of A Will, Katheleen Guzman

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Summary Of In Re Aboud Inter Vivos Trust, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 97, Emily Anderson

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined two issues: (1) whether NRS 164.010(1) and NRS 164.015(6) give the court in rem jurisdiction to impose a constructive trust on previous trust property; and (2) whether a district court may grant a monetary judgment against former trustees and third parties that was based on the district court’s in rem jurisdiction.

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

Mercer Law Review

This Article describes selected cases and significant legislation from June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013 pertaining to Georgia fiduciary law and estate planning.

Summary Of In Re Estate Of Bethurem, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 92, Erica C. Smit

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined one issue: (1) whether, in the absence of a presumption of undue influence, a will contestant bears the burden of proving undue influence by a preponderance of the evidence.

Page, Leonard, 1762-1836 (Sc 1191), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1191. Receipts and sundry papers related to the estate of Leonard Page of Logan County, Kentucky.

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

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Washington Trust Laws' Extreme Makeover: Blending With The Uniform Trust Code And Taking Reform Further With Innovations In Notice, Situs, And Representation, Karen E. Boxx, Katie S. Groblewski

Washington Law Review

Washington trust laws were comprehensively revised in 2011 and 2013, resulting in the integration of concepts from the Uniform Trust Code and the addition of some novel provisions. This article discusses in depth the evolution of Washington law regarding the duties to inform and report, the situs of a trust, and representation of interested parties. In addition, this article discusses other UTC provisions that were integrated into Washington statutes and gives an explanation of any departures from UTC language and prior Washington law.

Washington Trust Law's Extreme Makeover: Blending With The Uniform Trust Code And Taking Reform Further With Innovations In Notice, Situs, And Representation, Karen E. Boxx, Katie S. Groblewski

Articles

Washington trust laws were comprehensively revised in 2011 and 2013, resulting in the integration of concepts from the Uniform Trust Code and the addition of some novel provisions. This article discusses in depth the evolution of Washington law regarding the duties to inform and report, the situs of a trust, and representation of interested parties. In addition, this article discusses other UTC provisions that were integrated into Washington statutes and gives an explanation of any departures from UTC language and prior Washington law.