Estates and Trusts Commons^™

Tipping The Scales In Favor Of Charitable Bequests: A Critique, Elizabeth R. Carter

Pace Law Review

The public policy favoring testamentary bequests to charities is well established in the law. However, that public policy can, and does, conflict with other equally well-founded public policies. When confronted with this conflict, courts are often dismissive or even hostile towards the parties seeking to challenge a testamentary bequest to a charity. I argue that the policy favoring charitable giving has gone too far and has, in some instances, undermined other important public policies. Specifically, courts and legislators have strengthened the charitable bequest policy without giving enough consideration to other, equally important public policies. This problem is not new. History …

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

Mercer Law Review

This Article describes selected cases and significant legislation from June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014 pertaining to Georgia fiduciary law and estate planning.

Appellate Division, Second Department, Langan V. St. Vincent's Hospital Of New York, Christin Harris

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Madoff Madness In The Estate Of Kessel, Phyllis C. Taite

Other Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unconstitutional Perpetual Trusts, Steven J. Horowitz, Robert H. Sitkoff

Vanderbilt Law Review

"I never can be thankful, Mr. Bennet, for any thing about the entail."t Perpetual trusts are an established feature of today's estate planning firmament. Yet little-noticed provisions in the constitutions of nine states, including in five states that purport to allow perpetual trusts by statute, proscribe ')erpetuities." This Article examines those provisions in light of the meaning of ')erpetuity" as a legal term of art across history. We consider the constitutionality of perpetual trust statutes in states that have a constitutional ban on perpetuities and whether courts in states with such a ban may give effect to a perpetual trust …

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

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Probate Law Meets The Digital Age, Naomi Cahn

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article explores the impact of federal law on a state fiduciary's management of digital assets. It focuses on the lessons from the Stored Communications Act ("SCA'), initially enacted in 1986 as one part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Although Congress designed the SCA to respond to concerns that Internet privacy posed new dilemmas with respect to application of the Fourth Amendment's privacy protections, the drafters did not explicitly consider how the SCA might affect property management and distribution. The resulting uncertainty affects anyone with an email account. While existing trusts and estates laws could legitimately be interpreted to …

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

Vanderbilt Law Review

Legal history, like all history, is inevitably a speculative affair. No one can be sure what the editors of Justinian's Digest might have excised from long-lost works of classical Roman law; nor can one know for certain what went through the minds of certain justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in the mid-twentieth century when they formed and reformed their views on Roosevelt's New Deal. Of course, scholars can try to chip away at this uncertainty: great progress can be made through educated guesses and learned theories. But certainty about the past is reserved for those who lived in it. …

Alms To The Rich: The Facade Easement Deduction, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

This article presents the case for repeal of the façade easement deduction. Proponents of this benefit argue that the deduction encourages historic preservation by reimbursing property owners for relinquishing their right to alter the façade of their property in a way inconsistent with that conservation goal; however, this article shows that there are many reasons to urge its repeal: the revenue loss, the small number of beneficiaries, the financial demographics of that group of beneficiaries; the dubious industries that are supported by the deduction; and the continual marked overvaluation and abuse despite Congressional, court, and administrative review and expense.

After …

A Comparative Guide Of Where To Die: Should The United Kingdom Repeal Its Inheritance Tax?, William T. Thistle

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Virtual Currency Estate Planning, Bit By Bit, Abigail J. Farmer, Cory Elizabeth Tyszka

ACTEC Law Journal

This article addresses the issues that virtual currencies, specifically bitcoins, pose for the mindful estate planner. First, it explains what bitcoins are, where they come from, and what their legal status is. Next, it identifies special problems that bitcoins pose in estate planning. Finally, it concludes by offering solutions to these problems, including recommended transfer mechanisms and gifting strategies.

Predispute Arbitration Agreements Between Trustees And Financial Services Institutions: Are Beneficiaries Bound?, Mary F. Radford

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Beyond Donor Intent: Leveraging Cy Pres To Remedy Unintended Burdens Caused By Charitable Gifts, Katie Magallanes

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Saving For Education: Creating Educational Dynasty Trusts Using 529 Plans, Susan T. Bart

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Means To An End: Electively Forcing Vesting To Suit Tax Rules Against Perpetuities, James P. Spica

ACTEC Law Journal

Editor's synopsis: Exercising special powers of appointment over tax advantages trusts in a jurisdiction that has enacted perpetuities reform can be hazardous in light of the so-called "Delaware tax trap" and the "constructive additions" and trust-modification rules of the Treasury's GST-tax effective date regulations. Compliance with these federal tax rules against perpetuities may or may not be guaranteed by the applicable reform legislation. This Article examines a particular situation in which self-help is required for compliance, offers a set of forced-vested provisions to fit the bill, and indicates how those provisions can be adatpted for use in other situations in …

Front Matter

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Elaine Hightower Gagliardi On Flipping The Lens Of Estate Planning: An Examination Of The Effectiveness Of Lifetime Transfers To Achieve Federal And State Tax Savings, Elaine H. Gagliardi

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

Estate planners are recalibrating their planning focus in response to recent tax modifications at the federal and state levels. The need to refocus planning emanates from changes wrought by recent federal tax acts, beginning in 20011 and ending in 20132 with enactment of “permanent” provisions which increase the basic exclusion amount for federal estate and gift tax and generation skipping transfer tax exemption to an inflation adjusted $5,340,000 as of 2014,3 institute the portability election for federal estate tax purposes,4 alter the transfer tax rate to essentially a flat 40 percent,5 and eliminate the state death tax credit in favor …

Teaching Trusts And Estates, Phyllis C. Taite

Other Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Principled And Structured Approach For Ascertaining Beneficial Interests In Property Disputes: Chan Yuen Lan V See Fong Mun [2014] Sgca 36, Alvin W. L. See

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Chan Yuen Lan v See Fong Mun [2014] SGCA 36, the Court of Appeal provided important clarifications about the relationship between a resulting trust and a common intention constructive trust for the purpose of ascertaining beneficial interests in cases of property dispute. This issue, which has attracted much speculations, was left open in Lau Siew Kim v Yeo Guan Chye Terence [2007] SGCA 54 where the same court merely confirmed the continued relevance of the twin presumptions of resulting trust and advancement.

New York’S Decanting Statute: Helping An Old Vintage Come To Life Or Spoiling The Settlor’S Fine Wine?, David Restrepo

Pace Law Review

The Comment examines trust decanting in four parts. Part I reviews the historical evolution of decanting statutes, first from common law roots, and later focusing on the legislative history of New York’s decanting statute. Part II briefly explains the functionality of section 10-6.6 of the NY EPTL; the “how does it work” explanation of the statute that authorizes decanting. Part III will discuss the many practical uses of the decanting statute. Finally, Part IV will transition into a discussion on how the trustee’s use of this statute not only leaves him in limbo regarding the tax treatment of his actions, …