Estates and Trusts Commons^™

The Gatekeeper Initiative And The Risk-Based Approach To Client Due Diligence: The Imperative For Voluntary Good Practices Guidance For U.S. Lawyers, Kevin L. Shepherd

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Short, Practical Private Placement Life Insurance Primer: Or Why Estate Planners Need To Understand Things Like Facultative Reinsurance, Richard Kagan, Jon Gallo

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Innovative Clat Structures: Providing Economic Efficiencies To A Wealth Transfer Workhorse, Paul S. Lee, Turney P. Berry, Martin Hall

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Case Against The Trust Protector, Alexander A. Bove Jr.

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Credit Shelter Trusts And Probability: Does One Exclude The Other, Marc S. Bekerman

Articles & Chapters

In the September/ October 2009 issue of Probate & Property, the author published an article titled What Portability Means to Trust and Estate Professionals, contemplating the possibility that the estate of a surviving spouse might be permitted to use the unused estate tax applicable exemption amount from the estate of his or her predeceased spouse. This concept has been referred to as portability of the applicable exemption amount, and the article identified several issues that might arise should portability be permitted. This article is a follow-up to that prior article because portability has indeed been enacted as part of the …

Shapiro: Palimony And The Estate Tax, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

In Estate of Shapiro, the Ninth Circuit held that an individual had a valid palimony claim under Nevada state law. However, the issue was whether the decedent’s estate qualified for a deduction for that claim under federal estate tax law.

The Financial Costs And Legal Repercussions Of Marriage Inequality, Lisa Milot, Kim Mellen

Working in the Public Interest Conferences

Discusses the financial and legal consequences that couples face when their unions are not recognized by the State.

Agents In Secrecy: The Use Of Information Surrogates In Trust Administration, Lauren Z. Curry

Vanderbilt Law Review

Trusting another to look after one's best interest when money is at stake is difficult in many different situations. This is true in the area of trust administration as well. As with most areas of law and regulation, trust law addresses this concern primarily through the requirement of information disclosure. Information disclosure to trust beneficiaries has become a heated issue among trust scholars and practitioners. Interestingly, as fundamental as disclosure may be in trust administration, the duty to disclose is not precisely defined at common law and is far from uniform. This creates a profusion of problems for trustees who …

Employee Pension Rights And The False Promise Of Trust Law, Elizabeth Shilton

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article explores the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada on employment pension trusts. I argue that the Court's 1994 decision in Schmidt v. Air Products, which embraced trust law as a tool for resolving pension surplus ownership disputes, held out the promise that courts would use fiduciary principles to shape pension rights for employees and protect those rights against employer self-interest. That promise has failed to bear much fruit. Since Schmidt, the Court has moved away from a conception of trust law as a fetter on employer power towards a flexible conception in which employer trust obligations are …

Linton Reversed: Indirect Gifts And The Step Transaction Doctrine, Wendy G. Gerzog

All Faculty Scholarship

The Ninth Circuit recently reversed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the government in Linton on the issues of indirect gift and the applicability of the step transaction doctrine. The circuit court’s analysis focused on the taxpayers’ donative intent. With that emphasis, the Ninth Circuit remanded the case to the district court to determine the sequence of the relevant transactions.

Achieve The Promise -- And Limit The Risk -- Of Multi-Participant Trusts, John P.C. Duncan, Anita M. Sarafa

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Charitable Gifts By S Corporations And Their Shareholders: Two Worlds Of Law Collide, Christopher R. Hoyt

ACTEC Law Journal

This comprehensive article analyzes the rules that apply to, and the tax planning strategies for, a charitable gift of S corporation stock. It describes the interaction of the laws governing S corporations and tax-exempt organizations and describes the best ways to solve the challenges posed by each set of laws. The article also addresses additional challenges that can occur when specific types of tax-exempt organizations own S corporation stock, notably private foundations, donor advised funds, supporting organizations and ESOPs.

From the perspective of both the donor and the charity, three "bad things" happen when S corporation stock is contributed to …

Front Matter

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Creed Or Code: The Calling Of The Counselor In Advising Families, Ronald D. Aucutt

ACTEC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Game Is Afoot!: The Significance Of Donative Transfers In The Sherlock Holmes Canon, Stephen R. Alton

Faculty Scholarship

This article presents a recently discovered and previously unpublished manuscript written by John H. Watson, M.D., and annotated by Professor Stephen Alton. Dr. Watson’s manuscript records an extended conversation that took place between the good doctor and his great friend, the renowned consulting detective Mr. Sherlock Holmes, regarding issues of gratuitous transfers of property – issues involving inheritances, wills, and trusts – that have arisen in some of the great cases solved by Mr. Holmes. This felicitous discovery confirms something that Professor Alton has long known: these gratuitous transfer issues permeate many of these adventures. Often, the action in the …

Public Policy And Antisocial Testators, Ronald J. Scalise Jr.

Cardozo Law Review

This Article challenges the conventional wisdom that "deadhand" control by testators in certain situations is violative of public policy and should not be enforced. Specifically, it argues that many legacies conditioned on a beneficiary acting a certain way or doing a certain thing, such as not marrying or remarrying, should be enforced. This Article argues that the modern approach of disallowing conditions or restrictions on marital freedom in legacies is a product of a bygone era and that the reasons employed for invalidating such conditions are no longer sufficient justifications in the modern day for the current approach of courts. …

Recent Developments Concerning The Estate Tax Inclusion Of Transfers To A Family Limited Partnership, Brent B. Nicholson

Akron Tax Journal

After a brief examination of the statutory and regulatory background, this paper will summarize the significant cases prior to Shurtz, the significant cases in the last year, discuss the facts and holdings of Shurtz, and then outline the coordinates that have emerged to guide taxpayers

Trusts & Estates (Annual Survey Of Michigan Law, June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2012), Susan E. Cancelosi

Law Faculty Research Publications

The Survey period began only two months after the Michigan Trust Code took effect. Thus, attorneys handling matters subject to the new trust law were only beginning to delve into how their practices will change. At the same time, estate planners who handle larger estates spent the first part of the Survey period on edge about federal estate tax uncertainty. Although Congress in mid-December 2010 did act to extend the estate tax relief of the past decade, it did so only temporarily, leaving many questions for future planning. With the new Michigan Trust Code and the federal estate tax changes, …

The Inappropriate Imposition Of Court-Ordered Mediation In Will Contests , Victoria J. Haneman

Cleveland State Law Review

Mediation settlements that are shaped or driven by non-legal considerations are not problematic, unless and until the process of mediation is designed and imposed upon the parties through state action (namely, the judicial system). Because the approach taken in mediation ineradicably strains against the legal rules applied by the courts adjudicating those same cases, a legitimate question arises as to whether or not instituting court-ordered mediation programs that mandate mediation in will contest cases is appropriate. The contention of this Article is not that mediation is inappropriately used by the parties to a will contest case, but instead that court-ordered …