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Estate Planning

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

A resource to enhance the teaching of courses that address intestate succession, wills, trusts, estate administration, non-probate assets, planning for disability, and other matters pertaining to estate planning.
By Gerry W. Beyer

Post Frequency: 44.9/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 14:00:00

Happy Memorial Day

Posted on May 31, 2010
With the sincerest appreciation to all who have died in our nation's service. Follow this link for detailed information on Memorial Day.

Italian Alternatives to Wills

Posted on May 30, 2010
Andrea Bortoluzzi (Professor of Law, Insubria University) recently published his article entitled The Predisposition and Planning of Succession to the Control of an Enterprise in Italy: The Alternatives to a Will, The Selected Works of Andrea Bortoluzzi (2009)...

Prenuptial Agreements as an Estate Planning Tool

Posted on May 30, 2010
Recognizing that prenuptial contracts become scrambled in retirement benefits, a New York appeals court recently gave relief to lawyers who draft the contracts. Even if a former wife challenges the division of a retirement benefit, a man?s original intent for...

CLE on Understanding Your Clients

Posted on May 29, 2010
The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law is sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast CLE entitled Estate Planners Risk Assessment and Checklist: The Big Picture is Often Overlooked But Critical for All Estate Planners and Plans...

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Catholic Social Thought May Offer Guidance on Estate Issues

Posted on May 29, 2010
Lucia Ann Silecchia (Professor of Law, Columbus School of Law) recently published her article entitled Integrating Catholic Social Thought in Elder Law and Estate Planning, CUA Columbus School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010-27.The abstract of the article...

Reformation of Wills in Massachusetts

Posted on May 28, 2010
The following summary is supplied through the courtesy of Martin D. Begleiter (Professor of Law, Drake University): William Bruinsma, a private and frugal man, died in 1998 leaving a will bequeathing one-half of the income from his residuary estate (including...

Nigerian Succession and Inheritance Laws

Posted on May 28, 2010
Kemi Mary Adekile recently published her article entitled Succession at Customary Law - Addressing the Crossroads of Constitutional Conflicts (April 14, 2010). The abstract of the article which is available on SSRN is below: This paper is a critical evaluation...

Supreme Court Addresses the Interface Between ERISA and Trust Law

Posted on May 28, 2010
A summary of Conkright v. Frommert, 130 S. Ct. 1640 (2010) is below: On Wednesday, the Court issued its opinion in Conkright v. Frommert, holding that a plan administrator?s interpretation of a retirement plan is entitled to deference, even when...

Wealthiest Face More Stringent Tax Audits

Posted on May 28, 2010
In the past, wealthy taxpayers? sources of income included mainly wages, dividends, interest, and capital gains. Today, the wealthy taxpayers have many more complex methods of making money, such as through multi-tiered partnerships, trusts, hedge funds, and private foundations...

Internet Privacy: Something Else to Worry About Post-Mortem

Posted on May 27, 2010
Christos Catsouras was not allowed to see his 18-year-old daughter?s body after she swerved his Porsche to her death on Halloween 2006. Three weeks later, pictures that the California Highway Patrol took at the accident site were posted on hundreds...

2009 Changes to Vermont's Probate Law

Posted on May 27, 2010
Stephanie J. Willbanks (Professor of Law, Vermont Law School) and Jonathan Secrest recently published their article entitled Changes to Vermont's Probate Law: Increasing the Surviving Spouse's Share and Other Measures, 35 Vermont Bar J. 26 (Summer 2009)...

What Happened to Hattie McDaniel's Oscar?

Posted on May 27, 2010
In 1940, Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in ?Gone With the Wind.? Upon her death, she bequeathed her award to Howard University where it was displayed for several years before disappearing. Possible explanations for....

Effect of a Prepaid Estate Tax

Posted on May 27, 2010
As I previously blogged, the concept of a prepaid estate tax is still under consideration, but is not the main focus of the most recent talks. The effect of a prepaid estate tax is to create much-needed revenue for the...

First Wills to Incorporate Digital Assets

Posted on May 26, 2010
I previously blogged about the official launch of Entrustet and the protection it offers to users? digital assets. The two founders of Entrustet, Jesse Davis and Nathan Lustig, recently became the first people in America to incorporate their digital assets...

Pitfalls of Prepaid Funeral Contracts

Posted on May 26, 2010
Once primarily used by lower-income families, prepaid funerals are gaining popularity across all consumer levels, including the wealthy. Some top reasons for using prepaid plans include: They can lock in today?s prices and acts as an inflation hedge They spare...

The Problem of FLP's

Posted on May 26, 2010
Laura Cunningham (Professor of Law,Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law) recently published her article entitled The FLP, the Transfer Taxes, and the Income Tax, Cardozo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 297 (April 16, 2010). The abstract of the article which...

CLE for New Estate Planners

Posted on May 26, 2010
The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law is sponsoring the Skills Training for Estate Planners CLE Program July 12-16, 2010 at the New York Law School. This CLE will cover the following topics: Basic Fundamentals and Substantive...

Senators Delay an Estate Tax Solution

Posted on May 25, 2010
While Democrats and Republicans continue to point fingers at each other, a solution for the estate tax mess is nowhere near complete. When Republicans recently blamed the Democrats, they really meant that although the Democrats have been ready to compromise,...

A Book for Trustees

Posted on May 25, 2010
Liza Hanks (attorney, Campbell, CA) and Carol Elias Zolla (attorney, San Jose, CA) recently published their book The Trustee?s Legal Companion, April 2010. The summary of the book from Nolo is below: Learn the ins and outs of being a...

CLE on Medicaid Planning

Posted on May 25, 2010
The National Constitution Center is sponsoring an audio conference CLE entitled Medicaid Eligibility: What?s Required, What's Not in Estate Planning on June 23, 2010. A summary of the CLE is below: Securing proper Medicaid eligibility can prevent the loss of...

Prepaid Estate Tax

Posted on May 25, 2010
Senator Jon Kyl is currently contemplating an option that allows people to prepay their estate tax before they die. While we don?t know exactly how such a proposal would work, here?s one possibility: Bob creates a ?prepayment trust? into which...

Fight Over Stieg Larsson's Estate

Posted on May 24, 2010
Stieg Larsson, deceased author of The Millenium trilogy, lived with Eva Gabrielsson for 32 years. Because they were unmarried, childless, and Larsson never wrote a will, his �20m estate went to his father and brother in accordance with Swedish law....

Increase in Taxes Due to New Healthcare Law

Posted on May 24, 2010
Wage-earners in the top 1% of taxpayers (annual earnings of $624,000 or higher) will pay for 85% of two increases in Medicare taxes found in the new healthcare law. The most onerous provisions as well as some strategies to lessen...

Mark Twain's Autobiography Finally Revealed

Posted on May 24, 2010
When he died in 1910, Mark Twain left behind an extensive and outspoken autobiography along with a note saying he did not want it to be published for at least a century. A century has finally passed, and the University...

South Dakota's Increasing Popularity with Trust Providers

Posted on May 24, 2010
South Dakota is quickly becoming the number one choice for trust providers and currently has more operating trust companies than Delaware and Nevada. Low barriers to entry are responsible for South Dakota?s increasing popularity with trust providers, including: Low Startup...

Trust Law in Iowa

Posted on May 23, 2010
Martin D. Begleiter (Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Law, Drake University) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled Son of the Trust Code - The Iowa Trust Code after Ten Years which is scheduled to appear in...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on May 23, 2010
Here are the top downloads from March 22, 2010 to May 21, 2010 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 339 The Federal...

Asset Protection Trusts Better Than Prenuptial Agreements

Posted on May 22, 2010
Earl E. Watson III (Managing Principal, North American Management) and D. Sean McDade (Director of Client Services, North American Management) recently published their article entitled Beyond Prenups, Private Wealth, May 2010. An excerpt from the beginning of the article is...

Law & Order Episode Incorporates Estate Tax Mess

Posted on May 22, 2010
On May 10th, NBC aired an episode of Law & Order entitled The Taxman Cometh. This episode has as its central plot point the lack of an estate tax in 2010. A brief summary of the episode from Fancast is...

Old Comedy, Current Trust Concepts

Posted on May 21, 2010
In September of 1952, the comedy Just This Once was released. The following is a plot summary from The Internet Movie Database: Mark MacLene owes the IRS, the banks and others a lot of money. The problem is that his...

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