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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

The Marshall decision analyzed

Posted on November 25, 2008
Robert P. Dougherty III recently authored an article entitled Marshall v. Marshall: Playmates, Prenupts, and the Probate Exception, 61 Ark. L. Rev. 329 (2008). Here is an excerpt from the Introduction: On May 1, 2006, the United States Supreme Court....

New York Law and Posthumously Conceived Children

Posted on November 25, 2008
Robert Matthew Harper (Associate, Trusts and Estates Litigation and Commercial Litigation Departments, Farrell Fritz, P.C. and Special Professor of Law, Hofstra University School of Law) recently authored an article entitled Dead Hand Problem: Why New York?s Estates, Powers and Trusts...

Appraisal Standards for Estate Attorneys

Posted on November 24, 2008
According to Three Appraisal Standards Estate Attorneys & Planners Need to Know, Heritage Auction Galleries, Nov./Dec. 2008, at 1, the three most important federal documents regarding valuation are as follows: Treasury Department Circular No. 230 which "clearly admonishes attorneys, accountants...

King vs. Obama

Posted on November 24, 2008
After Sen. Barack Obama's recent victory in the Presidential election, a wide variety of products such as pins, posters, and T-shirts have been sold which depict Sen. Obama along with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The King family is trying...

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Are high intestacy rates due to poor will marketing by attorneys?

Posted on November 24, 2008
Michael McCunney (CEPHEI Consulting, LLC) and Alyssa A. DiRusso (Assistant Professor of Law, Samford University - Cumberland School of Law) have recently published their article entitled Marketing Wills [the link is to the SSRN version], 16 Elder L. J...

Annunities - a good tool but with abuse potential

Posted on November 24, 2008
Joseph H. Aughtman (Shareholder, Beasley Allen Law Firm, Montgomery, AL) has recently published his article entitled The Annuity Conundrum: Responding to the Abuse of Elderly Investors, The Brief, Fall 2008, at 39. Here is a summary of his article: Unlike...

Is California's Proposition 8 Unconstitutional?

Posted on November 23, 2008
As reported earlier on this blog, the short-lived legality of same-sex marriage in California appeared to be over because the citizens of California approved Proposition 8 (an amendment to the California constitution) which restricts marriages to opposite-sex couples...

Paul Newman's Will Probated

Posted on November 23, 2008
Veteran actor Paul Newman died on September 26, 2008 at age 83. Paul's April 11, 2008 will and its July 24, 2008 codicil were recently admitted to probate in Westport, Connecticut. Here are some of the details: Tangible personal property...

Bad housing market restricting "retirement moves"

Posted on November 22, 2008
The following excerpts are from Jack Healy, In Housing Slump, Elderly Forgo Assisted Living, NY Times, Nov. 22, 2008: The housing crisis has kept thousands of older Americans who need support and care from moving into retirement communities or assisted-living...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on November 22, 2008
Here are the top downloads from September 23, 2008 to November 22, 2008 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 216 2008 Federal...

Inflation Adjustments for 2009

Posted on November 21, 2008
James Roberts (Attorney, Glast, Phillips & Murray, P.C., Dallas, Texas) has written an article entitled Annual Exclusion for Gifts, and Internal Revenue Code �2032A and �2523 Adjustments Made . Here is a summary of the article: On Wednesday, October 16,...

The "Right" Kind of Obituary

Posted on November 21, 2008
The following is from the obituary of James William "Jim" Adams, Trib.com (Wyoming), Sept. 15, 2008: A celebration of life for James William "Jim" Adams, 53, will be held at a later date. He died Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 at...

Fideicommissa and the Theodosian Code

Posted on November 21, 2008
Joshua C. Tate (Assistant Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled Codification of Late Roman Inheritance Law: Fideicommissa and the Theodosian Code. Here is the abstract of his article: It has...

Valuation of Subchapter C Corporations

Posted on November 21, 2008
James Roberts (Attorney, Glast, Phillips & Murray, P.C., Dallas, Texas) has written an article entitled Certiorari in Jelke Denied: Simplicity in Valuation . Here is a summary of the article: In the February 2008 edition of eReport, we reported on...

Copyrights and Estates

Posted on November 20, 2008
Rebecca F. Ganz (J.D. Candidate, May 2009, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles) recently authored an article entitled Portrait of the Artist?s Estate as a Copyright Problem, 41 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 739 (2008). Here is an excerpt from the article's...

Virtual Representation Analyzed

Posted on November 20, 2008
Martin D. Begleiter (Ellis and Nelle Levitt Distinguished Professor of Law, Drake University Law School) recently authored an article entitled Serve the Cheerleader--Serve the World: An Analysis of Representation in Estate and Trust Proceedings and Under the Uniform Trust Code...

Should an "accessions" tax replace the estate tax?

Posted on November 20, 2008
Joseph Dodge (Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson Professor, Florida State University College of Law) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled Replacing the Estate Tax with a Re-Imagined Accessions Tax. Here is an abstract of the article:...

Recent Texas cases analyzed

Posted on November 20, 2008
Gerry W. Beyer (Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law, Texas Tech University School of Law) has recently published his article entitled Wills and Trusts, 61 SMU L. Rev. 1179 (2008). Here is the introduction to his article: This...

Brooke Astor -- More details revealed

Posted on November 19, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I discussed various issues regarding Brooke Astor and the disputes with her son and grandson. On August 13, 2007, Brooke died at her Holly Hill estate in Briarcliff, New York at the age of 105. A...

Was corpse harvester scammed?

Posted on November 19, 2008
A funeral director (Jason L. Gano) is on trial for illegally harvesting bone and tissue from 23 decedents. He claims, however, that he was scammed by a tissue-procurement company that supplied him with fraudulent consent forms. The blame is being...

Are restricted management accounts entitled to discounts?

Posted on November 19, 2008
Jim Roberts (Attorney, Glast, Phillips & Murray, P.C., Dallas, TX) has written an article entitled No Discounts for RMAs. Here is a summary of his article: Restricted Management Accounts, or RMAs, are considered by many to be a simple, yet...

"String" Regulations

Posted on November 19, 2008
Jim Roberts (Attorney, Glast, Phillips & Murray, P.C., Dallas, TX) has written an article entitled String Inclusion: Final Regulations on 2036 and 2039. Here is an excerpt from the article: A little over a year ago, on June 6, 2007,...

ERISA -- An academic analysis

Posted on November 18, 2008
Paul Secunda (Associate Professor, Marquette University Law School) has posted on SSRN his article entitled Sorry, No Remedy: The Grand Irony of ERISA. Here is an abstract of the article: Although all legal regimes result in some inevitable inequities occurring...

Pre-Mortem Litigation CLE

Posted on November 18, 2008
The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education is sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on December 2, 2008 entitled Heirs in Waiting? Pre-Mortem Probate Dispute in...

Can you stop your own autopsy?

Posted on November 18, 2008
James Ross received a settlement for damages caused by inhaling asbestos. As part of the agreement, he agreed to an autopsy (such a provision is a standard requirement of asbestos settlements in Washington). James faces an impending death from a...

Caught in the legal recession? - ABA Journal Survey

Posted on November 18, 2008
As a courtesy to the American Bar Association, I am posting the following request: The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the job market and the current state of the economy. We'd appreciate it if you could let readers know...

Invitation to participate in National Kidney Foundation survey

Posted on November 17, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I discussed possible methods for increasing the number of kidneys available for transplantation. The National Kidney Foundation is collecting opinions about financial incentives to increase organ donations. They have a short survey on their web site...

Discounting family limited partnership interests

Posted on November 17, 2008
Brant Hellwig (Associate Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law) has posted his article on SSRN entitled On Discounted Partnership Interests and Adequate Consideration. Here is the abstract of his article: Early cases involving the government's invocation...

Another dual career judge and funeral director

Posted on November 17, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I discussed a Nashville, Tennessee judge who has received some bad press lately for his second job as a funeral director. I have since learned of another judge who has combined judicial and funeral careers (note...

Is brain death "dead" enough?

Posted on November 17, 2008
A recent case has raised the question of whether a determination of brain death is sufficient to justify the removal of life sustaining procedures such as a ventilator. Here is a summary of this situation based on Del Quentin Wilber,...

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