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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

Business Impact of California's Passage of Proposition 8

Posted on November 07, 2008
As reported earlier on this blog, the citizens of California have approved Proposition 8 which restricts marriages to opposite-sex couples. The impact of this Proposition on same-sex couples who wanted to marry is clear and the impact on those couples...

Fall 2008 Newsletter -- AALS Section of Donative Transfers, Fiduciaries, and Estate Planning

Posted on November 07, 2008
The Fall 2008 Newsletter from the AALS Section of Donative Transfers, Fiduciaries, and Estate Planning is now available. Here are the key features of this newsletter: Message from the Chair (Prof. Ray Madoff) Message from the Program Chair (Prof. Robert...

Missouri -- Should unmarried cohabitating couples have inheritance rights?

Posted on November 06, 2008
Jennifer Berhorst (J.D. Candidate, May 2009, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law) recently authored an article entitled Unmarried Cohabitating Couples: A Proposal For Inheritance Rights Under Missouri Law, 76 UMKC L. Rev. 1131 (2008). Here is an excerpt from...

Pet Trusts

Posted on November 06, 2008
Breahn Vokolek (Attorney, Patton and Associates) recently authored an article entitled America Gets What it Wants: Pet Trusts and a Future For Its Companion Animals, 76 UMKC L. Rev. 1109 (2008). Here is an excerpt from the Introduction: Trusts are...

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Election Results: Assisted Suicide in Washington -- Update

Posted on November 06, 2008
The final results on Washington's Initiative 1000 which would authorize assisted suicide are not in. However, the media is predicting that the Initiative will pass. As of 8:04 a.m. EST today (November 6, 2008) with 65.2% of the precincts reporting,...

Election Results: Same Sex Marriage in California -- Update

Posted on November 06, 2008
The short-lived legality of same-sex marriage in California is now over because the citizens of California have approved Proposition 8 which restricts marriages to opposite-sex couples. With 99.7% of the precincts reporting as of 8:05 a.m. EST today (November 6,...

Election Results: Assisted Suicide in Washington

Posted on November 05, 2008
The final results on Washington's Initiative 1000 which would authorize assisted suicide are not in. However, the media is predicting that the Initiative will pass. As of 8:00 a.m. EST today (November 5, 2008) with 54.4% of the precincts reporting,...

Election Results: Same-Sex Marriage in Florida

Posted on November 05, 2008
Florida's Amendment 2 to restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples has passed. With 99.2% of the precincts reporting as of 7:59 a.m. EST today (November 5, 2008), 62.1% were in favor of the limitation with 37.9 opposed.

Election Results: Same-Sex Marriage in Arizona

Posted on November 05, 2008
Arizona's Proposition 102 which restricts marriage to opposite-sex couples has passed. With 99.1% of the precincts reporting as of 7:59 a.m. EST today (November 5, 2008), the vote stood at 56.5% in favor the Proposition and 43.% opposed.

Election Results: Same-Sex Marriage in California

Posted on November 05, 2008
The final tally on California's Proposition 8 which would ban same-sex marriage is still not available. With 91% of the precincts reporting as of 7:59 a.m. EST today (November 5, 2008), the edge is going towards passage with 51.9% in...

Happy Election Day

Posted on November 04, 2008
Happy Election Day! Several important items are on the ballot today which directly impact estate planning such as same-sex marriage (California, Arizona, and Florida) and assisted suicide (Washington). I will report on the results of these votes over the next...

Ademption and Tennessee Law

Posted on November 04, 2008
Joshua A. Mullen recently authored a case note entitled Property ? Administration of Wills ? Common Law Ademption by Extinction and the Applicability of Tennessee Code Annotated Section 32-3-111 (Stewart v. Sewell, 215 S.W.3d 815 (Tenn. 2007)), 75 Tenn...

The dead really can have their votes counted!

Posted on November 04, 2008
It appears that in at least one state, a dead person's vote can count legally! And, I will assume the same is true in many states. Here is how to accomplish this "amazing" feat. First, the citizen votes before election...

Steve Fossett -- Final Update

Posted on November 04, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I reported that bones were found near the crash site of Steve Fossett's plane and that testing would be conducted to determine if the bones were Steve's remains. A California crime lab has recently released results...

Development of succession law in Africa

Posted on November 03, 2008
Nelson Tebbe (Associate Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School) has posted on SSRN his article entitled Inheritance and Disinheritance: African Customary Law and Constitutional Rights, 88 J. of Religion 466 (2008). Here is an abstract of his article: This Article...

The Trust - S-Corporation Interface

Posted on November 03, 2008
David R. Nave (Pitcairn Financial Group, Montgomery County Community College - Central Campus) has posted his article on SSRN entitled GPS: Navigation: Mapping the Use of Trusts in S Corporations, 11 J. of Passthrough Entities. Here is an abstract of...

Community Land Trusts

Posted on November 03, 2008
Julie Farrell Curtin (Associate, Bocarsly, Emden, Cowan, Esmail & Arndt LLP) and Lance Bocarsly (Partner, have recently published their article entitled CLTS: A Growing Trend in Affordable Home Ownership, 17 J. Affordable Housing & Commun. Dev. L. 367 (2008)...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on November 03, 2008
Here are the top downloads from September 4, 2008 to November 3, 2008 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 96 Holman: The...

Kidneys -- Suggestions to increase donations

Posted on November 02, 2008
The following information is from Sally Satel & Benjamin Hippin, A Way To Reward Organ Donors, Forbes.com, Oct. 30, 2008: Kidneys are the organs in greatest demand (75% of the individuals waiting for organs). Only 25% of the people waiting...

MLK's Children Battle -- Update

Posted on November 02, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I have reported on the various disputes among the children of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Recently, I discussed a new battle involving Coretta's estate. Bernice and Martin Luther III are refusing to...

Steve Fossett Update

Posted on November 01, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I reported that Steve Fossett's plane had been located. Remember that previous he had been declared dead even though his plane had not been located. Here are some recent developments from Bones, ID found near Fossett...

Family "organization" needed for family businesses

Posted on November 01, 2008
In his article Family Wealth in Crisis, Gerald Le Van suggests interim strategies that help wealthy families make better decisions during the current financial crisis. Mr. Le Van warns that: Families who are not well organized will flounder in these....

Mirror of Justice Blog declares "war" on Wills, Trusts, & Estates Prof Blog

Posted on October 31, 2008
Richard W. Garnett (Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School) has recently declared "war" on our blog in a posting yesterday on the Mirror of Justice Blog. According to his October 30, 2008 post: Take a brief break from thinking...

Negligent Estate Planner Placed on Probation

Posted on October 31, 2008
A Texas lawyer recently received a two-year suspension from the practice of law which was in a most lenient fashion fully probated. Here is a description of her sloppy behavior as reported in Disciplinary Actions, 71 Tex. B.J. 766, 767...

Fiduciary Duty and Utah's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration

Posted on October 31, 2008
Jan McCosh-Hilder (J.D. Candidate, S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah) recently authored an article entitled SITLA and Legislative Oversight ? Wise Long-Term Direction Under Evolving Charitable Trust Duty, or Shortsighted Micromangement?, 29 J...

The Commercial Real Estate/Estate Planning Interface

Posted on October 31, 2008
The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education are sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on November 19, 2008 entitled Estate Planning for the Commercial Real Estate...

Happy Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2008
Many law school classes have one or more holidays which are especially relevant. For example, Family Law has Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day, Labor Law has Labor Day, Environmental Law has Earth Day, Military Law has Memorial Day,...

Annuity Valuation

Posted on October 30, 2008
Prof. Wendy Gerzog (Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law) has recently posted on SSRN her article entitled Anthony: Absolute Actuarial Tables which also appears in Tax Notes (Vol. 121, No. 4, 2008). Here is the conclusion of...

Do same-sex couples need multiple marriages?

Posted on October 30, 2008
The following excerpts are from Phred Dvorak, Why Just One Wedding Isn't Enough for Some Gay Couples, Wall St. J., Oct. 30, 2008: Three states recognize same-sex marriage. Eight others, plus more than 70 cities, offer civil unions or domestic...

Qualified Personal Residence Trust use increases with drop in real estate prices

Posted on October 30, 2008
Because of the decrease in the fair market value of homes in many parts of the country, the use of Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QRPTs) is becoming more advantageous. The following excerpts are from Mike Spector, Gifting Your House and...

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