Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog: Estate Planning

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Estate Planning Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

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

Alternate Valuation Date Regulations

Posted on August 28, 2008
Prof. Wendy Gerzog (Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law) has recently posted on SSRN her article entitled The New Regs on Alternative Date Valuation which also appears in Tax Notes, Vol. 120, No. 797, 2008. Here is...

Estate Planning Business Booms in Japan

Posted on August 27, 2008
Estate planning business in Japan appears to be on the verge of a boom. The following excerpts are from Atsuko Fukase, Where There's a Will, Mitsubishi UFJ Finds a Way, Wall St. J., July 17, 2008, at B6. Dealing with...

Dave Freeman Dies

Posted on August 27, 2008
Dave Freeman, co-author of the book 100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss, died on August 17, 2008. Unexpectedly, he did not die from one of his many travel adventures. Instead, he succumbed to...

Intestacy Songs

Posted on August 27, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I reported on how Julia Belian (Associate Professor of Law, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law) supplied me with song lyrics which she finds useful in teaching intestacy concepts. Prof. Belian has recently posted these...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Conflicts of Law

Posted on August 27, 2008
Symeon Symeonides (Dean and Professor of Law, Willamette University College of Law) has published an article entitled Result-Selectivism in Private International Law, 3 Roman. Priv. Int?l L. & Comp. Priv. L. Rev. (2008). Here is the abstract of the article...

The Legacy of Lord Thurlow

Posted on August 26, 2008
Dr. Adam Hofri-Winogradow (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem) has published an article on SSRN entitled 'The Moloch and Belial of the Bar': Chancellors Thurlow and Loughborough's Contributions to Equity and Their Posthumous Reputations...

Part-Timers and Law School Rankings

Posted on August 26, 2008
An interesting article appears in today's Wall Street Journal about a proposed revision U.S. News and World Reports is considering making to how it ranks law schools. See Amir Efrati, Law School Rankings Reviewed to Deter 'Gaming', Wall St. J.,...

The "Uncleing Principle" and Intestate Succession

Posted on August 26, 2008
E. Gary Spitko, (Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law) has published his article entitled Open Adoption, Inheritance, and the Uncleing Principle, 48 Santa Clara L. Rev. 101 (2008). Here is the abstract of the article from the...

Taxation of Trusts in Europe CLE

Posted on August 26, 2008
Financial Events International is sponsoring a seminar on November 12, 2008 in London entitled Trusts Taxation in Europe. If you are unable to make the trip to London, note that the seminar is also webcasted live. Here is a description...

Selling Small Businesses

Posted on August 25, 2008
If a decedent owned a small business, the personal representative may have the daunting task of managing and selling the business. A recent discussion of a variety of methods to sell a small business are set forth in Small Talk,...

Is a model law for estate and future interests needed?

Posted on August 25, 2008
D. Benjamin Barros (Associate Professor of Law, Widener Law) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled Toward a Model Law of Estates and Future Interests. Here is the abstract of his article: The American law of estates and future...

May a testator condition a gift on the beneficiary not marrying a gentile?

Posted on August 25, 2008
The degree to which a testator may condition a gift on the behavior of a beneficiary has long been litigated with inconsistent results. A recent situation has brought this issue to the attention of the public. According to Ron Grossman,...

Welcome Back -- Again

Posted on August 25, 2008
Although last Monday was the first day classes at many law schools, that joyful event may have been delayed until today at your law school. Accordingly, I am repeating my "Welcome Back" message. As you are probably aware, this blog...

Powers of Attorney -- With great power comes great responsibility

Posted on August 24, 2008
In The Perilous World of POA Agents, 96 Ill. B.J. 398 (2008), Helen W. Gunnarsson explains how even "good" agents have a difficult time complying with statutory requirements and fiduciary duties as they carry out the often thankless job of...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on August 24, 2008
Here are the top downloads from June 25, 2008 to August 24, 2008 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 491 A Guide...

Call for Book Reviews: Women and the Law

Posted on August 23, 2008
The following announcement in on behalf of the Pace Law Review: The editors of Pace Law Review invite proposals from scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals for contributions to a special book review issue to be published in Winter 2008...

Attorneys for murderer charged under slayer statute

Posted on August 23, 2008
In what is claimed to be the first case of its kind in Georgia, the attorneys for a murderer are being criminally charged under state's slayer statute. Here is how this strange set of events unfolded according to Lawyers Accused...

Heath Ledger Update

Posted on August 22, 2008
As reported earlier on this blog, Heath Ledger's will was drafted before he the birth of his daughter, Matilda, and left his estate to his parents and siblings. According to Matilda Ledger's Guardian Angels, omg.yahoo.com, Aug. 19, 2008: Heath was...

Newcomb College -- Tulane University Update

Posted on August 22, 2008
The following history of the Newcomb College controversy is adapted from Marguerite Adams, Conditional Bequests, Oct. 2007: Newcomb College, a women?s college that was affiliated with Tulane University, was established in 1886 through gifts made by Josephine Louise Newcomb, in...

Express exclusion of one child does not prevent unmentioned children from taking

Posted on August 22, 2008
The decedent?s will stated he was not married and had only one child and five siblings and then stated his intention to exclude the child and his siblings from taking anything under the will. In fact, at the time the...

Call for Papers -- Last Chance to be in the Inaugural Issue of the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal

Posted on August 21, 2008
Here is a description of your last chance to appear in the Inaugural issue of the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal: The editors for Volume I of the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal at Texas Tech...

Is it fair to use student tuition to support law faculty research?

Posted on August 21, 2008
Edward Rubin (Dean & John Wade-Kent Syverud Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School) has recently posted his extremely thought-provoking article on SSRN entitled Should Law Schools Support Faculty Research? Here is the abstract of his article: Law schools are...

Holographic will on cigarette pack?

Posted on August 21, 2008
After Decedent?s death, a cardboard cigarette carton was admitted for probate as Decedent?s will. The cigarette carton named beneficiaries of Decedent?s estate (none of whom were heirs of Decedent), contained the Decedent?s signature, and had the heading ?FIRST AND LAST...

Burying wrong body costs funeral home $730,000

Posted on August 21, 2008
The White Funeral Home of Lubbock, Texas whose motto is "We care for yours as we would have ours cared for" has been order to pay $730,000 in damages for a negligent burial. Here are the details from Logan G....

Modern "Tomb Raiders"

Posted on August 20, 2008
Lara Croft imitators they are not -- modern tomb raiders are not seeking what is inside of the graves; instead, they want the containers and ornaments, especially if they are metal. According to Oren Dorell, Thieves loot cemeteries for metal,...

Inheritance Wars -- English Style

Posted on August 20, 2008
The extent to which unhappy heirs and beneficiaries take out their dissatisfaction on each other is reaching amazing proportions in the United Kingdom as reported in Inheritance disputes: where there's a will there's a war, Telegraph.co.uk, Aug. 20, 2008...

Cremains abandoned -- what to do?

Posted on August 20, 2008
Cremation is increasing in popularity in the United States. So too, unfortunately, is the practice of family members never picking up the ashes from the funeral homes. The following points are made in Abandoned ashes stack up at funeral homes,...

Time limitation for a will contest also applies to intentional interference claim

Posted on August 20, 2008
The charitable beneficiary of the decedent?s prior will brought suit alleging intentional interference with an expectancy almost three years after the admission to probate of the decedent?s subsequent will which gave nothing to the charity. State law provides a six...

Qualified Retirement Plan Benefits Treatise

Posted on August 19, 2008
An Estate Planner's Guide to Qualified Retirement Plan Benefits (4th ed.) by Louis A. Mezzullo was recently published by the American Bar Association. Here is a description of this book: This clearly written guide, now completely revised and updated, provides...

More states enact Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act

Posted on August 19, 2008
The rapid adoption of the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act continues. Here are some of the newer adoptions: Alabama -- 2008 Ala. Laws Act 2008-453. Alaska -- 2008 Alaska Laws Ch. 100. Hawaii -- 2008 Hawaii Laws Act 122. Mississippi...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...

The Mexico Trucker Blog
I've written before about the perceived problems with relaxed rest...