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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

Russian Oil Tycoon Convicted Again

Posted on January 05, 2011
Vladimir Putin, now Prime Minister of Russia, has been the driving force behind the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a man who was once Russia?s richest man and someone who posed a threat to Putin?s power. Putin may be returning to...

Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog Wins the 2010 ABA Journal Blawg 100 Law Prof Plus Category

Posted on January 05, 2011
As you may know, the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog was in the running for one of the most popular blogs in the 2010 ABA Journal Blawg 100 competition. I was just informed that ABAJournal.com readers selected this blog...

Movie Secretariat has Estate Planning Plot

Posted on January 05, 2011
The new Disney movie Secretariat, the story of the world?s greatest racehorse and the woman who owned him, has an estate planning sub-plot. It involves a will, an estate battle, and hardship brought on by a $7 million estate tax...

Stranger-Owned Life Insurance Investors Sue Insurers

Posted on January 04, 2011
Since the bust of the secondary market in life insurance policies, insurers have portrayed themselves as the victims, filing lawsuits to cancel policies that were meant to enrich investors speculating on elderly lives. Investors are starting to strike back, requesting...

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New Tax Law Could Hurt Charities

Posted on January 04, 2011
The economic crisis has caused many people to reduce current charitable giving, and the new tax law will probably cause many people to reduce future bequests to charities too. With an exemption of $5 million, fewer families will have to...

Even with Portability Clause, Bypass Trusts May be Beneficial

Posted on January 04, 2011
With the portability provision in the new tax law, a bypass trust for the sole purpose of preserving the federal estate tax exemption amount is unnecessary in most cases. However, there are other reasons for using bypass trusts, including: You...

Obamacare May Increase Business for Estate Planners

Posted on January 04, 2011
As I previously mentioned, starting on January 1, physicians can now bill Medicare for time they spend discussing end-of-life healthcare preferences with their patients. The goal of this discussion is to encourage seniors to sign a living will and healthcare...

CLE on Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates

Posted on January 03, 2011
The National Business Institute is sponsoring a 90-minute teleconference entitled Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates on January 11, 2011. The program description is below: Get the latest information on income taxation of trusts and estates and use it effectively...

Virginia Fiduciary Law Blog

Posted on January 03, 2011
Yama Shansab (Partner at Ferguson Walton & Shansab, PLLC in Reston, VA) started the Virginia Fiduciary Law Blog a few months ago. The mission of his blog is to present its readers with a thoughtful and timely discussion of news...

Personal Revival Trusts

Posted on January 03, 2011
Igor Levenberg (attorney, New York) recently published his note entitled Personal Revival Trusts: If You Can?t Take it With You, Can You Come Back to Get It?, 83 St. John's L. Rev. 1469 (2009). The conclusion is below: In the...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on January 03, 2011
Here are the top downloads from October 31, 2010 to December 30, 2010 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 523 2010 Federal...

Keeping Money in the Family

Posted on January 02, 2011
Jeanne Fleming and Leonard Schwarz write about the intersection of money, personal relationships, and ethics. One of their readers inherited money from her father. Her brother inherited the other half. Since the reader doesn?t have any children, her brother expects...

Race and Testamentary Freedom

Posted on January 02, 2011
Kevin Noble Maillard (Assistant Professor of Law, Syracuse University College of Law ) recently published his article entitled The Color of Testamentary Freedom, 62 SMU L. Rev. 1783 (2009). The abstract available on SSRN is below: Wills that prioritize the...

CLE on Medicare in 2011

Posted on January 01, 2011
The ABA is sponsoring a 90-minute enhanced live webinar and teleconference on January 18 entitled What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Medicare in 2011. The program description is below: Don?t be left in the dust! The first Baby Boomers...

Community Spouse Resource Allowances Will Stay the Same in 2011

Posted on January 01, 2011
A source at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently informed ElderLawAnswers that the community spouse resource allowances (CSRA) will remain the same for 2011. Although no official word has been given, the spousal impoverishment figures for 2009 will...

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 01, 2011
As you are probably aware, this blog attempts to serve as a central site to locate and explore comprehensive materials to enhance your teaching of courses that address intestate succession, wills, trusts, estate administration, non-probate assets, planning for disability, and...

Visual Presentation of Gift Tax Changes

Posted on December 31, 2010
On December 17, President Obama signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 into law. This bill makes significant changes to the gift tax from 2010 to 2011 and 2012. The gift tax rate will...

Sisters' Release from Prison Conditioned on Organ Donation

Posted on December 31, 2010
In 1994, Jamie and Gladys Scott led two men into an ambush. Three teenagers hit each man in the head and took their wallets, making off with $11. The sisters were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After 16...

Language Directing Beneficiaries to Continue Financial Support of Another Person is Precatory

Posted on December 31, 2010
The testator?s will devised her residuary estate to her three children. The next article of the will stated the testator?s desire that a named granddaughter of the testator ?be taken care of as [the testator] did during [her] lifetime." In...

Trustee's Duty to Diversify

Posted on December 31, 2010
Trent S. Kiziah (Los Angeles, CA) recently published his article entitled The Trustee's Duty to Diversify: An Examination of the Developing Case Law, 36 ACTEC L.J. 357 (Fall 2010). The introduction is below: Under the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (1994)...

Voltaire's Will Contest Quote

Posted on December 30, 2010
"Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost...

CLE on Disclaimers

Posted on December 30, 2010
The National Business Institute is sponsoring a 90-minute national teleconference entitled Use of Disclaimers in Probate on January 5. The program description is below: Explore all the details and possible outcomes of disclaiming interest in property and get tips for...

Agent May Withdraw Funds from Trust Bank Account

Posted on December 30, 2010
A durable power of attorney authorized the agent to act in the principal?s stead and to do anything the principal could do. The agent then closed the principal?s trust bank account and opened a new account with a different beneficiary....

Today is the Last Day to Vote!!

Posted on December 30, 2010
Each year, the editors of the ABA Journal choose the 100 best legal blogs. Thanks to your loyalty and support, this blog has been selected. Voting is now taking place to determine the "popular" favorite in each of 12 categories...

Fiduciary Accounting Statutes

Posted on December 30, 2010
Julia C. Zajac (J.D. candidate, University of Connecticut School of Law) and Robert Whitman (Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law) recently published their article entitled Fiduciary Accounting Statutes for the 21st Century, 36 ACTEC L...

Disney Family Estate Battle

Posted on December 29, 2010
Sometimes even the most careful estate planning cannot prevent vicious court battles from erupting among family members. This is the case with Walt Disney?s descendants. When Disney?s youngest daughter died seventeen years ago, she left her twins and another daughter...

CLE on Qualified Disclaimers

Posted on December 29, 2010
The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law is sponsoring a 90-minute teleconference and live audio webcast entitled Qualified Disclaimers?What Part of ?No? Don?t You Understand? on January 18, 2011. The program information is below: Disclaimers are used...

Elderly Care Rates Rise in 2010

Posted on December 29, 2010
According to the 2010 MetLife Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs, nursing home and assisted living rates rose drastically from 2009 to 2010. Some of the changes are below: Nursing home private room: rose 4.6% to $83,585 a year Assisted...

Trusts as Beneficiaries of Retirement Benefits

Posted on December 29, 2010
Alvin J. Golden (attorney, Austin, TX) recently published his artice entitled It Should Not be This Hard: A Look at Trusts as Beneficiaries of Retirement Benefits, 36 ACTEC L.J. 399 (Fall 2010). The introduction is below: A host of problems...

Purchasing Life Insurance for the Ultra-Wealthy

Posted on December 28, 2010
The most common reasons someone with a net worth of $100 million purchases life insurance are liquidity, wealth transfer, and income replacement. Liquidity. It?s common for the ultra-wealthy to have their wealth tied up in assets that cannot be sold....

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