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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

Call for Papers Deadline Extended

Posted on October 22, 2010
I previously blogged about a call for papers associated with the Aging as a Feminist Concern workshop being sponsored by the Feminist Legal Theory Project at Emory University School of Law. The deadline for papers has been extended, and the...

Series on Lesser Known but Useful Trusts

Posted on October 22, 2010
In August, I blogged about Part 1 and Part 2 of Wendy S. Goffe?s six-part series in the Wealth Strategies Journal entitled An Introduction to Lesser Known but Useful Trusts. The remaining four parts have been published, and excerpts from...

Doctrine of Unclean Hands Used to Prevent Adopted Ex-Husband from Receiving Interest in Trust

Posted on October 22, 2010
The following is a summary of In the Matter of Trust for Grandchildren of Wilbert L. and Genevieve W. Gore Dated April 14, 1972, CA. No. 1165-VCN, V.C. Noble (Del. Ch. Sept. 1, 2010) (Mem. Op.) provided by Morris, Nichols,...

A Kafkaesque Estate

Posted on October 21, 2010
Robert L. Moshman (attorney, New York & New Jersey) recently published his article entitled A Kafkaesque Estate and Bracing for the 2011 Tax Uncuts, The Estate Analyst (Sept. 9, 2010). The introduction is below: If Franz Kafka were writing a...

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Executors Struggle with the Estate Tax Lapse

Posted on October 21, 2010
While some people complain about billionaires cheating the IRS by dying during the federal estate tax lapse, the reality is that billionaires aren't getting the cut-and-dry billion-dollar windfalls that are discussed. The repeal is creating new headaches for executors as...

Accepting Money from Family Members

Posted on October 21, 2010
Whether you borrow money or receive it as a gift, there can be major drawbacks to accepting money from family members. Kathleen Gurney, chief executive of Financial Psychology Corp., advises people to exhaust every possibility before asking family members for...

CLE on Terminating Trusts

Posted on October 21, 2010
The National Business Institute is sponsoring a 90-minute national teleconference entitled Terminating Trusts on November 18. The program description is below: Trust termination triggers are most often built into the original document. What isn't included is a guidebook for getting...

CLE on Do-it-Yourself Estate Planning

Posted on October 20, 2010
The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law is sponsoring a 90-minute teleconference and live audio webcast on October 21, 2010 entitled Do It Yourself Estate Planning: Why it Costs More Than it Saves. The program information is...

Estate Tax Incentivizes Wasteful Spending

Posted on October 20, 2010
Opponents of the estate tax argue that it provides an incentive for people to spend everything they earn and die broke. Ed McCaffrey, a Professor of Law at USC School of Law, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal...

Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates

Posted on October 20, 2010
Sonja Pippin (Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information Systems, University of Nevada?Reno) recently published her article entitled Income Tax Accounting for Trusts and Estates, J. of Accountancy, Oct. 2010. The executive summary is below: Income taxation of estates and trusts...

Advisers' Tips for Estate Planning During Estate Tax Uncertainty

Posted on October 20, 2010
As Congress debates the estate tax, financial advisers and their clients try to figure out what to do in the meantime. The estate tax uncertainty makes current planning difficult, and advisers have different ideas of what we should be doing...

Negron v. U.S.

Posted on October 19, 2010
Michael Schmidt recently published his note entitled Negron v. United States: the Sixth Circuit Improperly Applied the Eighth Circuit's Unreasonable and Unrealistic Results Exception Resulting in its Conclusion That the IRS Annuity Tables Must be Used to Value an Annuity...

CLE on Preventing Fiduciary Liability

Posted on October 19, 2010
The National Business Institute is sponsoring a 90-minute national teleconference on November 4 entitled Preventing Fiduciary Liability. The program description is below: Prevent disputes and potential litigation over trustee misconduct with solid knowledge of fiduciary duties and forbidden practices...

Law of Gifts Around the World

Posted on October 19, 2010
Richard Hyland (Professor of Law, Rutgers School of Law) recently published his book entitled Gifts: A Study in Comparative Law (Oxford University Press May 2009). The publisher?s description is below: Over the past two thousand years, Western legal systems have...

Twisted Love Triangle: Wife Wants Girlfriend to be Surrogate Mother

Posted on October 19, 2010
George Kamau killed himself on Monday in the home of his girlfriend, Etaghua Asefa. Justice Kornreich signed off on a sperm-preservation request from George?s grieving widow, Victoria Chege. The wife named the girlfriend as the family friend and appointed surrogate...

Certification System for Unauthorized Practice of Estate Planning

Posted on October 18, 2010
Michael S. Knowles recently published his article entitled Keep Your Friends Close and the Laymen Closer: State Bar Association Can Combat the Problems Associated with Nonlawyers Engaging in the Unauthorized Practice of Estate Planning Through a Certification System, 43 Creighton...

Annuity Income Stream is Not an Asset for Medicaid Eligibility Purposes

Posted on October 18, 2010
After John moved into a nursing home, his wife Amelia bought an annuity. Soon after, John applied for Medicaid. The state directed Amelia to sell the income stream from the annuity to a potential buyer that the state found. Amelia...

Uniform Trust Code Stresses Importance of Settlor's Intent

Posted on October 18, 2010
Benjamin D. Patterson recently published his note entitled The Uniform Trust Code Revives the Historical Purposes of Trusts and Reiterates the Importance of the Settlor?s Intent, 43 Creighton L. Rev. 905 (2010). The conclusion is below: Historically, the trust was...

Banks Losing Market Share in Personal Trust Business

Posted on October 18, 2010
According to research done by Tiburon Strategic Advisors in San Francisco, banks in the trust business have lost huge market share to independent trust firms. Banks still control 40% of personal trust accounts, but that share is concentrated in high-end...

Discussion of Salzburg v. Dowd

Posted on October 17, 2010
Nancy A. McLaughlin (Robert W. Swenson Professor of Law, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law) and W. William Weeks (Professor of Law, Indiana University Maurer School of Law) recently published their article entitled Salzburg v. Dowd: Another Look,...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on October 17, 2010
Here are the top downloads from August 18, 2010 to October 17, 2010 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 210 Are in...

Estate Tax Repeal Gains Momentum in Midterm Campaign

Posted on October 16, 2010
The effort to repeal the estate tax is gaining momentum in the 2010 midterm campaign. Of the 260 candidates for the November 2 elections who have pledged to eliminate the estate tax, 253 are Republicans. Congressional liberals think repealing the...

Court Rules in Favor of Tulane University

Posted on October 16, 2010
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments for and against reopening the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College on September 21, 2010. This week, the court issued a narrowly divided ruling in favor of Tulane. The Future of Newcomb College...

Date of Birth, Not Paternity Determination, Governs Pretermitted Heir Status

Posted on October 15, 2010
In Bailey v. Warren, a Texas appellate court held that the date of birth of a child born out of wedlock governs pretermitted heir status, even though the determination of paternity was made one year after the will was executed....

Estate Tax Reform Impacts Charities and Low-Income Individuals

Posted on October 15, 2010
Phyllis Smith (Associate Professor of Law, Florida A&M University College of Law) recently published her article entitled Change Isn?t Always a Good Thing: Estate Tax Reform and Impact on Charitable Organizations and Low-Income Individuals and Families, Working Paper Series (Aug...

New Comprehensive Guide to Estates, Future Interests, and Powers of Appointment

Posted on October 15, 2010
Thomas P. Gallanis (Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, University of Minnesota School of Law) and Lawrence W. Waggoner (Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School) recently published their book entitled Estates, Future Interests and...

Succession Rights of Adopted Adults

Posted on October 15, 2010
Peter T. Wendel (Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law) recently published his article entitled The Succession Rights of Adopted Adults: Trying to Fit a Square Peg Into a Round Hole, 43 Creighton L. Rev. 815 (2010). The conclusion...

California Totten Trust Case

Posted on October 14, 2010
In Araiza v. Younkin, 2010 Cal. App. LEXIS 1688, a provision in a decedent?s revocable inter vivos trust was held sufficient to find an intent to change the beneficiary of a totten trust which was not part of the revocable...

Analysis of the Revenue Act of 1932

Posted on October 14, 2010
Jeffrey A. Cooper (Professor of Law, Quinnipiac University School of Law) recently published his article entitled Lessons of 1932, Estate Planning Studies (July 2010). The abstract available on SSRN is below: This article analyzes the estate and gift tax provisions...

Farmland Not an Available Resource for Medicaid Purposes

Posted on October 14, 2010
Even though Alice Vaughn did not physically work on her farm, the farm produced income for her. When she entered a nursing home, the state counted her farmland as an available resource and denied her Medicaid benefits. Missouri regulations provide...

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