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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 Year to Give to Grandchildren

Posted on September 27, 2010
Although the estate tax lapse has stolen the spotlight this year, there is another lapse that fewer people are aware of. The generation-skipping transfer tax (GSTT) also disappeared in 2010, offering wealthy individuals a tax-free way to pass on money...

Re-Examining the Possibility of an Inheritance Tax

Posted on September 27, 2010
David Joulfaian (U.S. Department of the Treasury) recently published his article entitled Replacing the Estate Tax with an Inheritance Tax: A Re-Examination, 63 Tax L. Rev. 209 (2009). This article addresses Lily Batchelder's article as well as James Hines' article...

Reasons to Keep the Estate Tax?

Posted on September 27, 2010
Arguments are being made that we should keep the estate tax for many reasons, including: It only affects a few people who inherit large sums of money?and who can afford to share some of the windfall with their government. The...

Taxing on the Basis of Receipt Rather than Gift

Posted on September 26, 2010
James R. Hines, Jr. (L. Hart Wright Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School) recently published his article entitled Taxing Inheritances, Taxing Estates, 63 Tax L. Rev. 189 (2009). An excerpt from the introduction is below: This Article...

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CLE on Trust Accounting

Posted on September 26, 2010
The National Business Institute is sponsoring a 90-Minute National Teleconference on October 21 entitled Income Tax Consequences and Trust Accounting. The program description is below: Do you have the skills needed to manage all the practical aspects of ongoing trust...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on September 25, 2010
Here are the top downloads from July 26, 2010 to September 24, 2010 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 139 Wills and...

Taxation of Private Transfers

Posted on September 25, 2010
Louis Kaplow (Finn M. W. Caspersen and Household International Professor of Law and Economics, Harvard Law School) recently published his article entitled On the Taxation of Private Transfers, 63 Tax L. Rev. 159 (2009). The summary available on The National...

Summary of the Newcomb College Rehearing

Posted on September 24, 2010
The court-ordered rehearing of Montgomery v. Tulane, in which the principle of donor intent and the destiny of Newcomb College hang in the balance, took place on Tuesday with supporters wearing buttons and waving flags displaying ?Save Newcomb College...

Economics of Estate Taxation

Posted on September 24, 2010
Wojciech Kopczuk (Economics Professor, Columbia University) recently published his article entitled Economics of Estate Taxation: Review of Theory and Evidence, 63 Tax L. Rev. 139 (2009). An excerpt from the introduction is below: My major points are as follows...

Forbes 400 Richest Americans 2010

Posted on September 24, 2010
The Forbes 400 Richest People in America list for 2010 is out. Here are the top ten people: Bill Gates: $54 billion Warren Buffett: $45 billion Larry Ellison: $27 billion Christy Walton: $24 billion Charles Koch: $21.5 billion David Koch:...

Intestate Succession and Reproductive Technologies in Arkansas

Posted on September 24, 2010
Buckley Bridges recently published his case note entitled Statutory Misconception: The Arkansas Supreme Court's Method in Finley v. Astrue Sets New Precedent for Uncertainty, 63 Ark. L. Rev. 419 (2010). The introduction is below: Finley v. Astrue set two precedents...

Family Values and Estate Taxes

Posted on September 23, 2010
Anne Alstott (Manley O. Hudson Professor of Law, Harvard Law School) recently published her article entitled Family Values, Inheritance Law, and Inheritance Taxation, 63 Tax L. Rev. 123 (2009). The abstract availabe on SSRN is below: This symposium paper, originally...

New Estate Tax Bill Introduced

Posted on September 23, 2010
On September 14, 2010, Senate Minority Leader Sen. McConnell (R-KY) introduced S. 3773, Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2010. Attorney Jeff Marshall summarized this bill in a blog entitled Republican Senate Leader Introduces his Proposal on Estate and Income Taxes...

Newcomb College Rehearing Started Tuesday

Posted on September 23, 2010
I previously blogged about the landmark ?donor intent? lawsuit involving Newcomb College here and here. In my last blog, I mentioned that the Newcomb case would be re-argued before a 5-judge panel on September 21. The five judges hearing the...

The Estate Tax is a Tax on the Less-Wealthy

Posted on September 23, 2010
When estates are not taxed, the money doesn?t disappear; rather it is invested in the ideas of those who are not yet wealthy. Most of us won?t inherit from the founder of Microsoft, Dell, or Ford, but most of us...

Shirley A. Webster Lecture in Wealth Transfer Law

Posted on September 22, 2010
Thomas P. Gallanis (N. William Hines Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of Law) is giving the Shirley A. Webster Lecture in Wealth Transfer Law entitled The New Direction of American Trust Law at 3:00 p.m. on October 21,...

An Overview of the Uniform Statutory Trust Entity Act

Posted on September 22, 2010
Thomas E. Rutledge (attorney, Louisville, KY) and Ellisa O. Habbart (attorney, Wilmington, DE) recently published their article entitled The Uniform Statutory Trust Entity Act: A Review, 65 Business Lawyer 1055 (2010). The abstract available on SSRN is below: The Uniform...

Happy First Day of Fall

Posted on September 22, 2010
Happy First Day of Autumn!!

Recovery for Unauthorized Bank Transactions

Posted on September 22, 2010
After Decedent?s death in 2000, Fake Administrator presented Bank with fraudulent letters of administration and over the next few months, withdrew most of Decedent?s funds from the account. In 2003, the court appointed Real Administratrix. In February 2004, Real Administratrix...

More on Comprehensive Inheritance Taxes

Posted on September 22, 2010
Thomas Nagel (Professor of Law, New York University) recently published his article entitled Liberal Democracy and Hereditary Inequality,63 Tax L. Rev. 113 (2009). This article references a previously-mentioned article by Lily Batchelder. An excerpt from the beginning is below: Lily...

CLE on Transferring Family Business Interests

Posted on September 21, 2010
The ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law is sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast entitled How to Give Away the Store: Lifetime Transfers of Family Business Interests on October 5, 2010. The program description is below:...

Conditions on Testamentary Gifts

Posted on September 21, 2010
Jeremy Macklin (J.D. 2010, The John Marshall Law School) recently published his comment entitled The Puzzling Case of Max Feinberg: An Analysis of Conditions in Partial Restraint of Marriage, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 265 (2009). An excerpt from the...

New Instructions for Terminating Self-Settled Trusts Early

Posted on September 21, 2010
The Social Security Administration recently released a new POMS instruction regarding early termination provisions in (d)(4)(A) and (d)(4)(C) trusts. Any self-settled trust created after January 1, 2000 that contains an early termination clause must meet the following three requirements: The...

A Comprehensive Inheritance Tax is Ideal

Posted on September 21, 2010
Lily L. Batchelder (Professor of Law, NYU Law) recently published her article entitled What Should Society Expect From Heirs? The Case for a Comprehensive Inheritance Tax, 63 Tax L. Rev. 1 (2009). The abstract available on SSRN is below: The...

The Sex Pistols Creator Malcolm McLaren's Son Launches Bitter Will Contest

Posted on September 20, 2010
Malcolm McLaren, The Sex Pistols creator, died of mesothelioma in April at age 64. His will, written on his deathbed, disinherits his son, Joe Corre, and leaves everything to his long-time girlfriend Young Kim. Joe argues that his father lacked...

Higher Estate Tax = More Jobs Lost

Posted on September 20, 2010
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, calculated that the reinstatement of the federal estate tax at a 65% rate would cause 1.6 million jobs to be lost. Holtz-Eakin?s study shows that the higher the estate tax, the less...

South Carolina Finds Attorney for Agent Owes No Duty to Principal

Posted on September 20, 2010
Lewis Argoe, Mrs. Argoe?s son and attorney-in-fact, hired attorney James Walsh to transfer ownership of Mrs. Argoe?s condominium to a trust in order to protect her from her own irresponsible financial behaviors. Mrs. Argoe sued Mr. Walsh, claiming that he...

Uniform Probate Code's Gender Inequities

Posted on September 20, 2010
Kristine S. Knaplund (Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law) recently published her article entitled The New Uniform Probate Code?s Surprising Gender Inequities, Duke J. of Gender L. & Policy (forthcoming 2011). The abstract available on SSRN is below:...

Another Billionaire Dies, Estate Tax-Free

Posted on September 19, 2010
John Kluge died at age 96, making 95-year-old David Rockefeller the new oldest member of Forbes 400. Kluge was the richest man in America in 1989 but was surpassed by Bill Gates three years later. Kluge was worth $7 billion...

Native American Property Law

Posted on September 19, 2010
David Urteago (2011 J.D. candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) recently published his comment entitled A Mighty Pulverizing Engine? The American Indian Probate Reform Act and the Struggle for Group Rights, 2 Est. Plan. & Community Prop. L.J...

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