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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

California enacts Terminal Patients' Right to Know End-of-Life Options Act

Posted on October 03, 2008
On September 30, 2008, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 2747 which is claimed to be the country's first law requiring doctors to provide terminally ill patients with full disclosure and counseling about their end-of-life care options...

Steve Fossett's Plane Found

Posted on October 02, 2008
According to Jia-Rui Chong and Steve Chawkins, Steve Fossett's airplane found, LA Times, Oct. 3, 2008, search and rescue crews have located Steve's plane -- the identification number of Steve's plane matches the wreckage. The wreckage is spread out and...

Steve Fossett Update -- Plane may have been found

Posted on October 02, 2008
Continuing the discussion of earlier today, it is now being reported that the wreckage of Steve Fossett's plane may have been found. Here are some additional details from Search teams to check out possible Fossett plane, CNN.com, Oct. 2, 2008:...

New FDIC rules for inter vivos trust accounts

Posted on October 02, 2008
On September 26, 2008, the FDIC issued interim final regulations entitled Deposit Insurance Regulations; Living Trust Accounts. The interim rules amend 12 CFR 330 and took effective immediately, pending a sixty day comment period before finalization. Here is a summary...

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Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted on October 02, 2008
The estate (The Tolkien Trust, a British charity) of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings series of books, sued New Line Cinema claiming that they failed to pay royalties on the approximately $6 billion the movies...

Steve Fossett Update -- Additional details

Posted on October 02, 2008
Yesterday, I reported that a hiker near Mammoth Lakes, California located some of Steve Fossett's belongings. Here are additional details from Fossett 'Probably Eaten' In Alpine Wilderness, TheDenverChannel.com, Oct. 1, 2008 and Possible New Evidence Found in Search for Steve...

Steve Fossett Update

Posted on October 01, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I discussed Steve Fossett?s disappearance and his wife?s petition to declare him legally dead. On February 15, 2008, he was declared legally dead. Yesterday (September 30, 2008) hikers near Mammoth Lakes, California have located some of...

And yet another Heath Ledger update

Posted on October 01, 2008
As discussed earlier this blog, Heath Ledger's will was drafted before the birth of his daughter, Matilda, and left his entire estate to his parents and siblings. Nonetheless, his family has decided to allow the entire estate estimated at $20...

Medicare to stop paying for malpractice

Posted on October 01, 2008
Starting today (October 1, 2008), Medicare will no longer pay for treatment caused by certain types of malpractice. "Reasonably preventable" conditions such as the following are included on Medicare's list of medical conditions for which it will no longer provide...

Special Needs Trusts CLE

Posted on October 01, 2008
On November 5, 2008, the National Constitution Center is sponsoring an audioconference CLE entitled Keys to Drafting Special Needs Trusts: What You Must Know. Here is a description of this program: Drafting Special Needs Trusts can be deceptively challenging, met...

Gifts of LP Interests Under Attack

Posted on September 30, 2008
Steve Akers (Bessemer Trust) recently published his article entitled Tax Court opinion on the case Holman v. Commissioner. Here is the synopsis of his article: A retired Dell employee and his wife created an FLP to hold some of their...

Use of home care contracts on the rise

Posted on September 30, 2008
According to Maureen Salamon, Who should pay for mom and dad's care?, CNN.com, Aug. 20, 2008, the use of home care contracts, especially between parents and children, is on the rise. Under these arrangements, a child moves in with a...

Evil Kentucky probate lawyer disbarred for life

Posted on September 30, 2008
The Supreme Court of Kentucky has recently agreed with the Kentucky Bar Association's recommendation to permanently disbar Richard Kip Cameron from the practice of law due to various ethical breaches including one including his service as a court-appointed conservator...

Nursing Homes -- "Unsafe at any speed"?

Posted on September 30, 2008
The following excerpts from Robert Pear, Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes , NY Times, Sept. 30, 2008, paint a very bleak picture of nursing home life for their 1.5 million residents. More than 90 percent of nursing homes...

Another Heath Ledger Update

Posted on September 29, 2008
As discussed earlier today on this blog, Heath Ledger's will was drafted before the birth of his daughter, Matilda, and left his entire estate to his parents and siblings. Nonetheless, his family has decided to allow the entire estate estimated...

Distribution of life insurance proceeds after convicted murderess acquitted on retrial

Posted on September 29, 2008
Elicia Hughes was accused of murdering her husband (Brian) who was found shot to death on June 3, 2004. The alleged motive for the murder was because of his marital infidelity as well as to collect life insurance proceeds. Elicia...

Heath Ledger Update

Posted on September 29, 2008
As reported earlier on this blog, Heath Ledger's will was drafted before the the birth of his daughter, Matilda, and left his entire estate to his parents and siblings. According to Wendy Caccetta, Heath Ledger's Matilda to get the lot,...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on September 29, 2008
Here are the top downloads from July 31, 2008 to September 29, 2008 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 1125 A Guide...

Leona Helmsley Update

Posted on September 28, 2008
You may remember that earlier on this blog I discussed the Last Will and Testament of Leona M. Helmsley in which Leona left her dog, Trouble, to her brother (Alvin). She also left $12 million to the Leona Helmsley July...

Greece changes law to permit cremation

Posted on September 28, 2008
On September 26, 2008, the highest court of Greece approved the government's request to legalize cremation. The petition was opposed by the Orthodox Church which believes that cremation is contrary to its resurrection beliefs. The court also approved guidelines regarding...

Texas Elder Law Treatise Published

Posted on September 27, 2008
Four leading Texas elder law experts, Wesley E. Wright, Molly Dear Abshire, Patricia Flora Sitchler, and H. Clyde Farrell, have recently published their treatise entitled Texas Elder Law as Volume 51 of the Texas Practice Series. Here is the publisher's...

Slayer statute not prevent suicide assisters from inheriting

Posted on September 27, 2008
Edward Schunk (Stanley, Wisconsin) committed suicide in January 2006 while suffering from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. There were allegations that his wife and daughter drove him to a cabin, assisted him inside, provided him with a loaded shotgun, and then left...

Estate Tax Return CLE

Posted on September 26, 2008
The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law, Young Lawyers Division, and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education are sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on October 28, 2008 entitled The Uncertainties of Death...

Lawyer fakes brother's will

Posted on September 26, 2008
John Karoly, a well-known Allentown, Pennsylvania lawyer, was indicted yesterday (September 25, 2008) on charges he and two others conspired to defraud his brother's and sister-in-law's estates by creating fraudulent wills. John's brother (Peter Karoly) and sister-in-law (Lauren Angstadt) died...

Wills on Display -- Washington, D.C.

Posted on September 25, 2008
Should your travels take you to Washington, D.C., you may want to stop by the D.C. Superior Court Probate Division to view a free exhibit of the wills of famous Washingtonians including: Alexander Graham Bell (inventor) President Grover Cleveland President...

One person's experience handling an aged parent

Posted on September 25, 2008
Assisting an elderly parent can be a difficult time from many perspectives -- emotionally, financially, and physically. Although each situation is different, it is often helpful to try to learn from the experiences of others. For a thoughtful first-hand report,...

Testamentary gift conditioned on method of body disposition

Posted on September 25, 2008
Bruce Ivins was accused on August 6, 2008 by FBI and DOJ officials as probably being responsible for the deaths of five persons, and the injury of dozens of others, resulting from the mailings of anonymous letters containing anthrax to...

Evil probate lawyer must wait for "Supreme Justice"

Posted on September 25, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I reported that Charles Barnes a probate lawyer in Duncan, Oklahoma, had been charged with embezzlement and forgery. According to prosecutors, Barnes spent approximately $150,000 which belonged to one of his clients. He was holding the...

Pennsylvania modernizes ethical rules for lawyers who act as fiduciaries

Posted on September 24, 2008
As Neil Hendershot of the PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog reports, On September 4, 2008, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an Order, with Annexed Rule Changes, amending Rule 221 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement, and also...

Estate of Evelyn A.J. Hall -- Update

Posted on September 24, 2008
Earlier on this blog, I reported on the controversy surrounding the Jolika Collection at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. Here is a summary of recent developments as reported in John Cote, Art caught in spat stays...

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