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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

60 Largest Charitable Contributions for 2007

Posted on March 01, 2008
Slate web magazine has posted The 2007 Slate 60, which lists the 60 largest American charitable contributions of the year. The donations are rated by size, and the listing provides information about the source of the donor?s wealth, the amount...

Re-examining standing of heirs and beneficiaries to challenge decedent?s marriage after death

Posted on February 29, 2008
Terry L. Turnipseed (Assistant Professor of Law, Syracuse University College of Law) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Days: Deathbed Marriages in America. Here are excerpts from the introduction...

Extrinsic evidence deemed insufficient to permit the reformation of a document revoking a trust

Posted on February 29, 2008
The settlor sent a letter to the corporate trustee of her revocable lifetime trust stating , ?I am revoking my trust.? The settlor made statements indicating that she intended to revoke the trust but also made statements to a bank...

Doctor accused of hastening patient?s death to retrieve organs faces criminal charges

Posted on February 29, 2008
The Following is from Jesse Mckinley, Surgeon Accused of Speeding a Death to Get Organs, NYTimes.com, Feb. 27, 2008: On a winter night in 2006, a disabled and brain damaged man named Ruben Navarro was wheeled into an operating room...

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The Supreme Court's LaRue Decision CLE

Posted on February 28, 2008
ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits and the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel are sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on April 8, 2008 entitled The Supreme Court's LaRue Decision: What's the Next Generation of 401(k) Litigation? Here...

Joint power to revoke limits the power of the sole surviving settlor to revoke

Posted on February 28, 2008
A husband and his wife created a joint revocable trust reserving to themselves the power to revoke and stating that the sale or other disposition of the trust property ?by us? would be a revocation. A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court...

Online Version of The Bluebook Now Available

Posted on February 28, 2008
Editors of the Harvard Law Review announced the launch of an online version of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation on February 15. The standard citation guide for American legal writing, The Bluebook is widely used throughout legal practice,...

Presumption that amendments by the settlor were properly delivered applies even though the trustee accepted the amendments after the settlor?s death

Posted on February 27, 2008
An Illinois land trust provided that amendments are valid when made by a written instrument delivered to the trustee but that any amendment changing any ?duty, right, power, liability, or responsibility? of the trustee would be effective on acceptance by...

Johnson & Johnson Heir?s Films Cause Discord among Family and Friends

Posted on February 27, 2008
The following is from Robert Frank, The Rich Man's Michael Moore, online.wsj.com, Feb. 23, 2008: Jamie Johnson, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, used to be an accepted member of the New York elite, with a trust fund, a...

Terri Schiavo Analogue Recurs

Posted on February 27, 2008
According to Sean O'sullivan, Parents battle over life of brain-damaged daughter, delawareonline.com, Jan. 31, 2008: In a case with parallels to the 2005 uproar over Terri Schiavo, a Newark father is fighting a court order that could allow the removal...

Getting an estate plan in the State of Victoria, Australia

Posted on February 26, 2008
In Victoria, Australia, there is a wholly-owned Victorian Government Business Enterprise called "State Trustees" which exists to provide comprehensive estate planning and estate administration services. The business employs more than 500 lawyers, accountants, and financial planners to prepare wills, trusts,...

Body Disposition -- The Aussie Way

Posted on February 26, 2008
On several prior occasions on this blog, I have discussed or referenced unusual ways in which Americans may dispose of their bodies upon death. Here is a partial list: Diamonds from cremains Cremains as cocaine additive Cremains in fireworks Pictures...

Organ Donation -- Australian Style

Posted on February 26, 2008
Last week was Australia's "Organ Donor Awareness Week." According to Tim Richards, Unwrap the gift of life for those on hospitals' death row, The Age, Feb. 25, 2008, at 11, "it seems its impact on the number of donations in...

Call for Information -- AALS Donative Transfer Section Newsletter

Posted on February 25, 2008
Each year, the AALS Section on Donative Transfers publishes two newsletters for its members. The Section welcomes news about its members' publications, professional activities, conferences, teaching and service. The Section is in the process of assembling the Spring 2008 newsletter...

Ex-Microsoft Developer Leaves $65 Million to Benefit Same-Sex and AIDS Organizations

Posted on February 25, 2008
Ric Weiland, who was a high school classmate of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, committed suicide in 2006 at age 53. Details have recently been released regarding his estate. According to AP, Ex-Microsoft worker leaves $65 mil to gay rights, AIDS...

David Kessler Forms Consulting Business to Protect the Elderly

Posted on February 25, 2008
David Kessler is a retired police commander and is now speaking on the topic of exploitation of the elderly. Here is an excerpt from his website, Protecting the Elderly: David M. Kessler is a retired Police Officer (former Commander of...

Increasing Elder Abuse Calls for Legislative Action

Posted on February 24, 2008
Jane A. Black (J.D. Candidate 2008, St. John's University School of Law) has recently published her Note entitled The Not-So-Golden Years: Power of Attorney, Elder Abuse, and Why Our Laws Are Failing a Vulnerable Population, 82 St. John's L. Rev....

Trust provision prohibiting the exercise of powers reserved to the settlor by anyone other than the settlor includes the settlor?s agent

Posted on February 24, 2008
The decedent created a revocable trust naming her husband as the trustee. She also executed a durable power of attorney naming her husband as her agent and giving him the power to transfer property to her revocable trust. Two years...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on February 23, 2008
Here are the top downloads from December 25, 2007 to February 23, 2008 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days: Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 52 The Strict...

Prof. Chester Publishes "Dead Hand" Critique

Posted on February 23, 2008
Ronald Chester (Professor of Law, New England School of Law) has recently published his book entitled From Here to Eternity? Property and the Dead Hand (Vandeplas Publishing 2007). Here is a description of this book: In this groundbreaking book, Professor...

Language giving the beneficiaries present interests does not invalidate trust amendment

Posted on February 22, 2008
A mother created a revocable trust which is to terminate on her death and be distributed equally among her three children. The trust stated that the interest of the beneficiaries ?is a present interest? which continues until the trust is...

Senior Citizen Benefits Costs Soar

Posted on February 22, 2008
According to Dennis Cauchon, Senior benefit costs rise 24% since 2000, usatoday.com, Feb. 14, 2008: The cost of government benefits for seniors soared to a record $27,289 per senior in 2007, according to a USA TODAY analysis. That's a 24%...

Asset Protection Trusts in Iowa

Posted on February 22, 2008
David M. Repp (Attorney at Law, Dickinson Mackaman Tyler & Hagen P.C.) has recently published his article entitled Asset Protection (For the Rich and Not) In Iowa, 56 Drake L. Rev. 105 (2007). Here is the conclusion to his article:...

?Any? supports construction of special power of appointment as exclusive

Posted on February 21, 2008
A mother?s will created trusts for her daughters and gave each daughter a testamentary special power of appointment, directing the trustee to distribute ?any amount? of the principal and undistributed income to any of the testatrix?s descendants ?and? any charitable...

?Checklist for Life? ? A Useful Tool in Estate Planning

Posted on February 21, 2008
The following is from Tim Grant, Bank puts estate planning checklist onto the Internet, post-gazette.com, Feb. 14, 2008: [T]alking to family members about death and dying can be among the toughest conversations to have. But managers at Huntington Bank have...

Tax Consequences of Financing Grandchild?s Education

Posted on February 21, 2008
Richard L. Kaplan (Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law, University of Illinois College of Law) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled Back to School: The New Parameters of Funding a Grandchild?s College Education. This article also appears...

A child conceived during marriage by in vitro fertilization and implanted in the mother?s womb after the father?s death is not the father?s heir

Posted on February 20, 2008
Ten embryos were produced through IVF using the husband?s sperm and his wife?s ova. Two embryos were implanted in the wife?s uterus but the pregnancy terminated in a miscarriage. Approximately one month later, the husband died intestate. Eleven months after...

Being Declared Dead When Alive Can Be Problematic

Posted on February 20, 2008
According to Nancy Amons, Woman Says Being Declared Dead Ruins Life, wsmv.com, Feb. 15, 2008: Laura Todd said an 8-year-old typo is affecting everything from her credit to her tax return. "I don't think people realize how difficult it is...

Policymakers? Use of Blind Trusts Questioned

Posted on February 20, 2008
Megan J. Ballard (Associate Professor, Gonzaga University School of Law) has recently published her article entitled The Shortsightedness of Blind Trusts, 56 U. Kan. L. Rev. 43 (2007). Here is the conclusion to her article: Policymakers began to use blind...

Leona Helmsley Estate Update

Posted on February 19, 2008
Here are some recent developments on Leona Helmsley?s estate from Christina S.N. Lewis, 'Queen of Mean' Lair To List for $125 Million, online.wsj.com, Feb. 1, 2008: Representatives of the estate of Leona Helmsley have decided to list her Greenwich, Conn...

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