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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

Estate and Business Planning Conference

Posted on January 31, 2008
On February 7 and 8, 2008, the Southern California Institute is sponsoring a conference entitled The Gathering 2008 in San Diego, California. Here is a summary of the program: The Gathering is a yearly event primarily for advisors in Estate...

Property of unmarried couple to be equitably divided upon the death of both parties

Posted on January 31, 2008
Washington law has long recognized that property acquired jointly during the existence of a committed intimate relationship is subject to equitable distribution between the parties on the termination of the relationship. In Olver v. Fowler, 168 P.3d 348 (Wash...

Beneficiary has no standing to challenge the actions of a trustee while the settlor can revoke

Posted on January 31, 2008
Father created a revocable trust with himself and his son as co-trustees. Before his death, father sold stock held in the trust to his son. After the father?s death, his daughter, who is a beneficiary of the trust, brought suit...

Withdrawal of a will from probate does not revive a prior will

Posted on January 30, 2008
After the decedent?s 2001 will was admitted to probate, the nominated executor withdrew the will from probate and offered the decedent?s 1973 will for probate. The 2001 will included a clause revoking all prior wills. The 1973 will was then...

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Qualifying for a Charitable Deduction

Posted on January 30, 2008
Prof. Wendy Gerzog (Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law) has recently posted on SSRN her article entitled The Strict Rules of Charitable Split Interest Gifts. Her article also appears in Tax Notes, Vol. 118, No. 5, 2008....

New Jersey Has the Highest Percentage of Millionaire Households in the Nation

Posted on January 30, 2008
According to New Jersey Has Highest Percentage of Millionaire Residents, Jan. 9, 2008, phoenixmi.com: The Phoenix Affluent Marketing Service, a Phoenix Marketing International practice, announced today that New Jersey has become the state with the largest percent of millionaires to...

Trustee?s lack of diversification was not unreasonable

Posted on January 30, 2008
The beneficiaries of testamentary and lifetime trusts which were invested in common stock of a closely held business objected to the trustees? accountings alleging liability for failure to diversify. The court affirmed the dismissal of the objections, holding that retention...

Bypass Trust Basics Explained

Posted on January 29, 2008
According to Ronald Lipman, Bypass trusts can reduce couples' estate taxes, chron.com, Jan. 25, 2008: Bypass trusts are usually created by married people as a way to save estate taxes. Under current law, everyone can leave as much as $2...

Posthumously conceived children are beneficiaries of a trust created by a ?grandparent?

Posted on January 29, 2008
A grandfather created lifetime trusts which gave the trustees discretion to sprinkle principal among his descendants during the life of his widow. At her death, she has a special testamentary power of appointment among her husband?s descendants who are also...

Real property not transferred to a trust passes with stock of a holding company

Posted on January 29, 2008
The testator?s will poured over the residue of his estate to his lifetime trust which directed the trustee to distribute to named persons certain parcels of real property owned by a corporation of which the testator was sole shareholder. The...

Survey Shows Americans Prefer to Hang on to Their Retirement Accounts

Posted on January 29, 2008
The following is from Eileen Alt Powell, Americans Delay Spending IRAs, sfgate.com, Jan. 27, 2008: Americans who have money stored in Individual Retirement Accounts tend to hang on to it for use in the later years of their retirement, according...

Texas Court Holds Contract Did Not Create Trust for the Care of an Animal

Posted on January 28, 2008
In Sarah v. Primarily Primates, No. 04-06-00868-CV (Tex. App. Jan. 16, 2008), Ohio State University contracted with Primarily Primates, Inc. (?PPI?) to accept ownership and care for 12 primates. Shortly after the primates? arrival at PPI, two of them died,...

Statute revoking provisions of a will in favor of an ex-spouse upon the testator?s divorce did not violate a ban on retroactive laws

Posted on January 28, 2008
The testator executed a will leaving his estate to his spouse. They divorced less than one year later and sixteen years thereafter, New Hampshire enacted its version of UPC � 2-508 which revokes testamentary provisions for a spouse on divorce....

The trustee?s fiduciary duty was paramount in determining the propriety of expenditures

Posted on January 28, 2008
A grandfather created a testamentary trust directing the trustees to distribute to his granddaughter so much of the income and principal as the trustees determined to be advisable for her ?proper support, education, maintenance and general welfare.? The beneficiary?s father,...

Would a T&E Professor Merit a $4.2 Million Condo?

Posted on January 27, 2008
To convince Catherine M. Sharkey to leave Columbia University, The New York University purchased for her a $4.2 million condo with 4,000 square feet overlooking Central Park. The following is from Josh Barbanel, Recruiting With Real Estate, NY Times, Jan...

Living Wills in Nigeria

Posted on January 27, 2008
Ademola Oladimeji Okeowo (Matrix Solicitors, Abuja, Nigeria) has recently posted on SSRN an article entitled 'Living Will' and the Nigerian Law: The Need for Legislative Intervention. Here is an abstract of this article: Withdrawal and limitation of life support in...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on January 26, 2008
Here are the top downloads from November 27, 2007 to January 26, 2008 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days: Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 114 Dealing with...

California Legislature Considering Pet Trust Bill

Posted on January 26, 2008
At one time, California was a leader in the pet trust field when it passed Probate Code � 15212 providing that "[a] trust for the care of a designated domestic or pet animal may be performed by the trustee for...

Brooke Astor Update

Posted on January 25, 2008
As you may remember, there has been an ongoing controversy surrounding Brook Astor?s estate. Here is an update from Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, As Battle Rages Over Astor Fortune, Crumbs for the Staff, Wall St.J., Jan. 12, 2008, at A1, concerning...

State statute provides exclusive method for creating survivorship rights in community property.

Posted on January 25, 2008
In a case of first impression, the court in Beatty v. Holmes, 233 S.W.3d 475 (Tex. App. 2007), held that satisfying the requirements of Texas Probate Code � 452 is the sole method for creating rights of survivorship in community...

The stranger to the adoption rule applies to a stepchild adopted as adult

Posted on January 25, 2008
In In re Trust Under Agreement of Vander Poel, 933 A.2d 628 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2007), the court held that the stranger to the adoption rule applies to a person adopted as an adult who is therefore excluded...

Kaiser Writing Contest

Posted on January 25, 2008
The following is from kaiserEDU.org: KaiserEDU.org invites undergraduate and graduate-level students in all disciplines to submit an original essay for the website's annual competition. Students are asked to submit entries by March 17, 2008 in response to the following topic:...

Using "Feelings" to Teach Intestacy and Wills

Posted on January 24, 2008
Alyssa D. DiRusso (Assistant Professor, Cumberland School of Law) has recently published her article Tactile Learning in the Wills Classroom, Law Teacher, Spring 2007, at 4, which discusses innovative ways of teaching (1) the difference between probate and non-probate assets,...

Abuse of Power of Attorney Alleged

Posted on January 24, 2008
The following is from Laura Italiano & Hasani Gittens, Doc BilksS Ma, 92, OF 832G: DA: Dr. Robin Motz, who works at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, was indicted [on January 23, 2008] on charges that he scammed his 92-year-old mother out of...

Will Execution Parties

Posted on January 24, 2008
The following is from Hearsay, Trial, July 2007, at 104: "Apart from getting a drop of merlot on one of the powers of attorney, it worked out well." Michael Whitty, an estate and trusts lawyer in Chicago, commenting on Billerica,...

The story of a life-saving gift

Posted on January 24, 2008
The following is from Daniel Horgan, Father of organ donor unearths stories of new life, USA Today, Jan. 22, 2008, at 7D: Nicholas and his sister, Eleanor, were traveling with their parents, Reg and Maggie Green, in Calabria, Italy, in...

Discretion in Property Devolution and Heirs? Misconduct

Posted on January 23, 2008
Anne-Marie Rhodes (Professor, Loyola University Chicago School of Law) has recently published her article entitled Consequences of Heirs' Misconduct: Moving from Rules to Discretion, 33 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 975 (2007). Here is the conclusion to her article: The changing...

A Man Returns from the Dead after His Wife Collects His Life Insurance Proceeds

Posted on January 23, 2008
According to Canoeist's Wife Confesses To 'Plot', news.sky.com, Dec. 5, 2007: John Darwin's wife has confessed to knowing he was alive after he "died" in a canoe accident five years ago, Sky News sources say. Anne Darwin is said to...

Animal Hoarder Stereotype and the Elderly

Posted on January 23, 2008
According to Linda Wilson Fuoco, Animal hoarders proving difficult to contain, post-gazette.com, Dec. 10, 2007: It began with neighbors complaining about odors coming from the unkempt Uniontown home last month. Humane officers donned biohazard suits and breathing masks before entering,...

Sammy Davis Jr.?s widow says she was defrauded into signing away rights to her husband?s estate

Posted on January 23, 2008
The following is from AP, Sammy Davis Jr.'s widow sues ex-partners over singer's legacy and rights to his story, iht.com, Jan. 21, 2008: The widow of Sammy Davis Jr. is suing two former business partners over the rights to the...

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