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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

Converting to an LLC

Posted on June 24, 2009
The ABA section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law is sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on July 7, 2009 entitled Conversion of Business Entities into Limited Liability Companies. Here is a description of the program: The limited....

Update: Jobs Returns to Work

Posted on June 24, 2009
I recently wrote about Steve Jobs' absence from work due to a liver transplant. Apple employees are reporting that Jobs has returned to work as the company's CEO; however, an official statement from Apple's PR department has not been issued....

Chicago Title backs off of from helping Texas recover Medicaid payments from deceased recipients

Posted on June 24, 2009
Chicago Title issued a Bulletin on March 5, 2009 which directed agents and operations to, in some cases, forward monies from the sales proceeds of homesteads to the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) in satisfaction of claims without going through...

Assisted Reproduction: Case Law, Statutes, and Future Suggestions

Posted on June 23, 2009
Raymond C. O'Brien (Professor of Law, Columbus School of Law) has recently published his article entitled The Momentum of Posthumous Conception: A Model Act, 258 J. of Contemporary Health & Law Policy 332 (2009). Excerpts from the introduction to the...

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California Conservator Laws Result in License Denial

Posted on June 23, 2009
A prominent professional conservator in California has been denied a state license and is under investigation for allegations of abuse. A recent LA Times article summarizes the situation: The decision to deny Melodie Jo Scott a license marks a significant...

Don't Forget About Organ Donation

Posted on June 23, 2009
Planning for the inevitable should include considering directives on organ donation. As one study reports, the gap between supply and demand for kidneys, and certainly other organs, creates longer waiting periods and increased risks of death before an organ becomes...

Contingency Fees: 40% of a $100 Million Estate?

Posted on June 23, 2009
At the end of 2008, New York Court of appeals held that without more facts, it could not decide whether a 40% contingency fee from a $100 million dollar estate is unconscionable. Graubard Miller, the law firm trying to collect,...

Scams Targeted at Elderly Can Cost Everything

Posted on June 22, 2009
Elderly people are often the target of money scams, and the Wall Street Journal has recently published a sad but instructive tale on the severe damage these scammers can cause. Popular scams, including weight loss schemes, supposed lottery winnings, and...

Cash-Strapped Madoff Victims Sell Jewelry

Posted on June 22, 2009
Madoff victims are giving up their jewelry in exchange for much needed cash. Jewelers say that when compared to the stock market drop in the 1990's, there are now more people looking to sell their jewelry and they aren't afraid...

Court may impose constructive trust on basis of unjust enrichment alone

Posted on June 22, 2009
In its extensive opinion in Nelson v. Nelson, 205 P.3d 715 (Kan. 2009), the Kansas Supreme Court held that proof of actual or constructive fraud is not necessary for the imposition of a constructive trust. The decedent?s children claimed that...

Choreographer Prepares For Two Deaths

Posted on June 22, 2009
Merce Cunningham, a 90 year old choreographer, is planning for his death and the death of his dance company. The artist is confronting "the vexing problem of how choreography created by a lone master and interpreted by a dedicated company...

Writing With Dead People

Posted on June 21, 2009
Artist Nadine Jarvis can help those who want to live on after death by using the carbon from their cremated remains to make pencils, about 240 of them. The pencils, called Carbon Copies, are inscribed with the donor's name and...

Steve Jobs Has Liver Transplant

Posted on June 21, 2009
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is on leave of absence from the company for health reasons after having a liver transplant two months ago. The cause and conditions of his health remain undisclosed; however, Jobs is a survivor of pancreatic...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on June 21, 2009
Here are the top downloads from April 22, 2009 to June 21, 2009 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 268 How the...

Happy First Day of Summer

Posted on June 21, 2009
Happy First Day of Summer!!

Has Chicago Title gone too far to help Texas recover Medicaid payments from deceased recipients?

Posted on June 20, 2009
Chicago Title has issued instructions to their agents and direct operations to, in certain cases, collect the amount claimed by the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) and send it directly to MERP from the sales proceeds of the deceased beneficiary?s...

South Carolina: No Attorney Duty to Prospective Will Beneficiaries

Posted on June 20, 2009
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently held that an attorney does not owe a duty to a prospective beneficiary under a non-existent will and therefore, the prospective beneficiaries cannot sue the attorney for negligently failing to draft the will. The...

Harry Potter v. Willy the Wizard

Posted on June 19, 2009
The estate of late author Adrian Jacobs is suing the publisher of the Harry Potter series. The estate claims that substantial parts of Jacobs' published book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard is reproduced in Harry Potter and the Goblet...

Initials of witness on each page of the will deemed insufficient as an attestation

Posted on June 19, 2009
In its opinion in In re Estate of Leavey, 202 P.3d 99 (Kan. Ct. App. 2009), the Kansas intermediate appellate court affirmed denial of probate for lack of due execution. While the testator and one witness signed the will at...

Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal seeks innovative articles

Posted on June 19, 2009
On the heels of a well-received collection of professional articles for its inaugural volume, the editors of the Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal are currently seeking a law review style articles (at least 30 double-spaced pages, including footnotes)...

Man Arrested for Posing as His Dead Mother

Posted on June 19, 2009
A 49-year New York man was arrested for using a walking stick, lots of make-up, and a fake ID to impersonate his dead mother. When his mother died in 2003, he gave the funeral director a false social security number...

Anna Nicole Smith: The Opera

Posted on June 18, 2009
Richard Thomas, the co-creator of Jerry Springer: The Opera, is composing a new musical entitled Anna Nicole Smith: The Opera, set to open in the Royal Opera House in 2010. Thomas admits he is fascinated by trashy sounding stories. Classical...

When Guardianships Harm More Than Help

Posted on June 18, 2009
A Minnesota woman succeeded in getting her capacity restored after two years under the guardianship of conservator Wells Fargo, during which time she claims the company excessively used-up over $600,000 of her assets and succeeded in getting a reverse mortgage...

'Profits Interests Gifts Under Section 2701: I Am Not A Monster'

Posted on June 18, 2009
Richard Dees (Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP) has published an article entitled Profits Interests Gifts Under Section 2701: I Am Not A Monster, Tax Analysts, 2009. Here is a summary of the article: Section 2701 provides special gift tax...

Lawsuits Abound Over Corporate-Owned Life Insurance Policies

Posted on June 18, 2009
Corporate-owned life insurance policies are policies that companies take out on employees, in secret in the past, to earn tax breaks and future revenues. While these policies were common at one time, laws now commonly limit them to high ranking...

Michael Crichton's Will: Part Thriller, Part Mystery

Posted on June 17, 2009
When Michael Crichton, author and avid smoker, died of throat cancer last year, he left behind an estate worth millions, a posthumous son, a widow and four ex-wives, and a secretive will. Crichton's son was born three months after his...

St. Olaf Appeal Filed

Posted on June 17, 2009
On April 23, 2009, attorneys for SaveWCAL filed an appellate brief with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, appealing the order of the district court discussed here. The brief contends that St. Olaf, acting as trustee of the WCAL charitable trust,...

Oregon Court Rules Revocable Living Trust an Expectancy

Posted on June 17, 2009
The Oregon Court of Appeals, in a case of first impression, recently held that a husband's interest in a revocable living trust is an expectancy and therefore not subject to division during divorce. The court reasoned that the husband's interest...

Stories From an Estate Planner's Experience

Posted on June 17, 2009
Barry M. Fish and Les Kotzer have authored a book entitled Where's there's an Inheritance: Stories from Inside the World of Two Wills Lawyers (Continental Atlantic Publications 2009). The authors share humorous, moving, and wrenching tales to provide some insight...

French Form of Civil Union Popular with Opposite-Sex Couples

Posted on June 16, 2009
In France, the Civil Solidarity Pact, or PACS, are civil unions available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The status gives traditional marriage benefits, such as joint tax returns and intestate succession. Additionally, the status is easier and cheaper to...

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