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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

Trust law and unconscionability defense

Posted on April 09, 2009
David Horton (Lecturer in Residence, Boalt Hall) has written an article entited Unconscionability in the Law of Trusts, 84 Notre Dame L.Rev (Fall 2008). Here is a summary of the article from SSRN: This Article claims that trust law should...

Courtney Love to sue Kurt Cobain's Estate

Posted on April 09, 2009
The widow of singer Kurt Cobain who died fifteen years ago, Courtney Love, has indicated the she plans to file suit against Kurt's estate in an attempt to recoup millions of dollars she claims has been improperly taken from his...

GST Tax CLE

Posted on April 09, 2009
The National Constitution Center is sponsoring an audio conference on May 13, 2009 entitled Administering the Generation Skipping Transfer Tax in Estate Planning. Here is a summary of the program: Generation Skipping Transfer Tax was designed to maximize wealth accumulation...

Valuation discounts

Posted on April 09, 2009
Wendy Gerzog (Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law) has recently posted on SSRN her article entitled Valuation Discounting Techniques: Terms Gone Awry, 61 Tax Law. (Oct. 2008). Here is a summary of the article from SSRN: Fair...

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The benefits of a Nevada trust

Posted on April 08, 2009
Robert L. Moshman (Writer and Attorney) has written a new article entitled The Estate Analyst: "Nevada-nizing Asset Protection", Mar. 4, 2009. Here is a summary of the article: Wouldn't it be great to be able to write your own trust?!...

IRA advice

Posted on April 08, 2009
Martin Shenkman (Member, Martin M. Shenkman, P.C.) and Ira S. Herman, MS, CPA (Partner, J.H. Cohn) have written an article entitled IRAs and Retirement Plans Traps and Planning Tips, Mar. 23, 2009. Here is a summary of the article: Estate...

Harvest of a dead man's sperm authorized by Texas judge

Posted on April 08, 2009
On Sunday (April 5, 2009), Nikolas Evans died. Travis County Texas (Austin) Probate Judge Guy Herman ruled on Monday (April 6, 2009) that Nikolas' mother (Marissa Evans) could harvest his sperm. Nikolas had indicated that he wanted to have three...

Estate tax reform

Posted on April 08, 2009
Lily Batchelder (Professor of Law, NYU Law) has written a new article entitled Estate Tax Reform: Issues and Options, Tax Notes, Feb. 2, 2009. Here is a summary of the article: The upcoming one-year repeal of the federal estate tax...

Be a trustee -- good or bad idea?

Posted on April 07, 2009
Patricia M. Annino (Partner, Prince Lobel Glovsky & Tye LLP), Thomas D. Davidow, Ed. D (Founder, Thomas D. Davidow & Associates), and George Burns (Shareholder, Bernstein Shur) have written an article entitled With the Continuous Collapse of Major Financial Institutions,...

Same-sex marriage will be legal in Vermont

Posted on April 07, 2009
Earlier today (April 7, 2007), the Vermont Legislature overrode the veto of a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry. Governor Jim Douglas had vetoed the bill yesterday but today the Legislature was able to obtain exactly the minimum number of...

Wealthy widow dies for lack of medical care

Posted on April 07, 2009
Mary McCarthy recently died at age 108 in Cuba. Her husband died in 1951 leaving her a considerable fortune in a Boston bank. However, because of the trade embargo imposed by the United States government in 1962, she could not...

International trusts CLE

Posted on April 07, 2009
Financial Events International is sponsoring a conference entitled Trusts in a Time of Turmoil in Geneva on June 16, 2009. Here is a description of the program: This conference will look at the impact that recent events in the world...

Why the estate tax is good

Posted on April 06, 2009
Earlier on this blog, I discussed an article explaining why the estate tax is evil. In an unsigned editorial, the New York Times has now advocated the benefits of the estate tax in The Forgotten Rich, NY Times, April 2,...

Conditional Gift or Precatory Request?

Posted on April 06, 2009
What is the effect of a statement in a will that the testator's children tithe their testamentary gifts to their church? Is this a conditional gift (e.g., you must give 10% of your gift to the church as a condition...

More on Madoff scandal

Posted on April 06, 2009
Robert Moshman (Writer and Attorney) has written an article entitled The Estate Analyst: "Scam Relief for Madoff Victims", Feb. 28, 2009. Here is a summary of his article: This article highlights some of the more famous losers of the Madoff...

Proposed Conduit Financing Regulations

Posted on April 06, 2009
Jeffrey "Jeff" Rubinger (Partner, Holland + Knight) has written an article entitled Proposed Conduit Financing Regulations Treat Disregarded Entities as Regarded Entities, Mar. 2, 2009. Here is a summary of the article: The IRS has issued a proposed regulation that...

Same-sex marraiges likely to start in Iowa on April 24, 2009

Posted on April 05, 2009
Earlier on this blog, I reported that the Iowa Supreme Court in Varnum v. Brien (No. 07-1499) held that the Iowa statute banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional as a violation of equal protection. It now appears that the county attorney...

Top SSRN Downloads

Posted on April 05, 2009
Here are the top downloads from February 4, 2009 to April 5, 2009 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days. Rank Downloads Paper Title 1 244 2008 Developments...

The Hearst conservatorship

Posted on April 04, 2009
Below is a summary of the events surrounding the recent Hearst conservatorship proceedings: George Hearst, Jr. (Chairman, Hearst Corp.) is seeking to be the conservator of his twin sister's (Phoebe Hearst Cooke) estate with an estimated value of between $1...

Dead Men Reproduction -- What should be done?

Posted on April 04, 2009
Browne Lewis (Assistant Professor of Law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law) has recently published her article entitled Dead Men Reproducing: Responding to the Existence of Afterdeath Children, 16 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 403 (2009). Here the syllabus from the SSRN version...

Vermont House moves forward on same-sex marriage bill

Posted on April 03, 2009
Vermont, which already recognized civil unions nine years ago, may be on the brink of authorizing same-sex marriage. The bill allowing same-sex marriage had already passed the Vermont Senate and has advanced in the House meaning that it is most...

Link to Iowa case holding same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional now available

Posted on April 03, 2009
Earlier today, I reported that the Iowa Supreme Court held that the Iowa statute banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional as a violation of equal protection. Here is some additional information: The style of the case is Varnum v. Brien (No....

Iowa Supreme Court holds ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional

Posted on April 03, 2009
Earlier today (April 3, 2009), the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Iowa statute banning same-sex marriage was in violation of the Iowa constitution. The court stated that "a statute inconsistent with the Iowa constitution must be declared void even...

Cross-cultural interdisciplinary inheritance writings -- Suggestions sought

Posted on April 03, 2009
The following post is made on behalf of Shari Motro (Associate Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law): I am preparing a packet of materials to supplement my Wills and Trusts syllabus. My goal is to compile a...

Houston area law firm seeks probate and estate lawyer

Posted on April 02, 2009
The following adverstisement appears in Classified Advertising, 72 Tex. B.J. 232, 233 (2009): PROBATE/ESTATE PLANNING LAWYER sought by firm located in Sugar Land with Houston Galleria office, serving Harris and Fort Bend counties. Opportunity for qualified lawyer to join established...

Ave Maria University holds mass in honor of Terri Schiavo

Posted on April 02, 2009
Tuesday (March 31, 2009) was the fourth anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo who died after being removed from life support. Ave Maria University, a Catholic university in Florida, celebrated a mass in Terri Schaivo's honor. See University hosts...

Why the estate tax is evil

Posted on April 02, 2009
The following excerpts are from Arthur B. Laffer, Spend It in Vegas or Die Paying Taxes -- A 0% tax on carousing, but 55% on thrift, Wall St. J., April 2, 2009: In most cases, people who inherit wealth are...

Tall man may have had legs chopped off to fit in coffin

Posted on April 02, 2009
An investigation is being conducted in Allendale, South Carolina to determine whether Cave Funeral Services severed James Hines' legs so that he would fit inside his coffin. James died from skin cancer in 2004 and was 6' 5" tall. On...

Happy April Fools Day

Posted on April 01, 2009
Happy April Fools Day!! I hope you are not deceived today! Important Note: Be sure that your computer's anti-virus program's defintions are up-to-date so you are not infected with the Conficker virus. For more information, see McNelly Torres, Computer worm...

Texas lawyer suspended for actions in probate case

Posted on April 01, 2009
A Rockwall, Texas lawyer received a six-month, fully probated suspension from the practice of law for his actions in regard to a probate case. Here are the details from Disciplinary Actions, 72 Tex. B.J. 216, 218 (2009): On June 6,...

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