Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

In Vitro Fertilization - Technological Developments Bring New Issues to the Courtroom

In In re Roberto d.B., 923 A.2d 115 (Md. 2007), the Maryland Court of Appeals for the first time addressed several issues related to in vitro fertilization. In this case, a man made a contract with a woman to carry to a term an in vitro fertilized embryo. The scope of the agreement was limited to birth giving and the surrogate carrier never asserted any parental rights.

The main issue in this case was whether the court had authority to order the Maryland Vital Records Division to remove the surrogate mother’s name from the child’s birth certificate. For several reasons the majority concluded that it did. First, the court held that under Maryland’s Equal Rights Amendment, females like males have the right to challenge their parentage. Second, having a mother’s name on a birth certificate was unrelated to the child’s best interest.

The Roberto majority opinion is followed by several rigorous dissents. For example, Justice Cathell fears that Roberto’s holding has created a profitable baby manufacturing opportunity. Specifically, he points out that through contracts with sperm and egg donors and a surrogate carrier, an entrepreneur can create a parentless child and profit from a costly adoption.

Special thanks to Tammy Gerhart (May 2008 J.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) for her assistance in preparing this blog entry.

Dispute Resolution Conference Grants Available

The following is from a message I received from  Professor Dennis Campbell of the Center for International Legal Studies, Salzburg, Austria:

The Bisone Foundation again has agreed to provide grants to facilitate the participation of law faculty in the dispute resolution conference scheduled 2-8 December 2007 at Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The grants are $500 each. The only conditions are that the recipient be:

1. A faculty member at an ABA-accredited law school.

2. Serve as a speaker or a panel moderator at the conference.

3. Participate for the full week of the conference.

Speakers and moderators have a 40% discount from the delegate fee. The delegate fee or the full week is US $2,968. The reduced fee and the $500 Bisone grant result in a fee of US $1,270.80, including 6 nights' accommodation at the slopeside Sheraton, opening and closing dinners, cocktail reception, working breakfasts and afternoon coffee for delegates, CLE/CPD accreditation, and travel insurance.

The fee for a guest sharing a faculty room for the full week is US $210.  Children up to 17 years of age stay for free in the room of the parents.

Please advise Professor Dennis Campbell should you wish to apply for a Bisone Foundation grant.

T&E Lawyer Drains Client's Estate, Arrested Playing Video Poker in Casino

The following is from Kim Martineau, Lawyer Arrested at Casino Suspected of Siphoning Money from Elderly Woman's Estate, Hartford Courant, July 19, 2007:

A Wallingford attorney accused of draining the estate of an elderly widow, potentially to cover heavy gambling losses, was arrested Wednesday [July 18, 2007] while playing video poker at Mohegan Sun. ...

A year ago, 99-year-old Elsie Nolds suffered a stroke. Not long after Nolds arrived at the hospital, her attorney, [Richard] Hannan, appeared at her bedside, offering to pay her bills through power of attorney. At the time, Nolds had $183,000 in stock and savings. Today, police suspect most of that money is gone. ...

During their investigation, police discovered Hannan had cashed his client's $100,000 savings CD and secretly placed her cash into his law firm account, according to court papers. He had also written checks from her account to his firm and sold off her stock without permission, the state complaint says. The money appeared to be flowing to one place: Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Montville. When police looked at Hannan's records they saw pages of red ink. Between 2005 and 2006, he had racked up more than $400,000 in losses, the state complaint says. The alleged misconduct has stunned lawyers in Wallingford, where Hannan runs a practice on Main Street with his son, Gregg Hannan, handling probate and real estate matters.

Special thanks to Prof. Paul Caron for bringing this article to my attention.

Jack Whittaker Update

Earlier on this blog, I reported on lottery winner Jack Whittaker and the problems that befell him after winning over $300 million in 2002.

The following are the highlights from a recent interview reported in AP, Powerball winner Jack Whittaker answers questions about the jackpot, his troubles, SignOnSanDiego.com, Sept. 13, 2007:

• Mr. Whittaker continues to play the lottery, sometimes buying $100 worth of tickets at one time.
• He advises lottery winners not to give money away because once you start, people deem you an "easy touch" and pester you relentlessly for money.
• He uses part of his windfall to finance people who purchase cars and homes from his businesses.
• He does not enjoy going out because of the public recognition.

Patents on Tax Planning Methods May Be Denied

James V. Roberts (Attorney at Law, Glast, Phillips & Murray P.C.) has recently published his article entitled Update on Patenting Tax Advice, RPPT eREPORT (2007).

Here is an abstract of his article:

The idea of issuing patents in the area of tax planning has stirred significant controversy and has been reported on before in eReport. As previously noted, the expansion of patents in this area has worried many practitioners for a variety of reasons, most notably the possibility that a strategy conceived for a private client later exposed (typically through a dispute process with the IRS) may be the same as or substantially similar to an existing patent, triggering an infringement claim. And from that claim, discovery could reach into the practitioner’s other files, and, if part of a firm, into the files of other practitioners in the firm.

In January of this year, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors approved a request by that bar’s Tax Section to submit to the Internal Revenue Service a response to its request for comment on this area, and, in that response, offering specific legislation to prohibit enforcement of tax strategy patents. The model for the proposed legislation is the language added in 1997 to prevent patents on surgical procedures from being enforced against doctors and hospitals.

Foundation Source® Named 2007 Philanthropic Group of the Year

The following is from Foundation Source^®Named 2007 Philanthropic Group of the Year, Sept. 11, 2007:

Foundation Source, the nation's leading provider of support services for private foundations, announced today that it has been honored as the 2007 Philanthropic Group of the Year at the annual High Net Worth Industry awards sponsored by notable industry publication Private Asset Management. The prestigious award recognizes the company's innovative approach to automating and streamlining private foundations and its success in bringing outsourced foundation services to the nations leading private wealth management firms.

“It is a great honor to be recognized as the 2007 Philanthropic Group of the Year,” said Daniel M. Schley, Foundation Source chairman and CEO. “For decades the focus within the private wealth sector has been on growing assets, protecting them in difficult times and distributing assets to the next generation. Today, there is a rapidly emerging fourth component to the successful private wealth offering – strategic philanthropy – with industry thought leaders rapidly adding a range of philanthropic services to their core service offering. For ultra high-net worth clients, strategic philanthropy means private foundations, and increasingly a partnership with Foundation Source. We are pleased, indeed, that our partners and our peers have recognized Foundation Source as the Philanthropic Group of the Year.”

Added Doug Mellinger, Foundation Source founder and vice chairman, “For years, Foundation Source has focused on providing a complete suite of outsourced services for setting up and operating private foundations. Since inception, our strategy has been to distribute our services in partnership with the nation’s premier wealth management firms. Winning this prestigious award confirms that the nation’s most philanthropic families are truly benefiting from the value that we have teamed up with our partners to provide.”

More on Digital Property

Earlier on this blog, I reported on the importance of adding "digital planning" to a person's estate plan.

Here are some solutions from David M. Goldman, Florida Estate Planning & Digital Assets, Oct. 7, 2006:

The best solution seems to deal with a password vault where there is a master password. This way if your passwords change, the person who has access to the master password would always have the current password.

The master password could be on a document that is referenced within the will or other estate planning documents.

With the increase in electronic communications it’s important to choose a Florida Estate Planning Attorney who is familiar with the technology and how to deal with these recent problems in estate planning.

Another solution is to create a Digital Asset Revocable Trust. This trust can be the owner of all of your digital assets or the assets you wish others to have access to upon a disabling event or your death. Since most of these digital assets are licenses, the trust will survive your death and others will be able to access the information. You still need to plan on how to transfer the information or knowledge to the successor trustee or beneficiary.

Dead People With Guns

One of the growing estate planning niches is preparing for the death of gun owners and handling the estates of gun owners.

Here are two sites which have detailed information about the issues and the solutions:

• Neil E. Hendershot, "I bequeath my machine gun to . . ." , PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog, Sept. 12, 2007:
     
  What does an attorney do when, after an elderly person dies, a search of the home reveals a gun?  This issue faces estate attorneys quite frequently, especially in pro-gun states, such as Pennsylvania.  Most attorneys, even those not proficient in firearms law or firearms in general, will properly handle the transfer of a typical firearm.  What does an attorney do when the search reveals an automatic weapon -- essentially, a "machine gun" (or "machinegun" under federal law)?
     
  Uncertainty in proper disposition of such a firearm could lead to one’s client being convicted of possession of an unregistered firearm, punishable by up to 10 years, $250,000 in fines and the forfeiture of the weapon and any “vessel, vehicle, or aircraft” used to conceal or convey the firearm.
     

• David M. Goldman, Florida Gun Trusts or National Firearms Trust , Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog, July 30, 2007 & Wood, Atter, & Associates, National Firearms Gun Trust:
     
  Although most Florida Revocable Trusts can hold firearms, many are not setup properly to deal with the special issues involving items regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA).  When the NFA is violated, the individuals who violate the act are subject to substantial fines, criminal charges, and forfeiture of all weapons (not just those regulated). 
     
  In addition the trust must deal give the Trustee special powers and instructions on how to deal with unplanned events.  Assets in a Firearms Trust can not be distributed like other assets upon the incapacity or death of the Grantor or Settlor.
     
  Although most Florida Revocable Trusts can hold firearms, many of these trusts are not properly written to deal with the special issues involving items regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA).  When the NFA is violated, the individual, who violates the act is subject to substantial fines, criminal charges, and forfeiture of all weapons (not just those regulated).
     
  A properly prepared Gun Trust also contains provisions dealing with death, incapacity, and transfer of the firearm.   Assets in a Gun Trust cannot be distributed like other assets upon the incapacity or death of the Grantor or Settlor of the trust.

States Compete in Adopting Laws to Attract More Trust Business

This entry is based on Nora Lockwood Tooher’s article entitled Family Trusts Branch Out, Law. USA, Sept. 10, 2007.

As trusts are becoming increasingly complex, more persons with diverse skills and expertise are needed to manage them. For instance, it is useful to utilize corporate trustee’s investment skills while having a relative who is familiar with family affairs be in charge of asset distribution.

While the practice of appointing multiple trustees is appealing, it may also expose a trustee to liability for other trust agent’s actions. Thus in order to draw more trust business, many states have adopted laws that exempt trustees from liability in certain circumstances. For example, South Dakota and Delaware’s “directed trust” statutes exempt from liability a trustee who follows an adviser’s instructions in making investment and distribution decisions. Another incentive that some states have to offer to prospective settlors is the eradication of the rule against perpetuities.

In light of the new and alluring trust legislation, trust attorneys may decide that it is best to set up their clients’ trusts outside of their home states in order to take advantage of certain beneficial statutory trust provisions.

Why Should American Courts Enforce Offshore Asset Protection Trusts?

Richard C. Ausness (Ashland Oil Professor of Law, University of Kentucky College of Law) has recently published his article entitled The Offshore Asset Protection Trust: A Prudent Financial Planning Device or the Last Refuge of a Scoundrel?, 45 Duq. L. Rev. 147, 148-49 (2007).

Here is an excerpt from the introduction to his article:

In recent years, a large number of Americans have established “asset protection trusts” in foreign countries. An asset protection trust is a self-settled spendthrift trust which is created in order to protect the settlor's property from the claims of creditors. Virtually all American jurisdictions recognize spendthrift trusts, which prohibit both voluntary and involuntary alienation of a third party beneficiary's interest in a trust; however, most do not allow a settlor who has retained a beneficial interest in a spendthrift trust to protect that interest from the claims of creditors. A growing number of present and former British possessions, however, have enacted laws that allow foreigners to create self-settled spendthrift or asset protection trusts in their territory. Although legal commentators disagree about the legitimacy of these offshore trusts, American courts have treated them with undisguised hostility. In this article, I argue that offshore asset protection trusts serve a legitimate purpose and, therefore, American courts should enforce them, at least when certain conditions are met.

Unusual Holographic Will of Murderer

On July 14, 2007, David M. Munis murdered his wife using the sniper skills he learned while in the military.  Then, on July 17, 2007, he committed suicide.

He left behind a very unusual holographic will written on a "shallow cardboard box he had opened up so he could write on the insides of the two flaps and on the bottom. He also wrote notes on paper plates, a napkin and what appeared to be a small cutting board."

Here is a description of the contents of his will from Bob Moen, Wyo. sniper scrawled wishes on plates, Miami Harold, Sept. 11, 2007:

In two notes to his youngest son, Munis wrote, "Rory, You remember each and every day how much your Daddy loves you. I'm going to be with Grandpa George and your mom. We will be watching you ... always. Make us proud."

Later, Munis asked his brother to teach his son "to hunt, be a man, and live his life with loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage."

Outside the box, which had mangled packaging tape around the edges and down the flaps, Munis wrote: "To Be Opened By the Munis Family." On one edge of the box, he wrote: "Sorry this All I Had."

Inside the box, there was a paper plate on which he wrote that one of his two stepsons was to receive "the Ultra-Mag" - likely a type of rifle - and the second stepson "gets whichever gun he wants."

He wrote that he loved both and again apologized that the note "is such a mess."

Munis took up both the inside flaps and the box bottom with his will, financial assets and funeral arrangements. Under "Funeral," he asked to be cremated and his ashes spread over a wilderness area in Montana, where he grew up.

On another paper plate he wrote: "To change who I used to be. A reason to start over new. And the reason is you." On the back, his writing included: "One More Song At Funeral: 'The Reason Is You'" and "Dedicated to Robin The Love of My Life."

He also asked that "all contents of the house (what little is left after Robin took everything) is to be divided equally among" his brothers and sister.

In the same section, he gave his boat to one brother and instructed the other to give the contents of his gun safe to his youngest son "when you feel he is old enough."

Special thanks to Jaume Canaves (J.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.

Inheritance Financing Companies in California – An Emerging Business Practice That Captured Legislative Attention

Several companies, mostly concentrated in California, are now offering to advance their clients’ inheritance money before the completion of the probate process. Some of the major companies involved include Inheritance Funding Company, Inc., Heir Advance Company, Inc., and Estate Finance™.

In this process, an inheritance financing company offers to buy a portion of the inheritance from court identified heirs for a fixed amount of money. The heir makes no monthly payments and the financing company gets compensated directly from the estate upon completion of the probate process. The company’s compensation depends on several factors such as the size of the advance, the complexity of the inheritance, and the length of time in which the company anticipates to get paid. The customer usually receives the advance between two to five business days from the time of the application. The amount of the advance available may exceed $1,000,000.

Most of these companies also assure that heirs will not be personally liable if the estates lack funds upon completion of probate. The caveat to this statement is absence of fraud on the part of heirs. This no liability assurance is mandated by the California Probate Code § 11604.5, which became effective on January 1, 2006. This section imposes certain restrictions and notice obligations on companies engaged in the business of advancing inheritance. It is also California’s first attempt at regulating this new and growing industry. See The Cal. State Senate Democratic Caucus, Californians Can Look Forward to a New Year, New Laws, US States News, Dec. 1, 2005. This new legislation has received a warm welcome from commentators who feared that big companies would take advantage of the grieving families by charging unreasonably high and hidden fees while inadequately explaining the process. See David Lazarus, Reckless Spending Is No Relief, San Francisco Chron., Sept. 11, 2005, at B1.

Special thanks to Tammy Gerhart (May 2008 J.D. Candidate, Texas Tech University School of Law) for her assistance in preparing this blog entry.

Digital Property After Death

It is becoming extremely important to add "digital planning" to a person's estate plan.

The following is from Katherine Rosman, Passing on Wills . . . and Passwords, Wall St. J., Sept. 1-2, 2007, at A8:

The digital age is adding a new dimension to the list of delicate topics to broach with aging or sick loved ones.

In addition to planning for life insurance, living wills and funeral arrangements, estate planners are recommending that clients leave instructions to survivors on unraveling their electronic accounts, including a list of passwords and security codes.

If your loved one did not provide password data before dying, most Internet-based companies have instituted guidelines to help.

According to the article, here is how some major companies handle the death of a user:

• AOL -- Will allow access to the personal representative upon presentation of a death certificate and proof of appointment.
• eBay (seller) -- Similar to AOL.
• eBay (buyer) -- No access.
• Facebook -- Profile moves to "memorial state" but no one may obtain the login password.
• Gmail -- Similar to AOL plus an email showing that the decedent had sent an email message from th Gmail account to the person seeking access.

The article also explains the situation of a client of Elaine King, a certified financial planner:

[A] man in his thirties died. His family could not even determine what financial accounts it needed to close until it could access his email account. The deceased man’s Internet service provider required the family to get a court order granting it entry to his account.

“It can be a very lengthy process,” said King who adds that her firm now advises most clients to leave a list of electronic passwords along with a will.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.

Distribution standard including the term “welfare” does not create an ascertainable standard.

The beneficiaries of a testamentary trust who could remove the trustee and appoint themselves sued the lawyers who drafted the will alleging that not limiting the trustee’s invasion power by an ascertainable standard was malpractice.

Before the suit was filed, the lawyers obtained a reformation of the trust which struck the word “welfare” from the language governing the invasion power.

In Carlson v. Sweeney, Dabagia, Donoghue, Thorne, Janes & Pagos, 868 N.E.2d 4 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007), the court held that a power to invade for the beneficiaries’ “medical care, comfortable maintenance and welfare” is not limited by an ascertainable standard; that the use of the word “welfare” was mistake of law that does not warrant reformation; and that the malpractice suit could proceed although the adverse tax effects of the language would not occur until the beneficiaries’ deaths.

Third Circuit Denies a Charitable Deduction for a Split Interest Trust

James V. Roberts (Attorney at Law, Glast, Phillips & Murray P.C.) has recently published his article entitled Split-Interest Trust Results in Denial of Charitable Deduction, RPPT eREPORT (2007).

Here is an abstract of his article:

The Third Circuit recently addressed the issue of a split-interest trust in the case of Edmond C. Galloway v. United States. The decision was handed down on June 21, 2007, and deals with an appeal of a case from federal district court seeking a refund. James Galloway, the decedent, created a trust that, on his death, continued until 2016. There were four beneficiaries of the trust, two of which were charities. The trust contained no provisions for dividing the trust at his death, and, as a result, the payments to the charitable and non-charitable beneficiaries came from the same items of trust corpus.

This whole case turned on the lack of the abusive provisions normally thought to be associated with pre-2055(e) split interest trusts i.e. where a non-charitable beneficiary gets first crack at the trust assets, resulting in little or no assets remaining for the charity, but with the decedent’s estate claiming a charitable deduction for the supposed value of the remainder. The Court recited the history of the spit-interest trust arena leading up to the passage of 2055(e).

Anna Nicole Smith Update

It's been a while since I've provided an update on Anna Nicole Smith.  So, here are some of the recent happenings:

• Dannielynn recently celebrated her first birthday.
• Howard K. Stern (Anna's companion) was sued by Mark Hatten (Anna's former lover) for $100 million.  Mark is currently in jail for making criminal threats against Anna.  Mark claims that Stern tried to murder him with a "toxic blend of narcotics."
• On September 6, 2007, Superior Court Judge Charles C. Lee rejected an arbitration request from Larry Birkhead's lawyer, Debra Opri.  The judge held that Opri did not sufficiently rebut Larry's claims that he never agreed to arbitration.  Opri claims that Larry owes her more than $600,000 for work done which resulted in him proving that he was Dannielynn's father.

See Anna Nicole’s ex sues Stern for $100 million, MSNBC, Sept. 7, 2007 & AP, Judge denies arbitration request by ex-lawyer for former Anna Nicole Smith beau Larry Birkhead, SignOnSanDiego.com, Sept. 7, 2007.

Are terms describing age-challenged individuals becoming pejorative in nature?

According to Joel Achenbach, The Rise of the Alpha Geezer, Washington Post, Sept. 9, 2007, at B03,

There are no old people anymore. The word "senior" is in disfavor; the folks at AARP often use the term "grown-up" to refer to our most tenured citizens. (And it's not the American Association of Retired Persons anymore, either: The group decided that because most of its members weren't retired, it should be just AARP, standing for nothing at all.) * * *

Disability rates for people over 65 go down by more than 2 percent a year, according to a long-term national survey published in 2006. The culture of being older has fundamentally changed, says Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Center-USA and a professor of geriatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.

Trust Portion Includable in Decedent’s Estate and Proposed IRS Regulations

James V. Roberts (Attorney at Law, Glast, Phillips & Murray P.C.) has recently published his article entitled New Proposed Regulations on IRC § 2036 and § 2039 Inclusion, RPPT eREPORT (2007).

Here is the abstract of his article:

On June 6, 2007, the IRS published new proposed regulations that provide guidance on what part of a trust is includable in a deceased settlor’s estate under Sections 2036 and 2039 if the settlor retained the use of the trust property or the right to an annuity or other income from the trust for life (or some term that doesn’t actually end before death). Many practitioners would immediately surmise that 100% would be included, but there are revenue rulings to the contrary.

Rev. Rul. 76- 273, 1976-2 C.B. 268 and Rev. Rul. 82-105, 1982-1 C.B 133 are spotlighted in the preamble of the proposed regulations. Basically, the IRS explained that these rulings can provide a means for claiming only a part of the value of a trust in the decedent’s estate. The IRS explained that the new proposed regulations are designed to incorporate those rulings into the regulations, and also modify the existing regulations to update them with changes in the law.

In addition, the preamble explained that the proposed changes to the 2039 regulations were intended to point the practitioner back to 2036 for computational rules.

Top SSRN Downloads

Here are the top downloads from July 12, 2007 to September 10, 2007 from the SSRN Journal of Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law for all papers announced in the last 60 days:

Rank	Downloads	Paper Title
1	241	Erickson: A Primer on FLPS Wendy C. Gerzog, University of Baltimore - School of Law, Date posted to database: July 21, 2007 Last Revised: July 21, 2007
2	163	Fiduciaries Kenneth M. Rosen, University of Alabama - School of Law, Date posted to database: July 17, 2007 Last Revised: August 13, 2007
3	84	Outsourcing Intimacy: The Taxation of Powers of Attorney Bridget J. Crawford, Pace University - School of Law, Date posted to database: June 25, 2007 Last Revised: August 24, 2007
4	74	Speak Clearly and Listen Well: Negating the Duty to Diversify Trust Investments Jeffrey A. Cooper, Quinnipiac University School of Law, Date posted to database: August 10, 2007 Last Revised: August 23, 2007
5	36	Anna Nicole Smith and the Right to Control Disposition of the Dead James T.R. Jones, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Date posted to database: June 28, 2007 Last Revised: August 2, 2007

Appraiser Penalties for All? The New and Troubling IRS Code Provision

William S. Forsberg (Attorney at Law at Leonard, Street & Deinard) and Hugh F. Drake (Attorney at Law at Brown, Hay & Stephens, LLP) have recently published an article entitled The New IRS Appraiser Penalties Under Code § 6695A, Prob. & Prop., Sept./Oct. 2007, at 46.

Here is an excerpt from the introduction to their article:

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) imposes new penalties under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) §6695A for substantial or gross valuation misstatements.

Without question, the need for property to be valued properly is critical under our current transfer tax and income tax system. Estate and trust attorneys often must obtain appraisals of property or property interests when making strategic lifetime gifts for clients as well as on a client’s death. Common lifetime gifting strategies that require an appraisal include transfers to grantor retained annuity trusts and transfers to qualified personal residence trusts. Sales of property to grantor trusts, or gifts of family limited partnership interests, also require an appraisal. Asset transfers to certain types of charitable trusts require appraisals for both income and transfer tax purposes.

The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law has submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service on the issues surrounding new Code § 6695A. The uncertainties surrounding the new Code section are troubling not only for professional appraisers but for any person involved in the appraisal process, including attorneys and CPAs. This article will discuss the questions raised by the task force about new Code § 6695A and provide some insight into the concerns the task force raised regarding the ability of the IRS to implement its provisions fairly and equitably.

Legal Scholarship Blog Explains Omission of Estate Planning and Related Areas

Earlier on this blog, I reported that the Legal Scholarship Blog, run by University of Pittsburgh School of Law & University of Washington School of Law, omitted the areas of Estates, Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, and Elder Law from its list of legal scholarship categories.

I then reported that due to the efforts of Kim Dayton (Professor of Law, William Mitchell College of Law), "Elder Law" was added as a category.

Earlier today (September 9, 2007) I received an anonymous message signed only "Legal Scholarship Blog Editors" explaining the reasons behind their exclusion of other estate planning areas from their list of scholarship categories.  Here is what they said:

Links to such categories appear only when we receive relevant events, and as of the date of your post we had not received notice of any such events * * *. If you have events in the areas of Estates, Trusts & Estates, we would be happy to post them in an appropriately-named category.

Second, the blog does not reflect any judgment about your specific area of the law.  For instance, notice that we have a category of Business Law, which encompasses topics as broad and diverse as unincorporated business entities, corporations, corporate finance, corporate governance, and so on.  Similarly, for instance, notice that we have a category of Criminal Law, which encompasses topics as broad and diverse as criminal procedure, criminology, national security issues, punishment theory, sentencing, and so on.  The question of categorical breadth reflects a calculus of a variety of factors, including the number of relevant events as well as user-friendliness -- but dismissiveness about an area's distinctive contours is not such a factor.