Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

Book Takes A Critical Look at Current Estate Planning

Sue Farley, J.D., has published her book entitled Trust: Are You Kidding?! (Morgan James 2009).  The book takes a critical look at current estate planning techniques and points out the planning and implementation problems that can arise with traditional estate plans.  The book provides estate planning advice and information regarding a number of different types of trusts.

Book Reveals Poor Treatment of Ted Williams' Frozen Body

A former employee of the cryogenics facility where Ted Williams' body is frozen has written a book revealing appalling and bizarre treatment at the facility.  The book, Frozen, by Larry Johnson, recounts that Williams' head was decapitated, frozen, and used for batting practice.  The book contains other gruesome accounts and even photos. 

See Nathanial Vinton, Ted Williams' frozen head for batting practice at cryogenics lab: book, Daily News, Oct. 2, 2009.

Special thanks to Mary Sue Donsky (NYC College of Technology) for bringing this article to my attention.

Examining Legal-Moral Problems

Beard Books has reprinted Norman St. John-Stevas' book entitled Life, Death and the Law: Law and Christian Morals in England and the United States (Beard Books 2001/12) (1961).  A description of the book is below:

After formulating some general principles governing the relationship between Christian morality and the law in England and the United States, particular controversial legal-moral problems are examined. These important subjects, still at the forefront today, include the control of conception, artificial insemination, human sterilization, homosexuality, suicide and euthanasia. The role that the state and the church should play in the formulation of legal policy is suggested.

Book Offers Advice for Dealing With the Loss of a Loved One

Roberta Temes, Ph.D., has published her book entitled Solace: Finding Your Way Through Grief and Learning to Live Again(AMACOM 2009).  In the book,

Dr. Roberta Temes reframes bereavement, as a normal life crisis and necessary healing process. Drawing on the latest research and her decades of counseling experience, she offers psychological guidance, practical advice, and reassurance to every unique bereaved person.  Dr. Temes shares a wealth of information, techniques, rituals, tips, resources, and survivors’ stories to help anyone adjust to the death of a spouse, parent, child, or other significant person in his or her own way.

Organ Transplants in China, Among Other Things

Daniel Asa Rose has published his book entitled Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China With my Black -Sheep Cousin and His Mail Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant ... and Save His Life (William Morrow 2009).

The book's website provides an excellent summary of this book on "medical tourism":

Larry Feldman desperately needed a kidney. After two god-awful years on dialysis, watching his life ebb away while waiting on a transplant list behind 74,000 other Americans, the gun-toting couch potato decided to risk everything and travel to China, the controversial kingdom of organ transplants. But Larry urgently needed his cousin Daniel's help ... even though they had been on the outs with each other for years.
 
Sure, Chinese law forbids transplants to Westerners, but that didn't faze Larry. He was confident he could shake out a single, pre-loved kidney from the country's 1.3 billion people. But wait: Larry was never one to not get his money's worth. Since he was already shelling out for a trip to China, he decided to make it a twofer: he arranged to pick up an (e-)mail-order bride while he was at it. After a tireless search of the Internet, he already knew the woman he wanted.
 
Backed by a quarter-million-dollar disability settlement (was it the icicle falling on his head or the truck rear-ending him?) and armed with an all-purpose letter of recommendation from a devoted nun, Larry journeyed to Beijing on an unlikely search for life and love in the most cryptic country on earth. Conflicted about the ethical issues surrounding medical tourism, and with no time to cultivate even a single Chinese contact, Daniel left the next day, on his own dime.

So begins the quest of two star-crossed cousins to rejuvenate Larry's failing body and ever-romantic heart, while avoiding getting tossed in a Chinese slammer. An unforgettable adventure filled with Red Guards who waltz at midnight and former enemies who prove more true than family, Larry's Kidney is being called "the funniest yet most heartwarming book of the year."

Book Discusses How to Protect Your Assets

Arnold S. Goldstein (attorney, Boca Raton) and W. Ryan Fowler (financial planner, Salt Lake City) have authored a book entitled Asset Protection. . .in Financially Unsafe Times (Garret Press, Inc. 2009). 

The book covers a wide variety of topics, including exemption planning, fraudulent transfers, corporations, LLC's, marital planning, and offshore planning.  According to the introduction in the book, the authors present "asset protection strategies at a level that would be comprehensible, useful and hopefully even interesting to the professional and their clients." 

Book Examines Revenue Ruling 59-60

Mercer Capital has published a new book entitled Revenue Ruling 59-60 at 50: Rediscover Fair Market Value, Mercer Capital (2009).

Here is an excerpt from the preface of the book:

Tagging a text with the label “classic” should not be done carelessly. But 50 years after its initial release, few would disagree that Revenue Ruling 59-60 deserves the title. Written in the spare, unadorned style of a government publication, the Ruling is a compact storehouse of enduring practical wisdom for business appraisers and the users of appraisal reports.

At Mercer Capital, we decided the 50th anniversary of the Ruling’s release was a fitting time to compile this book. Having been actively appraising privately held businesses for over 25 of the 50 years since the Ruling’s issuance, we find ourselves often returning to the Ruling, whether for guidance in novel situations or simply to confirm some intuition. In short, it is a trusted companion.

Our purpose in writing this book is twofold: first, to offer a guided tour through the Ruling, pointing out some of the most prominent features of the landscape (and providing the occasional warning about rough terrain); second, to pull back the curtain a bit, granting a non-technical view of how appraisers (at least this group) attempt to translate the guidance found in the Ruling into actual valuation engagements.

Stories From an Estate Planner's Experience

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 and instruction for those planning the disposition of their estate, including the story below:

He was a widower with no children, but he was blessed with money, many nieces and nephews — and a unique plan for deciding who should benefit from his generosity.

By the time he was in his mid-80s, his nieces and nephews believed the impression he gave that he had trouble hearing. They gathered often for holidays and family events, and they talked about how much they liked — or disliked — their uncle.

At his 90th birthday party, he stood to say a few words of thanks. "I've been waiting to say these words for the last few years: I can hear perfectly. I have always had perfect hearing, and I have heard everything you have ever said to me and about me."

As a stunned silence swept the room, he proceeded to tell them what he had heard — and later used that information as he prepared his will.

Greg Katz, Touching, angry tales from world of wills, Deseret News, June 9, 2009. 

Special thanks to Larry D. Stratton (Law Offices of Larry D. Stratton, Arcadia, CA and author of the Planner's Thoughts blog) for bringing the this book to my attention.

"Old Geezer" Is Not Politically Correct

The International Longevity Center in New York and the Aging Services of California have put together a stylebook for media professionals called Media Takes: On Aging.  The guide informs the reader of correct and incorrect ways to refer to our older population. 

According to the book, words such as elderly and senior citizen are taboo, while nursing home has been replaced with skilled nursing facility, and its patient is now a resident.   

For more information on the book and other politically incorrect terms (some obvious, others not so obvious), see Jane Gross, Goodbye, Spry Codgers. So Long, Feisty Crones., NY Times, Feb. 11, 2009.

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

"Estate Planning for Blended Families" by Richard E. Barnes published

Richard E. Barnes (Elliott, Blackburn, Barnes & Gooding, P.C, Valdosta, Georgia) has recently published his book entitled Estate Planning for Blended Families: Providing for Your Spouse & Children in a Second Marriage.

Here is the publisher's (Nolo) description of this book:

In nearly half of all stepfamilies, one spouse or the other brings a child or children with them. But while most estate planning books give a general overview of the process of creating a will, trust or other estate plan, most do not have the information that couples in a second marriage need to provide for the entirety of their family.

Estate Planning for Blended Families is the first book that will help you provide for your current spouse as well as children from both your previous and current marriages. Attorney Richard Barnes is a practicing lawyer who helps couples just like you create estate plans that take care of the entirety of a blended family. You'll get targeted information on:

• Identifying goals and concerns
• Discussing matters with your spouse
• Planning for all children involved
• Estate and gift taxes in a second marriage
• Choosing executors, trustees and guardians
• Working with lawyers, financial planners and other experts

Estate Planning for Blended Families also includes sample estate plans, current tax information for your state, and the latest information about which federal and state laws apply to you and your loved ones, so that you can create the right estate plan for your whole family.