Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

New Edition of Wills, Trusts, and Estates--Examples & Explanations Published

Wills, Trusts, and Estates: Examples and Explanations covers intestate succession, wills, trusts, estate administration, nonprobate assets, wealth transfer taxation, disability and death planning (including elder law concerns), and malpractice and professional responsibility. This book is designed to augment Wills, Trusts, and Estates and related courses that expose students to estate planning, decedents’ estates, and trusts. This book also provides essential background and review material for students taking advanced courses in estate planning, elder law, and wealth transfer taxation. The discussion, along with the examples and explanations, covers both the theoretical and practical applications of the legal concepts. 

 

New to the 8th Edition:  

• The development of electronic wills, electronic signatures and notarization, and other components of estate planning in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Updated percentages and exemption amounts for gift, estate, and generation-skipping tax
• Revision of content and standards from the Uniform Probate Code, Uniform Trust Code, and other uniform laws to reflect recent changes and amendments 
• Developments in physician-assisted suicide 
• Updated casebook correlation tables reflect new editions of the major casebooks 
• Text and examples updated and “fine-tuned” to enhance readability and pedagogical value
  

New Titles from Carolina Academic Press

Fundamentals of Trusts and Estates

Sixth Edition

Roger W. Andersen & Ira Mark Bloom

2022 • 824 pp • 978-1-5310-2484-0 • $215.00 • casebound
Teacher’s Manual available  

This edition continues to provide a lean set of materials, flexibly structured to accommodate different lengths of courses. Specifically updated, in addition to case developments, are the 2019 UPC Amendments to the intestacy and class gifts areas, including extensive treatment of parentage and descendancy based on assisted reproductive technologies. The Uniform Electronic Wills Act and the Fiduciary Income and Principal Act are also covered. 

Following a largely traditional organization, the book presents fundamental material clearly and concisely while including creative vehicles for further inquiry. Questions and problems provide the flexibility for teachers to tailor their courses to meet the needs of their particular students and curriculum. Without the inconvenience of hopping and skipping, teachers can ignore, focus upon, or expand upon different problems and questions. The excerpted readings fulfill the same function—they can serve as background or as springboards for further inquiry. Policy debates, ethics issues, and practical considerations lace their way through the material. Often by placing students in various roles, the questions and problems help students develop skills and values to carry throughout their professional careers.
 

Understanding Trusts and Estates

Seventh Edition

Roger W. Andersen & Susan N. Gary

2022 • 432 pp • 978-1-5310-2560-1 • $55.00 • paper  

This new edition of Understanding Trusts and Estates retains the style and clear language that have kept generations of students engaged as they explore this intriguing field. Updates include coverage of electronic wills, new uniform act treatment of the parent-child relationship and unmarried cohabitants, directed trusts and trust protectors, and the uniform power of appointment act. Examples, charts, cross-references among similar concepts, and frameworks for analyzing problem areas all combine to give students the tools to deepen their understanding. Examples throughout the book demonstrate how trusts and estates doctrines affect real people.

Although the book is designed primarily as a student supplement, some teachers have used it successfully as the primary text, supplemented by statutory materials, for both the basic course and for more specialized courses. Practicing attorneys may also find it useful if they are new to the subject or have been away from it for some time.

Article: Book Review: A Better Understanding of Common Law Ownership of Trust Property and its Introduction in China Through Comparative Studies

Andrew Godwin recently published an article entitled, Book Review: A Better Understanding of Common Law Ownership of Trust Property and its Introduction in China Through Comparative Studies, Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law ejournal (2022).

Provided below is the abstract to the Article: 

Book review of: Ruiqiao Zhang, A Better Understanding of Common Law Ownership of Trust Property and its Introduction in China Through Comparative Studies. Guangzhou: World Publishing Guangdong Co Ltd, 2019

Hirsch & McGovern California Probate Code Annotated 2022 edition released

The 2022 edition of Adam J. Hirsch & William M. McGovern's California Probate Code Annotated was recently released. Here is a summary of this volume:

Hirsch & McGovern California Probate Code Annotated, 2022 ed. (California Desktop Codes) is your comprehensive resource for probate law and estate planning in California. It provides you with the complete text of the California Probate Code, related state and federal statutes, and rules of court regarding estate planning and probate.

This volume contains:

• Authoritative commentary, annotations, and analysis of leading cases
• Law Revision Commission editorial notes that provide additional guidance in the construction and application of particular sections
• References to Witkin’s Summary of California Law, 10th which direct you toward further research
• A table of Judicial Council forms to help you identify forms to be used in conjunction with the statutes and rules
• A table of cases illustrating the cases discussed in the author’s commentary
• A table of affected sections indicating recent modifications
• Underlining to indicate additions or changes in statutes
• Asterisks to indicate deletions.

New book: An Attorney’s Introductory Guide to the IRA Distribution Rules Under the Secure Act

Seymour Goldberg's new book, An Attorney’s Introductory Guide to the IRA Distribution Rules Under the Secure Act, is now available for purchase from the website of the New York County Lawyers Association. Here is a description of his book:

The Guide, written in clear, concise language with multiple examples, is designed to help attorneys advise their clients on the major changes the Secure Act made regarding retirement distribution rules.

Not only will the Guide assist attorneys in counseling their clients, but it will also help them with their own retirement planning!!!

An Attorney’s Introductory Guide to the IRA Distribution Rules Under the Secure Act

New York County Lawyers Association has just released Seymour Goldberg's excellent eBook entitled An Attorney’s Introductory Guide to the IRA Distribution Rules Under the Secure Act. As the website to order this book explains:

The Guide, written in clear, concise language with multiple examples, is designed to help attorneys advise their clients on the major changes the Secure Act made regarding retirement distribution rules.

Not only will the Guide assist attorneys in counseling their clients, but it will also help them with their own retirement planning!!!

Article: The Reasonably Loyal Person

Andrew S. Gold recently published an article entitled, The Reasonably Loyal Person, Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law ejournal (2021). Provided below is the abstract to the Article:

This chapter is a contribution to a book on John Gardner’s work in private law theory. The chapter takes up a puzzle that Gardner raised: why is there no “reasonably loyal trustee” in fiduciary law? Notably, he proposes that the role of a trustee might lack a law-independent counterpart. That, in turn, could make it impossible for trust law (and by implication, fiduciary law) to “pass the buck” to whatever it is that the “reasonably loyal person” would do. I will suggest that fiduciary relationships frequently do have law-independent counterparts, and moreover that such counterparts can evolve over time. Relatedly, I will argue that a wide range of extra-legal conceptions of loyalty are available for buck passing purposes; not all loyalty is built on a prior meaningful relationship between a loyal party and the object of her loyalty. Lastly, I will conclude with some thoughts on why buck passing could be valuable.

Succession Drama Grips Scholastic: CEO's Sudden Death, an Office Romance and a Surprise Will

In June, M. Richard Robinson Jr., the longtime lead of Scholastic Corp., died suddenly while on a walk in Martha's Vineyard. Robinson Jr.'s death was not the only surprise, as he also left behind a surprising succession plan. 

Instead of giving control of the publisher to his two sons, his siblings, or his ex-wife, control went to Iole Lucchese, Scholastic's chief strategy officer. Lucchese also inherited all of his personal possessions. 

In his 2018 will, Robinson described Ms. Lucchese as "my partner and closest friend." Lucchese has been with the company for 30-years. Ms. Lucchese and Mr. Robinson had been "longtime romantic partners, according to interviews with family members and former employees. 

The surprise heir has "set in motion a family succession drama at the century-old-company." The company, which is one of the world's largest publishers of children's books like the Harry Potter novels and Magic School Bus series, now has its future being called into question due to Lucchese's "sudden emergence as Scholastic's heir." 

Some family members have began to review their legal options—like reaching an agreement with Ms. Lucchese to transfer some voting shares to family members or to "ensure that get a greater share of the estate." 

Richard Robinson's youngest son, Maurice Robinson, stated that his father's decision to give control to Ms. Lucchese was "unexpected and shocking." John Benham Robinson, Richard Robinson's eldest son, described his father's estate plans as "salt in an open wound." 

See Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg & Shalini Ramachandran, Succession Drama Grips Scholastic: CEO's Sudden Death, an Office Romance and a Surprise Will , The Wall Street Journal, August 1, 2021.

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Florida Probate Attorney) for bringing this article to my attention.

New Edition of Excellent Estate Planning Book Released

I am excited to announce that Alexander A. Bove, Jr. and Melissa Langa have recently published the 4^th Edition of their book entitled The Complete Book of Wills, Estates, and Trusts published by St. Martin’s Griffin.

This book, designed for a non-attorney audience, does a stellar job of explaining the estate planning and probate process from start to finish. The book is divided into 14 chapters as follows:

1. The World of Wills
2. Do you Really Need a Will?
3. What is a Will?
4. How to Cancel or Change Your Will
5. Common Will Provisions
6. Uncommon Will Provisions – Controlling from the Grave
7. Spouses’ and Children’s Rights to an Estate
8. Estate Management
9. Personal Representatives
10. Will Contests, Lost Wills, and Beneficiary Rights
11. Avoiding Probate and Wills Altogether
12. Everything You Need to Know About Trusts
13. Probate, Trusts, and Taxes
14. Dealing with Lawyers

The conversational nature of the authors’ writing style makes their book easy to read and both enjoyable and informative.

As the authors make clear, the book “is NOT a substitute for expert professional advice.” However, reading this book prior to seeking estate planning advice, or during the estate planning process, will make you a well-informed client so that you will have greater understanding of legal concepts when you visit with your attorney. In this way, you can help assure you ask the right questions, get the answers you need, and obtain the estate plan you want to carry out your intent.

Law Professor from Poland releases book on will formalities

Mariusz Załucki, Professor of Law at AFM Kraków University (Poland), recently released his treatise entitled Wills Formalities versus Testator’s Intention (2021).

His "main objective is to demonstrate that it is possible, justified by the needs of the practice of drawing up wills, to give the provisions on the form of a will a wording which makes them technologically independent, allowing the testator's declaration of last intent, made in any manner whatsoever, recorded by means of any method enabling the testator's last intent to be reflected after his death, to produce legal effects mortis causa. For it is not in all the current formalities and methods of testation indicated by individual legislators, but in the reflection of the testator's intentions that the most important value underpinning modern succession law lies."