Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

Book on Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Tenth Edition

Robert H. Sitkoff and the late Jesse Dukeminier recently published a book entitled Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Tenth Edition. This updated edition features a new section on digital wills, trust decanting, as well as updated and expanded coverage relating to wealth and income inequality.

Special thanks to Rachael Wisner for bringing this article to my attention.

Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting, 3rd ed.

Steve R. Akers, Bernard E. Jones, & R. J. Watts, II, with 3rd edition update by Casey A. Barthel, recently published a book entitled, Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting, 3rd ed. (2018). Provided below is some information about the book:

Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting began life as the well-known paper “Anatomy of a Will” from the TexasBarCLE seminar “Building Blocks of Wills, Estates and Probate.” Intended for both general practitioners who occasionally prepare wills for their existing clients as well as for experienced estate planning attorneys, Wills Road Map brings together legal concepts from wills, probate, and trust law to provide expert guidance in properly assembling a will.

Featuring a basic discussion of estate tax planning, with a focus on various state law issues, Wills Road Map also addresses principles that can affect the will beyond the language of the will itself. Other subjects include doctrines affecting the validity of the will and a review of the legal significance and effect of numerous specific wills provisions.

The new third edition of Wills Road Map reflects legislative changes from the regular session of the Eighty-fifth Legislature, as well as case law changes. Other updates include a new discussion about digital assets and revised sample wills. Finally, the third edition adds the following:

• Client intake questionnaires
• Self-proving affidavits
• Access to over 20 TexasBarCLE articles of interest in the digital download
• A will execution ceremony checklist

The Wills Road Map: Practical Considerations in Will Drafting Digital Download is included with purchase and may also be purchased separately. The digital download contains the entire book as a hyperlinked and word-searchable PDF file. All tables of contents, cross-references, and indexes are linked to substantive text within the file. Texas and federal case and statute citations are linked to online versions in the Casemaker Web Library.

Book on McGovern & Hirsch California Probate Code Annotated, 2018 ed. (California Desktop Codes)

Adam J Hirsch & William M. McGovern, Jr. recently published a book entitled, McGovern & Hirsch California Probate Code Annotated, 2018 ed. (California Desktop Codes) (2018). Provided below is some information about the book:

Your comprehensive resource for probate law and estate planning in California, McGovern & Hirsch California Probate Code Annotated provides 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

Book on Cunningham and Cunningham's The Logic of The Transfer Taxes: A Guide to the Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers

Laura E. Cunningham & Noel B. Cunningham recently published a book entitled, Cunningham and Cunningham's The Logic of The Transfer Taxes: A Guide to the Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers (2017). Provided below is a summary of the book:

The Logic of the Transfer Taxes: A Guide to the Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers, offers a broad survey of the federal transfer tax system. It thoroughly covers all of the fundamental rules of the gift, estate and generation skipping transfer taxes and provides numerous illustrative examples. It also offers a glimpse of some popular tax planning techniques, including FLPs, GRATS and IDGT’S, and the Special Valuation Rules of Chapter 14. It is appropriate for use as a coursebook for a two or three credit JD or LLM course, or as a reference for newcomers to the area. Teachers using the book as a principal text will have access to a related Problem Set and Teacher’s Manual.

Book on International Trust Laws

Paolo Panico recently published a book entitled, International Trust Laws (2d ed. 2017). Provided below is a summary of the book:

• Compares trust law across a number of jurisdictions, providing the reader with references to offshore case law legislation and case law that is often inaccessible.
• Covers law and practice in leading trust centres such as Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and the Isle of Man, with examples drawn from a wealth of other jurisdictions including New Zealand, Dubai, Mauritius and the Cook Islands.
• Provides detailed analysis of common law and the recognition and circulation of trusts in civil law jurisdictions where trusts are practised under the Hague Trust Convention.
• Includes discussion of offshore and onshore trust jurisdictions.
• The book can be used either with a focus on a particular jurisdiction, analyzing its trust law in relation to those of other jurisdictions; or with a focus on a particular topic, such as settlor's reserved powers, beneficiaries' rights to information, or protector's duties, illustrated by approaches from various trust jurisdictions.

Book on Estates in Land & Future Interests

Linda H. Edwards recently published a book entitled, Estates in Land and Future Interests: A Step-by-Step Guide (5th ed. 2017). Provided below is a summary of the book:

Accessible and effective, Estates in Land and Future Interests: A Step-by-Step Guide is a user-friendly method for mastering a challenging area of property law.

In the Fifth Edition, Edwards highlights and clarifies key technical concepts in each chapter that can be confusing to many students. Similarly helpful, a new section at the end of most chapters reiterates specific terms and concepts that are indispensable to a thorough mastery of estates in land and future interests. Clear introductions, a host of visual aids, and the author’s process approach untangle and demystify every new term and transaction. Problem sets, study questions, and practice exercises—all available electronically for easy practice—actively engage students in learning estates in land and future interests, step by step.

Timely and innovative, Estates in Land and Future Interests features:

• Complete, up-to-date coverage of the statutory and common law relevant to estates in land and future interests
• Visual aids, text boxes, and smart teaching devices that illustrate and clarify estates in land and future interests—a potentially confounding topic within first year Property
• A useful flow chart throughout the book that identifies the state of the title after a particular conveyance—to link estates to the future interests that follow them. (For easy reference, the complete chart appears on the inside back cover of the book.)
• A process approach that describes transactions and analytical tasks as a sequence of manageable steps and stages
• Lucid and succinct treatment, in a clean and uncluttered page design
• Problem sets (with answers) and electronic practice exercises
• Study Questions, with expanded explanations
• A transparent organization that mirrors the coverage of estates and future interests in the leading property casebook
• A Glossary of Terms in the appendix, for locating legal terms easily and quickly

Book on Arbitration of Trust Disputes

SI Strong recently published a book entitled, Arbitration of Trust Disputes: Issues in National and International Law (2016). Provided below is a summary of the book:

In recent years, numerous jurisdictions have seen a significant shift in thinking about whether and to what extent matters involving the inner workings of a trust - so-called 'internal' trust disputes between settlors, trustees, and beneficiaries - are amenable to arbitration. Not only are parties expressing an increased desire to minimize the cost and delay of hostile trust litigation, but courts and legislatures from around the world have begun to demonstrate an increased willingness to allow these sorts of disputes to go to arbitration. Indeed, legislation allowing internal trust arbitration now exists in a number of jurisdictions, while courts in other countries have begun to allow mandatory arbitration of these types of disputes even in the absence of subject-specific statutes. 

This book discusses recent and anticipated developments concerning trust arbitration in a variety of domestic and cross-border settings. In so doing, the text not only provides necessary information about the special nature of national and international trust arbitration, it also bridges the gap between trust law and arbitration law by bringing together authors with expertise in both fields. Furthermore, this book is the first to provide detailed and critical analysis of various institutional initiatives in the area of trust arbitration (including measures proposed by the American Arbitration Association, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, the English Trust Law Committee, and the International Chamber of Commerce) and to offer in-depth coverage of various national, international, and comparative issues, including the applicability of the New York Convention and the Hague Trust Convention to internal trust arbitration. As a result, this book is a must-have for specialists in both trust law and arbitration law.

 

Book on Mediation for Estate Planners

Susan N. Gary recently published a book entitled, Mediation for Estate Planners: Managing Family Conflict (2016). Provided below is a summary of the book:

This book represents an important new resource for attorneys to assist clients in resolving--and avoiding--disputes in an estate planning practice.

Estate planners and elder law practitioners are increasingly aware of the availability of mediation as a tool for resolving family disputes. Probate courts around the country are increasingly interested in encouraging parties to try mediation before resorting to litigation. But by the time a dispute reaches the probate court, damage to family relationships may have already occurred.

Mediation for Estate Planners: Managing Family Conflict provides the basic tools to understand and employ mediation within an estate planning practice and appreciate the usefulness of these alternative dispute resolution processes.

A lawyer familiar with mediation can help clients resolve disputes in a way that accomplishes the client's personal as well as legal goals. Written by an experienced team of attorneys and mediators, Mediation for Estate Planners:

• Supplies the basic tools to understand and employ mediation within an estate planning practice
• Provides guidance for lawyers in recommending mediation to clients at an early stage so that families are able to resolve disagreements with less damage to personal relationships
• Offers perspectives from both the mediator and the lawyer
• Considers the range of specific applications for mediation, including its use at the planning stage and after death; use in guardianship and conservatorship; end of life decision-making; and more
• Examines and explains the ways that mediation can help in family business succession planning, and much more!

Topics are organized in these sections for ease of use and reference:

• Understanding the essential elements of mediation
• Practical perspectives
• Specific applications in the estate planning and administration context
• Mediator as consultant: family business succession planning
• Arbitration
• Resources for practice, including a Tool Kit, bibliography, and more

 

Book on Inherited IRAs Now 50% Off

Seymour Goldberg’s book entitled, Inherited IRAs: What Every Practitioner Must Know, 2015 Edition is now 50% off. Provided below is a summary of the book:

Many taxpayers have accumulated considerable assets in their retirement accounts. These assets may be in their 401(k), or other types of qualified retirement plans.  Many will roll over their retirement assets from an employer-sponsored retirement plan into a rollover IRA without a full understanding of the implications to their beneficiaries. In these situations, oversight can result in a morass of penalties about which a less-informed practitioner may be completely unaware.

Inherited IRA’s: What Every Practitioner Must Know is your guide to understanding these rules and effectively implementing an estate plan that includes retirement assets, written especially for the legal practitioner. It includes more than 100 scenarios, questions, and answers that you will most likely encounter as a practitioner dealing with often complex retirement asset distributions.

Checklists, sample forms, and summaries of court rulings on inherited IRA cases provide you with additional tools and resources that will help you best assist your clients through what is often a difficult time in their lives.

This 2015 edition is updated to include all of the recent changes to the rules and regulations surrounding estate planning and retirement asset distributions that have been enacted over the past year.

 

Newest Edition of Contemporary Trusts and Estates

Susan N. Gary, Jerome Borison, Naomi R. Cahn, & Paula A. Monopoli’s newest edition of Contemporary Trusts and Estates, Third Edition will be available for Spring 2017 classes. Provided below is a summary of the book:

This third edition casebook captures the rapid evolution of doctrine in trusts and estates law that has occurred over the past half-century in response to profound societal and demographic changes. Influenced by recent developments in legal education, this casebook integrates legal analysis, judgment and perspective, ethics, and practice skills. It focuses simultaneously on the theoretical foundations and practical applications of the material, teaching students by using traditional case analysis, and innovative exercises. 

Professors and students will benefit from: 

• Reorganized coverage of Wills before Trusts, beginning with an overview of the familial relationships at the core of all trusts and estates.
• Extensive textual explanations that present the law and its many nuances. 
• The inclusion of practice skills and exercises in response to recent ABA requirements.
• Fact-based problems that required students to explore cases, the UPC, UTC, and other statutes, as well as the MRPC, in depth.
• Document drafting, role-playing, and letter-writing-to-clients exercises. 
• Numerous updates including:  Post-Obergefell v. Hodges developments for same-sex families, additional material on decanting and the new Uniform Trust Decanting Act, inclusion of the Uniform Powers of Appointment Act, discussion of planning for digital assets, and the Incorporation of 2016 ACTEC Commentary on the Model Rules.