In the United States, every reported case grappling with the validity of an arbitration clause in a donative trust shares the assumption that state law governs. The same is true of the vast majority of scholarship on the topic. Conversely, this chapter in Arbitration of Internal Trust Disputes: Issues in National and International Law (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2016) argues that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies to some trust arbitration provisions. It then explores the consequences that flow from this conclusion.
The United States Supreme Court's expansion of the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) has made arbitration clauses ubiquitous in consumer and employment contracts and provoked heated debate. Recently, though, arbitration clauses have become common in a different context: wills and trusts. Courts have reached wildly different conclusions about whether these provisions are enforceable under state arbitration law. However, no judge, scholar, or litigant has considered the more important question of whether the FAA governs these terms. This Article fills that gap. It first examines the statute's text and legislative history, and concludes that Congress intended the FAA only to cover arbitration clauses in “contracts.” Nevertheless, the Article shows that the Court has not rigidly enforced this predicate. As a matter of federal common law, the FAA applies if there is a plausible argument that the parties have agreed to arbitrate -- even if the arbitration clause does not appear in a document that meets the black-letter test for contractual validity. The Article then claims that this approach has opened the door for the FAA to govern testamentary arbitration clauses. Indeed, when trustees, executors, and beneficiaries accept fees or property under a will or trust, they also manifest assent to the instrument's terms. Finally, the Article analyzes how some of the most challenging features of the Court's interpretation of the FAA -- including the scope of the statute, the separability doctrine, and preemption -- would play out in the field of wills and trusts. By doing so, the Article seeks not only to provide guidance for courts and policymakers, but to illustrate that testamentary arbitration may not suffer from some of the flaws that make contractual arbitration so polarizing.
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.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.
The centennial of the American Law Institute is a landmark event. A lifespan of one hundred years is significant for a law reform project. Most such initiatives terminate when they achieve their limited goals, they fail, or members lose interest when their funding runs out. Instead, the American Law Institute is the preeminent legal reform organisation in the United States and remains an enterprise in full vigour, with an enormous number of projects completed and an impressive array of projects in forward motion. The American Law Institute: A Centennial History brings together an outstanding group of expert scholars, several of them current or former Reporters for the ALI Restatements of Law, to provide an in-depth scholarly history of the ALI, its role in legal reform, and the various ways it has impacted law in the United States. The resulting collection of essays provides original and important perspectives on both the ALI and its relevance for American Law. This book offers a window into the course of legal thought over the past century and is a must-read for academics, practitioners, and all those interested in the way laws are shaped within the United States.
"Now including all eight volumes updated in this Fifth Edition, Scott and Ascher on Trusts, formerly published as Scott on Trusts, is widely regarded as the leading authority on the law of trusts. Scott and Ascher on Trusts offers practical advice on the creation, administration, and termination of all kinds of trusts, as well as incisive analysis of the underlying principles of trust law. The duties of trustees and the rights of beneficiaries, would-be beneficiaries, and third parties are constantly being changed and redefined. This preeminent resource keeps you abreast of the latest developments in trust law, enabling you to resolve trust problems efficiently and effectively with regular updates integrating the latest court decisions and legislative changes. Scott and Ascher on Trusts allows you to examine the full range of your options at every stage, from client counseling to final distribution."--Publisher's website.
