The third edition of Contemporary Trusts and Estates 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. Based on 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, at the professor’s option, innovative exercises. Features: Newly designed, with Wills now presented before Trusts New problems, exercises and cases ¿ Post-Obergefell v. Hodges developments for same-sex families More material on decanting and the new Uniform Trust Decanting Act Inclusion of the Uniform Powers of Appointment Act Discussion of planning for digital assets Incorporation of 2016 ACTEC Commentary on the Model Rules
Wills, Trusts, and Estates: The Essentials (“Essentials”) offers a sleek and slender presentation of wealth transfer law for an introductory law school course. Written by widely recognized scholars in the field, this text comprehensively yet concisely covers the core legal principles that are tested on the bar exam and essential to a trusts and estates practice. For a fresh perspective, Essentials incorporates current events, lively cases, and engaging examples. It also enables students to maximize out-of-class preparation time by delivering information efficiently in a streamlined and straightforward way. Each chapter contains: (1) clearly explained summaries of each doctrine, (2) explanatory narration accompanying all relevant statutory authority, (3) thoroughly edited judicial opinions followed by analytical questions and answers, and (4) realistic problem sets designed for classroom instruction that illustrate and apply each concept. New to the Second Edition: Additional core topics, including: federal constitutional law and racial discrimination in testamentary gifts; survival and wrongful death actions; forgery; tortious interference with an inheritance expectancy; electronic and do-it-yourself wills; tax apportionment clauses; waiver of spousal elective share by agreement; revocation of insurance beneficiary designations; directed trusts; and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. New cases, including recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court, and new statutes, including uniform acts on electronic wills and directed trusts. New selection of meaningful secondary sources, including relevant empirical scholarship drawn from our own research and other prominent scholars. Professors and students will benefit from: A text that makes a challenging course accessible, lively, and interactive. It is concise yet comprehensive, and adaptable for two, three, and four credit courses. An emphasis on the development of problem-solving skills by presenting problem sets that allow students to apply newly learned legal doctrine in realistic scenarios, mostly based on litigated cases. Many problem sets are as detail-rich as the cases, which facilitates in-depth discussion of doctrinal nuance. Legal doctrine explained up front and in plain English. According to student feedback, the inclusion of plain English doctrinal summaries often obviates the need for students to purchase a study supplement. For professors, this format provides a baseline on which to build a livelier and sophisticated classroom discussion of the cases and problem sets. The questions and answers following the judicial decisions that encourage student self-assessment. Accompanying family tree diagrams in the textbook (and on the PowerPoint teaching slides) in addition to most judicial opinions, thereby allowing students to quickly ascertain the facts of each case and focus on the application of law.
Hailed as one of the best casebooks in legal education, the text combines interesting cases, thoughtful analysis, notes, images, and a clear organization for an excellent teaching tool. Retaining the late Jesse Dukeminier’s blend of wit, erudition, and playfulness, the Tenth Edition uses cartoons, illustrations, case documents, and photographs to provide visual commentary that augments the wide-ranging cases and other readings. Sidebars on relevant but unique persons, places, and events provide thought-provoking and fascinating context. This casebook is not only fun to read, but fun for professors to teach. New to the Tenth Edition: All new section on electronic or digital wills and the emerging case law that has begun to accept them All new section on trust decanting, now recognized in 25 states, with attention to the breadth of statutory and case law treatments of decanting Reworked coverage of same-sex marriage in light of Obergefell v. Hodges and refreshed treatment of inheritance rights for cohabiting unmarried partners Updated and expanded coverage of wealth and income inequality Refreshed treatment, with updated case law, on undue influence Attention to new case law and statutory developments in will execution and reformation of wills for mistake Revised and clarified coverage of revocable trusts and other nonprobate transfers and the difficult relationship of state wealth transfer law with federal pension law Updated treatment of trust fiduciary law, including new case law and statutory developments on directed trusts, waiver of fiduciary duties, and trust investment law Revised treatment of creditor rights to beneficial interests in trust, with attention to choice-of-law rules and growing statutory recognition of self-settled asset protection trusts
Widely hailed as one of the best casebooks in legal education, this comprehensive text combines interesting cases, thoughtful analysis, notes, images, and a clear organization for an excellent teaching tool. Cartoons, illustrations, case documents, and photographs provide engaging visual commentary. Sidebars on relevant persons, places, and things provide interesting and sometimes humorous context. New to the Eleventh Edition: New section on will execution during the COVID-19 pandemic, with attention to reconciling “presence” with social distancing Updated and completely revised section on electronic or digital wills, with attention to the latest cases and statutes Updated to account for the 2021 and 2019 revisions to the Uniform Probate Code that, among other things, eliminated gender-based distinctions and expanded recognition of non-biological parent-child relationships Updated coverage of wealth and income inequality and new material on recent proposals for a wealth tax Updated and completely revised section on trust decanting, with attention to the latest statutory and case law developments Updated and completely revised section on asset protection trusts, with attention to key choice-of-law and fraudulent transfer principles Professors and students will benefit from: Unique blend of wit, erudition, insight, and playfulness retained from the late Jesse Dukeminier Organization that covers all the key topics in a logical and clear format Interesting cases that are not only fun to read, but fun to teach Cases enhanced and connected to broader legal principles by well-written connective text, notes, questions, problems, and sidebars Arresting two-color design Cartoons, illustrations, wills and other case documents, and photographs that provide visual commentary and teaching aids
This book contains a collection of peer-reviewed papers presented at the Tenth Biennial Modern Studies in Property Law Conference held at the University of Liverpool in April 2014. It is the eighth volume to be published under the name of the Conference. The Conference and its published proceedings have become an established forum for property lawyers from around the world to showcase current research in the discipline. This collection reflects the diversity and contemporary relevance of modern research in property law. Incorporating a keynote address by Sir John Mummery, retired Lord Justice of Appeal, on 'Property in the Information Age', a number of chapters consider the contribution of property law to issues central to the human condition; the home, health and death. Other papers illustrate an enduring need to question and explore fundamental concepts of the subject as well as to consider the challenges of reforming the law. Collectively the chapters demonstrate the vibrancy and importance of property law in dealing with modern concerns across the common law world.
Ritchie, Alford, & Effland's Estates & Trusts by Dobris & Sterk, continues to provide comprehensive treatment of the subject, including new sections on life insurance, Medicaid trusts, planning for incapacity, & estate planning for gay & lesbian testators. Crisply written & streamlined for adaptation to a three- or four-credit course, the book includes lively discussion of the estates of Seward Johnson, Andy Warhol, Doris Duke, & Larry Lee Hillblom, together with a smattering of cartoons & citations to Web sites.
Accompanying American heiress Belle Seldon on a visit to her ancestral family home in Somerset, Ursula Grandison soon discovers that the decaying stately Mountstanton House and its inhabitants has many secrets, including a crumbling marriage and a missing dowry. When Ursula discovers the drowned body of the nurserymaid, she is determined to reveal the killer and, in doing so, reveals a tangled web of deception and adultery that threatens the reputation of the house of Mountstanton.
