Wills, Estates, and Trusts

I have nothing, I owe a great deal; the rest I give to the poor. — the purported will of Rabelais

Wills and Estates

• Intestacy, Wills, Trusts, Estates, And Probate—Overview
• Estate Planning Checklist
• Nonprobate Transfers
• Dead Hand Control: Conditional Bequests and Devisements
• Probate And The Personal Representative
• Uniform Probate Code (UPC)
• Probate Estate Administration
• Executors

Intestate Distribution

• Intestate Distribution Scheme: Descent And Distribution Statutes
• Intestate Distribution to Issue: Per Stirpes, Per Capita With Representation, And Per Capita At Each Generation
• Intestate Distribution to Ancestors and Collateral Relatives
• Who Qualifies as Issue of a Decedent?
• Uniform Parentage Act (UPA)

Limits to Testamentary Freedom

• Surviving Spouse
• Surviving Spouse Support: Pension Survival Benefits, Marital Property, Homestead and Personal Property Exemption, and the Family Allowance
• Elective Share Of The Augmented Estate
• Community Property
• Omitted Spouse
• Omitted Children

Inheritance

• Appointing a Personal Guardian and Leaving Property for Minor Children: Property Guardianships, Uniform Transfer to Minors Act Custodianships, Child's Trust and Family Pot Trusts, 529 and Coverdell Accounts, and Handling Life Insurance Proceeds for Minors
• Gifts to Children: Advancements, Guardianships, Conservatorships, Custodianships, and Trusts
• Disclaimers
• Lapsed Gifts And Anti-Lapse Statutes
• Class Gifts
• Ademption, Avoidance Of Ademption, And Abatement
• Bars To Inheritance: Homicide, Abuse, Or Abandonment

Wills: Execution and Probate

• Will Contests
• Will Contests: Testamentary Capacity, Insane Delusion, and Undue Influence
• Fraud and Tortious Interference With An Expectancy Of An Inheritance Or A Gift
• Will Execution: The Common Law Elements Of The Wills Act Formalities
• Modern Trend in Wills Act Formalities: Substantial Compliance and Harmless Error Doctrines
• Will Components: Will Integration, Codicils, Incorporation By Reference, And Acts Of Independent Significance
• Will Construction and Extrinsic Evidence: Plain Meaning Rule, Patent and Latent Ambiguities, Will Reformation
• Holographic Wills
• Will Revocation and Revival
• Will Contracts: Contracts to Provide for a Beneficiary, or to Not Change or Revoke a Will
• Will Substitutes (aka Nonprobate Instruments)
• Simplified Probate: Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit and Summary Probate Administration
• Joint Tenancy
• Pour-Over Wills

Gift and Estate Taxes

• Marital Deduction
• Federal Gift Tax – Overview
• Gross Estate
• Estate Taxes
• Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxes
• Gift, Estate, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Calculation
• Reducing Gift, Estate, And Generation-Skipping Taxes

Trusts

• Trusts
• Trust Creation
• Mandatory and Discretionary Trusts
• Trust Modification and Termination
• Trusts And The Rights Of Beneficiary Creditors; Spendthrift, Support, and Self-Settled Asset Protection Trusts
• Future Interests
• Powers of Appointment
• Rule Against Perpetuities
• Rule Against Perpetuities: Powers of Appointment, Saving Clause
• Rules Against Perpetuities: Modern Trend
• Charitable Trusts
• Marital Trust
• AB Trusts and AB Disclaimer Trusts
• Qualified Terminal Interest Property (QTIP) Trusts
• Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOT)
• Grantor-Retained Interest Trusts: Grantor-Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), Grantor-Retained Unitrusts (GRUTs), Grantor-Retained Income Trusts (GRITs), and Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Including Crummey Trusts
• Dynasty Trusts
• Trustees
• General and Specific Powers of the Trustee
• Prudent Investment Of Trust Assets
• Trustee's Duty To Report
• Breach of Trust
• Wills, Estates, and Trusts Resources