Wills, Estates, and Trusts Resources

News

• Estate Tax Issue Offers Quick Test for Congress  - This article has some statistics on the estate tax.
• Approaching Estate Planning as a Family
• Family Finances Should Include Both Spouses
• State Taxes On Inherited Wealth Remain Common — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Your Money - Testing Software to Write Wills on the Home Computer
• Wealth Matters - Confusion Over Estate Tax Keeps Advisers Busy
• Estate Tax Dormant, Billionaire’s Bequest Is Tax-Free  
• Assemble a Paper Trail, and Make Sure Your Heirs Can Follow It
• Your Money - 8 Reasons You Should Not Expect an Inheritance
• Estate Planning as a Family Conversation  - One way to lessen the chance of will contests is to talk to your children about your estate plans, especially if you are in declining health and there is a chance that you will lose testamentary capacity.
• Wealth and Personal Finance - Learning to Share  - the best way to avoid will contests and to prevent beneficiaries, after your death, who are getting less to be angry with those who are getting more is to explain to your descendents what you are giving them under your will, especially if they are receiving less than what they think they are entitled to and explaining your rationale.
• Screw The Pooch: Leona's Pup Loses $10M of Trust Fund - a good example of how a will contest can alter the testator's testamentary scheme.
• BBC NEWS | Europe | Where there's a will there's a whim - Unusual ways of disposing of one's assets.

Estate Planning

• Leave the Children the House, Without a Big Tax Bill

Famous Estates

• Michael Jackson’s Estate Prospers a Year After His Death  - Some people make more money dead than alive!

Studies

• The Risk of Out-of-Pocket Health Care Expenditure at End of Life - According to this study, using data from the Health and Retirement Study for the years 1998-2006, out-of-pocket health care costs in the last year of life was estimated to be $11,618 on average, with the 90th percentile equal to $29,335, the 95th percentile $49,907, and the 99th equal to $94,310.
• Beyond Andrew Carnegie: Using A Linked Sample Of Federal Income and Estate Tax Returns To Examine The Effects Of Bequests On Beneficiary Behavior
• SSRN-In Their Own Hand: An Analysis of Holographic Wills and Homemade Will-Making by Stephen Clowney

Modern Trend

• Curing Execution Errors And Mistaken Terms In Wills - Law Trends and News

Laws

• The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) - an organization that works to modernize and simplify state laws, and to make them uniform across the United States.
• Search NCCUSL Acts - Search for Acts approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws to see which Acts have been enacted by which states.
• NCCUSL Archives - Contains the full text of the uniform model acts approved by the NCCUSL.
• LII: Uniform Matrimonial and Family Laws Locator
• Uniform Marital Property Act (UMPA)
• Model Rules of Professional Conduct
• Uniform Trust Code
• ERISA in the United States Code
• Trust Investments
  • "Prudent Man" Rule
  • Uniform Prudent Investor Act
  • List of States Adopting the Uniform Prudent Investor Act
  • Uniform Principal and Income Act 1962 Act
  • Uniform Principal and Income Act 1997 Act (Act)
  • List of States Adopting the Uniform Principal and Income Act

Court Cases

• Decedent's Estates - A good list of court cases concerning wills, estates, and trusts.
• Wills, Trusts, and Estates Case Briefs

Probate

• Uniform Probate Code
• Uniform Probate Code Locator
• Uniform Probate Code adoption - An updated list of states that have enacted the Uniform Probate Code.
• Uniform Parentage Act
• Uniform Simultaneous Death Act
• Defense of Marriage Act
• Utah Probate Code

State Probate Statutes

• Hawaii
  • http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0560/HRS_0560-.htm
• Kentucky
  • TITLE XXXIII - ADMINISTRATION OF TRUSTS AND ESTATES
    • CHAPTER 386 ADMINISTRATION OF TRUSTS -- LEGAL INVESTMENTS -- UNIFORM PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT
    • CHAPTER 387 GUARDIANS -- CONSERVATORS -- CURATORS OF CONVICTS
    • CHAPTER 388 UNIFORM VETERANS' GUARDIANSHIP ACT
    • CHAPTER 389A FIDUCIAL AND JUDICIAL SALES OF REAL ESTATE
  • TITLE XXXIV - DESCENT, WILLS, AND ADMINISTRATION
    • CHAPTER 391 DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION
    • CHAPTER 392 DOWER AND CURTESY
    • CHAPTER 393 ESCHEATS
    • CHAPTER 394 WILLS
    • CHAPTER 395 PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES
    • CHAPTER 396 CLAIMS AGAINST DECEDENTS' ESTATES
    • CHAPTER 397 UNIFORM SIMULTANEOUS DEATH ACT
• Massachusetts
• Missouri
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Utah

Wills

• Revocable Trusts and the Law of Wills: An Imperfect Fit
• Forms and Publications - Estate and Gift Tax

Famous Wills

• Heath Andrew Ledger
• Full text of Alfred Nobel's Will
• The Will of Alfred Nobel - Slide Show
• Michael Jackson's Will
• Diana's Will: The full text - March 4, 1998
• Last Will and Testament of Elvis A. Presley
• Last Will and Testament of Leona M. Helmsley
• Full Text of Andrew Carnegie's Will, Disposing of $30,000,000

Statutory Wills

These are wills provided by some state governments in their code that can be used by people with small estates.

• California Statutory Will, California Probate Code Section 6240
• Maine Statutory Will: Title 18-A, §2-514
• Michigan Statutory Will - This will form has a lot of information. You can print the form and fill in the blanks. This is a good form to save important information, including medical needs—even if you don't live in Michigan.
  • Michigan Legislature - Section 700.2519 - This code provides only the statutory will.

Will Contests

• McMullen, Judith G., Keeping Peace in the Family While You are Resting in Peace: Making Sense of and Preventing Will Contests. Marquette Law School Legal Studies Paper No. 06-42; Marquette Elder's Advisor, Vol. 8, p. 61, 2006. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=966643
• Leopold, Aloysius A. and Beyer, Gerry W., Ante-Mortem Probate: A Viable Alternative (April, 01 2009). Arkansas Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 1, 1990. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1371864

Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence

• Astor Trial’s Lesson for Lawyers - Take Extra Care With Wills  - A real world example of undue influence.

Trusts

• The Advantages and Burdens of Trusts for the Disabled
• Trust Protectors, Agency Cost, and Fiduciary Duties
• An Agency Cost Theory of Trust Law