Estate Planning
Overview
Estate planning arranges for the transfer of an individual's estate at the time of death. An estate consists of all property owned at death before it is distributed by will, trust, or intestacy laws. An estate may contain both real property (real estate, including houses and investment properties) and personal property (all other property, including bank accounts, securities, jewelry and automobiles). Typically, the process of estate planning involves extensive consultation with a number of professional advisors, including lawyers, financial counselors, accountants and life insurance representatives.
Purpose of Estate Planning
Estate planning benefits those with large estates, as well as those with modest assets. Creating an estate plan ensures that all property will be distributed according to the personal wishes of the deceased, and that those who are benefiting from the estate receive the largest distribution possible with a minimum amount of delay. Specifically, estate planning allows an individual to decide exactly who will benefit from their estate, and to what extent. Estate planning also ensures that the estate will not be destroyed by taxes imposed on the transfer of assets at death. In addition to providing financial security, estate planning encourages individuals to make important decisions, such as appointing a guardian for minor children, choosing healthcare preferences, and securing funeral arrangements.
Legislation
Bill Introduced: S.3470 Support for Iraq Oil Trust Act of 2008
A bill to require United States Government representatives to present to the Government of Iraq a plan to establish an oil trust.Bill Signed by President: H.R.6580 Hubbard Act
To ensure the fair treatment of a member of the Armed Forces who is discharged from the Armed Forces, at the request of the member, pursuant to the Department of Defense policy permitting the early discharge of a member who is the only surviving child in a family in which the father or mother, or one or more siblings, served in the Armed Forces and, because of hazards incident to such service, was killed, died as a result of wounds, accident, or disease, is in a captured or missing in action status, or is permanently disabled, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the dollar limitation on contributions to funeral trusts, and for other purposes.
August 28, 2008: Signed by President.Bill Enacted: H.R.3221 Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
A bill to provide needed housing reform and for other purposes.
July 29, 2008: Became Public Law No: 110-289.Bill Enacted: H.R.6331 Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to extend expiring provisions under the Medicare Program, to improve beneficiary access to preventive and mental health services, to enhance low-income benefit programs, and to maintain access to care in rural areas, including pharmacy access, and for other purposes.
July 14, 2008: Became Public Law No: 110-275.Bill Introduced: H.R.6382 Pension Protection Technical Corrections Act of 2008
To make technical corrections related to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and for other purposes.
Articles
Unworthiness to Inherit, Public Policy, Forfeiture: The Scottish Story
Tulane Law Review (Tul. L. Rev.), Vol. 87, No. 4., pp. 741-785, 2013, Max Planck Private Law Research Paper No. 13/9 John MacLeod and Reinhard Zimmermann University of Glasgow and Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law Date Posted: April 23, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 25 downloads Intestacy Law In Australia, England and Singapore - Another Aid to Social Sustainability in an Ageing Population? Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, p. 366, December 2012 Fiona Burns University of Sydney - Faculty of Law Date Posted: April 23, 2013 Working Paper Series 8 downloads Reforming the Taxation of Trusts â Piecing Together the Mosaic Sydney Law Review, Vol. 35, No. 1, 2013, Forthcoming, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 13/33 Graeme S. Cooper University of Sydney - Faculty of Law Date Posted: April 22, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 21 downloads Social Security Representative Payee Misuse Penn State Law Review, Vol. 117, No. 4, 2013 Reid K. Weisbord Rutgers Law School - Newark Date Posted: April 22, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 36 downloads Digital Planning: The Future of Elder Law NAELA Journal, Vol. 9, p. 135, 2013 Gerry W. Beyer and Naomi Cahn Texas Tech University School of Law and George Washington University - Law School Date Posted: April 18, 2013 Last Revised: May 03, 2013Employee Pension Rights and the False Promise of Trust Law
(2011) 34 Dalhousie Law Journal 81-114 Elizabeth Shilton Queen's University, Faculty of Law Date Posted: March 15, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 5 downloads What Functions May Party Autonomy Have in International Family and Succession Law? An EU Perspective Nederlands Internationaal Privaatrecht (NIPR), Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 576-586, 2012 Csongor István Nagy University of Szeged, Faculty of Law Date Posted: March 13, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 14 downloads Why I Do Law Reform University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Uniform Probate Code: Remaking American Succession Law, Vol. 45, p. 727, 2012, U of Michigan Public Law Research Paper No. 321 Lawrence W. Waggoner University of Michigan Law School Date Posted: March 11, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 17 downloads Au Revoir, Will Contests: Comparative Lessons for Preventing Will Contests Nevada Law Journal, Forthcoming, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Research Paper No. 2013-13 Margaret Ryznar and Angelique Devaux Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and French Licensed Attorney (Notaire), LL.M American Law (Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of law) Date Posted: March 10, 2013 Last Revised: May 01, 2013Scottish Trusts in the Common Law
(2013) 17.3 Edinburgh Law Review Lionel Smith McGill University - Faculty of Law - Paul-André Crépeau Centre for Private and Comparative Law Date Posted: March 29, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 38 downloads Smitko v. Gulf South Shrimp, Inc.: Another Thread Unraveling the Efficacy of Suits to Quiet Tax Titles in Louisiana Ne'Shira Millender Southern University Law Center Date Posted: March 27, 2013 Working Paper Series 6 downloads Trustees Power of Investment: The Impact of the Trustees and Trustee Companies (Amendment) Act (1995) Vic (1997) 5 Current Commercial Law 99-118 Julie Debeljak Monash University - Faculty of Law Date Posted: March 27, 2013 Last Revised: April 30, 2013La successió intestada dels parents col·laterals al Codi civil de Catalunya (The Intestate ...
InDret, Vol. 2, 2013 Jaume Tarabal University of Barcelona Date Posted: May 19, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 2 downloads La ley aplicable a las sucesiones mortis causa en el Reglamento (UE) 650/2012 (The Applicable Law to Succession Upon Death in the New Regulation (EU) No. 650/2012) InDret, Vol. 2, 2013 Isabel RodrÃguez-UrÃa Suárez Universidad de Santiago de Compostela Date Posted: May 19, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 1 downloads Inalienability Voluntary Clause Romanian Review of Private Law No. 1/2013 Valeriu Stoica Independent Date Posted: May 14, 2013 Accepted Paper Series Legal Applied Anatomy - 'After the Death of the Child, it Can Be Recognized Only if He Left Natural Descendants' [Art. 415 Para. (3) Civil Code] Romanian Review of Private Law no. 1/2013. Emese Florian Independent Date Posted: May 14, 2013 Accepted Paper Series Accidental Inheritance: Retirement Accounts and the Hidden Law of Succession New York University Law Review, Vol. 89, 2014, Forthcoming, Cardozo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 390 Stewart E. Sterk and Melanie B. Leslie Yeshiva University - Cardozo Law School and Cardozo Law School Date Posted: May 11, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 4 downloads The Meaning of 'Value' for Gift and Estate Tax Donee Limitations in Tax Code 26 U.S.C. § 6324(B): An Amicus Brief for Marshall v. Commissioner Eric Bennett Rasmusen Indiana University Bloomington - Department of Business Economics & Public Policy Date Posted: May 10, 2013 Working Paper Series 50 downloads Questions and Answers About Pension Division on the Breakdown of a Relationship in British Columbia British Columbia Law Institute British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) Date Posted: May 09, 2013 Working Paper Series 2 downloads Thrice Punished: Battered Women, Criminal Law and Disinheritance Elizabeth Sheehy & Barbara Hamilton, âThrice Punished: Battered Women, Criminal Law and Disinheritanceâ (2004) 8 Southern Cross University Law Review 96. , Barbara Hamilton and Elizabeth A. Sheehy Queensland University of Technology and University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law (Common Law) Date Posted: May 09, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 1 downloads Why Marriage is Still the Best Default in Estate Planning Conflicts Penn State Law Review, Vol. 117, No. 1219, 2013 Lynne Marie Kohm Regent University - School of Law Date Posted: May 09, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 17 downloads Copyright Law and the Management of J.D. Salinger's Literary Estate Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Forthcoming, University of Washington School of Law Research Paper No. 2013-12 Kate O'Neill University of Washington - School of Law Date Posted: April 30, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 39 downloads General Considerations on Matters of Unworthiness Estate Journal of Criminal Investigation, Volume V, Issue 1/2012, Special edition Veronica Stoica Independent Date Posted: April 26, 2013 Accepted Paper Series Capacity, Conflict, and Change: Elder Law and Estate Planning Themes in an Aging World Penn State Law Review, Vol. 117, No. 4, pp. 979-985, 2013 Katherine C. Pearson Penn State Law Date Posted: April 23, 2013 Last Revised: April 28, 2013Jewish and American Inheritance Law: Commonalities, Clashes, and Estate Planning Consequences
Jewish and American Inheritance Law: Commonalities, Clashes and Estate Planning Consequences, in L. Moscovits (ed.), Jewish Law Association Studies XXII (2012) Donna Litman and Steven H. Resnicoff Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center and DePaul University College of Law Date Posted: April 18, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 47 downloads Overview of Indignity Probate Cases Journal of Criminal Investigation, No. 1/2012 Veronica Stoica Independent Date Posted: April 13, 2013 Accepted Paper Series Consultation Paper on Common-Law Tests of Capacity British Columbia Law Institute British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) Date Posted: April 12, 2013 Working Paper Series 51 downloads Afterlife in the Cloud: Managing a Digital Estate Hastings and Science Technology Law Journal, 5 HASTINGS SCI. & TECH. L.J. 210, 2013 Jamie Patrick Hopkins The American College Date Posted: April 11, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 147 downloads The Demise of Dynasty Trusts: Returning the Wealth to the Family Estate Planning and Community Property Law Journal, Vol. 5, p. 23, 2012, U Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 13-18 Lucy Marsh University of Denver Sturm College of Law Date Posted: April 05, 2013 Accepted Paper Series 28 downloads Reforming the Taxation of Retirement Income Virginia Tax Review, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 327-366, 2012, Illinois Program in Law, Behavior and Social Science Paper No. LBSS13-23 Richard L. Kaplan University of Illinois College of Law Date Posted: March 29, 2013 Last Revised: April 27, 2013
