ABSTRACT
Although family law scholars have robustly criticized the law for its preferences for marriage (and sometimes non-marriage), a critical trusts and estates perspective can enhance this discussion. The following paper will demonstrate how the zone of overlap between trusts and estates and family law – as marriages near death – is particularly fraught and dysfunctional. Taking Medicaid and the estate tax as examples, this paper will show the way the law entrenches marriage among the already-privileged yet threatens it for the poor. Comparing these particular systems creates a compelling foil to contrast marriage at the top and the bottom of the wealth spectrum.
DiRusso, Alyssa A, A Critical Analysis of The Law of Death, Marriage, and Wealth (October 1, 2023).
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