Category Archives: Succession
Masayuki Tamaruya, ‘The Comparative Law of Trusts and Succession: Italy, Japan, and Beyond’
ABSTRACT In recent years, courts in Italy and Japan are faced with cases involving trust dispositions that allegedly encroach on forced heirship protections. This is significant from the comparative history of trust law. On the one hand, this reflects the recent trends in civilian jurisdictions where trusts are seen as a flexible alternative to wills […]
Alexandra Braun, ‘Testamentary responsibility’
INTRODUCTION … The aim of this article is to challenge these perceptions and related assumptions and to question testamentary freedom as the self-evident organising principle of modern succession law. Its purpose is to bring into sharper focus another important value of succession law: ‘responsibility’. While we speak of responsibility in other areas of private law […]
‘Testamentary capacity: warning signs and professional best practice’
The recent decision of Joanna Smith J in Leonard v Leonard [2024] EWHC 321 (Ch) is instructive for private client practitioners, non-contentious and contentious alike. The validity of a will was disputed on the grounds of lack of testamentary capacity and want of knowledge and approval. The case stands out for its unusual facts, of […]
William Moppett, ‘Donatio mortis causa: new signs of life? Rahman v Hassan [2024] EWHC 1290 (Ch)’
ABSTRACT In Rahman v Hassan [2024] EWHC 1290 (Ch), HHJ Paul Matthews held that registered land and online bank and shareholding accounts can form the subject-matter of donatio mortis causa, and that, respectively, handing over the land certificate or certain lease documents, and sharing the login/password, can suffice for ‘parting with dominion’ over them. It […]
Lee-ford Tritt, ‘The Curious Case of the James Brown Estate’
ABSTRACT Great musicians are larger than life, and the most iconic of them become members of an elite musical monarchy: Michael Jackson was the King of Pop, Aretha Franklin was the Queen of Soul, and Prince Rogers Nelson was Prince. Similarly, James Brown, the inventor of funk music, landed a seat at this table of […]
Alexandra Braun, ‘Testamentary Responsibility’
ABSTRACT Testamentary freedom – the freedom to determine the distribution of our assets after we die – is often described as the bedrock or organising principle of succession law. In fact, for many people testamentary freedom is something we have always had, should continue to have, and is therefore both self-evident and untouchable. This emphasis on testamentary freedom and, […]
Jennifer Rothman, ‘Postmortem Publicity Rights at the Property-Personality Divide’
ABSTRACT In this essay, I consider what private law theory and its various understandings of property reveal about the right of publicity. I begin by identifying the current state of right of publicity laws and the ongoing confusion over the right’s status as property. I then consider what it would mean to take seriously the […]
Rivlin and Lifshitz, ‘Reimagining Marital Property at Death’
ABSTRACT This paper argues that death should not automatically terminate the marital partnership, and it suggests a novel and comprehensive model for the regulation of marital property upon death. According to the conventional view, the idea of marital partnership implies an equal division of the marital assets upon dissolution. Thus, in the event of death, […]
‘BC Supreme Court orders will variation due to gender bias’
The Supreme Court of British Columbia varied a will to address the gender-based discrimination that influenced the distribution of an estate, most of which went to the son, to increase the daughter’s share in the estate. The testator in this case had two children, a daughter and a son. Her 2018 will bequeathed the majority […]
‘Heirs’ partition action not barred: Dog’s longevity leads to property dispute’
The Rappahannock County Circuit Court ruled that a property settlement agreement (PSA) allowing a man to live on property during his dog’s life did not prevent his heirs from seeking to partition the property after the dog outlived him. The PSA had minimal instructions for the scenario where the man died before the dog, which […]