Category Archives: Succession
Thomas Mitchell, ‘The heirs’ property field: moving from the shadows to the light to enlightened, evidence-based solutions’
ABSTRACT This paper will address the following matters. The first section will address the state of the heirs’ property field prior to 2010 or so. This section will demonstrate that heirs’ property issues were little known for the most part outside of the families who owned or were directly impacted by such ownership; a relatively […]
John Rimmer, ‘“Who then is my child?”’
ABSTRACT It is easy to make assumptions about who is, and who is not, the ‘child’ of an individual. In the past, the main question was whether someone was the legitimate child of another. As society and technology have changed, the meaning of ‘child’ has changed to accommodate such matters as adoption, IVF, surrogacy, and […]
Thomas Gallanis, ‘Time for a New Restatement’
ABSTRACT In February 2025, the author wrote by email to the American Law Institute’s Director, Judge Diane Wood, encouraging the ALI to consider whether the time had come to undertake a new Restatement of the law of trusts. Director Wood replied swiftly and kindly that ‘[t]his possibility had not been on my radar’ but that […]
‘Small Gifts, Big Problems’
Mark Glover, ‘Nominal Bequests’, 59 UC Davis Law Review 731 (2025). When I read the premise of Mark Glover’s terrific new article ‘Nominal Bequests’ – that some small-dollar gifts are problematic – I couldn’t help wonder whether it was a kind of stunt, like writing a novel without using the letter ‘e’. What could be […]
Goffe and Mandel, ‘Resolution of family inheritance, succession and trust disputes in the US: judicial and nonjudicial approaches’
ABSTRACT In the United States, family trust controversies can be resolved through both judicial and nonjudicial methods. The Uniform Trust Code, enacted in 2000, changed common law to allow nonjudicial settlement agreements, with six primary methods for modifying irrevocable trusts: using existing trust powers, decanting, nonjudicial settlement agreements (NJSAs), merger, and powers of appointment. Washington […]
Smith and Davis, ‘Al-Thani and another v Al Thani and others [2024] UKPC 35 – creative arguments and the transmissibility of shares following the death of a shareholder’
ABSTRACT This article discusses the recent decision of the Privy Council in Al-Thani & anr v Al Thani & ors [2024] UKPC 35, which considers whether shares are classified as moveable or immovable property under the law of the British Virgin Islands and the implications of this on their transmissibility following the death of a […]
Jane Thomson, ‘Public Order and Capricious Wills in Quebec: Some Important Lessons for the Rest of Canada’
ABSTRACT Quebec is a leader when it comes to avoiding testamentary conditions that perpetuate discrimination. It has held this a position for over a century, with its public order decisions long pre-dating famous common law cases hailed as firsts in this area of the law. Some might balk at the idea of citing Quebec jurisprudence […]
Jane Thomson, ‘“And Two Cows to my Wife … so Long as she Remains my Widow”: Public Policy and Testamentary Marriage Clauses in Canada’
ABSTRACT This article, part one of a two part project, provides a comprehensive review of the law surrounding marriage conditions in wills in Canada, including the civil law jurisdiction of Quebec, through a quantitative study of nearly every electronically reported Canadian decision involving a marriage clause in a will. It begins with an overview of […]
Alyssa DiRusso, ‘A Critical Analysis of The Law of Death, Marriage, and Wealth’
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 […]
Alyssa DiRusso, ‘Life and Death Matters in Conflict of Laws’
ABSTRACT This article explores the complex and often inconsistent legal landscape surrounding the determination of death and survivorship in the United States, emphasizing the challenges posed by conflicting state laws DiRusso, Alyssa A, Life and Death Matters in Conflict of Laws (May 1, 2023), Tulane Law Review 97, no 5 (May 2023), 703-742.