Estate and Gift Tax Must-Reads for 2011

This short column is part of the annual Tax Notes issue that highlights noteworthy law review articles published during the previous year. In this piece, I identify articles relating to estate and gift tax taxation that practitioners likely will find of interest, not withstanding Chief Justice Roberts' view that academics don't publish work that is of "much help to the bar." The articles reviewed (in alphabetical order by author's last name) are: (1) Martin D. Begleiter, "Son of the Trust Code - the Iowa Trust Code after Ten Years;" (2) Frances H. Foster, "Should Pets Inherit?"; (3) Thomas P. Gallanis, "The New Direction of American Trust Law;" (4) Wendy C. Gerzog, "The New Super-Charged PAT (Power of Appointment) Trust;" (5) Victoria J. Haneman, "Changing the Estate Planning Malpractice Landscape: Applying the Constructive Trust to Cure Testamentary Mistake;" (6) Adam J. Hirsch, "Freedom of Testation/Freedom of Contract;" (7) Kristine S. Knaplund, "The New Uniform Probate Code's Surprising Gender Inequities;" (8) Kristine S. Knaplund, "Synthetic Cells, Synthetic Life, and Inheritance;" (9) Carla Spivack, "Let's Get Serious: Spousal Abuse Should Bar Inheritance;" (10) Lee-ford Tritt, "The Limitations of an Economic Agency Cost Theory of Trust Law."