We previously suggested that post-death publicity rights could be excluded from the decedent's estate for tax purposes if state legislation precluded the decedent from exercising post-death control. In other words, if state legislation designated who would hold these rights after the decedent's...

California recently passed legislation that creates retroactive, descendible rights of publicity. The New York State Assembly is poised to enact similar legislation. Legal recognition of postmortem rights of publicity permits a decedent's named beneficiaries or heirs to control (and financially...

At a time of monumental economic inequality in the United States, wealthy individuals and their tax-motivated behavior have come under significant scrutiny from all corners. In 2019, the Supreme Court issued its first major ruling in over sixty years on the state income taxation of trusts. In...

This article addresses the specific question of who -- as between the beneficiaries of the estate and the lifetime donees -- will bear responsibility for estate tax generated with respect to gift tax included in the decedent’s gross estate, absent a specific provision to the contrary. Although...

In general, people of modest wealth cannot easily afford to give up significant amounts of wealth during lifetime to achieve estate planning goals, although the lifetime transfer of wealth is one of the most useful techniques for reducing taxes. Individuals of modest wealth face a real tension...

This Article considers important consequences of the commodification of human reproduction. Anyone who has opened a campus newspaper has seen advertisements seeking to match an infertile couple with a young woman who will “donate” her egg (in return for a fee). Some college-age men earn...

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...

In this short essay I make 10 modest suggestions for bringing Trusts & Estates to the front and center of American legal education. Many students take the basic school T&E course with some sense that it is part of a well-rounded legal education, but the field has a reputation for being staid,...

The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to plan for death, including the transmission of property through a valid will. Surprisingly little is known, however, about when people tend to make wills, how they go about doing so, and whether those practices vary from jurisdiction to...