New Edition of “Cases and Materials on Gratuitous Transfers”

The Fifth Edition of Cases and Materials on Gratuitous Transfers by Mark Ascher and Grayson McCouch will be available for use in Fall 2007 classes.

The following is a description of the new edition:

The Fifth Edition of Cases and Materials on Gratuitous Transfers incorporates new developments in judicial decisions and statutory law since 1999, including the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Woodward v. Commissioner (status of posthumously-conceived children under intestacy law), the Montana Supreme Court’s decision in In re Estate of Kuralt (holographic wills), and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Marshall v. Marshall (scope of the “probate exception” to federal jurisdiction).

The text also includes extensive references to the Restatement (Third) of Trusts and the Uniform Trust Code. The chapter on estate and gift taxation has been updated to reflect significant statutory changes, including the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The organization and general approach, however, remain essentially unchanged from previous editions.