Articles on the American Law Institute’s Recent Actions

Lawrence M. Waggoner (Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School) recently published three articles including:

1.  Curtailing Dead-Hand Control: The American Law Institute Declares the Perpetual-Trust Movement Ill Advised,U. Mich. Pub. L. Working Paper No. 199 (2010).  The abstract available on SSRN is below:  

Recent years have seen a movement in the states to pass legislation repealing or modifying the Rule Against Perpetuities in order to allow transferors to create trusts that can last forever or for several centuries. At its 2010 annual meeting, the American Law Institute took the position that the perpetual-trust movement is ill advised. The ALI’s case was stated in the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers (Tent. Draft No. 6, Approved 2010). This short essay reports on the case for retaining a rule that curtails dead-hand control.  

2.  The American Law Institute Proposes Simplifying the Doctrine of Estates, U. Mich. Pub. L. Working Paper No. 198 (2010). The abstract available on SSRN is below:

This short essay reports on the proposal for reformulating and simplifying the doctrine of estates that was just adopted by the American Law Institute in the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers (Tent. Draft No. 6, Approved 2010).  

3.  The American Law Institute Proposes a New Approach to Perpetuities: Limiting the Dead Hand to Two Younger Generations, U. Mich. Pub. L. Working Paper No. 200 (2010). The abstract available on SSRN is below:

This short essay reports on a new approach to perpetuities that was proposed by the American Law Institute in the Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers (Tent. Draft No. 6, Approved 2010). The Restatement Third proposes to limit dead-hand control to two younger generations.