The Uniform Probate Code: Remaking of American Succession Law

The University of Michigan Journal of Law and The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel’s (ACTEC) Legal Education Committee held a symposium entitled The Uniform Probate Code: Remaking of American Succession Law on October 21, 2011. A description of the symposium and a list of the speaker’s and their respective topics are below:

The symposium examined law reform in trusts and estates that has occurred over the past fifty years, with particular focus on the first great success, The Uniform Probate Code. Additionally, it sought to identify and analyze topics that should constitute an agenda for further reform. The symposium was made possible through the generous support of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Foundation and the Bjarne Johnson Memorial Fund.

• Why I Do Law Reform— Lawrence W. Waggoner (Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School)
• Commentator: Ronald Chester (Professor of Law, New England School of Law)
• The Probate Definition of Family: Is It Time for Judicial Discretion?— Susan N. Gary  (Orlando J. and Marian H. Hollis Professor of Law, University of Oregon School of Law)
• Toward Equality: Nonmarital Children and the Uniform Probate Code—Paula A. Monopoli (Professor of Law and Marbury Research Professor, University of Maryland School of Law)
• Children of Assisted Reproduction—Kristine S. Knaplund (Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law)
• Commentator: Gerry W. Beyer (Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law, Texas Tech University School of Law)
• The UPC Substituted Judgment Standard for Guardian Decisions – Theoretical Aspirations and Practical Complications—Lawrence A. Froli (Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law) and Linda S. Whitton (Professor of Law, Valparaiso University School of Law)
• Family Caregiving and the Law of Succession—Thomas P. Gallanis (N. William Hines Chair in Law, University of Iowa College of Law) and Josephine Gittler (Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of Law)
• Keynote Speaker—John H. Langbein (Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History, Yale Law School)
• Commentator: Ira Mark Bloom (Justice David Josiah Brewer Distinguished Professor of Law, Albany Law School)
• Deliberative Accountability Rules in Inheritance Law: Promoting Accountable Estate Planning—Shelly Kreiczer-Levy (Assistant Professor of Law, Academic Center of Law & Business)
• An Economic Analysis of the UPC—Daniel B. Kelly (Associate Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School)
• Commentator: Amy Morris Hess (UTK Distinguished Service Professor and Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis and Williford Gragg Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law) 
• Fiduciary Duties and Exculpatory Clauses: Clash of the Titans or Cozy Bedfellows?—Louise Lark Hill (Professor of Law, Widener University School of Law)
• Non-Judicial Estate Settlement—John H. Martin (Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit College of Law)

To view video clips from the symposium, click here.