Article on Powers to Revoke, Alter, Amend or Terminate

Bridget Crawford (Pace University School of Law) and Loriann Low  (Pace University School of Law) has recently published an article entitled, Avoid Powers to Revoke, Alter, Amend, or Terminate, (2013) Provided below is the abstract from SSRN:

This article provides an introduction to section 2038, which provides that a decedent’s estate includes the value of all interests in property transferred by the decedent over which the decedent has a power to revoke, alter, amend, or terminate beneficial interests. After a discussion of the statutory language, this article provides an overview of the problems that can arise under section 2038, with special attention to cases in which powers held by a trustee will be imputed to a trust’s grantor. There is a short quiz at the end of the article that both experienced and beginning practitioners can use to gauge their understanding of section 2038.