Article on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Estate Planning Jurisprudence

Thomas P. Gallanis recently published an Article entitled, The U.S. Supreme Court and the Law of Trusts and Estates: A Law Reformer’s Perspective, 42 ACTEC L.J. 11 (2016). Provided below is an abstract of the Article:

This brief essay was commissioned by the ACTEC Law Journal for a symposium issue on The Supreme Court’s Estate Planning Jurisprudence. The essay examines the relationship between recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the law of trusts and estates. The essay does so from the perspective of a law reformer active in the American Law Institute and the Uniform Law Commission. The views expressed in the essay, however, are solely the author’s.

The essay focuses on one of the most significant projects of trusts and estates law reform in recent decades: the harmonization of the default rules governing probate and nonprobate transfers. What impact has the U.S. Supreme Court had on this important project? The answer is not salutary. Indeed, the essay argues that recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court frustrate the decedent’s intention and also frustrate the harmonization of the intent-effectuating rules governing probate and nonprobate transfers.