• Recent Article: A New Restatement for Trusts

    In “Time for a New Restatement,” published in Probate & Property (Jan./Feb. 2026), Professor Thomas Gallanis argues that the time has come for a new Restatement of Trusts to replace the Third Restatement. He argues that the Third Restatement does not adequately address more modern features of trust practice, including directed trusts, trust decanting, and nonjudicial settlement agreements.

    I agree that the Third Restatement is likely outdated. Much of what matters most in contemporary trust law either developed late in the Restatement (Third) process or developed outside the common law altogether through statute. In that sense, the Third Restatement increasingly reads as incomplete.

    But Gallanis’s proposal also raises a more fundamental question: what exactly is the role of a Restatement of Trusts in the modern era of detailed trust codes and uniform acts? It is not obvious whether the purpose of a new Restatement is to guide doctrine, summarize it, or compete with legislative choices made by the states.

    A Fourth Restatement of Trusts may well be warranted. Whether it would be influential, or simply descriptive, remains to be seen.

  • New North Carolina Law for Removing Unauthorized Occupants

    In Session Law 2025-88, effective December 1, 2025,  North Carolina adopted a legal remedy for expedited removal of unauthorized persons from residential property. This new law seems aimed to solve the problem of when an unauthorized person is on the premises but the owner is unable to remove them through the usual Magistrate process because they are not a tenant, or the owner has to go through the lengthy and expensive process of a trespass claim filed in District Court.

  • Saga of Tony Hsieh, again

    Further developments in the Tony Hsieh probate dispute. Fascinating case. Previously discussed the case here.

    A question that keeps coming to mind is whether this could have been prevented. I don’t think the answer is clear.

  • Book Review: 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin

    Excellent overview of the 1929 crash. I do not believe I had heard of Charles Mitchell, or at least realized who he was, until reading this book. Lots of interesting pieces regarding Thomas Lamont of JP Morgan, and it builds on Ron Chernow’s exploration of JP Morgan in House of Morgan.

    Another reviewer mentioned it is fascinating how many of the top names of banking and finance from the late 1920s are now forgotten. It’s also interesting how few evil people were involved; most, if not all, of the people thought they were doing the right thing.

  • Recent Article: “Health” in HEMS Means Complete Well-Being

    “Health” in HEMS Means Complete Well-Being, by Claudia E. Tordini and Richard S. Franklin, 50 ACTEC 339 (2025).

    There is little clarity in what “health” means in the typical trust distribution standard of “health, education, maintenance, and support.” Few cases have litigated the definition of what distributions qualify for health. The authors here argue that the Uniform Trust Code should adopt the World Health Organization’s definition of “health” to mean “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, as defined, interpreted and modified by the World Health Organization from time to time.”

    I am not convinced the adoption of such definition would accomplish the clarity the authors envision. Perhaps the reason there are few litigated cases on the definition of “health” is the fact that it is vague, and providing a more detailed definition, assuming the adopted definition is in fact more detailed, would lead to more litigation. As Timothy Endicott argued in his book Vagueness in Law, there may sometimes be value in vagueness.

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