Latest articles
New Paper: Taxing Dynasties
Brian Galle, David Gamage, and Bob Lord, in a new law review article entitled “Taxing Dynasties” (forthcoming, 174 Univ. Penn. Law Review _____ (2025)), estimate that around $4.5 trillion is already inside GST exempt dynasty trusts and will remain beyond the estate and GST tax even if Congress eliminates GRATs, IDGTs, and valuation discounts. The…
Wills as bundles of rights?
Adam Hirsch’s forthcoming U.C. Davis Law Review article entitled “Will as Thing” argues that courts overemphasize the paper will and should treat it instead as evidence of an underlying bundle of testamentary rights, in the line of Hohfeld. Professor Hirsch favors wider use of harmless‑error rules, similar to those found in the Uniform Probate Code.…
Samuel Johnson, Legal Mind
Lately I’ve been reading more about Samuel Johnson. I just finished John Wain’s biography and am now working through Boswell’s famous 1,402-page biography. A few surprises so far: Johnson dropped out of university for lack of money, taught himself everything, and at one point essentially co-wrote a legal treatise based on his own reading. He…
Not True Freedom of Disposition
Kevin Bennardo’s recent article makes a simple but underemphasized point: the real organizing principle of inheritance law is not freedom of disposition, but administrability. While courts and commentators have historically praised testamentary freedom as sacred and fundamental, the actual practice of probate prizes practicality. Testators do not control who administers their estate, cannot dictate the…
Second Act
Finished Second Act by Henry Oliver. A sharp reminder that age isn’t the limitation we think it is. Our limits are usually effort and curiosity. Most people aren’t working as hard as they could on their interests, and most aren’t exploring enough new ones either. The book makes a strong case for doubling down and…
Touch of Evil (1958)
An interesting film from Orson Welles. The film contrasts two approaches to law and order along the U.S.–Mexico border. On one side, the Mexican authorities are represented by Charlton Heston’s character, an idealistic, procedure-bound official committed to doing things by the book. On the other side, the American side is run by Welles himself, playing…
IRS Loses Case on Intra-Family Loans vs. Gifts
The Tax Court’s recent decision in Estate of Galli v. Commissioner, issued March 5, 2025, addresses the treatment of intra-family loans and gift tax. The case involved a $2.3 million transfer from a mother to her son, documented with a promissory note at the applicable federal rate (AFR). The IRS argued that the loan lacked…
Sapiens
Despite hearing about this book for years, I am finally getting around to reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Sapiens is interesting so far, but it has not yet changed how I previously thought about these topics. That said, I can see why it has been influential—Harari presents a broad,…
Is the Hot Hand Real?
Ben Cohen’s book The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks revisits the long debated question of whether momentum exists in performance. Amos Tversky and his coauthors famously argued in the 1980s that the hot hand in basketball is a cognitive illusion. Past success does not influence future outcomes. Yet, more recent studies suggest…
Who owns what?
Just finished reading Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives by Michael Heller and James Salzman. The book argues that six core rules shape our subconscious beliefs about ownership—like First Possession (whoever claims something first owns it) and Labor Creates Ownership (if you transform something, you own it). Interesting read, but I’m…
Recent N.C. Caselaw: In re Estate of Johnathan Matthew Bozeman (COA24-322)
Summary An important recent decision from the North Carolina Court of Appeals clarifies spousal abandonment under N.C.G.S. § 31A-1(a)(3). The case involved a dispute between the decedent’s mother and his surviving wife over whether the wife was barred from inheriting due to abandonment. Under North Carolina law, a surviving spouse loses the right to inherit…
Conflicting Duties as Guardian ad Litem
Many attorneys misunderstand the fiduciary duties of a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) in incompetency proceedings in North Carolina, particularly regarding the balance between advocating for the respondent’s express wishes and their best interests. A common misconception is that a GAL’s primary duty is to advocate for what they believe to be the respondent’s best interests,…
Electronic Wills in North Carolina
North Carolina has not yet adopted electronic wills. Senate Bill 307, introduced in March 2023, would have enacted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act in 2025 but died in committee. For now, wills in North Carolina still require physical signatures and witnesses. Some states, like Colorado and North Dakota, have adopted the Uniform Act, while others,…
Mickey 17
Interesting latest movie by Bong Joon Ho. Robert Pattinson plays a clone on a distant planet, raising classic questions about identity, class exploitation, and the ethics of cloning—somewhat in the spirit of Parasite. The identity problem nods to Derek Parfit (and ship of Theseus): what exactly makes Mickey 17 different from Mickey 18? What makes…
Last Will & Testament of King Edward VI
I did not know this story, but William Kelleher and Christina Smith have a fantastic article in the January/February 2025 issue of Probate & Property titled “My Lady Jane, a King’s Will, and Undue Influence on a Testamentary Instrument” about King Edward VI’s Devise for the Succession, a controversial document signed shortly before his death…
January 2025 Digest
The end of 2024 brought several noteworthy developments in North Carolina’s estate planning and probate law, particularly regarding undue influence and posthumously conceived children. In this digest, I’ll summarize recent North Carolina Court of Appeals cases and share a brief review of two newly published law books. Recent North Carolina Caselaw Recently Published Books
The Legal Puzzle of Daniel and the Lion’s Den
The story of Daniel and the lion’s den often focuses on Daniel’s faith in God. But an interesting and less explored aspect of the story is King Darius’s conception of law. At the heart of the story lies a puzzling question: Why didn’t Darius revoke his decree when he realized it would condemn Daniel? Legal…
Work Habits of John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, was not only a statesman but also a model of discipline and intellectual rigor. After reading both Harlow Unger’s John Quincy Adams and Randall Woods’s John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People, I’ve compiled some of his most notable work habits: John Quincy…
Work Habits of Learned Hand
After reading Gerald Gunther’s excellent biography of Learned Hand, I’ve compiled some notable work habits and character traits of this influential judge: • Disliked Using the Telephone: Hand preferred written correspondence and was an avid letter-writer.• Daily Walks: He took 4-mile walks through Manhattan to the courthouse every day.• Openness to Different Views: Hand placed…
Legal Interpretation: Stephen Breyer vs. Richard Posner
Stephen Breyer’s latest 2024 book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, suggests that he has somewhat shifted toward an approach more closely aligned with Richard Posner’s concept of legal pragmatism. In the book, Breyer argues that textualism alone does not produce sound legal decisions. He explains, for example, that not all cases…