The law of succession rests on a single brute fact: you can't take it with you. The stock of wealth that turns over as people die is staggeringly large. In the United States alone, some $41 trillion will pass from the dead to the living in the first half of the 21st century. But the social impact of inheritance is more than a matter of money; it is also a matter of what money buys and brings about. Law and custom allow people many ways to pass on their property. As Friedman's enlightening social history reveals, a decline in formal rules, the ascendancy of will substitutes over classic wills, social changes like the rise of the family of affection, changing ideas of acceptable heirs, and the potential disappearance of the estate tax all play a large role in the balance of wealth. Dead Hands uncovers the tremendous social and legal importance of this rite of passage, and how it reflects changing values and priorities in American families and society.

In this timely new edition, distinguished authors Dukeminier and Johanson build on the success of their phenomenally popular casebook Wills, Trusts, and Estates with new coverage of non-traditional family arrangements, living wills, and much more. the authors blend cases selected for human interest as well as teaching value with provocative hypotheticals, cartoons, photographs, and other illustrations to comprehensively cover this area in a very lively, readable manner. Organized logically, The book begins with estate planning and its limitations, moves to wills and will substitutes, progresses to trusts, and concludes with a chapter on taxation. New topic coverage includes: babies inadvertently swapped in hospitals, surrogate mothers, lesbian adoption, and artificial insemination (including children conceived after sperm donor's death) living wills and powers of attorney for health care, including the Cruzan case And The Uniform Health Care Decisions Act a new chapter combining mental capacity and undue influence, which features the Seward Johnson will contest and related preventive lawyering issues shortened, more teachable chapters on future interests and perpetuities latest changes To The Uniform Probate Code a completely revised and reorganized trustee administration chapter Like its predecessors, this book is a lively, flexible, and understandable teaching tool that is accompanied by a detailed and witty Teacher's Manual, which is regarded as the best in the field.

Simple forms that protect and save money for you and your family. Admit it. You have been thinking about getting together all the documents you need to protect yourself and your family should something unexpected happen. But the thought of the time it would take and the amount of work involved has just seemed like too much. Not anymore. The Easy Will and Living Will Kit provides all the documents you need in one place. In just minutes, you can follow the simple steps it takes to prepare your will, living will and powers of attorney. Begin by choosing the will form that is right for you. Every form is ready-to-use and modifiable for your needs. Putting your affairs in order has never been easier.

According to Susan Deller Ross, many human rights advocates still do not see women's rights as human rights. Yet women in many countries suffer from laws, practices, customs, and cultural and religious norms that consign them to a deeply inferior status. Advocates might conceive of human rights as involving torture, extrajudicial killings, or cruel and degrading treatment—all clearly in violation of international human rights—and think those issues irrelevant to women. Yet is female genital mutilation, practiced on millions of young girls and even infants, not a gross violation of human rights? When a family decides to murder a daughter in the name of "honor," is that not an extrajudicial killing? When a husband rapes or savagely beats his wife, knowing the legal authorities will take no action on her behalf, is that not cruel and degrading treatment? Women's Human Rights is the first human rights casebook to focus specifically on women's human rights. Rich with interdisciplinary material, the book advances the study of the deprivation and violence women suffer due to discriminatory laws, religions, and customs that deny them their most fundamental freedoms. It also provides present and future lawyers the legal tools for change, demonstrating how human rights treaties can be used to obtain new laws and court decisions that protect women against discrimination with respect to employment, land ownership, inheritance, subordination in marriage, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, polygamy, child marriage, and the denial of reproductive rights. Ross examines international and regional human rights treaties in depth, including treaty language and the jurisprudence and general interpretive guidelines developed by human rights bodies. By studying how international human rights law has been and can be implemented at the domestic level through local courts and legislatures, readers will understand how to call upon these newly articulated human rights to help bring about legislation, court decisions, and executive action that protect women from human rights violations.

Succeed in your course and your paralegal career with WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION, 8th Edition. This easy-to-understand text introduces the basics of estate planning and bequeathing property to others through wills and trusts, along with the laws and procedures involved, including the Uniform Probate Code. Packed with engaging, highly visual content enhanced by detailed exhibits and a writing style free of confusing legalese, the 8th Edition provides up-to-date coverage of relevant laws, court procedures, cases, tax implications, ethical considerations, and the roles paralegals and other professionals play in the process. Throughout the text, user-friendly case summaries, state-specific examples, practical assignments, detailed documents, and real-life contemporary issues prepare you for success as a paralegal in this important area of law. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.