Real Property - Totten Trusts - The Rights of a Surviving Spouse v. the Totten Trusts - Montgomery v. Michaels, 54 III.2d 532, 301 N.E.2d 465 (1973)
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Authors
Remele, Lewis A.
Issue Date
1974
Volume
7
Issue
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|A recent Illinois case resurrects an old problem: whether a Totten trust is effective to defeat the rights of a surviving spouse. This problem presents itself in the form of policy alternatives. As the common law principles of dower and curtesy became inadequate to protect the surviving spouse, most states adopted statutes which guaranteed the surviving spouse a certain distributive share in a decedent's estate. Moreover, these statutes generally provided that the spouse had the right to take against the will if the decedent died testate, thus preventing the decedent from disinheriting the surviving spouse through the use of a will. Despite these protections, most statutes have proved inadequate in protecting the surviving spouse against disinheritance because they only pertain to the property which the decedent possessed at the time of death...
Description
Citation
7 Creighton L. Rev. 705 (1973-1974)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law