Updates
Here are summaries of important legal or procedural changes that affect the latest edition of this product.
If you want to check on the accuracy of any other information in the book, please follow the legal research
instructions in the book or in Nolo's research manual, Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law.
What's New in the 3rd Edition of The Executor's Guide
Overview of What's New
All tax information and numbers have been updated. All state-specific information on small estate rules, domestic partners, and more have been updated. There's more information on nonprobate transfers. New IRS rules on inherited IRAs are explained.
Who Needs the New Edition?
You Don't Need the New Edition If:
you're using the book only for background information.
You Need the New Edition If:
you want up-to-date information on the laws that affect probate and inheritance in your state, as well as federal tax laws.
Chapters Most Affected
11. Taxes
12. Property That Doesn't Go Through Probate
15. Claiming Money in Retirement Plans
Appendix: State Information
Forms That Have Changed
None.
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Adopted-Out Child Won't Inherit Part of Jell-O Fortune After All
Effective date:
Mar. 13, 2008
A woman who had been adopted as a child will not share in multi-million-dollar trusts intended to benefit her birth mother's "descendants," a New York court has ruled. The family fortune had come originally from the birth mother's grandfather, who became wealthy selling Jell-O in the early 1900s.
Last year, a lower court ruled that the woman was entitled to a share of the trust money. The new ruling reversed that decision.
The court reasoned that allowing adopted-out children to appear and claim inheritances would make it impossible for courts to issue truly final orders in inheritance cases, undermine the confidentiality of adoptions, and compromise the goal of completely assimilating adopted children into the adopting families. (In the Matter of the Accounting by Fleet Bank, 2008 N.Y. Slip Op. 02082, March 13, 2008.)
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