Abstract
The Supreme Court of Virginia has handed down seven recent
decisions addressing the authority of an agent to change the principal's
estate plan, legal malpractice claims in estate planning,
rights of incapacitated adults, limits of the constructive trust doctrine,
effects of a reversionary clause in a deed, ownership of an
engagement ring, and proof of undue influence. The 2017 Virginia
General Assembly clarified rules on legal malpractice and tenancies
by the entireties, adopted the Uniform Trust Decanting Act
and the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, and expanded
provisions governing estate administration, life insurance,
and advance medical directives. Other legislation affecting wills,
trusts, and estates included clarifications and technical corrections
relating to augmented estate claims, non-exoneration of encumbered
property, administration procedures, life insurance, adult financial
exploitation, death certificate amendments, and spousal
exemptions from real estate tax.
Recommended Citation
J. W. Gray Jr. & Katherine E. Ramsey,
Wills, Trusts, and Estates,
52
U. Rich. L. Rev.
115
(2017).
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/lawreview/vol52/iss1/7