The MacArthur Foundation awarded a grant to former University of Wisconsin law professor Thomas Wilson Mitchell. Professor Mitchell is the driving force behind the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act of 2010. This Uniform Act has been introduced in Nebraska, but no action has yet been taken.
The problem is that some people die without a will and then the real estate is not probated. Heirs then end up as tenants in common. In some cases, a stranger will purchase an undivided interest in the real estate and force a partition sale. Not good!
Another solution is a quiet title action. I had to file one in Saunders County and there were ...
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With a will (or revocable trust), one can instruct the fidicuiary not to sell real estate.
The will of Beverly Freiden stated that real property at 18th and Jackson Street in Omaha "may either be sold or retained by my personal representatives as they shall determine."
The estate was informally closed in the probate court and no Personal Representative's deed was issued. Neb. Rev. Stat. Section 30-24,104(a) states that "unless a contrary intention is indicated by will, the distributable assets of a decedent's estate's shall be distributed in kind to the extent possible."
The Nebraska Supreme Court held that the real estate remained in the estate of Beverly Freiden. Normally a deed is required to convey real estate, but the ...
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Dead hand control or complying with the wishes of the settlor
Frequently there is tension between the intent of the person who created the trust (the settlor), the beneficiaries and the trustee. A recent Nebraska case is a good example of this.
Jack Fenske was an "old school" bachelor farmer in Madison County. He considered owning agricultural land as a sign of success. While he valued education, he appreciated the value of farm work even more.
One year before he died in 1998, he wrote his will. His attorney had been urging him to do so and the attorney testified that it might have been written and executed in one day. His two great nieces were to receive income for their lives but the principal ...
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