Gerry W. Beyer | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Lawyer, academic, and author |
Academic background | |
Education | B.A., summa cum laude J.D., summa cum laude LL.M. J.S.D. |
Alma mater | Eastern Michigan University Ohio State University University of Illinois |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Texas Tech University School of Law |
Gerry W. Beyer is an American lawyer,academic,and author. He is the Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law. [1]
Beyer is most known for his work in estate planning,trusts,wills,and related fields. He has authored over 25 books,including Wills,Trusts,and Estates:Examples &Explanations, [2] Teaching Materials on Estate Planning, [3] and Texas Law of Wills. [4] His work has received honors,including three Excellence in Writing Awards from the American Bar Association. [5] Moreover,he is the recipient of distinguished faculty awards from three law schools,including the Texas Tech's Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award, [6] the 2015 President's Academic Achievement Award,and the Outstanding Law Researcher Award in 2013 and 2017. [7]
Beyer earned his Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Michigan University in 1976. He received his Juris Doctor from the Ohio State University in 1979 and was induced into the Order of the Coif,followed by a Master of Laws from the University of Illinois in 1983. Later,he completed his Doctor of the Science of Law at the University of Illinois in 1990. [1]
After practicing law with the Columbus,Ohio law firm of Knisley,Carpenter,Wilhelm,and Nein,Beyer began his academic career as a law instructor at the University of Illinois between 1980 and 1981. He then joined St. Mary's University in 1981 as an assistant professor of law and was promoted to associate professor in 1984. From 1987 to 2005,he served as a professor of law at St. Mary's University. In 2005,he joined the faculty of the Texas Tech University School of Law as the first holder of the Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law,a position which he currently holds. [1]
Beyer was inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame by the National Association of Estate Planners &Councils in 2015 for his contributions to the field [8] and later received the Distinguished Probate Attorney Lifetime Achievement Award from the Real Estate,Probate,and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas in 2022. [9]
Beyer is the editor of the Wills,Trusts,and Estates Prof Blog,which earned Hall of Fame status in 2015 after being named to the ABA Journal'sBlawg 100 for five consecutive years. [10] He also has served as editor-in-chief of the REPTL Reporter,the official journal of the Real Estate,Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas,since 2014. [11]
Beyer was treasurer of the Lubbock County Bar Association from 2009 to 2010 and served on the Real Estate,Probate,and Trust Law Council of the State Bar of Texas from 2009 to 2013. Furthermore,he contributed to the Texas Law Component for the Texas Board of Law Examiners. He was also a member of the Estate Planning and Probate Law Exam Commission from 1991 to 2005 and has served as the keeping current probate editor for Probate &Property magazine since 1992. He served as a president of the South Plains Trust &Estate Council from 2010 to 2011 and has been one of its directors since 2007. [12]
Beyer is a member of an Academic Fellow and former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel,and a member of the American Law Institute. [13] Additionally,he was appointed by the Uniform Law Commission as the Reporter for the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act in 2021 [14] and the Probate and Non-Probate Transfer Integration Study Committee in 2023. [15]
Beyer is a frequent lecturer. He has presented 'continuing legal education' presentations for national,state,and local bar associations,universities,and civic groups. [16]
Beyer ranks among the top 0.001% of law authors on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). [17] [18] He has authored books and articles on various aspects of estate planning,including a two-volume treatise on Texas wills law,a law school casebook on estate planning,and the Wills,Trusts,and Estates volume in the Examples &Explanations series. His writings have earned him three awards from the American Bar Association's Probate &Property magazine. [19]
Beyer researches estate planning,focusing on trusts,wills,and strategies to identify and mitigate will contest risks with tailored approaches, [20] while also addressing malpractice liabilities and ethical challenges,guiding practitioners on how to avoid pitfalls and protect client intent. [21] In a collaborative work,he critiqued post-mortem probate,which could lead to will contests,and advocated for ante-mortem probate as a more effective alternative,reviewing existing models and arguing for its adoption to protect testators' intentions. [22]
Focusing on the legal profession's reliance on technology,Beyer discusses how this shift reshapes estate planning through the rise of cryptocurrency,the development of electronic wills,the importance of managing digital assets like cryptocurrency and NFTs, [23] and the prudent use of Artificial Intelligence. He highlights strategies to address virtual currency challenges, [24] reviews he Uniform Electronic Wills Act and state law variations, [25] and provides practical tools for implementing the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act in his work,"Cyber Estate Planning and Administration." [26]
Beyer led efforts to help people plan for their companion animals as well,serving on the advisory board for 2nd Chance for Pets and the Animal Research Committee at The Southwest Foundation,emphasizing short- and long-term care provisions,legal variations across U.S. jurisdictions, [27] and key estate planning techniques for pet owners. [28]
A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property (estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distribution. For the distribution (devolution) of property not determined by a will,see inheritance and intestacy.
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without a legally valid will,resulting in the distribution of their estate under statutory intestacy laws rather than by their expressed wishes. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made,but only applies to part of the estate;the remaining estate forms the "intestate estate". Intestacy law,also referred to as the law of descent and distribution,which vary by jurisdiction,refers to the body of law,establish a hierarchy for inheritance,typically prioritizing close relatives such as spouses,children,and then extended family members and determines who is entitled to the property from the estate under the rules of inheritance.
Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law,which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons and the state,including regulatory statutes,penal law and other law that affects the public order. In general terms,private law involves interactions between private individuals,whereas public law involves interrelations between the state and the general population. In legal systems of the civil law tradition,it is that part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals,such as the law of contracts and torts,and the law of obligations.
Kent Ronald Hance is an American politician and lawyer who is the former Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. In his role,he oversaw Texas Tech University,Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Angelo State University in San Angelo,Texas. He is also a lobbyist and lawyer. Hance is the only person to defeat future President George W. Bush and became a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from West Texas,having served from 1979 to 1985. After his congressional service,he switched to the Republican Party and in both 1986 and 1990 ran for governor of Texas,losing in the primary election.
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the management and disposal of a person's estate during the person's life in preparation for future incapacity or death. The planning includes the bequest of assets to heirs,loved ones,and/or charity,and may include minimizing gift,estate,and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Estate planning includes planning for incapacity,reducing or eliminating uncertainties over the administration of a probate,and maximizing the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. The ultimate goal of estate planning can only be determined by the specific goals of the estate owner,and may be as simple or complex as the owner's wishes and needs directs. Guardians are often designated for minor children and beneficiaries with incapacity.
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC),also called the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws,is a non-profit,American unincorporated association. Established in 1892,the ULC aims to provide U.S. states with well-researched and drafted model acts to bring clarity and stability to critical areas of statutory law across jurisdictions. The ULC promotes enactment of uniform acts in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. The ULC headquarters are in Chicago,Illinois.
James Lindgren is a professor of law at Northwestern University. Born in 1952 in Rockford,Illinois,Lindgren graduated from Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School (1977),where he was an editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago in 2009.
The slayer rule,in the U.S. law of inheritance,stops a person inheriting property from a person they murdered.
An honorary trust,under the law of trusts,is a device by which a person establishes a trust for which there is neither a charitable purpose,nor a private beneficiary to enforce the trust. While such a trust would normally be void for lack of a beneficiary,many jurisdictions have carved out two specific exceptions to this rule:trusts for the care of that person's pets;and trusts to provide for the maintenance of cemetery plots.
Arming America:The Origins of a National Gun Culture is a discredited 2000 book by historian Michael A. Bellesiles about American gun culture,an expansion of a 1996 article he published in the Journal of American History. Bellesiles,then a professor at Emory University,used fabricated research to argue that during the early period of US history,guns were uncommon during peacetime and that a culture of gun ownership did not arise until the mid-nineteenth century.
John Harriss Langbein is an American legal scholar who serves as the Sterling Professor emeritus of Law and Legal History at Yale University. He is an expert in the fields of trusts and estates,comparative law,and Anglo-American legal history.
Texas A&M University School of Law is the law school of Texas A&M University located in downtown Fort Worth,Texas. Established in 1989 as the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law,it was formerly the law school of Texas Wesleyan University until it was acquired by Texas A&M University on August 12,2013. On August 13,2013,fully accredited by the American Bar Association,it began operations at the same location. The law school is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) and offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. Students may also pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.) or Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) degree either online or in-residence.
William Willard Gibson Jr. received a B.A. in government in 1954 and an LL.B with honors in 1956 from the University of Texas at Austin. During law school he was a member of the Order of the Coif and an editor of the Texas Law Review. Following graduation,he joined the firm of Gibson,Ochsner,Harlann,Kiney,&Morris in Amarillo,Texas as an associate partner. From 1964-65 he served as the President of the Junior Bar of the State of Texas. He was subsequently recruited by Dean W. Page Keeton of the University of Texas School of Law and joined the faculty in 1965.
Patricia E. Salkin is an American jurist. She is the Senior Vice President for Academic for the Touro University System,and the Provost of the Graduate and Professional Divisions of Touro University. She is the former Dean of Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Central Islip,NY.
Russell D. Niles was a lawyer and expert in Trust Law,president of the New York City Bar Association,and a dean of New York University School of Law.
Douglas Hugh Parker was an American law school professor. He began his law teaching career as a Harry A. Bigelow Teaching Fellow (1952–53) at the University of Chicago Law School and later taught as a professor of law at the University of Colorado College of Law (1953–75) and the Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School (1975-1991).
Terry Lavelle Crapo was an American attorney,educator,and Republican Party politician who served in the Idaho House of Representatives for six years,and as majority leader from 1968 to 1972. He had led the legislature as the first state to adopt the Uniform Probate Code. He died from leukemia ten years after retiring from the Idaho House.
Eric Goldman is a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. He also co-directs the law school's High Tech Law Institute and co-supervises the law school's Privacy Law Certificate.
Ira Mark Bloom is an American law professor,legal scholar,and the Justice David Josiah Brewer Distinguished Professor of Law at Albany Law School.
Justin Miller is a nationally recognized authority on taxation in the United States. He is an attorney based in San Francisco,California and adjunct professor at Golden Gate University.