Wills and Trusts

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

How should the law respond to changes in American family?

Hodel v. Irving, pg. 3
A decedent’s property right is a taking when the right to pass on property is totally abrogated.
Legislatures can tamper with the rights of heirs.
There is “broad authority to adjust the rules governing the descent and devise of pro9perty without implicating the guarantees of the Just Compensation Clause.
Penn Central Test is applied:
1) Investor backed expectations-not much to look to on this prong since no one technically invested in it.
2) Economic impact of the regulation-can be substantial because while the income generated may be de minimis, their value may not be.
3) Character of the governmental action-it is so extreme that it completely abrogates an important right in the American Anglo tradition.
To decide taking questions, the court said it must focus on the character of the action and the nature and extent of the interference as a whole??...