Guides: Wills, Trusts & Estates: Current Developments

Publicly Accessible Repositories of Legal Articles

Digital Commons Network, Estates and Trusts Commons
Digital Commons Network, Taxation - Federal Estate and Gift Commons
bepress Legal Repository
Includes legal working papers and unpublished/recently published legal articles.
Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
Scope: Worldwide. Includes legal working papers, forthcoming/recently published legal articles, and even some forthcoming book chapters. Search default = search of title, abstract and keywords.
Tip: BLS student researchers will greatly benefit from searching the current material in this repository.

Journals

ACTEC Law Journal (American College of Trust and Estate Counsel) (in HeinOnline)
Published 3 times/yr.
ACTEC Law Journal (in Westlaw)
Slightly more current coverage than in HeinOnline. Click title above and and log in with your Westlaw uesrname/password.
Columbia Journal of Tax Law (in HeinOnline)
Published 2 times/yr.
Estate Planning (WG&L)
Monthly periodical available in Westlaw. Highlights current tax developments and new decisions. Click title above and log in with your Westlaw uesrname/password.
Journal of Financial Planning (Financial Planning Association)
Monthly journal available in BLS subscription database: Business Source Premier.
Probate and Property (American Bar Association. Section of Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law) (in HeinOnline)
Published 6 times/yr. Available in HeinOnline. Includes the updates: Keeping Current - Probate (highlighting selected recent decisions, tax rulings/regulations, laws and articles) and Keeping Current - Property (highlighting selected recent decisions, laws and articles).
Probate and Property (American Bar Association. Section of Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law) (in Westlaw)
Selected articles from this bi-monthly magazine are available in Westlaw. Click title above and log in with your Westlaw username/password.
TIP: Westlaw includes the updates: Keeping Current - Probate (highlighting selected recent decisions, tax rulings/regulations, laws and articles) and Keeping Current - Property (highlighting selected recent decisions, laws and articles).
Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal (Section of Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law, American Bar Association) (in HeinOnline)
Published 3 times/yr. Available in HeinOnline.
Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal (Section of Real Property, Trust, and Estate Law, American Bar Association) (in Westlaw)
Selected documents available in Westlaw. Click title above and log in with your Westlaw username/password.
Trusts & Trustees
Trusts & Trustees is an international journal on trust law and practice, and the official journal of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law. Features of the journal include: analysis from leading practitioners and academics; comment and opinion on legal and practice developments; practical analysis of recent topical cases; and more.

Law.com (subscription) Legal News Topic: Trusts & Estates

Law.com Topic: Trusts & Estates

Law.com aggregates news stories and commentary from ALM publications such as The American Lawyer, National Law Journal, New Jersey Law Journal, New York Law Journal and The Recorder. BLS students, faculty and administrators: BLS Library subscribes to New Jersey Law Journal and New York Law Journal through Law.com.

New York Law Journal published: Nicole Hurley, Ethical Challenges in New York Trust and Estate Practice: Conflicts, Confidentiality and Client Capacity (Nov. 5, 2025) + Ilene Sherwyn Cooper, Fall Update (Oct. 31, 2025)

Aggregator & Blogs

LexBlog "channel": Probate & Estate Planning
Highlights recent blog posts. Near bottom of screen, links to individual legal blogs.
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys: Blog
Includes a link to sign up for AAEPA's blog.
New York Probate Lawyer Blog (Jules Martin Haas)
New York Trusts and Estates Litigation (Farrell Fritz attorneys)
Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (Gerry W. Beyer, ed.)

Career Advice & Planning Articles

Josh Crowfoot, Editor of Young Lawyers Network & Contributing Author Julian C. Zebot, What All Young Trust And Estate Litigators Should Know, Prob. & Prop. Mag. (May/June 2023)

The link above allows BLS patrons to access What All Young Trust and Estate Litigators Should Know in HeinOnline > collection: Law Journal Library > publication: Probate and Property.

Tip: American Bar Association (ABA) law student membership is free. A law student could choose to join ABA's Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section to access many articles and other resources of this Section through the ABA's website.

Kamron Sanders, How to Become an Estate Planning Attorney, Nat'l. L. Rev. (Aug. 23, 2022)

Selected Current Articles

Trusts & Estates Staff of WealthManagement.com, Key Takeaways from Heckerling 2025
Overview of issues discussed at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning that occurred in Jan. 2025. These issues included: "planning implications of the 2024 elections, family business succession planning, recent developments in charitable giving and the advantages and disadvantages of relying on 'portability.'" Date of 60th Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning: Jan. 12-16, 2026. In future, check for an updated summary of the 60th Heckerling Institute.

Tip: See also most recent Heckerling Institute Report highlighting proceedings from the Jan. Heckerling Institute provided by the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. American Bar Association (ABA) law student membership is free. A law student could choose to join ABA's Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section to access many articles and other resources of this Section through the ABA's website.

Additional Selected Articles:

Nelson H. Hunt & Olivia Mae Vrielink, Treasury Finalizes Long-Awaited Basis Consistency and Reporting Regulations, 39 Prob. & Prop. 42 (May/June 2025)
Juliana Hakakian, The Impact of AI on Real Estate Lawyers, 39 Prob. & Prop. 50 (May/June 2025)
Ctrl+Alt+Bequeath: Evolving Legal Challenges and Legislative Responses in the Digital Age, 39 Prob. & Prop. 58 (May/June 2025).
Jaime Herren, Best Use or No Use? What Should Lawyers Do about AI Right Now?, 39 Prob. & Prop. 38 (Jan./Feb. 2025).
Debbie Hoffman & Anna Mouland, Bequeathing Bitcoin: Storing and Transferring Cryptocurrency upon Death, 38 Prob. & Prop. 20 (Nov./Dec. 2024)
Melissa A. Rodriguez & Mark. A. Romance, Tradition vs. Technology: Original Paper Wills Are Still (Nov. 7, 2024)
Robert J. Greene, What Attorneys Need to Know about Handling Pet Care in Wills, 38 Prob. & Prop. 12 (May/June 2024)
Gerry W. Beyer & Scout S. Blosser, The Viability of Inserting Descriptive Photos in Wills: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words, 38 Prob. & Prop. 26 (Mar./Apr. 2024).
Hannah Albarazi, Calif. Justices Rule Living Wills Not A Path To Arbitration (Mar. 29, 2024)
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Article excerpt: "The California Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that an advance healthcare directive, or living will, does not permit a designated power of attorney to opt into arbitration on a patient's behalf...."
Frank C. Mindicino, Can Digital Engagement Products and Predictive Data Analytics Align With Fiduciary Duties? (Mar. 19, 2024)
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Proposes "four methodologies to evolve the fiduciary duty landscape."
Sarah Martinson, BakerHostetler Launches Tech Offering For Estate Planning (Feb. 28, 2024)
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Discussing Financial Clarity, an estate planning app created for clients by BakerHostetler's private wealth group.
Justin H. Brown & Brittany A. Yodis, Commentary: International Income and Estate Tax Planning for Cross-Border Clients, Legal Intelligencer (May 3, 2023)
Jenifer Caneschi-Mirto, Self-Destructing Corporeal Painting or Performance Act?: Banksy's Girl with Balloon, Grey Areas in U.S. Federal Income Tax Law, and Implications for Estate Planning, 35 Quinnipiac Prob. L.J. 296 (2022) (as available in HeinOnline)
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Discusses an interesting income tax issue: Is the" extra value" added to the Banksy painting when it is shredded at Sotheby's a windfall for the purchaser that counts as income?
Sarah Moore Johnson & Raymond C. Odom, The Forgotten 40 Acres: How Real Property, Probate & Tax Laws Contributed to the Racial Wealth Gap and How Tax Policy Could Repair It, 57 Real Prop. Tr. & Est. L.J. 1 (2022) (as available in Westlaw)
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Discusses the potential use of the estate tax to ameliorate the racial wealth gap.

Sarah Moore Johnson & Raymond C. Odom, The Forgotten 40 Acres: How Real Property, Probate & Tax Laws Contributed to the Racial Wealth Gap and How Tax Policy Could Repair It, 57 Real Prop. Tr. & Est. L.J. 1 (2022)