To Use the Parlance of our Times

As is my tradition, here are some quotes from Professor Estates and Trusts, aka, the Big R.

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“Maybe you don’t care because you’ll be dead.”

“A lot of you will be worth $10 million when you’re dead even discounting for inflation. Ok $5, $5 million.”

“Don’t wait till you’re dead, give it to me now”

“If you don’t, stay unmarried, or marry a Shiksa...”

“Bury your possessions with you, citing Egyptian precedent.”

“It’s to promote equality between the very, very rich and the very rich. I really am not kidding. This is the reason for the generation skipping tax.”

“It’s always a tradeoff with me between student participation and the transfer of knowledge.”

“This family doesn’t do very well.”

“Some people think it’s not romantic to talk about who owns what.”

“We’d like to make your life as miserable as possible so we won’t allow you to be adopted by better people.”

“When you became an adult, you yourself could have consented to an adult adoption. Didn’t think of that, did you?”

Student: “How would one go about an adult adoption? I mean, where do you go?”
BR: “I’ve never done it myself.”

“You can only adopt one adult per year in California.”

“The mother advantages her daughter by dying. Not the only such instance in this course.”

“The best way to create a small fortune is to leave a large one to a trust.”

“People do dumb things, and usually we let them do dumb things.”

“Writing ‘I cancel this will’ does not cancel the will any more than writing ‘I burn this will’ burns the will.”

“I can’t imagine someone trying to admit a will and then saying HA HA HA it was a joke. A very funny joke.”

“What can you buy for $30K? Nothing. Maybe a quarter of a garage.”

“If you recognize that marriages often breakdown, you might want to keep separate property separate.”

Student: “What’s a defacto wife?”
BR: “Yeah that’s an Australian idea.”

Student: “This guy uh basically uh died.”

BR: “Umm [student] do you have a thought?”
Student: “Well I do, I don’t know if it’s worth much.”

“Some people like to do business on the edge.”

“These are upstanding states. Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, and the like.”

“He knew he was going to be the trustee and he knew he was probably a jerk.”

“I don’t understand people who think they’re going to get rich without ever working a day in their life. They’re just dumb.”

BR: “Justin?....Justin?”
Student Walking In: “Yeah right here.”
BR: “Ummm I’ll get back to you in a minute.”

“Most people prefer to have power, as opposed to its absence.”

[Dead hand control] “It’s unsightly. It’s just as unsightly for someone to make a bust of themselves and plop it up on some land.”

“Florida’s Rule Against Perpetuities is 360 years. It’s 360 because that’s 4 times 90. Why four? I don’t know.”

“In a case like this you gotta wonder what kind of a person is going to sue to take money away from the kids. Should have the person audited or something.”

“Crazy, yes. But there’s a kind of genius to his madness wouldn’t you say?”

“It is exemplary art in the same way politicians are exemplary in integrity.”

“Other countries that we regard as clearly uncivilized, Canada and Australia, have done away with the estate tax.”

“You might think Ikea is a family owned business. It’s not. It’s a charity...whoever set this up, is brilliant. Just brilliant.”

“Do we feel sorry for O? No, I never feel sorry for people in these situations.”

“Oh by the way, [James] Simons got his PhD from Berkeley...at the age of 23.”