Alyssa A. DiRusso, Associate Professor, Samford University Cumberland School of Law, has published an article entitled "The Dynamics of Wills and Demographic Status," in the Quinnipiac Probate Law Journal. The following is an abstract of the article:
"In this Article, I seek to investigate several questions relating to testacy and intestacy. First, who is intestate? Are there demographic characteristics that predict intestacy and is there a class divide among whom the law serves? (Statistical analyses of original empirical data are used to shed light on these issues.) Next, does intestacy matter - what are the consequences of intestacy? Finally, what does intestacy mean or signify? On a theoretical and abstract level, how can we characterize intestacy - how do we define it, and how does it define us?
These questions, when carefully considered, lead to a theory: that there is a connection between hierarchical socio-demographic roles and the legal status of testacy or intestacy that parallels these roles. Specifically, I compare the dynamics created by testacy/intestacy and analogize to the roles created by men/women and whites/non-whites, and argue that the overlap between the individuals who fill each status role is not coincidental. Finally, I develop the theory that when hierarchical status is created by law, there may be a connection to social status in filling those roles. More explicitly, when we identify areas of the law that create the dominant/non-dominant dynamic we tend to see in race and sex relationships, we should scrutinize the law to determine whether it is a reflection of - or possibly a contributor to - the dynamics of race and sex."
Posted by Neil I. Rumbak, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.
"In this Article, I seek to investigate several questions relating to testacy and intestacy. First, who is intestate? Are there demographic characteristics that predict intestacy and is there a class divide among whom the law serves? (Statistical analyses of original empirical data are used to shed light on these issues.) Next, does intestacy matter - what are the consequences of intestacy? Finally, what does intestacy mean or signify? On a theoretical and abstract level, how can we characterize intestacy - how do we define it, and how does it define us?
These questions, when carefully considered, lead to a theory: that there is a connection between hierarchical socio-demographic roles and the legal status of testacy or intestacy that parallels these roles. Specifically, I compare the dynamics created by testacy/intestacy and analogize to the roles created by men/women and whites/non-whites, and argue that the overlap between the individuals who fill each status role is not coincidental. Finally, I develop the theory that when hierarchical status is created by law, there may be a connection to social status in filling those roles. More explicitly, when we identify areas of the law that create the dominant/non-dominant dynamic we tend to see in race and sex relationships, we should scrutinize the law to determine whether it is a reflection of - or possibly a contributor to - the dynamics of race and sex."
Posted by Neil I. Rumbak, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.
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