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Review of Reviews: “Not Your Mother’s Will: Gender, Language, and Wills,” 98 Marquette Law Review 1535 (2015)Review of Reviews: “Not Your Mother’s Will: Gender, Language, and Wills,” 98 Marquette Law Review 1535 (2015)

Karen J. Sneddon, Professor of Law at Mercer Law School in Macon, Ga.

Elizabeth K. Miller, Founder and Head

August 2, 2016

3 Min Read
Review of Reviews: “Not Your Mother’s Will: Gender, Language, and Wills,” 98 Marquette Law Review 1535 (2015)

The legalese of trust and estate documents is frequently confusing to clients. Lawyers and financial advisors alike are often called on to help clients fully interpret the documents they’re considering or even may have already approved and signed. Even as the modern profession continually tries to ease and clarify testamentary intentions, language changes slowly. Professor Karen J. Sneddon focuses specifically on the glacially slow changes to gender language in wills and trusts in her article, “Not Your Mother’s Will.” Her analysis feels laden by outdated historical examples, but still contributes further to the ongoing efforts to improve testamentary language.   

The author points out that the language of our wills mirrors society’s prev...

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About the Author

Elizabeth K. Miller

Founder and Head

https://www.summitplacefinancial.com/SummitPlace/leadership.php

 

Elizabeth K. Miller is founder and head of Summit Place Financial Advisors, LLC., which was established to provide personalized asset management and a boutique family office experience to successful families and individuals. Previously she was a principal owner of Trevor Stewart Burton & Jacobsen Inc., where she led the firm’s equity research activities and the investment committee’s stock selection. Ms. Miller started her career as a mergers and acquisition and proprietary trading analyst for the First Boston Corporation. Ms. Miller is a member of the Alumni Board of Governors for the Sphinx Society of the University of Pennsylvania, a past member of the Board of Trustees for the New York Society of Security Analysts (CFA Society New York) and a past chair of the Private Wealth Management Committee there. She also served on the Private Wealth Advisory Committee for CFA Institute, which helped provide global leadership in identifying the industry’s priorities and setting an educational agenda for private wealth professional excellence. Each summer, she joins the faculty of the Chautauqua Institute Special Studies Program, in wealth management. She has been a guest of CNBC, Reuters, BNN, Bloomberg, and Businessweek TV and may be heard on Bloomberg radio and Dow Jones’ Marketwatch. Ms. Miller received a BS in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from Columbia University.