More than merely an assembly of commentators and interpreters, the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law is a prestigious body that effects real change in courts, law reform commissions, and governmental agencies. Its membership-including solicitors, barristers, notaries , judges, and scholars, all experts in trusts, estate and inheritance law, and/or tax law–highlight the contrasts and comparisons between the pertinent laws of civil and common law jurisdictions.This volume records the May 2001 conference in San Francisco, which focused on four main topics: the regulation of charitable organisations in major western countries; the rules governing capacity to enter into transactions affecting property; the ability of creditors to reach assets that are held on behalf of another; and the issue of testamentary freedom versus forced heirship. This yearbook, the third published by Kluwer Law International, signals a departure from earlier volumes in that the papers under the
