Faculty Spotlight
Professor Bloom Works to Revamp New York's Decades-Old Trust Code
Professor Ira Bloom is in the home stretch of an impactful project that could result in a significant overhaul to New York’s trust laws.
In January, Prof. Bloom submitted his co-authored Final Report on a new trust code for the state, which hasn’t seen a major change in that area since 1967. The 313-page report — prepared by Prof. Bloom and New York Law School Prof. William LaPiana with the assistance of Albany Law student Ralph Scunziano ’16 — was authorized by the Executive Committee of the Trusts and Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and will now be vetted by various groups across N.Y.
Going forward, Profs. Bloom and LaPiana have been tasked with preparing a report to state lawmakers recommending legislation to enact a new modernized New York Trust Code, specifically new Article 7-A of the New York Estates, Powers and Trusts Law.
Prof. Bloom is also working to prepare the 2016 Supplements to his co-authored casebooks “Fundamentals of Trusts and Estates” (4th ed. 2012 LexisNexis) and “Federal Taxation of Estates, Trusts, and Gifts” (4th ed. 2014 LexisNexis). In addition, he plans to submit the 5th edition of “Fundamentals of Trusts and Estates” in the fall, with the accompanying teacher’s manual to follow.
Prof. Bloom is the co-author of 10 law school casebooks on tax and trusts and estates, and principal author of the two-volume treatise "Drafting New York Wills and Related Documents." At Albany Law School he holds the Justice David Josiah Brewer Distinguished Professorship, named for Justice David Josiah Brewer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and member of the law school’s Class of 1858. He has taught at Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans, McGeorge School of Law, Tulane University School of Law, and The Ohio State University College of Law.
He is the past chair of the Trusts and Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and previously served as chair and vice-chair of the Taxation Committee and chair of the Multi-State Practice Committee. He was also the Section's liaison to the EPTL-SCPA Legislative Advisory Committee, which worked on recommending adoption of the Uniform Trust Code in New York. He is currently chair of the Section’s NYUTC Committee and a member of the NYUTC-Legislative Advisory Group’s Steering Committee.
Prof. Bloom is an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel; he currently serves on the State Laws, Fiduciary Income Taxation and Legal Education Committees. He is also a member of the American Law Institute and was actively involved in the formulation of the Restatement (Third) of Trusts and the Restatement (Third) of Property (Wills and other Donative Transfers).
He is currently serving as a member of the Trusts and Estates and Surrogate’s Court Committee of the Bar of the City of New York, having previously served as a member of the Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the Bar of the City of New York.