Samuel A. Donaldson
Interim Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law Administration / Leadership- Education
LL.M., in Taxation University of Florida College of Law
J.D. Magna Cum Laude, University of Arizona College of Law
B.A. with Highest Honors, Oregon State University
- Specializations
Property
Taxation
Trusts and Estates
- Biography
Professor Donaldson is an interim associate dean of Academic Affairs and professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law. Prior to joining the College of Law in 2012, Professor Donaldson was on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle for 13 years. During his tenure at the University of Washington, he was a five-time recipient of the Philip A. Trautman Professor of the Year award from the School of Law's Student Bar Association. Professor Donaldson served for two years as Associate Dean for Academic Administration and for six years as the Director of the law school's Graduate Program in Taxation.
Professor Donaldson teaches a number of tax and estate planning courses, as well as courses in the areas of property, commercial law and professional responsibility. He is a nationally recognized speaker on federal taxation and estate planning at professional conferences and continuing education seminars.
Professor Donaldson is an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a member of the Bar in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Among his scholarly works, he is a co-author of the popular West casebook, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach, and a co-author of the Price on Contemporary Estate Planning treatise published by Wolters Kluwer.
Professor Donaldson has served as the Harry R. Horrow Visiting Professor of International Law at Northwestern University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
An amateur crossword constructor, Professor Donaldson's puzzles have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.
- Publications
Books
Kevin M. Yamamoto & Samuel A. Donaldson, Black Letter Outline on Federal Wealth Transfer Taxes (6th ed. 2021).
Kevin M. Yamamoto & Samuel A. Donaldson, Black Letter Outline on Federal Wealth Transfer Taxes (5th ed. 2018).
Samuel A. Donaldson & Donald B. Tobin, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach (3rd ed. 2018).
Donald B. Tobin and Samuel A. Donaldson, Principle of Federal Income Taxation, (8th ed., West 2017)
Samuel A. Donaldson & Donald B. Tobin, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach (West,2nd 2014).
Samuel A. Donaldson & Donald B. Tobin, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach (West 2012).
Kevin Yamamoto & Samuel A. Donaldson, Federal Wealth Transfer Taxes (2d ed., West 2011).
John R. Price & Samuel A. Donaldson, Price on Contemporary Estate Planning (2015 ed., CCH 2011) (annual from 2006).
Allison Christians, Samuel A. Donaldson, & Philip F. Postlewaite, United States International Taxation (2d ed., LexisNexis 2011).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Acing Federal Income Tax (2008).
Allison Christians, Samuel A. Donaldson, Philip F. Postlewaite, United States International Taxation: Cases, Materials, and Problems (LexisNexis 2008).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Federal Income Taxation of Individuals: Cases, Problems, and Materials (2d ed., Thomson West 2007).
Kevin M. Yamamoto & Samuel A. Donaldson, Federal Wealth Transfer Taxes (Thomson West 2006).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Federal Income Taxation of Individuals: Cases, Problems & Materials (Thomson West 2005).
Philip F. Postlewaite & Samuel A. Donaldson, International Taxation: Corporate and Individual (4th ed., Carolina Academic Press 2003).
Book Chapters
Thomas W. Abendroth, Steve R. Akers, Turney P. Berry, Samuel A. Donaldson, Stephen W. Murphy, Jeffrey N. Pennell, Charles A. Redd, William I. Sanderson, & Howard M. Zaritsky, Recent Developments--2023, in58 Heckerling Inst. on Estate Planning P 100 (2024).
Dennis I Belcher et al., Question and Answer Session Chapter 12 (Matthew Bender & Company, 2017)
Samuel Donaldson, Recent Developments - 2014, in Proceedings of the 49th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2015).
Samuel Donaldson, Recent Developments - 2013, in Proceedings of the 48th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2014).
Samuel Donaldson, et al., Recent Developments - 2011, in Proceedings of the 46th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2012).
Samuel Donaldson, Recent Developments - 2012, in Proceedings of the 47th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2013).
Samuel Donaldson, et al., Recent Developments - 2010, in Proceedings of the 45th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2011).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Recent Developments in the Taxation of Individuals, in 2010-2011 Tulane Law School 59th Annual Institute on Federal Taxation 1-1 (2010).
Samuel Donaldson, et al., Recent Developments - 2009, in Proceedings of the 44th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2010).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Recent Developments in Estate and Gift Taxation, in 2008-2009 Tulane Law School 57th Annual Institute on Federal Taxation 7-1 (2008).
Samuel A. Donaldson, The Estate Planner's Guide to S Corporations, in Proceedings of the 42d Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (2008).
Samuel Donaldson, Employee Compensation and Related Expenses, in LexisNexis Tax Advisor- Federal Topical Chap. 1D:8 (2006)
Samuel Donaldson, Understanding Grantor Trusts, in Proceedings of the 40th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (Tina Portuando ed., 2006).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Income Tax Aspects of Family Limited Partnerships, in Proceedings of the 39th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning (2005).
Samuel Donaldson, Basic Federal and State Tax Relevant to Estate Planning, in Washington Estate Planning Deskbook 5-1 (with Karen E. Boxx) (Thomas R. Andrews et al. eds., 2005)
Articles
Samuel A. Donaldson, The Care and Feeding of Anxious Tax Law Students, 19 Pitt. Tax Rev. 407 (2022).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Helvering v. Safe Deposit & Trust Co.: Underestimating the Power of a Power of Appointment, 42 ACTEC L.J. 41 (2016)
Kevin M. Yamamoto & Samuel A. Donaldson, Black Letter Outline on Federal Wealth Transfer Taxes (4th ed. 2016).
John A. Bogdanski & Samuel A. Donaldson, Teaching Tax and Other Tedious Topics, Persp., Win. 2009, at 102.
Samuel A. Donaldson, A Hitchhiker's Guide to International Estate Planning: Estate Planning for United States Citizens with Assets Abroad and for Nonresidents with United States Assets, 33 ACTEC J. 228 (2008).
Samuel Donaldson, The Expanded Role of (Defective) Grantor Trusts, ALI-ABA Est. Plan. Course Materials J. 45 (June 2007) (with M. Read Moore)
Samuel A. Donaldson, Liquidation of the Family Partnership: The Taming of the Shrewd, Prac. Tax Law., Win. 2006, at 47.
Samuel A. Donaldson, Super-Recognition and the Return-to-Sender Exception: The Federal Income Tax Problems of Liquidating the Family Limited Partnership, 35 Cap. U. L. Rev. 15 (2006).
Samuel A. Donaldson, The Easy Case Against Tax Simplification, 22 Va. Tax Rev. 645 (2003).
Philip F. Postlewaite, Samuel A. Donaldson, & Allison D. Christians, Determining Treaty Eligibility for Hybrid Entities and Their Owners, 3 J. Tax'n Global Trans. 45 (2003).
Samuel Donaldson, Taxes and Self-Identity, 6-3 Open Spaces 12 (2003)
Unpublished Papers
Samuel A. Donaldson, The Estate Planner's Income Tax Playbook (2015).
Samuel A. Donaldson, Contemporary Estate Planning Paradigms for Married Couples (2015)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2007)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2005)
Samuel A. Donaldson, Canadian Estate Planning Issues (2004)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2004)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2003)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2002)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2001)
Samuel A. Donaldson, Succession and Estate Planning for the Small Business and Owner (2000)
Samuel A. Donaldson, 2006 Federal Tax Update, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) (2000)
Samuel A. Donaldson, An Introduction to Federal Wealth Transfer Tax (2000)
Samuel A. Donaldson, Pre-Death Planning Opportunities for Taxable Estates (2000)
Samuel A. Donaldson, Effective Uses of "Defective" Grantor Trusts (2000)
Samuel A. Donaldson, The Best Arrow in the Quiver: Qualified Personal Residence Trusts in Contemporary Estate Planning (2000)