Estates Law (ESGL)

ESGL 0338. Estate Administration. (2 Credits)

The fundamentals of administration of decedent’s estates, including probate and contested probate; establishing distributees in administration proceedings; appointment and qualification of fiduciaries; powers and duties of fiduciaries; marshaling decedent’s assets; discovery proceedings; claims against estate; construction of will; determining validity of right of election; tax apportionment; preparation of formal accounting; attorney’s fees; setting up a trust; and distribution.

Attributes: JD, LLM.

ESGL 0521. Trusts and Wills. (3 or 4 Credits)

Trusts and Wills is an introduction to mechanisms for dispositions of personal wealth upon death. The class considers issues of testamentary capacity, policy limitations on personal wealth transfer, testamentary document execution and interpretation along with duties owed by an attorney in the testamentary plan preparation context. Alternatives to traditional wills are considered in the form of will substitutes and the creation of testamentary and intervivos trusts along with discretionary and spendthrift trusts. Fiduciary duties of trustees are introduced. The class surveys disposition of personal wealth when the decedent fails to express his or her wishes and highlights select issues encountered in alternative family testamentary document execution.

Attributes: JD, LLM, LMCO.