LAW585

CA Bar-Tested Subject, Letter Grading

GPA LECTURE COURSES

Wills & Trusts: Law & Process broadly covers the law of intestate succession, wills, and trusts. Specific topics include patterns of intestate distribution, the execution and revocation of wills, policy restrictions on testamentary dispositions, the use of will substitutes, the creation and enforcement of private and charitable trusts, and fiduciary administration of trusts. Historical development of the family wealth transmission process is traced, but emphasis is on the modern California statutory system. Frequent exercises with individual feedback will allow students to build on skills learned during the first year, such as synthesizing and applying rules derived from cases, outlining, and writing effectively for exams or in practice. Special attention will be given to features of wills and trusts analysis that are particularly challenging, such as prioritizing issues in multi-issue essay questions, applying multi-factor tests, and analyzing "cross-over" exam questions. The course will emphasize practice problems that require students to identify several doctrinal and strategic options in order to advise clients effectively. It will help prepare students for the realities of practice by integrating some material from related courses, including community property and family law (though neither of those courses are prerequisites). Students may not take Wills & Trusts: Law & Process and the traditional Wills & Trusts class or Applied Wills & Trusts.