Wills & Estates Law
This course is designed to assist law clerks in understanding the areas in which an estate law practice is typically carried on. Students will learn the dual meaning of the word ‘estate’ as denoting the total property of a living or a deceased person: this course is concerned with both meanings.
This course is divided into three subjects; estate planning, estate administration, and estate litigation. Estate planning deals with estate planning documents such as wills, powers of attorney and trusts, how they are created and interpreted, and the implications of not having them.
Estate Administration involves all of the tasks necessary in transferring the assets of a deceased person to the person or persons entitled to them, who are normally the beneficiaries and creditors of the estate. These tasks are performed by the estate trustee. This section also deals with Powers of Attorneys and Trusts and their administration. The third or last subject, estate litigation, deals with the conflicts and resulting litigation that can arise during the course of the administration of the estate.