Estates and Trusts
LAW 609 Section 61
John T. Plecnik
Welcome to Estates & Trusts! This course is designed to survey the law relating to the disposition of property upon death through probate, non-probate, and intestate transfers.
Estates & Trusts is one of the most common practice areas, and many of you will write wills and trusts throughout your career. It is also frequently tested on the Ohio bar exam, so mastering its fundamentals is a necessity for most of us.
Your syllabus for the course is attached, and your first reading is to prepare Assignments 1-5 for Monday, May 23rd, Tuesday, May 24th, and Wednesday, May 25th. In all likelihood, we will not complete all five Assignments in the first week, but my goal is to assign the material as far out as we might go, so that you are always prepared. In all likelihood, we will not go beyond Assignment 2 for the first class.
Chapter 1. Introduction
1. 1-38 The Power to Transmit Property at Death
2. 38-49 Transfer of the Decedent’s Estate
3. 58-70 Professional Responsibility
Chapter 2. Intestacy: An Estate Plan by Default
4. 71-97 The Basic Scheme
5. 97-140 Transfers to Children
The required text for the course is Dukeminier, Sitkoff, & Lindgren, WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ESTATES (8th ed. 2009). It is an older edition, and that is by design. The 8th edition is considerably cheaper, but still sufficiently up to date.
See you on Monday, May 23rd, at 6pm, in LB 11!