Hello All:

Summer weather has finally reached Cleveland! I also hope that you all are enjoying it! I also hope that you have enjoyed a bit of rest between the end of the spring semester and the being of the summer semester and that you are raring to go!

You will find the first assignment for the summer semester of Estates and Trust below. Remember that because this is a 4 credit course taught in an accelerated format, you will have 75-100 pages of reading each week. Also note the homework assignment. There will also be a homework assignment due each week (actually at the beginning of each week). These assignments will help keep you on track. Please do not let the amount of work scare you away – it is the same amount of work that would be expected of you in any other 4 credit law school course.

I should have our course Blackboard page up by tomorrow evening. There will be more details there. I will also put up a discussion board for questions. Please ask your questions there – I’m afraid that your questions might get lost in my regular email inbox.

Class starts on Monday, May 24th. I am looking forward to working with you all this summer. The material is both interesting and important. I can’t wait to see what you all think of it!

Required Text:

Jesse Dukeminier & Robert H. Sitkoff, Wills, Trusts, and Estates (9th ed. Wolters Kluwer 2013). Please make sure you have the correct edition. I am teaching out of an older edition to keep our costs low. The University Bookstore has ordered used copies. You can also find used copies of our text book at the usual internet sources.

Assignments for Week 1 – May 24:

Topics: Introduction to course; Researching in Estates and Trusts; Freedom of disposition; Basic Structure of Intestate Succession

Reading for Class: Dukeminier, Chapter 1 (pp. 1-35; 41-62); Dukeminier, Chapter 2 (pp. 63-91)

Discussion Board: Class Ice Breaker (due Tuesday and Wednesday May 25-26)

Homework: Problem Set 1 (due Monday, May 31)