Basic Wills, Trusts, and Estates for Paralegals

This succinct, simple, and straightforward introduction to all of the basics of wills, trusts, and estates law was specifically designed for paralegal students. Continuing examples describing four different families provide an accessible structure and helpful point of reference for students learning the intricacies of estate planning.

New to the Eighth Edition:

• New sections on specialized trusts
• Updated tax thresholds and rules
• Updated federal and state documents and forms
• New case studies in each chapter cover such issues as:
  • Estates that cross state lines; late claims by creditors
  • Privacy and security of a decedent's digital assets; power of appointment and drafting problems
  • Adoptive partners and marriage; equitable adoption
  • Changing the type of trust after the death of a testator
  • Undue influence and dependent relative revocation
  • Health care proxy vs. durable power of attorney
  • Fee for guardian ad litem; unsupervised administration of court orders
  • Finding by the state that federal law is in error; inclusion of gift taxes

Professors and students will benefit from:

• Comprehensive coverage of the key topics includes a review of the sources of property law, trusts, and taxes, topics not thoroughly covered in other texts.
• Clearly written text and lively examples help students understand the law.
• A straightforward introduction that provides a student-friendly orientation to the subject
• Clear and concise coverage of key topics
• A review of the sources of property law, trusts, and taxes
• A helpful guide to drafting documents related to wills and trusts
• Step-by-step instructions for completing the entire federal estate tax return
• State-by-state analysis of trust and estate law
• Four families/clients threaded through the text exemplify the intricacies of estate planning
• Chapter overviews, key terms, review questions, sample clauses, edited cases, chapter summaries, and end-of-chapter exercises
• Sample forms in the appendix
• Examples and explanations pedagogy engages students with the material.
• Practical approach appeals to programs with shorter, less theoretical courses.
• Includes a comparison study of all the state statutes.