Wills, Trusts, and Estates for Legal Assistants

Using an effective learn by doing approach, Wills, Trusts, and Estates for Legal Assistants emphasizes examples and applications, and includes hundreds of real  life situations with detailed explanations. Students understand what the  rules of law mean and how they apply in a real world context. The  complete topic coverage introduces wills and trusts, intestate  succession, estate administration, nonprobate transfers, and other  estate planning issues such as taxes and malpractice. A balanced,  experienced author team skillfully blends theory with practice and  extensive pedagogy reinforces the text, with marginal terms and a  glossary, ethical points, checklists, practice tips, and sample forms.  The instructor's manual provides a summary of chapters, a model course  outline, exam questions, assignment ideas, exercises, and a research  guide for wills, trusts, and estates.

New to the Sixth Edition:

• The impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on federal income, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes
• Rights and liabilities of same-sex spouses
• Electronic wills and access to a decedent s digital assets
• Techniques for demonstrating testamentary capacity
• Directed  trusts and trusts authorizing trustees to consider environmental,  social, and governance factors in making investment decisions
• Modifying the terms of an irrevocable trust by decanting 

Professors and students will benefit from:

• lively, lucid, and conversational style grabs and holds students interest
• learning-by-doing approach gives students a concrete grasp of abstract concepts
• Practice Tips guide students through the critical process of preparing and managing files
• flexible  structure allows professors to follow the presentation of concepts in  the book or organize the chapters to fit their syllabus