Wills, Trusts & Estates

Study content for Wills, Trusts & Estates: notes, practice MCQs and flashcards across 10 syllabus topics. This is AI-generated draft content — citations have not yet been independently verified.

Syllabus

• Intestate SuccessionTopic

  UPC intestacy scheme (shares for spouse, descendants, parents) · Representation systems (per stirpes, per capita, UPC per capita at each generation) · Half-bloods, adopted children, non-marital children

• Wills — Execution & ValidityTopic

  Testamentary capacity (Banks v Goodfellow standard adapted to US) · Testamentary intent · UPC § 2-502 formal execution: writing, signature, two witnesses

• Wills — Construction & InterpretationTopic

  Ademption, abatement, exoneration · Lapse and anti-lapse statutes (UPC § 2-603) · Class gifts and survivorship

• Wills — Revocation & RevivalTopic

  Physical act revocation (burning, tearing, obliteration) · Subsequent writing revocation · Operation of law: divorce (UPC § 2-804)

• Will Substitutes & Non-Probate TransfersTopic

  Joint tenancy with right of survivorship · POD / TOD designations (bank accounts, securities) · Life insurance beneficiary designations

• Trust Creation & ClassificationTopic

  Express trust elements: intent, res, ascertainable beneficiaries, valid purpose · Resulting trusts · Constructive trusts (unjust enrichment)

• Trustee Duties & AdministrationTopic

  Duty of loyalty (no self-dealing) · Prudent investor standard (UPIA) · Duty to inform and account

• Trust Modification & TerminationTopic

  UTC modification by settlor/beneficiaries/court · Saunders v Vautier US analogue: consent of all beneficiaries · Cy pres and equitable deviation

• Planning for IncapacityTopic

  Durable power of attorney · Healthcare directives and proxy · Guardianship and conservatorship

• Limitations on TestationTopic

  Forced share / elective share (UPC augmented estate) · Pretermitted children and spouses · Undue influence and fraud

• Stegall v. Williams

  What is the test for whether a restrictive covenant runs with land?

  278 N.C. 95
• Uberti's Estate

  Can a foreign consul obtain letters of administration on a US citizen's intestate estate when all heirs are foreign nationals?

  25 Pa. D. & C. 112
• Knapp v. Alexander-Edgar Lumber Co.

  What is the nature of a homesteader's title before patent issues?

  237 U.S. 162