The inheritance of property and wealth is a growing and specialised area of legal practice incorporating estate planning, will drafting, deceased estate administration and litigation.
Wills and estates lawyers assist clients to arrange the orderly transfer of their assets upon death by drafting valid and effective wills that take into account the client’s wishes, and consistent with those wishes, are tax effective and preserve assets for the beneficiaries. They also administer estates to ensure assets are appropriately distributed and engage in litigation around the validity of wills and family provision claims.
Taught by experienced practitioners and academics, this course exposes students to real-life scenarios where issues of capacity, superannuation, taxation and family provision arise in the context of will drafting, estate administration and dealing with potential problems in estates.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
By participating in the course and undertaking structured and self-regulated learning activities, a student will develop and apply knowledge and skills to be able to:
1. Analyse and evaluate the client’s capacity to provide informed and independent instructions for preparation of the client’s will.
2. Interpret the client’s instructions, identify and synthesise the relevant law and explain, advise and resolve with the client, potential problems and options in relation to the client’s testamentary intentions, prior to drafting a will.
3. Draft a Will to reflect the client’s final instructions in accordance with law and good practice.
4. Identify and draft any follow-up advice and ensure the Will and any other document(s) are executed in accordance with law.
5. Analyse and evaluate the documents provided by the client to obtain probate or letters of administration of an estate, in accordance with the required forms and procedures.
6. Investigate and identify debts and assets of an estate and implement all necessary processes and procedures to administer an estate, including action to assist with, and ensure release of, executor obligations.
7. Identify, research and analyse the client’s issues regarding wills and estates problems, critically reflect on the breadth and scope of legal issues and applicable law to be able to interpret and communicate to the client, options for resolution of the problem(s).
8. Demonstrate and apply the knowledge, skills and values required to achieve the ‘Competency Standards for Entry Level Lawyers’ as determined by the Law Admissions Consultative Council.
Indicative Assessment
Students are required to conduct a client interview to obtain instructions for a will, draft a will, advise the client both orally and in writing about the will and answer questions regarding the administration of estates.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
There are no set contact hours. Students should expect to spend about 10 - 15 hours per week in reading and course related tasks to complete the course.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
You are required to read all the materials that are made available via the Wills and Estates Practice course Wattle site and view/listen to all audio/webcasts or that may be offered as part of the course.
You are expected to carry out independent research during the course to complete some of the assessments (as you will do in practice). You can pursue much of the independent research online. You must thoroughly study your jurisdictions legislation relevant to Wills and Estates.
Assumed Knowledge
The course is designed for law graduates intending to proceed into legal practice.
It is not assumed that students have knowledge of law in any substantive areas. Many areas of law touch upon this subject, Property Law, Family Law, Trusts and of course Succession Law to name but a few. While knowledge in these areas is an advantage it is NOT a requirement. Every attempt is made to explain concepts from substantive areas of Law.
It is assumed that students will have a knowledge of interview and drafting techniques from undertaking the Becoming a Practitioner intensive. These skills will be exercised and developed in this course.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 3 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 3.00 | 0.06250 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $1147 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $1503 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Summer Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1282 | 09 Jan 2017 | 13 Jan 2017 | 20 Jan 2017 | 17 Feb 2017 | Online | N/A |
Winter Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6485 | 21 Aug 2017 | 25 Aug 2017 | 01 Sep 2017 | 29 Sep 2017 | Online | N/A |
