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:

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.

Research-Led Teaching

You are encouraged to note new cases as they are handed down during the course, and reflect on their impact on the law and procedure.

Students who have a strong interest in succession law may wish to spend more time on this course.

Required Resources

• You are required to read all the materials that are made available via the course site and view/listen to all audio-casts that may be offered as part of the course. New materials will be announced using the course announcements forum.
• You are expected to carry out independent research during the course to complete some of the assessments (as you would be expected to do in practice). You can undertake virtually all of the beneficial independent research online. You must thoroughly study your jurisdictions legislation relevant to wills and estates practice, as directed throughout the course.

Staff Feedback

You will be given written and/or oral feedback pointing out things that have been done well and those that could be done better or differently. You will be given written or oral feedback following any submission of an assessment. This is typically available 1-2 weeks after submission of the assessment. You may seek further elaboration on any feedback - either from your marker or by the convenor. If you feel that your feedback and grade does not reflect your performance, please contact the convenor in writing and outline your concerns. Your submission will be re-marked by a new examiner.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

Competency Standards

The GDLP draws together the compulsory skills, practice areas and values from the Law Admissions Consultative Committee (LACC) Competency Standards for Entry-Level Lawyers. The LACC competencies set out the standards that you must achieve during your professional legal training (PLT) to be eligible for admission to practice.

You can find the PLT Competency Standards for Entry-level lawyers at https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/files/web-pdf/LACC%20docs/224336988_10_LACC%20-%20PLT.pdf.

Requesting an Extension

If you think other circumstances justify an extension you should discuss your circumstances with your Convenor, before the due date. Whether or not an extension will be granted remains in the discretion of the Convenor. Convenors will not usually grant extensions if the reason for your inability to complete work on time is due to a commitment that you knew you had at the start of the course. Alternatively, an extension is likely to be granted if an issue / commitment arises during the course that you could not have predicted.

In some circumstances (illness, injury, family crisis etc.) an extension will be granted as a matter of course. The Convenor may ask you to provide documentation – e.g. a medical certificate. 

Retrospective extensions will be granted only in exceptional circumstances. Convenors recognise that circumstances can arise when it is impossible or impracticable for a student to request an extension prior to the submission date.

Convenors may notify the Sub-Dean when responding to your extension request. The Sub-Dean may contact you with regard to your extensions request(s) if they identify that you may benefit from additional and/or coordinated support due to your circumstances.

External Resources

Information about the ANU Law Library, including details of E-Legal research online resources (for example, CCH Intelliconnect, Legal Online, LexisNexisAU, etc) is available to ANU students and can be found at http://anulib.anu.edu.au/subjects/law. For access to the online resources please go to: http://virtual.anu.edu.au then type in your student number and password. At various points throughout the course you will be directed to other useful external resources.

Word Limits

As the assessment in the GDLP Program is authentic to legal practice, we do not impose word limits. However, you will often be given a word ‘recommendation’ to guide you, taking into account the purpose of the document and the length it is likely to be in practice.

 

Sub-Dean, GDLP/MLP

The GDLP/MLP Sub-Dean can be contacted via email on subdean.slp@anu.edu.au

Wellbeing Support Services for Lawyers

You will find an abundance of wellbeing support information for lawyers on the ANU School of Legal Practice website.

We also encourage you to read Being Well in the Law – a guide for lawyers which is a toolkit is provided by the NSW Law Society, written by our ANU Academics.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Course Materials: Wills Interview / Preparation of Letter of Advice	Assessment 1A Booking Forum opens: Monday, 8 February 2021 Assessment 1A due: Attend between Thursday, 11 February 2021 - Friday, 19 February 2021 (as per booking)
2	Assessment 1: Wills Interview or Preparation of Letter of Advice	Assessment 1A due: Attend between Thursday, 11 February 2021 - Friday, 19 February 2021 (as per booking)
3	Course Materials: Will Drafting	Assessment 1B due: Friday, 26 February 2021 11.55pm (AEDT)
4	Assessment 2: Will Drafting
5	Course Materials: Estate Administration	Assessment 2 due: Friday, 12 March 2021 11.55pm (AEDT)
6	Assessment 3: Estate Administration	Assessment 3 due: Friday, 19 March 2021 11.55pm (AEDT)

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Estate Planning - Letter of Advice or Wills Interview	0 %	26/02/2021	12/03/2021	1,2,7,8
Will Drafting	0 %	12/03/2021	26/03/2021	2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Estate Administration	0 %	19/03/2021	01/04/2021	2,4,7,8

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using 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. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

You have elected to enrol in an intensive practice course – give it your full commitment by keeping up to date, being informed and actively participating in the course.

You must complete & submit ALL assessment tasks in order to pass this course.

Check Wattle announcements and forum discussions as well as your ANU email at least every 24-48 hours.

All email correspondence from the ANU will be sent to your ANU email address.

At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to ensure you are actively committed and involved in this course.

The course will be conducted in the following time zones (Canberra time). 

• Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT): until 3 April 2021.

Please make appropriate adjustments if you are located in a different time zone.

Assessment Task 1

Estate Planning - Letter of Advice or Wills Interview

Students to select one of the following:

1A Wills Interview (with lecturer): obtaining the client's instructions for a Will and providing advice on dealing with issues.

Booking Forum Opens: Monday, 8 February 2021

Due Date: Attend between Thursday, 11 February 2021 - Friday, 19 February 2021 (as per booking)

OR

1B Letter of Advice: to a client confirming their testamentary instructions, identifying estate-planning issues with their instructions and providing legal and practical advice to overcome those issues.

Submission Date: Friday, 26 February 202111.55pm (AEDT)

Notes:

• Please note that the due date listed in the Assessment Summary refers to the due date of Assessment 1B. Assessment 1A will be carried out in pre-booked sessions.
• Please refer to the Important Class Information in Wattle for further information and grades in this course.

Assessment Task 2

Will Drafting

Task: Students to draft a will that gives effect to the client’s instructions, showing a full understanding of legal and drafting principles, supporting these choices by use of selected precedents and bests practice in order to achieve the client’s objectives.

Submission Date: Friday, 12 March 2021 11.55pm (AEDT)

Notes:

• Please refer to the Important Class Information in Wattle for further information and grades in this course.

Assessment Task 3

Estate Administration

Task: Students to respond to a range of multiple-choice questions covering legal and practical issues relevant to an estate administration scenario.

Submission Date: Friday, 19 March 2021 11.55pm (AEDT)

Notes:

• Please refer to the Important Class Information in Wattle for further information and grades in this course.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

Please ensure that you keep a copy of all the work you submit.

The submission requirements specific to each task will be set out on the course Wattle site by the Convenor.

Generally, you will submit written assessments through the course Wattle site in the appropriate submission box under the heading “Assessments”. You must complete the electronic academic integrity certification. Ensure you confirm your submission has been properly submitted (click “send for marking”), and not merely uploaded as a draft file.

You will complete oral assessments through the web-conference platform provided on the course Wattle site (Adobe Connect) or through Skype under extenuating circumstances. Oral assessments will be recorded and webcam will be required for student verification only. You must have your student card, driver’s licence or other form of photo identification available to show your assessor. You can then turn your camera off.

Hardcopy Submission

No hard copy submission will be accepted in this class.

Late Submission

If you submit an assessment late, without receiving an approved extension from the Convenor, the following penalties will apply: 

• You will not be able to achieve a Higher Level Performance (HLP) grade for the assessment in question.
• If your assessment is graded as Not Yet Competent (NYC) you may be offered the opportunity to resubmit the assessment, or to submit a supplementary assessment.
• Assessments submitted more than 72 hours after the due date will be automatically graded NYC.

The Convenor has overriding discretion to accept an assessment and/or to allow a student to resubmit an assessment, or to submit a supplementary assessment.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Your written work will receive feedback and grading via the course Wattle site under the corresponding assessment drop box. Assessment results are typically available between 1-2 weeks after the due date via the same dropbox your assessments were submitted to. The Convenor will post announcements about when you can expect your assessment results.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

• Students who make a bona fide attempt at assessable work and who submit it on time (or are granted an extension), and who receive a Not Yet Competent (NYC) grade for the assessment item, will be offered additional assessment.
• Additional assessment is EITHER one opportunity to resubmit the assessment, OR one opportunity to submit a supplementary assessment. The Convenor has the discretion to decide which form of additional assessment to utilise.
• Both the opportunity to resubmit work that has been graded NYC, or to submit a supplementary assessment, are considered to be supplementary assessment in the course. 
• No further supplementary assessment will be offered once a student receives an N (fail) grade as a final result for the course.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information. In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service — including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy. If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes. Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students