Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog

The NextGen Bar Exam Threat to Wills and Trusts

The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) has called on states to reject the forthcoming NextGen Bar Exam, citing the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE) decision to exclude wills and trusts from the exam. Dana Fitzsimons, an ACTEC Fellow, explains the implications of this change in a recent podcast.

The NCBE, responsible for developing the bar exam, is introducing the NextGen Bar Exam in 2026. This new exam will shift focus from memorization of numerous legal subjects, reducing the testing duration from 12 to 9 hours and covering fewer subjects. Notably, wills and trusts have been removed, despite their critical role in legal practice.

Fitzsimons highlights that the omission of wills and trusts undermines foundational legal knowledge essential for attorneys. This decision contradicts requests from several legal bodies, including ACTEC and the American Bar Association, emphasizing the universal importance of wills and trusts in legal practice and personal life events such as marriage, childbirth, and inheritance.

The exclusion of wills and trusts from the bar exam is expected to influence law school curricula, potentially leading to a decline in the number of courses and qualified professionals in this area. This change could exacerbate the existing shortage of estate planning lawyers and impact public access to essential legal services.

NCBE’s temporary inclusion of trusts and estates concepts in the NextGen Bar Exam from 2026 to 2028 does not require students to have prior knowledge, which Fitzsimons argues is insufficient. Law schools are already adjusting their curricula based on the new exam format, threatening long-term competence in wills and trusts among new attorneys.

Fitzsimons stresses that the changes will affect all demographics, including seniors, rural communities, and marginalized groups. The legal profession's ability to manage wealth transfers, estate planning, and probate cases is crucial, especially given the ongoing massive intergenerational transfer of wealth.

ACTEC urges legal professionals, organizations, and the public to advocate for the reinstatement of wills and trusts in the bar exam. Fitzsimons encourages contacting NCBE, state boards of bar examiners, and state supreme courts to demand this essential change.

Ensuring attorneys possess basic competence in wills and trusts is vital for protecting the public and maintaining access to critical legal services. ACTEC’s call to action highlights the urgent need for states to reject the NextGen Bar Exam until these subjects are restored.

For more information see Deborah O. McKinnon "The NextGen Bar Exam Threat to Wills and Trusts" ACTEC Foundation, July 23, 2024.

Webinar: Supreme Court Holding in Connelly Requires that Redemption Agreements be Reconsidered

Join Peak Trust Company for a discussion of the Supreme Court holding in Connelly, which requires that redemption agreements be reconsidered. This webinar will be held on Monday, June 24, 2024 at 4 p.m. EDT.

On June 6, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion on a closely held business valuation case that will have significant impact on many family and closely held businesses. Connelly v. United States, U.S., No. 23-146, Opinion 6/6/24. The case addressed the valuation of stock in a closely held business and held that the obligation of an entity to buy a deceased equity owner’s shares does not reduce the value of the insurance proceeds received by the entity to fund the buyout.

 

The Supreme Court’s ruling resolves the conflict between the Connelly case and Estate of Blount v. Commissioner which had reached the opposite conclusion. What should practitioners be telling clients now? Will every redemption agreement be adversely affected? Should redemption agreements be restructured as cross-purchase agreements? Should more insurance be purchased to address potential estate taxes? How will the reduction in the exemption in 2026 exacerbate the negative repercussions of Connelly?

In this webinar, we will discuss the Connelly decision, along with the following questions:

• Based on this new development, what should practitioners be telling clients now?  
• Will every redemption agreement be adversely affected?  
• Should redemption agreements be restructured as cross-purchase agreements instead? 
• Should more insurance be purchased to address potential estate taxes?  
• And finally, how will the reduction in the exemption in 2026 exacerbate the negative repercussions of Connelly?

Can't attend the webinar? Please register and a recording of the presentation will be sent to you.

Speakers: Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Prof. Mitchell Gans, Robert S. Keebler, and Martin M. Shenkman

Sponsors: Interactive Legal Systems (ILS), Peak Trust Company *This may constitute attorney advertising. *

No CPE, CLE, etc. is offered but a certificate of attendance will be provided.

 

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.

 

The AALS Section on Trusts and Estates Call for Papers: “Post-Pandemic Pedagogy in Trusts & Estates”

The following is from an AALS announcement:

The AALS Section on Trusts and Estates is pleased to announce a Call for Papers: “Post-Pandemic Pedagogy in Trusts & Estates” 

Selected papers will be presented at the Trusts & Estates Program Session at the 2022 AALS Annual Meeting held in San Diego from January 4-7, 2023. 

Program Description: We invite papers and/or presentations that provide insights into educating law students in trusts & estates. These insights might take a variety of forms. For example, papers/presentations might describe classroom techniques and innovations, innovations in course design or structure, or novel courses. They might discuss proposals that show how we might incorporate issues of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, immigration status, and/or disability into our classrooms. They might also explore the lessons learned during the time we have all now spent teaching during the pandemic. Or contributions might be completely forward looking and propose novel ideas or experiments in teaching that you have not yet implemented.

Eligibility: Full-time faculty of AALS member schools or non-member fee-paid schools as of the submission deadline are eligible to submit papers. For co-authored papers/presentations, both authors must satisfy the eligibility criteria.

Submissions, due dates and method: Submissions should be of abstracts between 250 and 1,000 words, inclusive of any footnotes. The submissions for this panel can either describe an intended paper or a presentation that you will provide. Scholarship may be at any stage of the publication process from work-in-progress to completed article, but if already published, scholarship may not be published any earlier than 2022. We welcome legal scholarship across a wide variety of methodological approaches. Each potential speaker may submit only one abstract for consideration.

There are two submission due dates. The Section seeks detailed abstracts in late summer, with final papers due in late fall.

• • The due date for detailed abstracts is August 31, 2022.
  • The due date for final papers/and or presentation materials is November 15, 2022.

Abstracts and papers should be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format to Philip Hackney at [email protected]. The subject line should read “AALS Trusts & Estates Section CFP Pedagogy Submission.” By submitting an abstract for consideration, you agree to attend the 2023 AALS Annual Meeting Trusts & Estates Program Session should your paper be selected for presentation.

Submission review, selection, conference attendance: Abstracts and papers will be reviewed by members of the Section’s Executive Committee. Selected presenters will be announced by October 1, 2022. The Call for Paper presenters will be responsible for paying their own AALS registration fee, hotel, and travel expenses.

Inquiries or questions: Any inquiries about the Call for Papers should be directed to Philip Hackney at the contact information noted above.

"Journal of Law Teaching and Learning" Announced

The below announcement is posted as a courtesy to Emily Grant, Professor of Law. Co-Director, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, Washburn University School of Law.

The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning is thrilled to be launching a new scholarly journal.  The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning will publish scholarly articles about pedagogy and will provide authors with rigorous peer review. We hope to publish our first issue in Fall 2023. 

If you have a scholarly article that might fit the needs of The Journal of Law Teaching and Learning, please consider submitting it directly to us via email at [email protected] or through the Scholastica platform.

Article: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes A Tale of Two Testaments

Stephen R. Alton recently published an article entitled, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes A Tale of Two Testaments, South Carolina Law Review (2020). Provided below is the abstract to the Article. 

Author'sNote: This Article takes theform ofan epistolaryexchange across the centuries, comparing and contrasting two noted wills in Victorian literature. To preserve verisimilitude, the author lets these letters and emails speak for themselves, without any formal introduction, just as would have occurred in Victorian epistolary fiction. It is the author's hope that the relevant testaments and the legal issues they present will make themselves clear as these exchanges proceed.Any reader desiring a more formal introduction to this Article is directed to the first email (below) written by the author to Mr. Utterson and Mr. Holmes; this email has the subject line "Your Correspondence of 1905 An Introduction." This introductory email occurs in the text immediately preceding, accompanying, andfollowing notes 62-68, infra.

L.A. School Union Says New Taxes On The Rich Are Needed To Reopen City Schools

The leading Los Angeles teachers union is calling for new wealth taxes aimed at the rich, especially millionaires and billionaires, as a condition to reopen city schools in September. 

"The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) called for California to implement both a wealth tax on unrealized capital gains for the state's billionaires, and surtaxes on state residents who earn more than $1 million as year, to offset safety measures needed to safely reopen the city's schools."

According to UTLA, these combined measures would result in $14.5 billion a year in tax revenues. UTLA has recommended keeping the schools closed and continuing to focus on distance learning resources until these conditions are met. 

“It is time to take a stand against Trump’s dangerous, anti-science agenda that puts the lives of our members, our students and our families at risk,” said United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz in a statement.

The union estimated the costs to implement the necessary safety measures could surpass $250 million, funds the union say would be available if "federal, state, and local governments are willing to finally prioritize pupils over plutocrats."

On the other side, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urged school systems to reopen in September, arguing that keeping children at home is a greater health risk than the coronavirus. Children are less likely to become infected with Covid-19, and if they do, they’re less likely to become symptomatic and spread the virus, the AAP argued in a statement in late June.

UTLA also called for a moratorium on new charter schools and accused charter schools operating in the city of “double-dipping” by accepting federal CARES act funding while also receiving state funding, which was not impacted by the pandemic.

See Tracey Longo, L.A. School Union Says New Taxes On The Rich Are Needed To Reopen City Schools, Financial Advisor Magazine, July 14, 2020. 

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.

Partition Law Abuse

VICE, a mini-documentary series that airs on Showtime (it used to air on H.B.O.), recently produced an episode on partition law abuse that has impacted so-called heirs’ property owners (tenancy-in-common property that typically is transferred by way of intestate succession) and that episode has been airing on Showtime this month. See https://www.sho.com/vice/season/1/episode/5/quitting-wework-and-losing-ground-and-italys-darkest-hour (you can stream it from this link).

This episode highlights how partition law abuse has contributed to substantial property loss in the African American community and it references the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA). Professor Thomas Mitchell of Texas A&M University School of Law, the Reporter/principal drafter for the UPHPA, helped the producer as he developed the segment and was interviewed as the national expert on partition law/heirs’ property.

A number of law professors have asked if VICE might be able to make the episode on partition law abuse available to teachers for use in their courses. The producer responded that he can send a link to a professor individually which would expire in a few weeks and that he is raising the bigger question about making it more accessible to teachers with his executive producers. He also indicated he could supply DVD copies but that might be for a fee. Already, a number or professors who teach Property law have contacted the producer.

Please contact him directly if you are interested in getting access to the episode. His name is Lyle Kendrick and his email address is [email protected]. 

Note that 16 states (and the U.S. Virgin Islands) have enacted the UPHPA into law with Virginia becoming the most recent state. This makes the UPHPA approximately the 5^th most successful uniform real property act that the Uniform Law Commission ever has promulgated in its 128-year history (of about 40 such acts). In addition, the Florida legislature unanimously passed the UPHPA this spring and Governor DeSantis has indicated he intends to sign it into law sometime in the next several weeks. The Mississippi Senate has passed the UPHPA and the Mississippi House is considering the MS Senate bill at this time.

Article on What Works in Online Teaching

Margaret Ryznar recently published an Article entitled, What Works in Online Teaching, Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law eJournal (2020). Provided below is the abstract to the Article. 

This Article offers lessons from an empirical study of an Online Trusts & Estates course. More than 280 law students were surveyed over three semesters on what works well for them and what does not in this online course. Their top three answers in each category serve as guidance for faculty creating online courses.

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning—Summer 2020 Conference

The announcement below comes to us from Kelly S. Terry, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Clinical Programs, Ben J. Altheimer Professor of Law, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law:

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning—Summer 2020 Conference

Effective Instruction in Online and Hybrid Legal Education

June 11—13, 2020

University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law

Little Rock, Arkansas  

Conference Theme:  The future of legal education has arrived, with more and more law schools moving toward teaching part or all of their J.D. program online.  During this conference, we will explore how law professors can design and implement methods for teaching effectively in online environments, including both synchronous and asynchronous formats.  After an opening plenary examining data regarding the effectiveness of online education, the subsequent plenaries and concurrent workshops will address the following topics in the context of online and hybrid courses and programs:  course and program design, assessment of student learning, active learning and student engagement, teaching methods, providing feedback, and collaborative learning.

Conference Structure:  The conference will consist of three plenary sessions and a series of concurrent workshops that will take place on Thursday, June 11; Friday, June 12; and the morning of Saturday, June 13.  The conference will open with an informal reception on the evening of Wednesday, June 10.  Details about the conference will be available on the website of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, www.lawteaching.org.  

Registration Information:  The conference fee for participants is $285, which includes materials, meals during the conference (three breakfasts and three lunches), and the welcome reception on Wednesday, June 10.  The conference fee for presenters is $185.  Details regarding the registration process will be provided in future announcements.

Call for Proposals: Institute of Law Teaching and Learning

Institute for Law Teaching and Learning Summer Conference
“Teaching Today’s Law Students”
June 3-5, 2019
Washburn University School of Law
Topeka, Kansas

 The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning invites proposals for conference workshops addressing the many ways that law professors and administrators are reaching today’s law students.   With the ever-changing and heterogeneous nature of law students, this topic has taken on increased urgency for professors thinking about effective teaching strategies. 

The conference theme is intentionally broad and is designed to encompass a wide variety of topics – neuroscientific approaches to effective teaching; generational research about current law students; effective use of technology in the classroom; teaching first-generation college students; classroom behavior in the current political climate; academic approaches to less prepared students; fostering qualities such as growth mindset, resilience, and emotional intelligence in students; or techniques for providing effective formative feedback to students.

Accordingly, the Institute invites proposals for 60-minute workshops consistent with a broad interpretation of the conference theme. Each workshop should include materials that participants can use during the workshop and when they return to their campuses.  Presenters should model effective teaching methods by actively engaging the workshop participants.  The Institute Co-Directors are glad to work with anyone who would like advice on designing their presentations to be interactive.

To be considered for the conference, proposals should be one page (maximum), single-spaced, and include the following information:

• The title of the workshop;
• The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the presenter(s); and
• A summary of the contents of the workshop, including its goals and methods; and
• A description of the techniques the presenter will use to engage workshop participants and make the workshop interactive.

The proposal deadline is February 15, 2019.  Submit proposals via email to Professor Emily Grant, Co-Director, Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, at [email protected].