PL104 Wills, Trusts, and Estates [Onsite] Curse Descriptin: This curse will intrduce students t the preparatin and handling f wills, trusts, and estates. It will cver the respnsibilities and duties in the field f estate administratin that can be perfrmed by a paralegal, emphasizing the drafting f estate planning dcuments, such as wills and trusts. Prbate prceedings are als cvered, including the preparatin f prbate curt pleadings, cllectin and valuatin f assets, review f claims, distributin f assets amng beneficiaries and accunting. Prerequisite(s) and/r Crequisite(s): Prerequisite: PL103 Technlgy in the Law Office Credit hurs: 4 Cntact hurs: 40 (40 Thery Hurs)
: Wills, Trusts, and Estates Instructr: Office hurs: Class hurs: Majr Instructinal Areas 1. Purpses f an estate plan 2. Cntent, legal requirements, circumstances, and executin guidelines f varius estate planning dcuments 3. Paralegal s rle, legal respnsibilities, and ethical cnsideratins when assisting with the administratin f a decedent s estate 4. Trusts and the supprting dcuments Curse Objectives 1. Examine estate-planning cnsideratins. 2. Analyze the rules f intestate successin. 3. Describe the requirements fr a valid will. 4. Prepare a living will and pwers f attrney. 5. Prepare a basic will. 6. Describe the requirements f trusts and supprting dcuments. 7. Describe the duties f a persnal representative and prcedure fr appintment. 8. Recgnize varius estate administratin dcuments. 9. Prepare an inventry dcument. 10. Examine creditr claims. 11. Describe tax law as it relates t estate administratin. ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
12. Prepare final accunting and estate clsing dcuments. 13. Identify additinal estate administratin cncerns. ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
SCANS Objectives SCANS is an acrnym fr Secretary s Cmmissin n Achieving Necessary Skills. The cmmittee, created by the Natinal Secretary f Labr in the early 1990s, created a list f skills and cmpetencies that the cmmittee feels are necessary fr emplyees t functin in a hightech jb market. 1. Lcate, understand, and interpret written infrmatin in prse and in dcuments such as manuals, graphs, and schedules. 2. Cmmunicate thughts, ideas, infrmatin, and messages in writing. 3. Draft dcuments such as letters, directins, manuals, reprts, graphs, and flw charts. 4. Specify gals and cnstraints, generates alternatives, cnsider risks, and evaluate and chse the best alternative. 5. Use efficient learning techniques t acquire and apply new knwledge and skills. 6. Chse ethical curses f actin. 7. Acquire, evaluate, rganize, and maintain infrmatin. 8. Interpret and cmmunicate infrmatin. 9. Use cmputers t prcess infrmatin. 10. Discver a rule r principle underlying the relatinships between tw r mre issues and apply it when slving a prblem. Curse Outline Nte: All graded activities, except the Paralegal Student Prtfli and Final Exam, are listed belw in the pattern f <Unit Number>.<Assignment Number>. Fr example, Assignments: 2.1 refers t the 1 st assignment in Unit 2. Unit Activities 1 Cntent Cvered: Wealth, Prperty, and Estates Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 1, Wealth, Prperty, and Estates ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
Unit Activities Assignments: 1.1 2 Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Intestate Successin Chapter 2, Intestate Successin Quizzes: 2.1 Assignments: 2.1 3 Basic Estate Planning Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 3, Basic Estate Planning Assignments: 3.1 4 Drafting a Basic Will Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 4, Drafting a Basic Will Quizzes: 4.1 Assignments: 4.1 5 Trusts Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 5, Trusts Assignments: 5.1, 5.2 6 Overview f Estate Administratin and the Persnal Representative Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Quizzes: 6.1 Chapter 6, Overview f Estate Administratin and the Persnal Representative Assignments: 6.1 7 Issuance f Letters f Appintment, Inventry Appraisal, and Creditrs Claims Paralegal Student Prtfli Part 1: Start Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 7, Step One Issuance f the Letters f Appintment Chapter 8, Step Tw Inventry and Appraisal and Step Three Creditrs Claims ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
Unit Activities Assignments: 7.1, 7.2 8 Tax Dcuments Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 9, Step Fur Tax Dcuments Assignments: 8.1 9 Final Accunting and Clsing the Estate Paralegal Student Prtfli Part 1: Submit Paralegal Student Prtfli Part 2: Start Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 10, Step Five Final Accunt and Step Six Clsing the Estate: Additinal Estate Administratin Prcedures, stp at sectin titled, Will Cntests, pp. 201-212 Assignments: 9.1 10 Additinal Estate Administratin Cnsideratins Paralegal Student Prtfli Part 2: Submit draft Read frm Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals: Chapter 10, Step Five Final Accunt and Step Six Clsing the Estate: Additinal Estate Administratin Prcedures start at sectin titled, Will Cntests, pp. 212-232 Assignments: 10.1 11 Curse Review and Final Exam Curse Review Final Exam Paralegal Student Prtfli Part 2: Submit Instructinal Methds The Wills, Trusts, and Estates curse incrprates a variety f teaching methds designed t help yu cmplete the curse bjectives defined fr this curse. Varius methds and media are used including classrm lectures, classrm discussins, assignments, quizzes, a final exam, and a paralegal student prtfli. The prtfli assignment will allw yu t apply the cncepts learned in this curse t prepare an inventry dcument and a final accunt dcument fr an ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
estate. This prtfli shuld be included in the Paralegal Student Prtfli that yu have been develping thrughut the Paralegal Studies prgram. Instructinal Materials and References Student Textbk Package Gibsn, Pamela. Wills, Trusts, and Prbate Law fr Paralegals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearsn Prentice Hall, 2009. References ITT Tech Virtual Library Lg n t the ITT Tech Virtual Library at http://library.itt-tech.edu/ t access nline bks, jurnals, and ther reference resurces selected t supprt ITT Tech curricula. Peridicals Yu may click Peridicals r use the Search functin n the hme page t find the fllwing peridical. LexisNexis Academic Organized int five categries, this extensive legal database includes legal cases, articles frm legal newspapers and magazines, and Shepard s citatin tl. This site als includes the Unifrm Prbate Cde (UPC). Schl f Study Yu may click n Schl f Study r use the Search functin n the hme page t find the fllwing links. Schl f Criminal Justice> Law> FindLaw This site prvides a cmprehensive set f legal resurces fr prfessinals, businesses, and individuals such as Web search utilities, cases, and cdes, legal news, infrmatinal articles, and mre. Schl f Criminal Justice> Law> Legal Infrmatin Institute Maintained by the Crnell Law Schl, this site prvides infrmatin n legal tpics and links t state and federal law and curt decisins. ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
Schl f Criminal Justice> Law> Harvard Law Schl: Research Guides This site prepared by the Harvard Law Schl Library prvides guides n a variety f legal tpics. Other References The fllwing resurces can be fund utside f the ITT Tech Virtual Library. Bks Hanft, Jhn K., and Gerry Beyer. Wills, Trusts, and Estates fr Legal Assistants, Third Editin. New Yrk: Aspen Publishing, 2009. Web sites Unifrm Prbate Cde Lcatr http://www.law.crnell.edu/unifrm/prbate.html (accessed 12/10/09) This site is maintained by Crnell University and prvides a wealth f infrmatin pertaining t the Unifrm Prbate Cde (UPC). Internal Revenue Web site www.irs.gv (accessed 12/10/09) This site includes tax frms necessary t file taxes fr estates. Curse Evaluatin and Grading Evaluatin Criteria Table The final grades will be based n the fllwing categries: CATEGORY WEIGHT Assignments 35% Quizzes 15% ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010
CATEGORY WEIGHT Paralegal Student Prtfli 25% Final Exam 25% Ttal 100% Nte: Students are respnsible fr abiding by the Plagiarism Plicy. Grade Cnversin Table The final grades will be calculated frm the percentages earned in the curse, as fllws: A 90 100% 4.0 B+ 85 89% 3.5 B 80 84% 3.0 C+ 75 79% 2.5 C 70 74% 2.0 D+ 65 69% 1.5 D 60 64% 1.0 F <60% 0.0 (End f ) ITT Educatinal Services, Inc. Date: 1/12/2010