Subject Guide
Wills, Trusts and Estates
Wills, Trusts and Estates is the area of law that governs how a person's property passes at death and how property is held and managed for the benefit of others. It covers intestate succession, the creation and validity of wills, the formation and administration of trusts, and the future interests those instruments create.
What Wills, Trusts and Estates covers
Wills, Trusts and Estates covers the rules that decide who inherits property when someone dies and how that transfer is carried out. Students learn intestate succession (the default scheme when there is no valid will), the formalities required to execute and validate a will, the principles courts use to construe ambiguous or stale wills, the elements needed to create different types of trusts, the fiduciary duties that govern trust administration, and the future interests that determine when and to whom trust property ultimately vests. On the bar exam this subject appears most often in MEE-style essays, where examinees must spot competing claims among heirs, beneficiaries, and creditors and apply majority and Uniform Probate Code (UPC) principles. The subject rewards precise rule statements and careful, fact-driven application, because small variations in execution or trust language change the outcome.
Key topics
- Intestate Succession
- When a person dies without a valid will, property passes by statute to the surviving spouse and descendants first, then to more remote relatives, with descendants generally taking by representation.
- Wills - Execution & Validity
- A valid will generally requires testamentary capacity and intent plus a writing signed by the testator and attested by witnesses, though the UPC recognizes harmless-error and holographic alternatives.
- Wills - Construction
- Courts construe a will to carry out the testator's intent, applying doctrines such as lapse and anti-lapse, ademption, abatement, and integration to fill gaps and resolve ambiguities.
- Trust Creation & Types
- An express trust requires a settlor with intent, a trustee, identifiable trust property (res), and ascertainable beneficiaries (except charitable trusts), and may be created inter vivos or by will.
- Trust Administration
- A trustee owes fiduciary duties of loyalty, prudence, and impartiality to the beneficiaries, must avoid self-dealing and commingling, and is liable for losses caused by breach.
- Future Interests in Trusts
- Trust instruments create future interests such as remainders and executory interests whose vesting is governed by classification rules and, traditionally, the Rule Against Perpetuities.
Practice Wills, Trusts and Estates with LawCoach
LawCoach lets you practice Wills, Trusts and Estates the way the bar tests it: exam-style MBE multiple-choice questions and MEE-style essays drawn from doctrines like intestacy, will execution, trust creation, and future interests. Paid essay answers are graded by a five-specialist reviewer panel covering issue-spotting, rule accuracy, application and analysis, structure and exam strategy, and counterargument and calibration, with a synthesizer combining their feedback; free essays receive a three-reviewer panel. As you practice, LawCoach tracks which subjects and topics are weakest and builds a study plan so you spend time where it counts. It is an educational study tool, not legal advice, and AI feedback can contain inaccuracies.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a will and a trust?
- A will is a written instrument that directs how a person's property passes at death and takes effect only after death through probate. A trust is an arrangement in which a trustee holds legal title to property and manages it for beneficiaries, and it can operate during life or at death, often avoiding probate. Both can carry out an estate plan, but they use different formalities and timing.
- What happens if someone dies without a will?
- When someone dies without a valid will, their property passes by intestate succession, a statutory default scheme. Under typical majority and UPC rules, the surviving spouse and descendants inherit first, with descendants generally taking by representation; if there are none, the estate passes to more remote relatives such as parents, siblings, and their descendants. If no heirs exist, the property may escheat to the state.
- What are the requirements to make a valid will?
- A valid will generally requires that the testator have testamentary capacity and present testamentary intent, and that the will be in writing, signed by the testator, and attested by witnesses. Many jurisdictions following the UPC also recognize holographic (handwritten) wills and may excuse certain formal defects under a harmless-error doctrine. The exact formalities are tested heavily, so precise execution facts matter.
- What duties does a trustee owe to beneficiaries?
- A trustee owes fiduciary duties to the trust beneficiaries, most importantly the duty of loyalty, the duty of prudence (to invest and manage the trust as a prudent investor would), and the duty of impartiality among beneficiaries. The trustee must avoid self-dealing and commingling trust assets and must keep proper records and account to beneficiaries. A trustee who breaches these duties can be held personally liable for resulting losses.
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