Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Hailed as one of the best casebooks in legal education, the text combines interesting cases, thoughtful analysis, notes, images, and a clear organization for an excellent teaching tool.

Retaining the late Jesse Dukeminier’s blend of wit, erudition, and playfulness, the Tenth Edition uses cartoons, illustrations, case documents, and photographs to provide visual commentary that augments the wide-ranging cases and other readings. Sidebars on relevant but unique persons, places, and events provide thought-provoking and fascinating context. This casebook is not only fun to read, but fun for professors to teach.

New to the Tenth Edition:

• All new section on electronic or digital wills and the emerging case law that has begun to accept them
• All new section on trust decanting, now recognized in 25 states, with attention to the breadth of statutory and case law treatments of decanting
• Reworked coverage of same-sex marriage in light of Obergefell v. Hodges and refreshed treatment of inheritance rights for cohabiting unmarried partners
• Updated and expanded coverage of wealth and income inequality
• Refreshed treatment, with updated case law, on undue influence
• Attention to new case law and statutory developments in will execution and reformation of wills for mistake
• Revised and clarified coverage of revocable trusts and other nonprobate transfers and the difficult relationship of state wealth transfer law with federal pension law
• Updated treatment of trust fiduciary law, including new case law and statutory developments on directed trusts, waiver of fiduciary duties, and trust investment law
• Revised treatment of creditor rights to beneficial interests in trust, with attention to choice-of-law rules and growing statutory recognition of self-settled asset protection trusts