With our ageing population succession law is a growing area of practice for legal practitioners. The course examines the law governing succession to property after the death of the owner. Succession law touches every family, and, eventually, all of us.

Major topics include:

• the nature of wills and their relationship to contracts
• capacity to make a will, fraud on the testator, undue influence, formalities for making a will and how a will is revoked
• what wills mean and how they are applied
• the principles and practice of drafting wills
• loss of capacity to benefit under a will; for instance, for killing the testator
• how an estate is divided when there is no will
• how the law protects family members against being disinherited by will.

The law on the various topics is considered in a social and political context, and the principles and rules are related to theory and to practice.  While the course concentrates on the law of the ACT, students will also frequently make comparisons and consider the law in other jurisdictions.  It follows that considerable attention is given to pressures and directions for reform.

At the conclusion of this course students should be able to:

• explain the basic principles of the Law of Succession
• discuss the detailed rules of Succession law in a few selected areas, and show the relationship between detail and principle
• outline and discuss some social and political pressures and imperatives that drive the development of the Law of Succession
• explain the relationship and interaction between the Law of Succession and some adjoining areas of law such as Taxation, Estate Planning, Contract Law, Family Law, Property Law and the Law of Trusts
• discuss the practice of the Law of Succession in a few selected areas, and demonstrate the relationship between law and practice
• demonstrate a reasonably solid grasp of the principles of Will Drafting.

The proposed means of assessment for this course will require students to undertake at least two pieces of assessment, including one piece during the course and a final exam. Details of the final assessment will be provided on the course home page and WebCT by the first week of semester.

Depending on class size, it is expected that each week there will be 3 contact hours divided between lecture, seminar and tutorials.  Final details will be provided on the course website during the first week of semester.  Students are generally expected to devote approximately 10 hours overall per week to this course.

Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.

It is preferable to take Succession after, or at least with, Property.

The preliminary reading required for this course will be available from the course home page at least one week prior to the commencement of the course.

A reading guide will be available on the course website.

Students must have access to WebCT to access materials and complete compulsory assessment in this course.

It is preferable to take Succession after, or at least with, Property.