Trusts and Estates

Stake's Trusts and Estates casebook is designed as a teaching tool for a basic course in trusts and estates. This casebook is less willing than some to assume that the goal of following the decedent's intent overrides other societal concerns. The book focuses on key cases and UPC provisions, with many fewer note cases than appear in standard casebooks, rather than providing hornbook-like coverage of the subject. The hope is that this narrower focus will make it easier for to students to understand what to study and perhaps make the book more readable than some casebooks. Stake's book can be easily covered in a 3-hour course, or can be supplemented with local law for a 4-hour course. The casebook includes a variety of policy questions for class discussion, from questions about the justice and efficiency of various UPC provisions to questions about the roles of courts and legislatures in making policy choices.