Students

LAWS5056 – Succession

2022 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Richard McCullagh
richard.mccullagh@mq.edu.au
Contact via iLearn
Consultation by appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
80cp in LAW or LAWS units
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit explores the law relating to the making and construction of wills; the grant of probate and administration; and the distribution of testate and intestate estates. The provisions of the Family Provision Act 1982 are considered as well as those of the Wills, Probate and Administration Act 1898 (NSW) and the Succession Act 2006 (NSW). Emphasis is given to the role of the lawyer in planning the client's affairs in the light of the above legislation. Students in this unit will study will drafting and complete exercises in drafting a will that complies with a client's instructions.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Describe and explain links between understandings of property and relationships in the context of succession law.
  • ULO2: Analyse case law on the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) and apply to the validity and interpretation of wills.
  • ULO3: Critically evaluate the law on family provision and apply family provision legislation to complex factual situations involving estate disputes.
  • ULO4: Advise on competing family claims dealing with testate estates, intestate estates and partial intestacy.
  • ULO5: Assess the various legal principles to give appropriate advice on wills.

General Assessment Information

Students should be aware of and apply the University policy on academic honesty.

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline.

No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments - e.g. quizzes, online tests.

All assessments are submitted electronically. Turnitin plagiarism detection software is used to check all written assessments.

Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment as no re-submissions will be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error.

Word limits are strictly applied. Work above the word limit will not be marked.  Footnotes are to be used only for referencing. Referencing must conform to the requirements set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

Marking of all assessments is moderated through a process of blind marking and the use of detailed marking rubrics.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Participation Tasks 20% No ongoing
Succession Law essay 40% No 22/04/22 11:59pm
Written response to a succession law problem 40% No 06/06/22 11:59pm

Participation Tasks

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 24 hours
Due: ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will be assessed on their informed participation in discussions, role plays, debates, online forums, quizzes and other activities.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and explain links between understandings of property and relationships in the context of succession law.
  • Analyse case law on the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) and apply to the validity and interpretation of wills.
  • Critically evaluate the law on family provision and apply family provision legislation to complex factual situations involving estate disputes.
  • Advise on competing family claims dealing with testate estates, intestate estates and partial intestacy.
  • Assess the various legal principles to give appropriate advice on wills.

Succession Law essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: 22/04/22 11:59pm
Weighting: 40%

 

Students will be required to prepare an essay on an aspect of proposed reform to Succession Law in NSW

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe and explain links between understandings of property and relationships in the context of succession law.
  • Analyse case law on the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) and apply to the validity and interpretation of wills.
  • Critically evaluate the law on family provision and apply family provision legislation to complex factual situations involving estate disputes.
  • Assess the various legal principles to give appropriate advice on wills.

Written response to a succession law problem

Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: 06/06/22 11:59pm
Weighting: 40%

 

An essay applying succession law to resolve a problem scenario

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse case law on the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) and apply to the validity and interpretation of wills.
  • Critically evaluate the law on family provision and apply family provision legislation to complex factual situations involving estate disputes.
  • Advise on competing family claims dealing with testate estates, intestate estates and partial intestacy.
  • Assess the various legal principles to give appropriate advice on wills.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Lectures will be delivered via iLearn on a weekly basis. There is also a compulsory weekly one-hour face to face tutorial from weeks 1 – 13 for students.  Students are expected to listen to the lectures, attend the tutorials and work their way through the other materials on a weekly basis.

The convenor will be available for consultations at times to be advised.

The required text is Croucher, R and Vines, P, Succession: Families, Property & Death (LexisNexis, 5th ed, 2019). 

Additional reading may be required from time to time and will be available via iLearn and the unit reading list maintained by the library.

All unit requirements and a weekly teaching and reading schedule are outlined on iLearn.

Unit Schedule

Week 1:

Introduction and overview: The valid Will, or lack of it

Week 2:

A well made Will, on the face of it

Week 3:

A badly drafted Will, on the face of it

Week 4:

A badly created Will, at the time

Week 5:

An unfortunate Will, given changed circumstances

Week 6:

A non-existent, or only partially effective, Will – intestacy

Week 7 & 8: Administration

Authorising the legal person representative on death

Administering the deceased’s estate

Week 9 & 10: Family provision

Claims for family provision out of the estate

Claims for family provision out of notional estate

Weeks 11 & 12: Other interventions         

Statutory interventions

Equitable interventions

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes since First Published

Date Description
02/02/2022 In relation to the prescribed textbook I have (a) deleted the reference to where it may be purchased and (b) inserted the name of publisher, 'LexisNexis'.

Unit information based on version 2022.04 of the Handbook