A Texas Companion for the Course in Wills, Trusts, and Estates Case and Statutory Supplement, 2025-2026

by Tate, Joshua C.

• ISBN13: 9798892076616
• ISBN10: 8892076612
• eBook ISBN(s): 9798892076630
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-08-08
• Publisher: Aspen Publishing
• More Book Details

Summary

A TEXAS COMPANION FOR THE COURSE IN WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ESTATES introduces Texas-specific law that every student planning to practice law in the state should know. Developed and refined through nearly two decades of classroom use, these materials provide a solid grounding not only for the Texas Bar Examination, but also for estate planning practice in Texas. This text serves as the ideal Texas companion to Dukeminier and Sitkoff, Wills, Trusts, and Estates, Eleventh Edition. Tate's text follows the same organization, but ensures that the material is easy to teach in any order.

New to the 2025-26 Edition:

• This edition has been updated to reflect changes made through the 2025 regular session of the Texas legislature, including revisions relating to beneficiary designations for manufactured homes and self-proving affidavits for wills not produced in court.
• In addition, the new Texas Supreme Court case Estate of Brown on the presumption of revocation for missing wills has been added, replacing Estate of Turner from the Texas Court of Appeals.

Teachers and students will benefit from:

• Citations and cross-references noting recent legislative changes
• Logical sequencing that tracks the chapter order in Sitkoff and Dukeminier, Wills, Trusts, and Estates (11th ed. 2022), but may be adapted to any other casebook
• Statutory provisions from the Texas Estates Code, Texas Trust Code, and other relevant statutes, along with excerpts from the Texas Constitution
• Thirty-seven edited Texas cases, selected for their importance in Texas law and pedagogical value

Table of Contents

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents 
Preface to the 2025-2026 Edition 

Chapter 1. Introduction: Freedom of Disposition 
Chapter 2. Intestacy: An Estate Plan by Default 
Chapter 3. Wills: Formalities and Forms 
Chapter 4. Wills: Capacity and Contests 
Chapter 5. Wills: Construction 
Chapter 6. Trusts: Characteristics and Creation 
Chapter 7. Nonprobate Transfers and Planning for Incapacity 
Chapter 8. Limits on Freedom of Disposition: Protection of the Spouse and Children 
Chapter 9. Trusts: Fiduciary Administration 
Chapter 10. Trusts: Alienation and Modification 
Chapter 11. Trusts: Charitable Purposes, Cy Pres, and Supervision
Chapter 12. Trusts: Powers of Appointment 
Chapter 13. Trusts: Construction and Future Interests 
Chapter 14. The Rule Against Perpetuities and Trust Duration 

Table of Cases
Table of Statutes