Top-notch estate planners must acquire not only technical expertise (for example, in tax law, decedents’ estates, employee benefits, and charitable giving),  but also the client-relations skills that are essential to this individualized area of practice.  Adjunct faculty, all leading experts in their fields, draw on their wealth of practical experience to equip our students with these skills.

The Certificate in Estate Planning may be completed as a stand-alone program or in conjunction with the LL.M. in Taxation. Before matriculating in the stand-along program or in the Tax LL.M., U.S. students must have completed successfully a basic law school course in federal individual income taxation and a course in decedents' estates (or similar course such as Probate Law or Trusts and Estates).  Candidates for this Certificate must successfully complete 12 credits which include four required courses (Income Taxation of Trusts, Estates and Beneficiaries; Estate and Gift Tax; Special Topics in Transfer Tax; and Advanced Private Wealth Planning Seminar), plus one elective course in a related area.

Students enrolled in the Tax LL.M. Program may complement this curriculum with core tax courses (such as taxation of partnerships and S corporations), courses in employee benefits, and courses that focus on charitable giving and tax-exempt organizations. 

Estate Planning Certificate flyer