Law of Succession (Spr) (M3020)

15 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll explore the devolution of assets on death. These often represent the culmination of a person’s collection of good in a lifetime of work and saving.

You’ll consider both the law of intestacy (where property devolves by rules of law because there is no will) and the law of wills. You’ll look at:

  • the modes of transferring inherited wealth and property on death in a social context
  • the idea of freedom of testation (which is particularly strong in this jurisdiction) and in the social context in which that principle operates
  • the consequences that freedom of testation may have for poverty and the impact that that may have on the State’s obligation to alleviate poverty
  • the adequacy of current legislation to provide for the meeting of support obligations to family and dependants in this light.

This module will cover not only wills and intestacy, but also probate and the administration of estates. In this regard the outline ideas rather than the technical details will be relevant.

Teaching

25%: Lecture
19%: Practical (Workshop)
56%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Test)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 23 hours of contact time and about 127 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We鈥檙e planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We鈥檒l make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: