Using “Feelings” to Teach Intestacy and Wills

Alyssa D. DiRusso (Assistant Professor, Cumberland School of Law) has recently published her article Tactile Learning in the Wills Classroom, Law Teacher, Spring 2007, at 4, which discusses innovative ways of teaching (1) the difference between probate and non-probate assets, (2) the right of a surviving spouse to a forced share, and (3) the different methods of distributing property when there are heirs from more that one generation of descendants.

Here is an excerpt from her discussion of how Prof. DiRusso uses this technique to teach the differences between per stipes, per capita with representation, and per capita at each generation:

Students were divided into groups of three and given a chart showing a family tree, and a bag holding 36¢ (four nickels and sixteen pennies). The family tree showed one decedent at the oldest generational level with three children (A, B, and C). A had two children, and B and C had one child each. Students were told that the decedent had died leaving an estate of 36¢ (net of legal fees) and instructed to place the 36¢ on the decedent’s square on the family tree. Students were given a set of fact patterns, and asked to move the coins to represent how the property would pass under each system of inheritance. * * *

Having the students physically move the coins across he page seemed to help them understand the practical implications of these three systems of inheritance – that it actually changes how much money each heir gets – better than talking about the systems in the abstract or working through hypotheticals.