CA CLS Estate Planning study plan

Map the execution formalities for a California will under Probate Code section 6110, including the two-witness rule and the role of a notary, and recite them from memory

Distinguish testamentary capacity from undue influence and identify the fact patterns that trigger each challenge

Compare the main revocable trust structures and explain when funding order matters more than drafting

Draft a one-page comparison of wills versus revocable trusts covering probate avoidance, incapacity planning, and privacy

Explain how nonprobate transfers (payable-on-death accounts, transfer-on-death deeds, joint tenancy, and beneficiary designations) override a will

Compute the gross estate inclusion of life insurance and retirement accounts under the relevant federal rules

Identify the California transfer-tax triggers that differ from federal treatment, including the state's own estate tax history and current status

Build a checklist a practitioner would use to audit beneficiary designations for a new client

Calculate tentative tax, adjusted taxable gifts, and the unified credit for a sample estate with prior taxable gifts

Explain portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion and the election required on a timely filed return

Apply the California property tax reassessment rules that follow a transfer at death, distinguishing parent-child exclusions from general reassessment

Structure a client counseling session that surfaces tax exposure before drafting begins

Trace intestate distribution under California law for a decedent survived by a spouse and children from different relationships

Sequence the probate administration steps from petition through final distribution, including the role of the personal representative

List the fiduciary duties a trustee owes under California law and match each duty to a concrete breach scenario

Draft the questions you would ask to detect a breach of the duty of loyalty during a trust accounting review

Analyze how community property characterization changes at death and what the surviving spouse can and cannot control

Explain the creditor protections available to trust beneficiaries and the limits on spendthrift clauses

Apply the California Rules of Professional Conduct to a joint representation of spouses and to a client with diminished capacity

Identify the conflicts that arise when the drafting attorney serves as trustee or executor

Distinguish distributable net income from taxable income and explain how the distribution deduction is computed

Apply the tier system for trust accounting income versus principal to a sample distribution

Compute the entity-level tax for an estate that retains income rather than distributing it

Identify the grantor trust rules that cause a trust's income to be taxed to its creator

Conduct a structured intake interview covering family, assets, prior documents, and planning objectives

Identify when a client needs a guardianship nomination, a special-needs trust, or a business succession plan and route the matter accordingly

Explain the small-estate alternatives to formal probate and when each is available

Summarize the ethical duty to communicate the scope and cost of representation in an engagement letter

Synthesize all seven domains into an integrated plan for a single hypothetical family with a blended household, a closely held business, and a disabled beneficiary

Time yourself on mixed-domain practice questions and review every missed item to its underlying rule

Identify your three weakest sub-topics and write targeted rule summaries for each

Rehearse explaining the finished plan to a mock client in plain language