Personal Representative

 Personal representatives are fiduciaries charged with administering a decedents estate, but this must occur within the confines of the law. Before assets can be distributed to heirs, all allowable creditors must be addressed and/or paid. The first step is to notify all known creditors directly and publish a notice to all possible unknown creditors. Later, what are a personal representatives duties to both the estate and the creditors?

 Your supervising attorney, Millard Smart, has asked you to draft a letter on his behalf to Joan Blake, a client recently appointed as a personal representative. The letter should outline Joan’s fiduciary duties to creditors of the estate. Use Texas statutes to assist with the preparation of the letter.

Click to download the Letter template.

Intestate Succession and Elective Share

Intestate succession is the process courts follow to determine how a decedents estate should be distributed when a person dies without a valid will. These laws are set by states, so they can and do vary. Elective shares are amounts that certain people (surviving spouses, minor children, etc.) can elect to take from an estate even if not provided for in the decedents will. How these decisions and elections are made are what you will be addressing this week. Why do different states have different rules? Should we have a nationwide standard?

Research both the intestate succession laws and elective share in your own state. Prepare a memorandum that outlines your state’s statutes on intestate succession. Use the following sources to begin your search: FindLaw, Lexis Advance, or your state’s government website.

 For more information on writing a memorandum, click  to download and review a recommended source.

1. Public Viewing of Wills

Wills can be submitted to a court for safekeeping prior to a persons death, and must be submitted to the court following a persons death. When should others be allowed to review these wills? Should they need to state a valid reason for the review? In this question, we will address these matters.

In many jurisdictions, wills filed for probate are available online and at the courthouse for public viewing. Based on this information, answer the following questions: 

Do you think that the wills of decedents should be available for public viewing? Why or why not?

Justify your ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from Lexis Advance (including primary sources such as cases, statutes, rules, regulations, etc.), government Web sites, peer-reviewed legal periodicals (not lawyer blogs), which can be supplemented by law dictionaries or the textbook. This means you need to use more than just your text and legal dictionaries.

1. Selecting a Personal Representative

A personal representative is the person who will be in charge of handling the decedents estate and making sure things are handled properly and according to the decedents wishes. Obviously naming this person while we are alive is an important step in proper estate administration. Sometimes, though, a person is not selected, the selected person is not available, (death or just or the person does not want to serve. What happens in such cases?

If a person does not appoint a personal representative in his/her will, the court will be left to decide who should serve in such capacity. Based on this information, answer the following questions:

What sensitive issues might arise within various cultures and social structures, such as issues involving nontraditional families and gay and lesbian couples when the court selects the personal representative?

Do you think that a convicted felon should be able to serve as a personal representative of an estate? Why or why not?

Justify your ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from Lexis Advance (including primary sources such as cases, statutes, rules, regulations, etc.), government Web sites, peer-reviewed legal periodicals (not lawyer blogs), which can be supplemented by law dictionaries or the textbook. This means you need to use more than just your text and legal dictionaries. Submission Details:

Remember, this class is a culmination of all of your classes at AIUmore specifically, your Criminal Justice classes. The topic you select for your thesis should be carefully considered and one that can be covered in your limited amount of time while remaining interesting to you and your audience. Although you have received classroom instruction concerning public-sector careers, do not forget about the private-sector careers.

Did you know that one department store chain has two forensics labs in the United States? One is in the western states and the other is located in the Northeast, and both locations process fingerprints and other forensics evidence. Did you know that one of the fast-food restaurant chains has a huge security department that is responsible for global security and an intelligence unit that tracks terrorism worldwide? Also, did you know that every professional sports team, most Fortune 500 companies, and amusement parks have security, quick response teams, and investigation teams?

In the selection of your topic for your final project, examine all possible areas of interest, both in the public and private sectors. Research topics of interest in which you would love to have a career.

Based on the feedback from your instructor and peers regarding your topic, finalize the thesis that you will pursue for your research. Now, you will develop a research plan that will include the following:

• Thesis statement: This statement presents the problem or issue you intend to research, and it should be clear and concise.
• Hypothesis: This is a statement of prediction regarding the results of the problem or issue. Briefly identify your working solution to the problem. How might your working solution solve the problem? Be sure to note that your working solution will evolve through continued research and analysis.
• Measurement and analysis approach: Define the key points that you will research, and explain how you will gather and analyze the data you find. Intend to incorporate information related to technology and crime statistics that apply to your issue.
• Applicable resources: Identify 5 sources that you have found that are the most relevant and best support your purpose statement. List the sources, and then record the main idea as notes to use as part of your research later. Identify case studies, library, Web, and other scholarly resources.
• Ethical standards: What are ethical and legal responsibilities to ensure that your final report will be of the highest ethical standards?

Please submit your assignment.

Assignment Details

Scenario: You are doing a presentation at the Metropolitan Police Academy in a major city. Your presentation for the afternoon is on the definition of truth when dealing with cases in which the defendant has a psychopathological issue that may have contributed to his or her commission of a crime. Attending this lecture will be a mixture of law enforcement officers, forensic psychologists, and prosecutors from the States Attorneys Office. You know that police, forensic psychologists, and prosecutors all believe in the truth but their definitions of truth may vary.

To avoid conflict in the lesson, you prepare a handout in the form of a white paper of 35 pages. You explore the definition of truth from the perspectives of each of the class participants (police, forensic psychologists, and prosecutors). Include the following in your white paper:

• Explain the criteria that police investigators have in their finding of the truth as it relates to the investigative outcome of their respective cases.
• Define the criteria the forensic psychologists use to determine the truth that they concludes about the defendant(s) in their respective cases.
• Describe the method by which the prosecutors use in determining what they define as the truth in their respective cases