About

Emily S. Taylor Poppe

I am a professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. I teach a course on trusts and estates and find that my students often need to practice applying the laws of intestacy to get a feel for how they work. Working through practice problems is a great way to test whether students have correctly parsed relevant statutory language. Plus, once students understand how intestacy laws operate, they begin to see the deeper policy choices embedded within them. Who does the law recognize as kin? What does the law assume about people's preferences? What are the implications of these laws for the intergenerational transmission of wealth? My hope is that students will find this website helpful--and that they will stop complaining during my office hours that they can't find any intestacy practice problems.

Joe Kitaj

Joe Kitaj is a student at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Prior to law school, he was a software engineer which is how he knows how to do the magic things that brought this site to life. Don't blame him for the corny jokes or (gasp!) any wrong answers; those are 100% my fault. I am deeply indebted to Joe for his assistance and for his willingness to wade into the laws of intestacy with me.

Cresencia Meno

Cresencia Meno is a student at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. She helped to imagine those crazy complex families that baffle you on the really tricky questions. Cresencia's help was key in expanding the number and range of questions and I am grateful for her flexibility as we worked on expanding our jurisdictional scope (I'm talking about you, California, and all of your community property complexity).

A final hat tip

Professor Sarah Lawsky was an inspiration for this site. Tax students should check out her online practice problems; professors might want to read about her approach to using online practice problems in law teaching.