Lectures will be on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the Law Society.

The fee is €2,180, which includes all course materials, the examination fee and student membership of STEP. Please see application form attached.

Full details of the timetable will be provided in due course closer to the date.

The Diploma satisfies the full CPD Groups Study requirement and also 2 hours of Management and Professional Development.

Course Objectives

In its fourth year, this course is designed to enable successful candidates to advise clients on all aspects of the creation of wills, the operation of trusts, tax implications that may arise and overall estate planning for clients. Practical in its approach, this course provides participants with real life situations that are faced by practitioners and gives real solutions to problems encountered.

The Law Society of Ireland and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners offer this course jointly. Candidates who successfully complete the diploma but who have less than two years work experience in the areas of wills, trusts and estate planning are eligible for Associate Membership of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Ireland. Successful diploma candidates and Associate STEP members with two or more years work experience in the areas of estate planning, trusts and administration of estates are eligible to apply for full membership of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Any full member is authorised to use the designation TEP and be described as a Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner. All course participants will automatically become student members of STEP Worldwide, and this is included in your course fee. This is one of the routes towards STEP membership in Ireland and provides a structured route to qualification.

Course Structure

The course runs over six months and is divided into five distinct modules, with two supplementary workshops. There are two closed book examinations held at the end of the course which will include topics covered in all modules. For the duration of this course participants will have access to the diploma virtual learning environment, Moodle, which contains all course materials and is used to keep participants informed about all aspects of the course.

Topics dealt within the diploma will include the following:

Module One

Introduction to estate planning; Introduction to family law issues, powers of attorney and wardship applications

Module Two

Trusts; The legal requirements for the establishment and operation of trusts; Use of trusts in estate planning; Trustees and the powers and duties therein; Breaches of trust

Module Three

Wills and probate; Preparation of a will and the solicitor’s duty of care; Executors and guardians; Intestacy; Applications for grants of representation

Module Four

Administration of trusts and estates; Preparation of accounts; Beneficiaries and their entitlements; Use of mediation and ADR; Contentious and non contentious probate applications; Trust based disputes

Module Five

Taxation of trusts and estates; Tax implications, specifically dealing with capital acquisitions tax, income tax, capital gains tax and general tax management of trusts and estates

Who Should Attend

The diploma course is intended for persons who have worked in the areas of wills, trusts, estate planning, probate and administration of estates within Ireland. Eligible applicants include the following: · Solicitor (who elected to do the advanced probate and taxation module on PPC II) · Any person with any one or more of the following qualifications and who has relevant work experience for at least two years: · Solicitor · Barrister · Certified Accountant · Chartered Accountant · Associate or Fellow of the Irish Taxation Institute · Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (Trustee Diploma) · Associate of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland (Diploma in Wealth Management) · Members of the Irish Institute of Legal Executives · The diploma course is designed for those who already have work experience in the area of Trusts and Estates. For persons who do not have any practical experience in the area of Trusts and Estates to date but wish to build up their knowledge of this area in order to do the diploma, STEP and the Law Society run a foundation course.

Lecturers

Our lecturers are drawn from solicitors, barristers, financial and other professionals with a variety of probate, tax and financial backgrounds. All lecturers are Members of the Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners in Ireland (STEP) and are experienced practitioners in the area of wills, probate, trusts and tax management of estates. Previous lecturers have included: Nuala Casey, Daly Lynch Crowe Morris; John O’Connor, John O’Connor Solicitors; Patricia Rickard- Clarke, Law Reform Commission; Susan O’Connell, McCann Fitzgerald; Mary Condell, Porter Morris; Finola O’Hanlon, O’Hanlon Tax Limited; Anne Corrigan, Arthur Cox; Edmond O’Regan, AIB Bankcentre; Catherine Duggan, BL; Brian Spierin, SC; Edel Hargaden, Arthur Cox; Anne Stephenson, Stephenson Solicitors; Nora Lillis, William Fry; Una Tighe, BL; Michelle McLoughlin, Maples and Calder; Aoife Walsh, Grant Thornton