BAFN605 - Estate Planning and Capstone Project

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

BAFN608 Financial Planning

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit is crucial for the understanding of key areas of estate planning and dealing with intergenerational wealth transfer. Students need to understand the concepts of estate planning, Wills, Executors and estate administration, trusts and trustees, gifting, estate taxes and succession planning leading to common good to society. Students will develop skills in managing the different aspects of estate planning. Students will be able to apply techniques to generate a comprehensive statement of advice in the context of ethical perspectives. This unit provides students with necessary knowledge and skills needed to get work ready for a career in the financial planning industry.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - understand the importance of effective estate planning (GA1, GA5) 

LO2 - understand and apply the legal process for dispersing an estate following death (GA3, GA4, GA5) 

LO3 - develop estate plans for various circumstances and contingencies (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA8) 

LO4 - construct a comprehensive statement of advice (SOA) including, as appropriate, content material from previous units in the course. (GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA8) 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

Content

Topics will include: 

• The need for estate planning  
• Estate composition  
• Wills  
• Executors and estate administration  
• Trusts and trustees  
• Gifting  
• Estate taxes  
• Divorce and Separation  
• Succession Planning  
• Estate Planning Strategies  
• Composition of the SOA  
• The legal framework surrounding the SOA and advice provision  
• Preparation of the SOA using Due Diligence and applying Best Interest Duty 
• Presentation of the SOA  
• Reviewing the SOA  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The teaching and learning strategy is built on a “student-focused approach,” which can be described as “Level 3. Focus: what the student does” instead of a “teacher-focused approach,” ACU’s teaching policy focuses on learning outcomes for students. Our teaching aims to engage students as active participants in the learning process while acknowledging that all learning must involve a complex interplay of active and receptive processes, the constructing of meaning for oneself, and learning from others. ACU promotes and facilitates learning that is autonomous and self-motivated, is characterised by the individual taking satisfaction in the mastering of content and skills and is critical, looking beneath the surface level of information for the meaning and significance of what is being studied. 

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes. These are: “Attendance” mode and “Online” mode.  

This unit is offered in two modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups. Students are able to attend the interactive online sessions or face-to-face sessions, engage in self-directed learning supported by online activities, readings, forum discussions, assignment preparation and complete authentic activities and assessments. 

Attendance mode 

The schedule of the workshop is designed in such a way that students can achieve intended learning outcomes sequentially. Teaching and learning activities will apply the experiential learning model, which encourages students to apply higher order thinking. The unit ensures that learning activities involve real-world scenarios that in turn assist with ‘real-world’ preparedness. The unit also uses a scaffolding technique that builds a student’s skills and prepares them for the next phase of the learning process.  

This unit is taught in a flipped classroom format and will require face-to-face attendance in specific physical location/s. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for you to prepare and revise. It is up to individual students to ensure that the out of class study is adequate for the optimal learning outcomes and successes. 

Online Mode 

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of the essential knowledge associated with estate planning and the capstone project. Students can explore the essential knowledge underpinning estate planning and develop knowledge in a series of online interactive lessons and modules. Students are given the opportunity to attend facilitated synchronous online seminar classes with other students and participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge, while developing their knowledge of estate planning and undertaking their capstone project. Students are required to participate in a series of online interactive workshops which include activities, knowledge checks, discussion and interactive sessions. This approach allows flexibility for students and facilitates learning and participation for students with a preference for virtual learning. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessments are used primarily to foster learning. ACU adopts a constructivist approach to learning which seeks alignment between the fundamental purpose of each unit, the learning outcomes, teaching and learning strategy, assessment and the learning environment. In order to pass this unit, students are required to submit all pieces of assessment and achieve an overall score of at least 50%. Using constructive alignment, the assessment tasks are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome.  

Each of these assessment pieces have been designed to empower students, lead to greater equity and deepen students’ skillsets by virtue of their design. They are assessment that are constructed to integrate the unit’s instruction and curriculum. The first assessment which is an individual task, is directed at getting students to individually investigate the importance of effective estate planning. The second assessment is a group assessment which enables students to learn to not only develop estate plans but also to be a part of a collaborative and consultative team. This in turn provides a broader understanding of the estate plan development process and the requirements therein. The final assessment wraps up the process of estate planning with the construction of the culminative, and comprehensive, statement of advice.   

Overview of assessments

Attendance mode ;

Online mode

Representative texts and references

Day et al. (2017), Australian Financial Planning Handbook 2017-18, Thomson Reuters, Australia.