JD/LLM in Estate Planning
As a JD candidate at UIC John Marshall, you have the unique opportunity to enhance your marketability by specializing in estate planning. UIC John Marshall offers one of the only Graduate Estate Planning Programs in the country. With continuous input from our faculty and advisory board, we've developed a timely, focused curriculum with the depth and relevance to ensure your career success in this area of law.
Earning an LLM in Estate Planning will enhance your employability, while only adding a semester or two to your time at the Law School. To accommodate students, classes are held entirely online. Upon completion of your JD requirements, you decide if you will graduate with your JD (at which point you are eligible to sit for the bar exam) before completing the LLM requirements or graduate with both degrees on the same day. As a graduate of the joint program, you'll have a separate GPA for both the JD and LLM programs.
Requirements Heading link
Effective Fall 2020, new students are not being admitted to this program. Please contact the program directly for more information.
Students may matriculate into a joint-degree program only after they have completed 30 JD credits but before they have completed 60 JD credits. Joint JD/LLM in Estate Planning candidates may apply the first 10 credits satisfactorily completed in the LLM program in which they are enrolled to the electives requirements of the JD. Most degree candidate will be able to complete the requirements of the joint program with 110 credits (80 JD 30 LLM) instead of the 120 credits required if the programs are completed separately. Students unable to complete the joint degree must still complete a total of 90 hours to be awarded the JD degree. Up to 8 of your LLM elective credits can be taken, with appropriate approvals, from any of UIC John Marshall’s other LLM programs.
Students who matriculated prior to August 16, 2019, are subject to degree requirements in place when they first enrolled, provided they complete those requirements within the time limit for degree completion and do not interrupt their enrollment without formal approval. Degree requirements in effect prior to August 2019 are available on eCommons; students should consult their degree audit for further information.
Curriculum Heading link
Required LLM Courses
- Estate Planning I (EPL 505, 2 Credits)
- Estate Planning II (EPL 507, 2 Credits)
- Estate Settlement & Post-Mortem Trust Administration (EPL 514, 2 Credits)
- Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts (EPL 515, 2 Credits)
- Wealth Transfer Taxation I (EPL 512, 2 Credits)
- Wealth Transfer Taxation II (EPL 513, 1 Credit)
Please review each course description to determine what prerequisites apply.
Elective LLM Courses
- Asset Protection Planning (EPL 524, 2 Credits)
- Charitable Contributions (EPL 521, 2 Credits)
- Closely Held Businesses: Taxation & Succession Planning (EPL 526, 2 Credits)
- Estate Planning for Elderly or Disabled (EPL 532, 2 Credits)
- Estate Planning for Multinational Clients (EPL 535, 2 Credits)
- Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples (EPL 534, 2 Credits)
- Estate Planning for Young, Married Couples (EPL 533, 2 Credits)
- Estate Planning With Insurance Products (EPL 523, 1 Credit)
- Estate Planning With Retirement Plans (EPL 525, 2 Credits)
- Ethical Issues in Estate Planning (EPL 518, 2 Credits)
- Fiduciary Duties (EPL 516, 2 Credits)
- Income Taxation (EPL 470, 3 Credits)
- Independent Study in Estate Planning (EPL 596, 1-3 Credits)
- Personal Financial Planning (EPL 522, 2 Credits)
- Special Topics in Estate Planning (EPL 594, 1-2 Credits)
- State Inheritance and Estate Taxation (EPL 519, 1 Credits)
- Survey of Estates and Trusts (EPL 501, 2 Credits)
- Survey of Federal Income Tax (EPL 503, 2 Credits)
- Valuation Issues in Estate Planning (EPL 517, 2 Credits)