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WILLS, TRUSTS AND ESTATES CERTIFICATION
STANDING COMMITTEE POLICIES
100 ADMINISTRATION
200 COMMITTEE MEMBERS
300 DEFINITIONS
400 CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION
500 PEER REVIEW
600 SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT
700 EXAMINATION
800 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS & COMPETENCE
900 RECERTIFICATION
100 ADMINISTRATION
1.01 Staff shall conduct a preliminary review of each application and complete a worksheet to
show at a glance the file content prior to initial review by the committee.
1.02 Those applicants who have questionable substantial involvement may have the
opportunity to respond to the committee's concerns in writing before the applicant is
denied to sit for the examination.
1.03 A minimum of two committee members shall review each application prior to making a
recommendation to the full committee.
(a) Committee members shall not review applications submitted by a spouse or
member of their law firm, or others whose review would in the reviewer's opinion
not be objective.
1.04 Applicants found eligible, but who either fail to take the exam or who take the exam and
fail it, may file an abbreviated form if they reapply the following year.
1.05 Applicants will be notified in writing only concerning the disposition of their
applications.
1.06 The names of all initial applicants will be held confidential.
200 COMMITTEE MEMBERS
2.01 Initial committee members shall complete Section III(A) through (C) and sign page 5 of
the application to have on file.
2.02 Committee members shall not complete reference statements for any applicant. (8/16/85)
2.03 Meetings of the committee will be limited to members and Florida Bar staff when
applications are being reviewed. When the examination is being planned, meetings will
be limited to committee members, Bar staff and exam consultants who have signed an
agreement of confidentiality.
300 DEFINITIONS
3.01 Wills, trusts and estates is the practice of law dealing with all aspects of the analysis and
planning for the conservation and disposition of estates, giving due consideration to the
applicable tax consequences, both federal and state; administering estates, including tax
related matters, both federal and state; and probate litigation.
400 CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION
4.01 Administration
(a) For the first two years of the Wills, Trusts and Estates Certification program
(September 1, 1985 through August 31, 1987), courses approved by staff for full
or partial credit in Estate Planning under the Florida Designation Plan shall
receive equal credit towards Estate Planning Certification.
(b) Beginning September 1, 1987, courses submitted for certification credit approval
must meet the criteria of advanced CLE for full approval and intermediate CLE
for partial credit. See Section 4.03.
4.02 Course Accreditation
(a) A sponsor seeking course accreditation must be recognized within the legal
profession as an organization established with one of its purposes to offer
continuing legal education benefiting practitioners with substantial involvement
in specialized fields of law.
(b) The course planning committee shall be composed of individuals with substantial
practical or academic experience. Planning committee members' qualifications
and appropriate background information shall be set forth in the application for
certification credit.
(c) Course instructors shall be individuals with substantial practical or academic
experience. Instructors' qualifications and appropriate background information
shall be set forth in the application for course accreditation.
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(d) The approval of a course or project may provide an hour of credit for each 50
minutes of participation.
(e) The approval period of a course for certification credit shall not exceed one (1)
year.
(f) A fee of $150 shall be submitted by the sponsoring organization with the
application for certification credit. The Florida Bar Re Amendment to Integration
Rule (Certification Plan), 414 So.2d 490, authorizes this fee.
(g) No wills, trusts and estates certification credit shall be awarded to courses dealing
with law office economics and/or management.
(h) Courses dealing strictly with guardianship or government benefits, including but
not limited to, SSI and Medicaid are not eligible for wills, trusts and estates
certification credit. A sponsor or individual may submit a course to the
committee for its review on a case by case basis.
4.03 Course Approval Standards
(a) Advanced
An advanced CLE course should challenge the intellect of and/or convey new material
and information to an active practitioner who devotes 40% or more of his time to practice
in the field, has done so for at least five years and who possesses skills which colleagues
recognize as above average and which would qualify him as a specialist. As a threshold
matter, the effort must require and reflect substantial analysis and preparation and be of
such quality so as to enhance the proficiency of a Board Certified Wills, Trusts and
Estates Lawyer.
(1) Courses submitted for full credit towards wills, trusts and estates
certification must meet the criteria of advanced CLE as defined in 4.03(a).
(2) Thorough, high quality, carefully prepared written outlines and materials
are required for credit review.
(3) Course instructors shall be individuals with substantial practical or
academic experience. Instructors' qualifications and appropriate
background information shall be set forth in the application for
certification credit.
(b) Intermediate
(1) An intermediate course shall be awarded 75 percent of full credit.
(c) Basic
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(1) Courses determined to be at a basic level shall not be eligible for wills,
trusts and estates certification credit.
4.04 Credit for Additional CLE Activities
(a) Lectures
(1) Satisfactory performance as a lecturer on estate planning and probate in an
approved CLE seminar may entitle an attorney to credit.
(2) Lecturer shall mean lecturer, workshop discussion leader or panel member
in a seminar or institute.
(3) To qualify for credit, a lecturer's topic, scope and material should meet the
ACLE standard.
(4) Credit shall be calculated based upon the presentation time. In no event
may the amount of credit awarded for a single presentation exceed 50% of
the total hours required for certification.
(5) Lecturing at basic seminars may entitle an attorney to receive 5 hours of
credit for each hour of lecture time. (9/10/93)
(6) Lecturing at an intermediate or advanced seminar may entitle an attorney
to receive 8 hours of credit for each hour of lecture time. (9/10/93)
(7) Repeating the lecture at one or more locations shall not be a basis for
additional credit.
(8) Participation time as a panel member, group discussion leader in a
workshop, or similar activity may entitle an attorney to receive 5 hours of
credit for each hour of participation in an intermediate or advanced
seminar or 3 hours of credit for each hour of participation in a basic
seminar. Repeating participation shall not be a basis for additional credit.
The applicant shall certify the total time of preparation and the
presentation involving the panel or group discussion. Credit shall not
exceed the total certified time, subject to credit limitations.
(b) Teaching
(1) Credit may be earned through teaching estate planning and probate law
courses in an approved law school or other graduate level program
presented by a recognized professional education association that satisfies
the ACLE standard.
(2) Calculation shall be 2 hours for every 50 minutes of teaching. No more
than 50% of the requirement may be satisfied through teaching projects.
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(9/10/93)
(3) Graduate nonlaw and undergraduate courses shall not be considered for
estate planning and probate certification credit.
(c) University Course Attendance
(1) Credit may be earned through attending university law school courses
toward an LLM degree in wills, trusts and estates law or taxation, when
applicable to wills, trusts and estates law.
(2) Attendance credit shall be 1 hour for every 50 minutes of classroom
attendance. No more than 50% of the requirement may be satisfied
through classroom attendance. (9/10/93)
(3) Graduate nonlaw and undergraduate courses shall not be considered for
wills, trusts and estates certification credit.
(d) Writing
(1) Credit for writing articles, books, chapters and lecture outlines will be
determined by the committee on an ad hoc basis. Florida Bar publication
contributions may be granted credit when the work is completed and/or
accepted. Credit for articles, books and chapters written for publications
other than those produced by The Florida Bar will be awarded only after
publication. (9/10/93)
(2) The amount of credit shall be based on the facts and circumstances
including time devoted to preparation, quality, originality, and scope of
publication. No single publication approved for credit may exceed 50% of
the total hours required for initial certification or recertification.
(3) Where a publication has more than one author, full credit may be awarded
to each author or divided among them in a manner consistent with the
facts presented by all the authors.
(e) Steering Committee Membership
(1) No credit may be awarded for service as a steering committee member
unless that service contributed substantially to an attorney's knowledge of
wills, trusts and estates law.
(f) Individual Study
(1) Audio and video tapes may be utilized by individual attorneys and credit
for these activities shall be the same as that given the live presentation.
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(2) No more than 50% of the total hours required to satisfy the education
requirement may be obtained through individual study. Credit for
individual study may be granted by the Wills, Trusts and Estates
Certification Committee upon application. However, except in the most
unusual circumstances, credit will not be given for individual study
consisting of an activity other than (1) viewing a video tape, film or DVD,
or listening to an audio tape or CD of an approved continuing legal
education program last presented by the sponsoring organization within 18
months of the individual study or (2) attending an in-house seminar
conducted by a law firm, for which an appropriate outline was prepared
and used, and which was at a level appropriate for lawyers seeking to be
certified. The reading of advance sheets or other periodicals and similar
activities will not qualify for credit.
(g) Legislative service relating to Wills, Trusts and Estates not to exceed 10 hours per
year of service per certification schedule. Committee shall be credited upon
certification of the committee chair and a review by the certification committee.
500 PEER REVIEW
5.01 "SECONDARY" REFERENCES
(a) Initially, individuals to be selected as "secondary" references shall be selected by
staff, from question 13 of the reference form which requests names of other
persons who are familiar with the applicant's wills, trusts and estates practice.
(b) A minimum of two references shall be selected, except in unusual circumstances.
600 SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT
6.01 Every applicant must demonstrate substantial involvement in the practice of wills, trusts
and estates, as defined in Rule 6-7.3(b) of the Standards.
6.02 Applicants must clearly demonstrate 40% of their practice has consisted of matters
governed by Florida law during each of the two years immediately preceding application.
700 EXAMINATION
7.01 The Board of Legal Specialization and Education (BLSE) shall not be permitted to
review the certification examination questions prior to testing.
7.02 All applicants for certification must complete a written examination administered by the
Wills, Trusts and Estates Certification Committee.
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(a) Applicants must pass the written examination to be considered for board
certification.
7.03 The examination will be at a time and place as designated by the committee.
(a) There are no make up examinations.
7.04 The examination will last no longer than six hours excluding lunch and breaks.
7.05 Either a member of the committee or staff will proctor the examination.
7.06 Members of the committee will be assigned an essay question to grade after being
provided with a comprehensive model answer.
7.07 Staff will tally all grades received on a spreadsheet and present to the committee.
(a) Throughout the grading process, applicants will only be identified by their
examination numbers to insure equal treatment for all.
7.08 The committee will recommend those applicants receiving a passing grade to the Board
of Legal Specialization and Education (BLSE) for board certification in wills, trusts and
estates.
7.09 Those applicants approved by the BLSE will receive a certificate for a five-year period.
7.10 Procedures for Applicants Failing the Examination
An applicant receiving a failing examination grade may review his/her examination under
the guidelines established by the BLSE.
800 RECORD OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND ETHICS
8.01 All applicants shall be checked against the Bar's Grievance Department's records. In
reviewing complaints, the following steps will be followed:
(a) Complaints resulting in less than a public reprimand will be disregarded.
(b) Complaints resulting in a public reprimand or greater will be noted and relevant
information furnished to the committee.
(c) Pending complaints will be noted and investigated as to the seriousness of the
matter.
8.02 Prior to certification, each applicant's file will be rechecked.
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900 RECERTIFICATION
9.01 A recertification application must be filed by the applicant to be considered for
recertification.
9.02 Staff shall conduct a preliminary review of each application and complete a workshop to
show at a glance the file content prior to initial review by the committee.
9.03 A minimum of two committee members shall review each application prior to making a
recommendation to the full committee.
(a) Committee members shall not review applications submitted by a spouse or
member of their law firm, or others whose review would in the reviewer's opinion
not to be objective.
9.04 Each applicant must submit the names of three individuals for peer review purposes who
are active in Wills, Trusts and Estates and are familiar with the applicant’s practice, as
defined in Rule 6-7.4 (a)(3) of the standards. The committee will solicit comments from
at least two blind references. The committee must review comments from two of the
three individuals listed on the applicant's recertification application and one of the two
blind references in order to satisfy peer review requirements.
(a) If an applicant receives below average marks from a peer, additional blind
reference forms may be required.
9.05 Upon approval by the committee, a new certificate will be issued.
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