Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition
Rules & Information
Submission Deadline: Closed for 2025
Winners Announced: July 22, 2025
The ACTEC Foundation is proud to support this annual legal writing competition to encourage law students to create scholarly works in the area of trusts and estates. The competition is open to any law student in good standing (full-time or part-time) currently enrolled at the time of submission, or who was a student within the past 90-day period prior to submission as a J.D. or L.L.M. candidate in an ABA-accredited law school within the U.S. or its possessions.
1st Prize
A Full Tuition Scholarship to the Heckerling Graduate Program in Estate Planning at the University of Miami School of Law for the 2025-2026 or 2026-2027 academic year (candidates must apply and be admitted as full-time students to be considered for the scholarship), a $5,000 award, and publication in the ACTEC Law Journal.
2nd Prize
A $3,000 award, online publication on The ACTEC Foundation’s website, and possible publication in the ACTEC Law Journal.
3rd Prize
A $1,000 award, online publication on The ACTEC Foundation’s website, and possible publication in the ACTEC Law Journal.
Download the Mary Moers Wenig Flyer. Read the Official Competition Rules.
Legal Writing Competition for Law Students
The Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition was created to honor the late Mary Moers Wenig, an Academic Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), who served as a law school professor for over 30 years. Writing competition entries are judged by members of ACTEC’s Legal Education Committee, which Mary served on for many years. The competition is judged by law school professors who teach in the area of trusts and estates and practitioners who teach as adjuncts in the trust and estate field. The Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition has awarded over $142,000 during its 15-year existence.
Consistent with ACTEC’s mission, this competition was created by ACTEC’s Legal Education Committee to encourage and reward scholarly works in the area of trusts and estates. The Legal Education Committee focuses on the quality and relevance of trust and estate courses offered in law schools, strategies for incorporating skills training into courses, ideas for mentoring new lawyers in estate planning, the role of adjunct professors, and trust- and estate-related scholarship, case law, statutory law, and current developments. The funding for the competition is provided by The ACTEC Foundation.
The competition is open to law students in good standing (full-time or part-time) who are currently or recently enrolled as a J.D. or LL.M. candidate in an ABA-accredited law school within the U.S. or its possessions.
Read the Official Competition Rules.
Latest News
Winners of the 2025 Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition
The ACTEC Foundation announces the 2025 winners of the Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition—celebrating the future of trust and estate law.
Update on the 2024 Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition
Explore the 2024 winning papers from the Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition and gain insights into emerging topics in trust and estate law.
Thirty-Two Papers Submitted for This Year’s Competition!
Record 32 papers from 20 law schools were submitted for the 2025 Mary Moers Wenig Writing Competition. Winners announced July 15 on actecfoundation.org.