2018 Mary Wenig Student Writing Competition Winners

The ACTEC Foundation is pleased to announce the 2018 winners of the Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition. A panel of judges appointed by ACTEC’s Legal Education Committee reviewed the submissions and choose the winners. The first-place winner will receive publication in the ACTEC Law Journal and a $5,000 cash prize. In addition, the first-place winner may now accept a full-tuition scholarship to the Heckerling Graduate Program in Estate Planning at the University of Miami School of Law for either the 2018-2019 or the 2019-2020 academic year. The second-place winner will receive a $3,000 cash prize and the third-place winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize. All papers will be published on the ACTEC Foundation website.

First-place winner Nichole M. Paschoal stated: “Learning I won first prize in the ACTEC Mary Moers Wenig writing competition felt absolutely surreal. I remember feeling surprised and excited, but mostly, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Researching and writing this paper was challenging because I knew very little about the topic in advance. However, it was also one of the most fulfilling experiences in my law school career. I was inspired to write the paper as the result of sheer intellectual curiosity. I wanted to know what would happen if property bequeathed no longer existed in its same form at a testator’s death. At the time, I was working as a law clerk and something had come across my desk that spurred my interest in the subject. I posed the question to my favorite inheritance law professor and he urged me to research the issue further. He also encouraged me to consider writing about the subject. My research uncovered dozens of cases across multiple jurisdictions dealing with the issue, but there was one case in particular where I found the result to be especially harsh. This inspired me to write about the subject, highlight the specific issue with replacement property, and attempt to craft a plausible solution. In the end, I only hope that people will enjoy reading the paper as much as I enjoyed writing it.”

First-place Winner

Nicole M. Paschoal from the University of San Diego School of Law

“The Problem of Replacement Property in the Law of Ademption”

Second-place Winner

Courtney Bravo from the University of San Diego School of Law

“Stepfamilies & Intestacy Law: A Proposal for Stepparent and Stepchild Inheritance”

Third-place Winner

Amanda Leckman from the University of San Diego School of Law

“Does Escheat Cheat Decedents?”