This volume updates earlier editions to continue offering efficient, yet comprehensive, coverage of the issues in a standard Trusts and Estates course. Although the book is designed primarily as a student supplement, some teachers have used it successfully as the primary text, supplemented by statutory materials, for both the basic course and for more specialized courses.

The text's multi-layered structure allows students to use the book in different ways, depending upon their needs. Students using the book as a regular supplement to a casebook can read the text and ignore the footnotes until they need more examples or greater depth. The organization tracks the basic approach of most casebooks, and where it differs from an individual book, the comprehensive table of contents makes it easy to find what students need. By discussing many of the cases found in popular casebooks, the text helps students understand how specific issues fit in a bigger picture.

The footnotes carry the student-centered approach a step further by briefly discussing tangential issues, offering additional examples, and again citing cases often found in casebooks. Even if the text does not discuss "their" case, often it will cite the case and place it in context. Each case citation includes a brief fact description to provide more examples of the way general principles can apply in specific situations. Further, the footnotes include numerous cross-references to other sections of the book, to help students identify the interconnections holding the subject together.