Thank you for your interest in the International Academy.
The purpose of the Academy is to establish and maintain an international group
of lawyers, judges, academics, teachers, and government legal officials skilled
and experienced in probate, wills, estates, tax and estate planning for
individuals, trusts, civil law foundations, the laws of succession,
guardianship, tutorship, conservatorship, and other related fields of law,
including particularly the cross border and international aspects thereof (“trust
and estate law”) in order to:
- Improve
and enhance the ethical and performance standards of members of the trust
and estate legal community;
- Simplify
and expedite the administration of justice in trust and estate law;
- Study,
compare, and analyze the legal procedures employed in various countries of
the world in trust and estate law;
- Prepare
reports based on these analyses; and
- Furnish
those reports to all members of the Academy and, if the Council of the
Academy (the “Council”) deems it appropriate, to lawmaking bodies, to
other public agencies, and to the public.
Membership in the Academy is by invitation only;
applications are not accepted. A current member of the Academy must nominate
you, and your nomination must be seconded by two other members of the Academy.
In the case of many jurisdictions, including the United States and Canada, you
must be nominated by a member of the Academy who resides in that jurisdiction.
A current list of Academy members is available on the Academy’s website.
To be eligible to be nominated for membership in the Academy
as a practicing lawyer, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be an
attorney licensed to practice law in the highest court of your state,
province, or other political subdivision or be accredited to practice law
in your country of residence.
- Have a
total of not less than 10 years’ experience as a lawyer in the active
private practice of trust and estate law, three of which immediately and
continuously precede and are continuing at the time your nomination is
submitted and you are elected.
- Be
acknowledged as a leading practitioner by your peers within the trust and
estate law community.
- Have
demonstrated excellence in the practice of trust and estate law.
- A
substantial part of your trust and estate law practice must focus on the
comparative and cross border and international aspects of the trust and
estate law practice, including tax-related areas.
If you meet these criteria should contact a member of the
Academy known to you to discuss the potential for nomination. A member of the
Academy can help a nominee assess your qualifications for membership, including
evaluating relevant factors that demonstrate your excellence in the practice of
estate and trust law, and can also introduce you to other Academy members.
The Academy has committees that informally review proposed
nominations by a current member before that member may initiate the formal
nomination process. Your potential nominator will let you know when the
informal review is complete and whether or not the formal nomination process
may be initiated. The formal nomination process involves you and your nominator
completing a series of relevant forms detailing your qualifications, your
professional background, and your contributions to the trust and estate law
community.
Being nominated does not guarantee election to membership.
Regional membership committees review and vote on all formal nominations. If a
regional committee approves your nomination, the Academy’s Council and Officers
will also review and vote on your nomination. This polling is important because
it allows members of the Academy to comment on you are in fact a leading
practitioner and have demonstrated excellence in trust and estate law in a
manner similar to other members of the Academy. The process from submitting an
authorized nomination to election typically takes six to eight weeks.
Different rules apply for lawyers who teach trust and estate
law on a full-time or substantially full-time basis at a duly accredited law
school or other institution of higher learning. Please contact the Academy’s
executive director for further details on the qualification of teachers and
professors of trust and estate law for membership in the Academy.