Alyssa A. DiRusso, the Whelan W. and Rosalie T. Palmer Professor of Law in Samford University Cumberland School of Law, is the co-author of Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers: Cases and Problems, Fifth Edition, published by Aspen Publishing in January 2024. The textbook primarily focuses on the federal estate tax and the federal gift tax, while also introducing the federal generation-skipping transfer tax.
 
Joining Professor Stephanie Willbanks of the University of Vermont Law and Graduate School as co-author, DiRusso adds her background in high-net-worth practice and in-house fiduciary administration to broaden the book’s perspective. The co-authors are both academic fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
 
With an emphasis on tax planning, Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers integrates stimulating problems with statutes, regulations and cases to create a highly teachable and student-friendly casebook. This fifth edition features new cases, administrative rulings and studies. Existing cases and text have been edited or deleted to highlight essential themes. Additionally, the book provides a new introduction to gratuitous transfers, a detailed analysis of defined value clauses and a new section on taxation of nonprofit organizations.
 
The book could be used for a basic wealth transfer tax class or to complement an estate planning course at the JD or LLM level. It is designed to foster client counseling skills in addition to developing substantive expertise in the relevant tax law and it allows users to apply tax law in realistic client contexts. The book nurtures the development of counseling skills, which appeals to students who want to be practice ready.
 
In addition to the textbook, a comprehensive teacher’s manual answers all problems and questions posed in the text as well as presenting full case summaries, provides additional textual analysis, and makes suggestions on how a professor might best approach teaching chapters.
 
DiRusso is also a co-author of Wills, Trusts & Estates in Focus, of which she and her co-authors are currently working on second edition expected to be published in 2025.