Minecraft
Preparation
Lesson Narrative
Students analyze the legal mechanics of transferring wealth and decision-making power. They differentiate between wills, living wills, health care proxies, and the tax advantages of trusts.
Learning Goals
• Define the purpose of a Last Will and Testament versus a Living Will.
• Analyze the role of a Health Care Proxy and Power of Attorney.
• Explain how Trusts bypass probate and protect generational wealth.
Student Facing Lesson Objective
Let's figure out how to legally protect our money and medical decisions if we get hurt or pass away.
Student Facing Learning Targets ("I Can" Statements)
• I can explain the difference between a will and a living will.
• I can explain why someone needs a health care proxy.
• I can describe how a trust protects wealth from probate court.
Required Academic Standards
National Jump$tart Standards:
• Risk Management and Insurance (Standard 1): Determine how to manage risk and protect against financial loss.
Glossary Entries
Will: A legal document that coordinates the distribution of your assets after death.
Living Will: A document specifying the medical treatments you would want to keep you alive.
Health Care Proxy: A document naming someone to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so.
Trust: A fiduciary arrangement that allows a third party to hold assets, bypassing probate.
Probate: The legal process of reviewing a will to ensure it is valid, which can be expensive and time-consuming.
Lesson
Warm Up
7.5.1: The Intestate Nightmare / Turn & Talk
Launch: Pair students up to discuss the prompt.
Synthesis: Select two pairs to share. Establish the baseline: If you die without a will (intestate), the state government decides who gets your money, not you.
Student Facing Task
Student-Facing Task: Turn and Talk with your partner. An unmarried person passes away with $100,000 in their bank account. They never wrote a legal will.
1. Who decides what happens to that $100,000?
2. Does their long-term partner automatically get the money if they weren't legally married?
Activity 1
7.5.2: Medical Directives
Launch: Keep students at whiteboards. Project the medical proxy scenario. Give groups 8 minutes.
Synthesis: Have the class observe the boards. (Teacher Key: A Living Will tells the doctors what you want. A Health Care Proxy gives a specific person the legal power to enforce it).
Student Facing Task
Student-Facing Task: You are in a severe car accident and are in a coma. The doctors need to make a critical decision about a risky surgery.
1. If you cannot speak, who legally makes this decision for you?
2. What is the difference between writing down your wishes in a "Living Will" versus assigning a "Health Care Proxy"?
Activity 2
7.5.3: Bypassing Probate
Launch: Present the Trust vs. Will scenario. Give groups 8 minutes to analyze.
Synthesis: Facilitate a class debate. (Key: Wills go through Probate court, meaning they become public record and lawyers take a cut. Trusts operate outside of court, keeping wealth private and transferring it instantly).
Student Facing Task
Student-Facing Task: A wealthy grandmother wants to leave $500,000 to her grandson.
• Option A: She writes it in her Will. When she dies, the Will goes to Probate Court for 8 months, and court fees cost $15,000.
• Option B: She puts the money in a Trust. When she dies, the Trust instantly hands the grandson the money with $0 in court fees.
1. Why do wealthy families almost always use Trusts instead of just standard Wills?
Lesson Synthesis
Lesson Synthesis (5 min)
Narrative: Bring the class back to their seats. Review the learning targets. Summarize: "Estate planning is not just for old billionaires. The moment you turn 18, your parents no longer have legal control over your medical decisions. You need a proxy. As you build wealth, you need a will and a trust to protect it from the state."
Cool Down
7.5.4: The 18th Birthday
Narrative: This exit ticket serves as a formative assessment on the necessity of medical directives for young adults.
Teacher Rubric: A successful response must articulate that reaching the age of majority strips parents of automatic medical decision-making rights, making a Health Care Proxy essential even for an 18-year-old with zero financial assets.
Student Facing Task
Student-Facing Task: Mathematically and legally, why is it critical to assign a Health Care Proxy the moment you turn 18, even if you have zero dollars in your bank account?