Bridget J. Crawford (Pace University School of Law) recently published Freedom, Fairness, and Family: U.S. Perspectives on Aotearoa New Zealand’s Law Reform and Comparative Succession Law, 2026. Provided below is the Abstract:
This Essay offers a comparative and pedagogical perspective on Aotearoa New Zealand’s recent succession law reform proposals. Drawing on anonymized examination responses from students enrolled in a Trusts and Estates course, where students consented to the use of their work on an anonymous basis, the Essay presents students’ evaluations of two reform options proposed by the New Zealand Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission: a broad discretionary regime permitting claims by adult children and grandchildren, and a narrower regime limited to disabled children or children under the age of 25. The students’ explorations reveal persistent tensions between testamentary freedom and family obligation, as well as particular skepticism toward open-ended judicial discretion shaped by U.S. institutional experience. While not advancing a substantive reform proposal, the Essay contributes to comparative succession law scholarship by illuminating how U.S. legal culture, institutional design, and training shape attitudes toward family provision, and by reflecting on the value of comparative pedagogy in teaching succession law.