Consumer Transactions, Health, and Estates

This unit integrates consumer-facing areas of law: residential real estate transactions, health and elder-care rights and financing, estate and end-of-life planning, and basic criminal law protections. Building on foundational legal concepts from earlier units, students will apply legal procedures and decision-making tools to real-world scenarios in preparation for capstone projects and advanced pathway work.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the legal steps, stakeholder roles, and consumer protections involved in residential real estate transactions, including working with agents/brokers, mortgage options, inspections, and closing procedures
• Evaluate health-care rights, financing strategies, and care options for adults and seniors—such as patient decision-making authority, Medicare, insurance, long-term care, and medical malpractice—when advising or planning for clients
• Apply estate planning principles and documents (wills, living wills, durable powers of attorney, alternatives to wills, tax considerations, and funeral planning) to draft a basic, legally-informed estate plan for a hypothetical client
• Demonstrate understanding of criminal law fundamentals—definitions and types of crimes, arrest procedures, and trial rights—and assess how criminal issues can impact consumer, health, and estate decisions