Biography
Professor Stephanie J. Willbanks is an expert in federal transfer taxation, income taxation, probate, intestacy, wills and trusts. The courses she has taught at Vermont Law School include Business Taxation, Estate and Gift Taxation, Estate Planning, Estates, Income Taxation, Tax Policy, and Torts. She is the author of "Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers: Cases and Problems" as well as "Federal Estate and Gift Taxation: Quick Review".
Professor Willbanks received her BA degree, magna cum laude, in 1972 and her JD degree, magna cum laude, in 1978, both from the University of Minnesota. After graduation from law school, she clerked for the Honorable Rosalie E. Wahl of the Minnesota Supreme Court. She then practiced law for two years with the firm Henson & Efron PA in Minneapolis before joining the VLS faculty in 1981. In 1986, she became the first female faculty member to receive tenure at VLS. She served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1989 to 1994 and from 1997 to 2002, as Vice Dean for Academic Affairs from 2005 to 2009, as Vice Dean for Administration and Student Affairs from 2014 to 2017, and as Vice Dean for Faculty from 2017 to 2018. She also served as Director of Academic Technology from 2002 to 2005.
Professor Willbanks is an academic fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Counsel (ACTEC), a member of the American Law Institute, and a commissioner on the Uniform Law Commission. She served as reporter to the Vermont Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Rules of Probate Procedure from 1998 to 2005. She served on the Association of American Law Schools' Membership Review Committee from 2004 to 2006 and on numerous accreditation teams for the ABA and AALS. She served as the Consultant on Membership Review for the AALS from 2010 to 2017. She has presented lectures on estate planning and tax reform at numerous seminars and has served on a number of commissions in the state of Vermont, including the Vermont State Commission on Tax Policy and the Governor's Commission on Property Tax Reform. She has also served as a member of the Vermont Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Judicial Education, the Vermont Supreme Court's Judicial Performance Review Committee, and the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board.
Publications
Books
Federal Estate and Gift Taxation: QuickReview (4th edition, West Academic Publishing Co. 2023).
Teacher's Manual: Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers (5th edition, Wolters Kluwer Publishers 2024).
Federal Taxation of Wealth Transfers: Cases and Problems (5th edition, Wolters Kluwer Publishers 2024).
Articles
Gifts in Contemplation of Death: Why Can’t Section 2035 Simply Die? 45 ACTEC L.J. 201 (2020)
What's in a Name? Would a Rose by Any Other Name Really Smell as Sweet? 63 J. Leg. Ed. 647 (2014).
Taxing Once, Taxing Twice, Taxing Joint Tenants (Again) at Death Isn't Nice, 9 U. Pitt. Tax Rev. 1 (2011).
Chapters
Law as a Crossword Puzzle, reprinted in Techniques for Teaching Law 2, edited by Gerald F. Hess, Steven I. Friedland, Michael Hunger Schwartz, and Sophie Sparrow (Carolina Academic Press 2011).
Legal Advocacy
Presentations
Distance Education in Law Schools: Exploring Issues and Best Practices, AALS Annual Meeting, January 2018
The ABA Site Inspection Process - The Role of the Association of American Law Schools, and Writing the Faculty Section of the Report, AALS Annual Meeting, October 2010, October 2011, October 2012, October 2013, September 2014, October 2015.
Awards & Accomplishments
Affiliations
Academic Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel: 2009-present
Fellow, American Bar Foundation: 2011-present
Member, American Law Institute: 2010-present
Member, Uniform Law Commission: 2001-present
Member, American Bar Association: 1978-present
Associate Member, Vermont Bar Association: 1981-2024
Consultant, Membership Review, Association of American Law Schools: 2010 - 2017
Member, Vermont Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Education: 1993-2001
Service Work
Testimony before the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee on H.436 (The Uniform Recognition of Wills Act), March and April 2019.
Association of American Law Schools Site Inspection Team Member: 1992-2018
Testimony before the Vermont Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee on H.23 (The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act), January and April 2015
Testimony before the Vermont House Ways and Means Committee on H.79 (The Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protected Persons Jurisdiction Act), January 2011.
American Bar Association Law School Administration Committee: 2008-2010
American Bar Association Site Inspection Team Member: 1992-2010
Member, Association of American Law Schools Membership Review Committee: 2004-2006
Reporter to the Vermont Probate Rules Committee: 1998-2005
Member, Vermont State Commission on Tax Policy: 1986
Member, Tri-State Task Force on Bar Admissions: 1994-2002
Advised State of Vermont on tax policy as member of Vermont State Commission on Tax Policy: 1986
Member, Vermont Supreme Court Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board: 1990-2002, and Chair: 1991-1994
Member, Vermont Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Performance Review: 1993-2003
Member, Governor's Commission on Property Tax Reform: 1988
Awards, Honors or Grants
Teacher of the Year Award: 1984, 1987, 2012, and 2018.
Vermont Law School Women’s Law Group Phenomenal Woman Award, 2008 and 2012
Other Accomplishments or Activities
First female faculty member to receive tenure, Vermont Law School, 1986