If you are a personal representative or an executor of an estate, you should be aware of the legal vehicle that is a Minnesota decree of descent. Decree of Descent in Minnesota In Minnesota, whenever any person has been dead for three or more years and their estate has not been probated, an “interested person” can…
Minnesota Guardians Cannot Terminate Life Support of Wards
Judge Quam of the Hennepin Count District Court, Minnesota, issued a controversial Order today on whether Minnesota guardians can terminate life support. Below is a some of the highlights of the Order: “Minn. Stat. § 524.5-313 grants broad power to guardians to consent to necessary medical treatment on behalf of their wards, but it does…
Minnesota Probate | Opening an Informal Estate
Lawyers in who practice in the area of Minnesota probate have many decisions to make when faced with new estate. The lawyers will meet with the personal representative of the estate and make some initial determinations prior to filing a petition or application with the proper court. The attorney will usually need to determine the…
First Post ! Minnesota Estate Planning & Probate Blog
Hello, for any readers out there, I am excited to announce that I have started a new legal blog about estate planning and probate in Minnesota. I am a lawyer practicing estate planning and probate lawyer in Minnesota. I enjoy the work and I am excited about creating helpful posts for people who may…
Estate Planning in Minnesota | Do you need a Will or a Trust?
Many couples have asked me to do some basic Minnesota estate planning for them. My response is usually, ok, what kind of estate planning do you think you want done? Although I get many answers to that question, there are similarities that arise time-and-again. For instance, today, a client asked me to draft a Will,…
Minnesota Uniform Probate Code
Probate law is a function of state governments. A Minnesota probate lawyer will tell you that this means that there is little or no federal law related to probate administration. There is law related to federal taxation, yes. However, state law governs the actual probate proceedings. The statutory authority for probate administration in Minnesota is…
Minnesota Probate Attorneys Fees, Burden of Proof
In an interesting case out of Minnesota, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court order denying an attorney’s submission of his total attorney fees in a high conflict probate proceeding. In the case of In re Estate of Mary Ann Reiman, A11-203 (Minn.App. 01/03/12)(unpublished), the appeals court…
What is probate?
As an estate planning lawyer, I have been asked “what is probate” on more than one occassion. I’ve also tried to answer that question on this blog. Probate is the process by which the instructions contained in a person’s Will are administered in the court system. It is not something to be scared of. It is…
Estate Planning | What to do with an inheritance
Disclaimer: this article and all content related to it will not be able to tell you what to do with your inheritance. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I would hope that any person who has inherited a large (or even small) amount of money had a plan for what they want…
Estate Planning | When Your Estate Planning Lawyer is Stealing From You
As an estate planning lawyer, I know that ethics are very important. I take my duties to my client very seriously. I know that I am in a position of power and that with power comes great responsibility. Go read the Bible, read Shakespeare. It is all in there. So, when I read article about…