A Minnesota Probate Attorney Explains What It Means To Open A Probate If a loved one dies, you quickly learn your ability to handle the decedent’s assets is limited. Financial institutions will tell you to give them “letters” proving your authority to act. You obtain that authority by filing a petition with the Probate Court….
Continue reading…Minnesota Probate Series, Part 1: Do You Need a Probate?
A Minnesota Probate Lawyer Explains When A Probate is Necessary in Minnesota. I receive a lot of calls asking how to handle matters after someone dies. So, I am posting a series to assist you with handling things for someone who has died. The first step is to determine whether you need to open a…
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Does an Estate Executor Get Paid?
Minnesota Probate Attorney Explains Compensation for a Personal Representative (Executor) You’re having dinner with your brother when he suddenly says. “I need to ask you a favor. Will you be the executor for me if I die.” Naturally, you respond with “Don’t be silly. You’re not going to die” to which he responds “Sis. I’m…
Continue reading…Probate and the Personal Representative, A Series: Part IV, Does the Personal Representative Fee Get Taxed?
A Minnesota Probate Attorney Verifies That Payments to Compensate a Personal Representative (Executor) Are Taxable You agree to act as the Personal Representative of your sister’s Estate. After a few months you realize that serving as her personal representative takes a lot of time. You have to take time off work to clean out her…
Continue reading…Probate and the Personal Representative, A Series: Part III, Does the Personal Representative Get Paid?
Minnesota Probate Attorney Explains Compensation for a Personal Representative Your sister asks if you will act the personal representative for her estate if anything happens to her. She passes away and you are now faced with having to navigate the legal minefield of probate. Can you get paid for handling these matters? Yes you can!…
Continue reading…Probate and the Personal Representative, A Series: Part Ii, Probate Fees and Costs
A Minneapolis Probate Attorney Explains the Fees Associated with Handling a Probate In Part I of this series, I explained who is responsible for paying the fees to open up a probate. Now I will turn to the types of expenses involved in a probate. • Court Fees These fees are dictated by Minnesota law and…
Continue reading…Probate and the Personal Representative, A Series: Part I, Paying for the Probate
Minnesota Probate Lawyer Explains Who Is Responsible for Paying Probate Fees Recently, a client came to me to help her handle her father’s estate. Dad had been sick for many years and attempted to plan as orderly a transition as possible after his death. He had a will drafted by an attorney and discussed his…
Continue reading…What Do You Need to Know About Probate?
If you have ever considered or participated in estate planning, the term “probate” has likely come up. What is probate and why is it important? Is probate helpful or harmful to your estate planning? Read on to learn more. Simply put, probate is the legal process by which a person’s property is transferred to recipients…
Continue reading…The Will Names You As A Minnesota Personal Representative (Executor), Now What?
A Minneapolis Probate Lawyer Helps You Understand the Responsibilities of Being a Personal Representative (Executor) for an Estate You remember so clearly how proud you were when you received the telephone call from your Aunt Emma! She gleefully told you that she just had a new will prepared and named you as the Personal Representative….
Continue reading…Who Owns Your Home?
A Minnesota Estate Planning Lawyer Urges You to Verify Who Is On Your Deed. Betty calls me because her husband, John, recently passed away and she needs help on what she should do now. We meet and I discover that John had a will leaving everything to Betty. Betty explains that their home is jointly…
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