You remember how proud you felt when your Aunt Emma called to say she’d just updated her will—and named you as her personal representative. It felt like a real vote of confidence. You assumed it would be a simple way to help your family when the time came. But now Aunt Emma has passed away,…

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…

A Minnesota Probate Lawyer Explains Some of Your Options Upon Inheriting a Home When you inherit a house, your primary concern should be figuring out how to secure and maintain the home until you decide what to do with it. Can family or neighbors help? Do you need to install a security system? Can someone…

A Minneapolis Probate Lawyer Discusses the Death of Prince and the Shock Regarding His Estate As you know, music superstar Prince died last week. Yesterday, his sister, Tyka Nelson, filed documents with the probate court stating that he did not have a will. Now what? The court documents listed six siblings or half-siblings as heirs…

A Minneapolis Estate Planning and Probate Lawyer Explains the Power of Owning Property as Joint Tenants One of the numerous ways in which you may transfer real property, or real estate, and avoid probate is through owning the property in joint tenancy. Minnesota has two types of real estate ownership where there are multiple owners….

Do you know which of your assets will go through probate? Many people don’t realize that some property must go through a court process before it can be passed on to heirs. This can cause delays, increase costs, and add stress for loved ones. The good news is that not all assets require probate, and…

  A Minnesota Estate Planning and Probate Lawyer Explains Why You Should Check the Deed to Your Home Common Scenario A client calls and explains that her husband recently passed away and she wants the help of a Minnesota Probate Lawyer because she isn’t sure what to do now. We set a time to meet…

A Minneapolis Estate Planning Lawyer Explains Why You Should Act as Personal Representative Instead of Allowing Someone Else to Do It I have been fielding a lot of calls (multiple a week) from people who had the right to act as the executor (personal representative) for the estate after the death of a loved one….

A Minneapolis Estate Planning Attorney Explains the Pros of Adding Your Spouse to the Deed to Your House Many people erroneously assume that when one spouse dies, the other spouse receives all of the remaining assets; this is often not true and frequently results in unintentional disinheritance of the surviving spouse. In cases where a…

A Minnesota Probate Lawyer Cautions Against Certain Actions When You Act as a Personal Representative (Executor) 1. NEVER distribute estate assets until there has been a full assessment of potential claims against the estate. Minnesota statutes require that probates remain open for at least four months. This gives creditors adequate time to notify the personal…