A Minnesota Probate Attorney Explains That Fees Received for Acting as a Personal Representative (Executor) Are Taxable Serving as a personal representative takes a lot of time. As a result, some personal representatives consider charging the estate for their time as permitted under Minnesota law. As appealing as that can be, the attorney should help…

Minnesota Probate Attorney Explains Compensation for a Personal Representative  You are nominated as a personal representative to handle someone’s estate. Can you get paid for handling these matters? In a word, yes. Your fee is dictated by Minnesota probate law. Unfortunately, Minnesota law doesn’t provide much guidance as the probate law simply says, “[a] personal…

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 start a probate. This post discusses the different types of fees involved. • Court Fees These fees are dictated by Minnesota probate law and cover the court filing…

Minnesota Probate Lawyer Explains Who Is Responsible for Paying Probate Fees Recently, a client came to me to assist her with handling her mother’s estate. Her mother was sick for many years and had taken the time to plan as orderly a transition as possible after her death. She had a will drafted by an…

Minneapolis Probate Lawyer: What is Probate? I often explain to people that I am a “probate lawyer” only to be met with a blank stare.  Occasionally, the statement “I don’t know what that means” will accompany the blank stare. So, I decided to draft a series of posts under the “Probate” heading that will offer…

A Minnesota Probate Attorney Covers the Different Proceedings Available to Handle an Estate As discussed in my prior post, the personal representative starts a probate proceeding by filing an application or petition with the probate court.  But, prior to commencing probate, the personal representative must make a decision on what type of probate process to…

As discussed in prior posts, your estate may be distributed in a court proceeding known as probate. Under Minnesota law the personal representative must send notice of the probate proceeding “interested persons.” Who is an interested person? ?In Minnesota, interested persons are defined as “heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries and any others having a…

Probate is the legal process of settling your estate – paying your debts and distributing your property – after you die.  If you have a will then you should have appointed a personal representative to be responsible for handling all the matters of your estate.  But, if you did not have a will, or failed…