Minneapolis Estate Planning Attorney Discusses Bringing A Child to Your Estate Planning Meeting with A Lawyer You’re ready to final your estate plan.  You’ve decided who gets your assets: your daughter Emma gets the cabin and song Steven the condo. You know that you want to remain in your home as long as possible and…

Minnesota Estate Planning Lawyer Discusses the Issues with Leaving a Timeshare to a Beneficiary  Many of us have been lucky enough to acquire timeshares for the purposes of vacationing on our time off.  Some of us would like to leave these assets to our loved ones.  If you have a time share, you might be…

A Minneapolis Estate Planning Lawyer Defines a Successor Trustee and Explains Why You Should Have One You did everything right. You sat down with a lawyer, paid her to draft your estate plan, created a living trust and named each other as trustees. But, the unthinkable happened and your spouse died before you did. You…

A Minneapolis Estate Planning and Probate Attorney Talks About the Process of Removing of a Trustee In creating a trust, the trustmaker must name a trustee who has the legal obligation to administer it in accordance with the trustmaker’s wishes and intentions. In some cases, after the passing of the trustmaker, loved ones or beneficiaries…

What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind—and how easy do you want it to be for your loved ones to carry out your wishes? When it comes to estate planning, trusts are often an effective way to pass on assets and protect your family’s future. However, not all trusts work the same…

A Pooled Income Trust is a special type of trust that allows individuals of any age (typically over 65) to become financially eligible for public assistance benefits (such as Medicaid home care and Supplemental Security Income), while preserving their monthly income in trust for living expenses and supplemental needs. All income received by the beneficiary…

A Minneapolis Estate Planning Attorney Answers the question: What Does the Term “Funding the Trust” Mean?   If you are about to begin the estate planning process, you have likely heard the term “funding the trust” thrown around a great deal. What does this mean? And what will happen if you fail to fund the…

Problem #1: Choosing the wrong trustee. Many people believe that you must name your bank as your trustee, but this is not the case. You act as your own trustee (if you are married, your spouse can serve as a co-trustee) during your lifetime so you continue to manage and invest your assets, just as…

Misconception #1: A Will avoids probate.  No.  A Will is the primary tool of the probate system. Your Will is like a letter to the Court telling the Court how you want your property distributed.  Then you must make sure that you prove to the Court that all your property is collected and appraised, and…

Preventing a Will Contest & Preserving Peace in the Family The purpose of writing a Last Will and Testament is to make sure that you – and not an anonymous probate court judge – have control over the distribution of your property after your death.  If one or more family members disputes the instructions in…