From the category archives:

Practice Tips

Save time: Press 1 to get through to Hennepin County Probate Court

July 8, 2009

Time is money and your clients expect you to be efficient. So when you call Hennepin County Probate Court (612-348-3244), it can be frustrating to have to wait through the automated message.
Get through quick: press 1 as soon as you hear the message and you’ll be directed to the staff.

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How to list a post-deceased heir on the probate petition

July 6, 2009

The probate petition requires the petitioner to list heirs of the estate and state whether the heir has survived the decedent by at least 120 hours.
But how should you list an heir who survives the decedent by at least 120 hours, but dies prior to the filing of the petition?
In Hennepin County, list the heir [...]

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Probate fees increase today

July 1, 2009

Under new laws signed in May, court fees increase today (July 1, 2009) as follows:

Probate filing fees increase $70. For Hennepin County, this means the filing fee is now $322. For Ramsey County and Anoka County (and many other counties), the filing fee is now $320.
Plain copies increase from $5 to $8.
Certified copies increase from [...]

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Update: Effective date for Affidavit of Collection is August 1

June 18, 2009

There has been some confusion in the Minnesota probate sphere concerning the effective date for the new asset limit for the Affidavit of Collection process.
For a recap of the issues, see here and here.
Multiple sources have confirmed that the effective date is 12:01 a.m. on August 1st and that the new asset limit is not [...]

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Small is now bigger, but dangers abound: Changes to Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property

May 26, 2009

“Small” is now bigger thanks to Governor Pawlenty’s approval of H.F. 265. The new law makes changes to Minnesota’s probate code.
Among other things, the bill revised Minn. Stat. 524.3-1201, the procedure for collecting personal property of a decedent by affidavit. Changes to this statute include:

The asset limit increases from $20,000 to $50,000.
The successor no [...]

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Proof of death required for Hennepin County informal probates

April 28, 2009

One of the unique requirements to open an informal probate in Hennepin County is that proof of death of the decedent must be presented at the appointment with the registrar.
Examples of acceptable “proof of death” documents include:

Death certificate
Obituary notice from a newspaper
Funeral receipt

Evidently, other forms of proof of death are also permissible. For example, I’ve [...]

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Transfer on death deed article: Download now available

April 9, 2009

My article on Minnesota’s Transfer on Death Deed laws published by Bench & Bar Magazine is now available for download.
Download “A New Tool for Estate Planners: Minnesota’s Transfer on Death Deed“.
The web version is available on the Minnesota State Bar Association’s website.

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Never do this in a formal, supervised probate

April 9, 2009

Every probate seems like it has a thousand moving parts to keep track of and it can be easy to overlook things. But here’s one thing you definitely don’t want to overlook in a formal, supervised probate:
Never make a distribution of the probate assets to heir or devisees without a court order. See Minn. [...]

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Five things personal representatives should never do

April 1, 2009

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 representative of potential claims. Distributing assets before the expiration of this four-month creditors’ claims period opens [...]

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Get date of death values for stocks the easy way

March 10, 2009

Obtaining date of death values of publicly traded stocks for probate and tax purposes can be laborious.
The proper valuation method is to average the high and the low selling price on the date of death. If the decedent died on a weekend or a day the markets weren’t open, you obtain the high-low average [...]

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