Practice Tips

Nominated vs. Appointed – An Analogy

November 19, 2008

As I indicated before, clients often have difficulty understanding the difference between being nominated the personal representative in the Will versus being appointed. Here’s an analogy to explain the difference: It is like the difference between a person being nominated by their political party to be president versus being elected president. Until you are elected, [...]

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Bonds: Default Rule

November 17, 2008

The default rule for whether bond is required in a probate is fairly simple: bond is required in formal proceedings, but not required in informal proceedings. There are, of course, exceptions. No bond is required in a formal proceeding whenever (1) the will indicates that no bond is required of the personal representative; or (2) [...]

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Alternate Valuation in a Down Economy

November 12, 2008

When preparing estate tax returns in a down economy, it is important to remember that an election for alternate valuation may be available. Essentially, alternate valuation means that the estate’s property is valued on the date 6 months after the date of death. As a result, the estate may pay less in estate taxes. Keep [...]

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Letters Testamentary or Letters of General Administration?

October 29, 2008

The document that evidences that a person has been appointed by the Court to be the personal representative of an estate is called either the Letters Testamentary or Letters of General Administration. Which document is appropriate depends on whether the decedent died with or without a Will. Letters of General Administration issue whenever the decedent [...]

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Changes to Formals in Hennepin County

October 27, 2008

As I reported earlier, Hennepin County Probate is no longer arranging for publication of the notice in informal probates. I learned today that the Court will also no longer arrange for publication of the notice in formal probates. So far, there has been no indication from the Court as to how this will work procedurally. [...]

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Notice of Hearing: Lost Will

October 21, 2008

When probating a lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable Will, remember to include a statement to that effect in the notice of the initial hearing as mandated by 524.3-403(a) of the Minnesota Probate Code. The best practice is to include language indicating the status of the Will throughout the notice. For example, if the Will has [...]

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Nominated vs. Appointed

October 16, 2008

Here’s a story I hear frequently from new clients: Mom passes away leaving Son as the only surviving family member. She had a Will leaving everything to Son and nominating him as the personal representative. Son knows that Mom has a bank account and goes to the bank to collect the funds. He brings with [...]

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Changes to Informals in Hennepin County

October 13, 2008

Hennepin County Probate is no longer arranging for publication of the notice in informal probates. According to a special edition of the Probate In Common Form newsletter, beginning November 1, 2008, attorney applicants “will be entirely responsible for the preparation of the informal probate notice and arranging for publication of the informal notice.” The attorney [...]

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Estate Tax Return Deadline Checklist

October 10, 2008

Tracking deadlines is especially important when working on estate tax returns since interest and penalties can really add up if a deadline is missed. Estate tax returns often take quite a long time to prepare. If you have multiple returns you are working on, it can be difficult to remember where you are at with [...]

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Probate Code Reading Plan

October 6, 2008

The best way to understand Minnesota’s probate code is to read it. I’ve created a probate code reading plan that helps me systematically read through the entire code about once a year. Doing so keeps the statutes fresh in my mind. I’ve heard that one of the judges in the metro area has said that [...]

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