After 20 years on the bench as one of Hennepin County’s probate referees, Bruce Kruger is retiring. Today, the court sent an announcement of his upcoming retirement party for attorneys and colleagues. The party is scheduled for July 30th from noon to 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 457. No RSVP is required.

Earlier this year, Hennepin County was seeking to fill two, part-time referee positions. Perhaps this news is the reason.

Referee Kruger will be missed. I found him to be tough, but fair. Whenever I had a probate with feuding relatives, I was always glad to draw Kruger at the hearing. He would get to the core of the matter and had no tolerance for petty bickering that so often accompanies family feuds.

Though his demeanor in the courtroom could be gruff at times, I’ve found him to be personable. Once I met him in his chambers along with opposing counsel for a pretrial hearing. He swiftly guided us to a resolution and then he spent at least another 30 minutes just shooting the breeze with us. If I recall correctly, we talked about fishing, sports, and a few probate “war stories.” He didn’t seem to be in a hurry and, as a younger attorney, I relished the opportunity to get to know a referee whom I appeared before frequently. It seemed the chat would have lasted even longer, but the opposing counsel was in a hurry to go somewhere.

On another occasion in his courtroom for an initial formal hearing, Referee Kruger asked my client whether the decedent’s will had a “written list.” The client responded that, yes, there was a written list. This was news to me since I had never seen it. Obviously, Kruger wanted the written list and the client responded that it was at home. With the signing of the Order appointing my client as the PR suspended, my client and I went out into the hallway to discuss this written list that I hadn’t seen. I discovered that she had misunderstood the question and thought Kruger was referring to “the written list” of inventory of all the decedent’s belongings that my client had prepared. I sheepishly led my client back into the courtroom to correct the record, expecting that somehow I’d be reamed for it as I had seen another judge do in a certain county to the north. To my surprise, Kruger was gracious and thanked us for coming back in to correct the record so quickly. We were thankful as well, since the Order wouldn’t have issued without it.

Minnesota attorneys should be aware of new probate and trust law legislation recently signed into law. I have listed the highlights of the new laws on a guest post over at the Practice Law Blawg.

Additionally, in the post, I’ve listed 5 ways you can prepare for the most important (and potentially controversial) provisions of the new laws– those redefining the scope of parent-child relationships.

As an aside: the MSBA’s Practice Blawg frequently has posts of interest even to out-of-state attorneys. Make sure you check out this blog and consider adding it to your blog reader.

Want the opportunity to write for the Minnesota Estate Law Blog and have the chance to be read by the hundreds of readers who visit this blog each month?

The 36th Annual Probate and Trust Law Conference put on by Minnesota CLE is coming up June 7th through the 8th. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend this year. If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you might remember that last year I “live-tweeted” the conference and wrote a review of the conference after it was done.

Since I can’t make it, I’m looking for people who are going to the conference who want to write mini-reviews. These reviews could be about one particular session, a plenary session, the whole conference, or whatever. They don’t have to be long posts– shorter is better.

So if you are a Minnesota attorney, are going to the conference, and want to submit reviews during or after the conference, just contact me via my web-form to let me know. I’ll send you more details by email prior to the conference. Any post or posts you write that are included on the blog will feature your name, firm, and a link back to your own website or your contact information (whatever you choose).

I look forward to hearing from you.

Hennepin County has announced the need to fill two, part-time referee positions in the probate/mental-health division. Find out more and how to apply here.

Alonna Warns, one of Hennepin County’s Registrars, released today the latest issue of her newsletter, “Probate In Common.” In this issue (Vol. 7:1), she covers the following topics:

• Probates for Non-resident decedents
• Issues related to the Notice to Commissioner
• Dismissed Orders
• Common mistakes on Informal Applications

If you practice probate in Hennepin County, this newsletter is a must-read. It is distributed by email. To get on the email list, contact Alonna. I don’t know if this is still true or not, but in the past she had a few rules regarding getting on the list: non-attorneys/law firms were not allowed; only one email recipient per firm; and the email must go to a probate paralegal, unless a firm doesn’t have a paralegal– then it can go to an attorney.

Many of the back issues are eventually available for download here.

Even if you don’t practice in Hennepin County, you’ll want to download the back issues since they contain helpful tips regarding probate procedures in general, even if the information is mostly specific only to Hennepin County.

The Minnesota chapter of the National Healthcare Decision Day is trying to spread the word about all the events planned for April 16th. Check out the information on their website: www.mnhealthcaredecisions.info and consider getting involved.

I read an email from a probate attorney recently that said something like, “The decedent met his demise on March 1, 2010.” My mouth dropped open.

Met his demise?

Never use that phrase– it’s like probate attorney profanity in the ears of sensitive clients. It’s one of those phrases that has such an insensitive edge to it that it just never should be used– even when talking with other attorneys. It could be absolutely disastrous with client relations if you used it in the presence of someone who knew the decedent.

What phrase should you use when talking about someone who has died, particularly in the presence of family members? I’ve found that the phrase that works best and seems to have the softest edge to it is “passed away.” Just saying “died” is ok too.

So eliminate “met his/her demise” from your vocabulary and use something else.

What phrase do you use? Let us know in the comments.

This post is Part 5 of the series, How to Grow a Probate Practice.

In this, our final post in the “How to Grow a Probate Practice” series, I want to make a simple point. Don’t be a lone-ranger probate attorney. Though the probate process is fairly routine once you learn it, every estate has its own set of unique problems. This makes practicing probate interesting and even fun if you like challenges. But it also means that there will constantly be issues you address that will be new to you. The statutes are helpful. So always start there when you can’t find the answer (remember to be systematically reading through the probate code each year).

However, there are a lot of practical issues you’ll face that aren’t covered by the statues, such as:

• Should you allow the personal representative to keep the estate’s checkbook, or should you require the personal representative to come to your office to write checks?
• Should you require a retainer?
• How do you obtain the estate’s tax identification number?
• What if you have an estate’s house that can’t sell?

For issues like these, you need to have a network of probate attorneys to talk with. You should already be forming this network as you market your business (see post #2aof this series). I’ve even heard of one group of newer estate attorneys who get together every week or two for coffee with the purpose of discussing estate-related issues and sharing insights. Form your own group and get started. Everyone will benefit.

Lastly, join the estate and solosmall listserves sponsored by the MSBA. Read everything that comes across the estate listserv and pay attention to the solosmall listserv. I think they are the best benefit to belonging to the MSBA. Ask your tech person how to save and search all the emails that come through the listserves (perhaps through Google Desktop). This way, you’ll be able to access previous discussions on the listserves as they become relevant to you.

…………………..

So that ends our series. I’ve shared my insights on how I grew my own probate practice. Follow these tips and you’ll grow your practice too. You can do it just like I did. The key, like so many things, is to be consistent and persistent in what you do. A burst of networking lunches, for example, won’t cut it. Make a plan to accomplish one task each week related to growing your practice and stick to it. If you can do 2 or 3 tasks each week, great. But start with 1.

As you get started in putting these tips into practice, let me know how it goes either in the comments or by email. Perhaps I’ll feature your thoughts in future blog posts.

Be watching next week soon for when I post an e-book version of this series so that you can easily download, print, and share.

This is a bonus post in the series, How to Grow a Probate Practice.

Cross-Marketing

In the second post in this series, I explained that getting referrals was the key to making your phone ring with new probate business. I went on to explain how to get referrals.

Aside from referrals, there is another strategy to make your phone ring that bears mentioning. If you do enough wills and trusts over the years, you will eventually get a steady stream of probates (or trust administrations) coming in. Survivors of the decedent almost always contact the attorney who did the will or trust first. I’ve even had clients who thought that only the attorney who drafted the will could do the probate.

Over time you should develop an estate planning practice along with your probate practice. Long-term, this is perhaps the best strategy to make your phone ring with probate. Yet, even in the short-term, you will likely get some business from it.

Therefore, developing an estate planning practice is an effective longer-term strategy and one that you should do. But in the near-term, focus on building up your referrals if you aren’t already doing estate planning.

This is a bonus post in the series, How to Grow a Probate Practice.

In anticipation of our final post in this series, I’m reposting the follow from September 21, 2009.

How to set up your probate file

Probate cases can be complex and extend over a long period of time, so keeping an organized case file is a must.

Over the years, I’ve refined my case file system in a way that works for me and our staff and helps keep things organized and on track. When a new case is opened, I want a physical case file that is set up in the same way as my other cases so that I can quickly find things I need. At minimum, I have the following folders created and placed in an accordion file folder:

• Probate Filings. On the left, inside flap I keep a checklist of deadlines of the various stages of the probate and key facts about the probate, such as the estate’s name, the date of death, the venue (county), the court file number, whether the probate is testate/intestate, formal/informal, and the PR’s name, address, phone number, and relation to the decedent. On the right side I keep copies of documents filed with the court and sent to interested parties, such as a copy of the Will, the petition/application, notices, the inventory, the final account, and the statement to close
• Attorney Notes Notes and research items.
• Correspondence. Letters and important emails. Copies of enclosures and attachments are also kept here.
• Initial Documents. There is probably a better name for this, but I use it for things like the death certificate and miscellaneous documents a client may give me at the first office conference. I usually keep our client intake questionnaire here too.
• Inventory/Final Account. I keep the finalized Inventory and Final Account in the Probate Filings folder, but I store statements, appraisals, and other miscellaneous documents used to draft them here. This folder is often broken down into multiple folders for estates with a number of assets and expenses.
• Real Estate. Because there is usually a lot of paperwork associated with real estate, I keep a separate folder for this asset category. I include purchase agreements, appraisals, deeds, and closing documents in it. If there is more than one piece of property, I may keep separate folders for each parcel.
• Bank Account. We often help clients establish the estate’s checking account. Forms related to this are kept here as well as statements, and perhaps the checkbook ledger and checkbook.
• Creditors Claims. As claims come in, I make a list of the claims and keep it on the left-hand side along with deadlines. Supporting documents are kept on the right-hand side.
• Originals. All original documents go here, such as certified copies and originals of documents served, but not filed with the court (e.g. inventory).
• Tax. At minimum, I keep copies of Form SS-4 and the tax identification number here. If our firm is preparing the estate’s income tax returns, I keep information here until I’m ready to work on it . If we are doing an estate tax return, I open an entirely new file because of the volume of information that I’ll acquire.

Finally, if there is something that is urgent that I’m working on, I keep relevant notes and documents in a bright red folder that I drop down in the file folder. This makes it easy to grab, especially when you’ve left someone a message and they are returning your phone call.