The facilitated process to determine the documents necessary to convey your wishes based on your objectives, property, assets, and family.

WILL

A will or estate plan conveys your wishes for who will care for your minor children and how your money, property, and personal belongings will be distributed after your death or incapacitation. Reviewing your estate plan regularly is crucial as laws change and as life situations change.

ESTATE & GIFT TAX PLANNING

Gifting assets to others can be a valuable tool in estate planning and can help reduce your taxable estate.

In Minnesota, gifting may eliminate the need to probate your estate by making a small estate even smaller; and may allow you to transfer taxobligations to your children who may be in a lower tax bracket, provide for a favorite charity or provide help to others.

By giving assets away before you die, you also get to see the recipient enjoy your generosity.

REVOCABLE & IRREVOCABLE TRUST

Establishing a trust allows for more specific instructions on how you want assets, or a specific asset, managed and/or distributed, and some trusts can even be implemented before death. Depending on your situation and wishes, there are several types of trust to consider: contingent will trust, revocable trust, irrevocable trust, charitable trust, special needs trust, and more.

BENEFICIARY PLANNING

Creating or updating beneficiaries on plans such as life insurance, IRAs, and 401(k)s

HEALTHCARE DIRECTIVE

Healthcare agents, Living Will, Do Not Resuscitate Order, Medical Power of Attorney, Physician Order, are directives that some people also consider at the time of establishing a will, but may also be added as components later. Understanding each directive and its implications is important so that decisions can be made in a timely and planful manner.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Designating someone who can legally act on your behalf can be customized to fit various situations, duration, and conditions. Clearly stating the range of authority is important as is knowing when and how to revoke the authority. Contact our firm to execute the proper documents customized to your specific circumstances or to revoke current authorizations.

Court process to ensure that an estate is properly settled and all property is distributed to beneficiaries.

AVOIDING PROBATE

There are some strategies and provisions to include in your estate planning documents to ensure that all, or some, of your assets and property passes directly to your heirs, without going through probate court. A skilled estate planning attorney will take into consideration the size of the estate and review options such as: estate gifting, establishing a living trust, joint property ownership, and other strategies to avoid probate if possible.

PROBATE PROCEEDINGS

Every state has different rules regulating the probate process and every county conducts their probate proceedings differently. In Minnesota, small estates with little-to-no property may not have to go through the probate process. The estate attorney can review information about the estate, include documents such as a will or trust when available, to determine how to proceed with probate or estate administration.

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE, EXECUTOR, TRUSTEE

People nominated or appointed as the personal representative, executor, or trustee of someone’s estate often hire an estate attorney to assist them in the probate proceedings and/or estate administration duties.

TESTATE or INTESTATE

If there is a will (testate), the probate process may be a little simpler, especially if the deceased named someone they know to be the estate administrator or executor. If there is no will (intestate), the court will assign a person or entity to be the estate administrator/executor and take on the role of settling the estate.

INFORMAL PROBATE

An informal probate proceeding usually involves filing paperwork with the court, having the court appoint someone to manage the estate (estate administration). There may or may not be any required hearings for an informal probate proceeding.

FORMAL PROBATE

In other instances, such as when a will is disputed, a formal probate proceeding may be required which involves more court oversight and usually requires one or more court hearings.Item description

Agreements addressing the rights of parties and the handling of income, assets, & debts in the event of divorce.

PRENUPTIAL (ANTENUPTIAL) AGREEMENT

Negotiating and drafting a prenuptial (before marriage) or postnuptial (after marriage) agreement to to define the respective rights of the parties in the event of a divorce; a plan to define how both parties will handle income during the marriage, how to define marital and non-marital assets that are acquired during the marriage and to clarify how debts are paid during the marriage and how those debts will be characterized.

Furthermore, a nuptial agreement can determine the rights of each spouse if one of them dies. (Minnesota law states that one spouse may not deprive the other of their marital share in a will, but a spouse may waive their marital share within a prenuptial agreement.)

With an enforceable nuptial agreement in place, many conflicts can be avoided.

ENFORCEMENT

When a prenuptial agreement is properly created, Minnesota courts can enforce them. However, a nuptial agreement can only be enforceable if they adhere to certain criteria, which can be reviewed during the initial telephone or in-person consultation with one of our attorneys.

ESTATE PLANNING COORDINATION

Following the establishment of the nuptial agreement, estate planning documents should be drafted or updated to coordinate terms and agreements in the event of your death or incapacitation.