An often overlooked component of an estate for the purpose of calculating estate tax are the death benefit of and cash value in a life insurance policy. Even though these benefits may go to a child or other third person designated as a beneficiary ...Read More

 
Introduction
So, you’ve been nominated as a Personal Representative of someone’s estate. Chances are that the estate you’ve been asked to administer belongs to one of your parents. You, as the most responsible (or physically closest) child, want to honor the decedent’s wishes and fairly ...Read More

L ife is full of uncertainties. One essential way to establish a sturdier footing is to maintain an up-to-date estate plan. However, even seemingly-solid testamentary documents (e.g. Wills) that are executed as part of an estate plan may encounter a number of challenges. Some ...Read More

The primary goal of estate planning is to assure the transfer of a decedent\'s property to the beneficiaries of his choice at the smallest possible financial and emotional cost. During the course of a lifetime various types of property are accumulated and many personal ...Read More

Estate planning is often overlooked until it is too late. Our recent article, Where There’s a Will, There’s a…Wait, discusses the negative effects of waiting too long to plan for the future. These include increased expense, court involvement, familial fighting, and your wishes being ...Read More

Medical Assistance, Minnesota’s version of Medicaid, provides more than 600,000 Minnesotans with coverage monthly.  Many of these individuals are seniors.  When looking forward to retirement, it is important to consider future health care needs as well as how such needs will be paid for.  ...Read More

If I asked you to define “estate plan,” you would likely tell me that an estate plan is an arrangement for the distribution of your assets upon death. I would award you 1/3 credit. Truth is, all of my clients are generous, selfless individuals: ...Read More

With the federal estate tax exemption currently at $11.58 million for individuals ($23.16 Million for married couples) and the Minnesota estate tax exemption at $3 million, non-tax considerations generally prevail when selecting a particular trust arrangement for the transfer of wealth from one generation ...Read More

Most people have never heard of Minnesota’s laws of intestate succession. Those who have heard of intestate succession probably don’t know exactly how it works. In essence, the laws of intestate function as a default, statutory will, determining how your property will be distributed ...Read More

Access to a safe deposit box upon death can be accomplished in a number of ways. Commonly, documents such as a will, insurance policies, and burial plan documents may be contained in the contents of a safe deposit box. Access to the safe deposit ...Read More