Insights

Life Insurance and the Taxable Estate
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 ...Read More

The NLRB goes after handbooks . . . again.
With the return of Democrat control of the National Labor Relations Board, the pendulum is swinging back so fast, it might hit some employers on the chin. In particular, the NLRB is undoing many of the changes made by ...Read More

Can’t I Just Get a Simple Postnuptial Agreement?
From time to time, I receive phone calls from potential clients who just want a “simple” postnuptial agreement. Usually, the situation involves an inherited business or other income-producing property—or some other (usually unforeseen) life-changing event that significantly impacts financial ...Read More

Interview Do’s and Don’ts for Employers
There are many areas of a job applicant’s life that a person may be curious about, but an employer should steer clear of. This article identifies some of the questions employers should avoid (Interview Don’ts) and things employers you ...Read More

How to Administer an Estate: The Personal Representative’s Handbook
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 ...Read More

Employees Using THC – Legally? Navigating Employee Drug Testing In The Post-Legalization Era
The Road to Legalization?
The road to our current legal field began with the federal 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the cultivation and sale of hemp at the federal level. Specifically, any hemp containing a maximum of 0.3% THC by ...Read More

Top 5 Compliance Issues for Employers Using H-2A Visa Workers
The H-2A program allows foreign workers to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature in the United States. This program, however, has stringent rules carrying substantial civil and criminal penalties for employers violating the program. ...Read More

Carbon Contract Basics
Carbon markets (either voluntary or mandatory through government regulation) have emerged in recent years as a practical means to use free-market economic principles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate global climate change. In carbon markets, businesses or individuals ...Read More

Minnesota Supreme Court Determines Limbo Creek Can be Regulated as a Public Water
The Minnesota Court Supreme Court recently issued a decision concerning which watercourses in the state could be treated as “public waters” under various state statutes and regulations. The case arose out of a petition to improve Renville County Ditch ...Read More

Public Drainage Projects: Navigating the Legal, Environmental, and Political Challenges
The success of cash crop farming in Minnesota is due in large part to the work our ancestors in this state did to convert wet and even flooded property into dry farmland. Through systems of open ditches and buried ...Read More