Modern farming is a business, and it is extremely common to see even small operations owning farmland in a partnership, LLC, corporation or trust. Even so, Minnesota law restricts the ownership of agricultural real estate by business entities and trusts. Who Can Own Minnesota Farmland? Minnesota’s Corporate Farm Law begins with a general prohibition of...

A “lien” is a type of property right that allows a person (the “lienholder”) to take possession of certain property belonging to a debtor if an underlying debt is not paid.  Some liens, such as mortgages and security interests, are voluntary and are created by contracts.  Other liens are involuntary and are created by operation...

I learned early on as a staffing agent (my career before law school) that employee/employer relationships are a lot like dating. From the early-on internet stalking (LinkedIn), to the first date (job interview) to being “in a relationship” (“You’re hired!”), parallels exist at every level. Unfortunately, those parallels extend to breakups, too. And if your...

As I write this in December 2018, the news is being flooded with articles on farm bankruptcies and the looming crisis for farmers and their lenders due to various economic situations outside of each farmer’s control. Farm divorces are estimated to increase. For anyone who has been in or read about the agricultural industry for...

Instead of hiring employees to perform all work on the farm, many pork producers contract with independent contractors to perform certain services.  For example, a pork producer may contract with an independent trucker to transport pigs from a nursery to a finishing barn or from the finishing barn to the packing plant.  Or a pork...

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 box documents may be accomplished in a number of ways; unfortunately,...

Almost every area of finance and business has dramatically changed as a result of the digital revolution. Notarization has not been among them. If a document needed a notarized signature, it required an in-person meeting with a notary public present where the notary watches the person sign the document and then stamps the document with...