Estate Planning
Estate Planning Attorney Located in Lakeville and Serving Hennepin County, Ramsey County, and the Twin Cities Metro Area
A basic estate plan should include the following documents:
For individuals who have significant wealth, additional estate planning documents and tools can be incorporated into the basic estate plan, such as an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, a Charitable Trust, and/or gift planning. These additional estate planning techniques are complex and highly personalized, so they are not included in this discussion of Estate Planning Basics.
Ward Law, PLLC helps small businesses with their everyday legal needs, from forming corporations and limited liability companies to negotiating and drafting contracts including employment agreements, non-compete and confidentiality agreements, leases, licenses, and buy/sell agreements. I can also help you protect your intellectual property rights in trade names, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. In order to help you grow your business, I can work with you to provide regular consulting services to help you plan for, and deal with, business issues before they arise
Maintaining all business formalities is critical to limiting your personal liability. Ward Law, PLLC will guide you through the formation process and a variety of related matters, including:
- Sole proprietorships
- Limited liability companies (LLC)
- Partnerships
- C corporations
- S corporations
- Limited liability partnerships
- Buy/sell agreements
- Partnership agreements
- Member control agreements
Typically, this is a two-part document. The first part provides you the opportunity to appoint someone (health care agent) to make medical decisions you when you are unable to do so as the result of a temporary incapacity (e.g., heavily medicated) or a permanent incapacity (e.g., Alzheimer’s or dementia).
The second part of the AMD provides you the opportunity to give a “dying declaration” to your family and physician. This declaration tells physicians and family members whether you wish to die by natural means or whether you wish to have life-sustaining artificial assistance in the event you are in a terminal or vegetative condition. This is your opportunity to guide your health care agent into making a decision about your health care as you would do if you were able to. Although this second part of the AMD is optional, it is highly beneficial to your health care agent.
Wills can vary in complexity:
Simple Wills are basic Wills for married or unmarried individuals with relatively uncomplicated estate plans – those that pass all the probate assets to the surviving spouse or children.
Complex Wills provide individuals with many different options by including more complex planning tools for how your property is transferred or for limiting your tax exposure. For example, you may wish to hold your assets in trust for the beneficiary because of the beneficiary’s age or pre-existing medical condition. Supplemental Needs Trusts can be incorporated into a Will if a beneficiary is receiving means-tested support, such as Medical Assistance (Medicaid).
Pour-over Wills are used when you have a Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”) as part of your estate plan. The Will simply “pours-over” to the RLT any asset not titled in the name of the RLT at death.
Business Planning:
Our subscribers have the choice of various plans. The services we provide to our business customers include:
- Preparing formation and internal corporate documents, including articles of incorporation, operating agreements and member control agreements
- Advising on regulatory compliance
- Regular check-ins
- Annual review
- Preparing and reviewing vendor agreements and warranties
- Preparing employment and independent contractor agreements
- Creating employee handbooks
- Preparing non-competition and non-solicitation agreements
- Reviewing leases
- Preparing business purchase agreements
- Preparing buy/sell agreements
Probate
Probate is the legal court process for paying a person’s debts and expenses and distributing a person’s property after that person’s death. In a probate matter, the person who has died is called the “decedent,” and his or her property is called the “estate.” Usually, a decedent’s debts are paid from the estate and any property remaining is divided among heirs or beneficiaries, according to a Will or according to state law.
Minnesota probate law applies to people who lived in Minnesota when they died and to residents of other states who owned real estate in Minnesota. Whether a matter is “probated” depends on a number of factors.
For personal property, an estate must be probated if the personal property is valued at more than $50,000. If the decedent’s estate is worth less than $50,000, the decedent’s legal heirs may be able to collect the property by affidavit, which does not require probate court involvement.
A personal representative is an individual or entity who is responsible for administering or “probating” the decedent’s estate. Usually, if a person dies with a Will, the decedent has named a personal representative in the Will. If there is no Will or the decedent’s Will did not name a personal representative, the court will appoint a personal representative from those who are nominated to serve as a personal representative.
A person—usually the person who will be the personal representative-—initiates the probate process by filing legal documents with the probate court in the county where the decedent lived at the time of death. Once appointed by the court, a personal representative must take an inventory of all of the property owned by the estate and report that inventory to the court and to potential heirs or beneficiaries. Probate ends when all debts and taxes are paid and all assets are distributed to the people or organizations entitled to the assets.
