Designation of Standby or Temporary Custodian for your Child So, you and your spouse are finally ready to take that vacation to Mexico – without the kids. The flights are booked, your bags are nearly packed and thoughts of warm weather and a beach are in the forefront of your mind . . . as […]
Trustee A trustee is a fiduciary with a high degree of responsibility. As a fiduciary, a trustee has legal duties that he or she must perform. As discussed in Maggie Green’s series of posts, those duties include loyalty, impartiality, and recordkeeping. A trustee must act out of loyalty to the beneficiaries and not to further […]
Clients can become confused and overwhelmed by the various roles and individuals named in their estate plan. In a previous post, I outlined the traditional key players in a typical estate plan. However, guardians, conservators and custodians are three roles that can come into play when an individual has not properly planned and therefore, clients […]
The Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) provides for a convenient way to make gifts of money and other items to minors through the use of a custodial account. Created in 1986 by the Uniform Law Commissioners, nearly all states have adopted the UTMA. The UTMA is sometimes still referred to by its predecessor, the Uniform […]
Probate is very often misunderstood. This post seeks to provide a basic overview of Probate in Minnesota. What is Probate? Probate is the legal process whereby the decedent’s Will is presented to the court for validation and the Personal Representative is appointed and granted permission to act. If decedent dies intestate, or without a Will, […]