Articles

The dramatic increase in hospitalizations due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) has many unanticipated complications. Family disagreements about medical treatment for a loved one are not unusual. For some families, differences among family members about… Read More

A specific Minnesota statutory provision governs any court challenge to a revocable trust based on lack of capacity of the settlor. In a November 2018 decision, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reviewed the statutory standard and the prior court cases… Read More

In a bankruptcy case, the trustee has authority to recover payments made to creditors within a specific period preceding the bankruptcy. Trustee claims of this type are called preferences or avoidable preferences. A creditor who receives a preference… Read More

Bankruptcy is a court-supervised procedure through which the petitioner asks for debt to be alleviated. If all goes well, the bankruptcy court’s discharge order alleviates the debt. The bankruptcy case itself is not litigation. However, bankruptcy… Read More

The Minnesota Probate Code prevents a spouse from unilaterally disinheriting his or her spouse (intentionally or accidentally), by providing a surviving spouse with the ability to exercise the right to an elective share of a deceased spouse’s estat… Read More

In some bankruptcy cases, issues arise that are not directly related to the bankruptcy but must be resolved before the bankruptcy court can finalize the bankruptcy case itself. When that situation occurs, the legal distinction between core proceeding… Read More

A spendthrift provision in a trust restricts a beneficiary’s ability to transfer trust assets. It also prevents creditors from reaching the property of the trust to repay the beneficiary’s debts. Not surprisingly, beneficiaries and creditors ofte… Read More

When administration of a trust does not go smoothly, the trust may end up in litigation. In court cases involving a trust, a common question concerns whether the trustee (or the other party) can recover attorney’s fees in trust litigation. Early in… Read More