The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on all aspects of the legal field, including estate and probate litigation. Many states — including Minnesota — adopted a “Harmless Error” rule which relaxed the formalities governing the execution and modi… Read More

A debtor who files a petition for bankruptcy expects that certain debts will be discharged at the conclusion of the process. However, complex provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code provide numerous exceptions to dischargeability. Several of those exc… Read More

Bankruptcy is a legal process that enables a debtor to have some types of debts discharged, which relieves the debtor of liability for the debts and prohibits creditor collection efforts. When a debtor files a petition for bankruptcy, federal laws an… Read More

The multi-talented American singer-songwriter Prince was born and raised in Minnesota and lived just outside Minneapolis when he died in 2016 at the age of 57. His estate created one of most complex probate court proceedings in Minnesota history. Amo… Read More

Family members sometimes feel disappointment in how they are treated in a loved one’s estate. But dissatisfaction of a beneficiary or a person omitted from a Last Will and Testament is not a sufficient legal basis for contesting a will in probate c… Read More

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals recently affirmed dismissal of a $10 million medical malpractice lawsuit, based on the plaintiffs’ failure to disclose the case as a potential asset in their bankruptcy case. While the decision is not bindi… Read More

The 13-year saga of the Britney Spears conservatorship case has recently drawn increased news and social media scrutiny, due to Britney’s legal efforts to end the conservatorship. Coverage of the probate litigation focuses attention on conservators… Read More

In probate and estate litigation, parties often wish to present evidence relating to communications with a decedent whose estate is the subject of the court action. Some states have laws known as dead man’s statutes that prohibit witnesses from tes… Read More