No matter your net worth, it's important to have a basic estate plan in place to ensure that your wishes are carried out and that your assets are protected from probate. These basic documents include: a Will; assignment of power of attorney; a health care directive (also known as a living Will or medical power of attorney) and designation of temporary custodian if you have children under the age of 18.
At Martin & Wagner, P.A., our estate planning attorneys are experienced in estate plans in Minnesota and the federal and MN state laws that govern estates. We help individuals and families make the best plan to protect themselves, their family, and the causes they care about while minimizing taxes and probate. Our estate planning services can include
Wills: Simple Wills and Single Parent Wills form the foundation of an estate plan in order to carry out your wishes and transfer wealth.
Power of Attorney: If you become incapacitated and can no longer make your own decisions about financial affairs, a trusted individual can act as an attorney-in-fact appointed in a power of attorney document to make those decisions.
Health Care Directives: A health care directive, formerly called a living Will, is a written document that gives directives to physicians and family members regarding your choices for medical attention and health care if you can't tell them because of illness or injury.
Designation of Temporary Custodian: also known as power of attorney for delegation of parental authority. In your Will, you can name a person who will obtain guardianship of your minor child or children if you and your spouse die. However, this does not cover situations where you may be temporarily unable to care for your children because of illness, injury, or other situations. A Designation of Temporary Custodian, delegates parental authority or temporary custody so that you can ensure the person(s) you want to care for your children have the ability to do so.
Contingent Trust Will: A contingent trust Will is generally used to appoint a trustee to manage and distribute assets used for the comfort, care, and education of your minor children until they have attained a specified age. A contingent trust goes into effect after your death or under other circumstances specified in your Will.
Intestate Estates: If you die without a valid Will while residing in the State of Minnesota, you are said to have died "intestate" and your children or heirs will receive an "intestate share" of your property. In essence, the State of Minnesota creates a Will for you. Read more about Intestate estates.
Blended family estate planning: Blended families bring a complexity to estate planning. Individuals want to protect their children from other relationships and the assets they had before they got married. At Martin & Wagner, P.A., our attorneys have worked with many blended families and have had them create a plan to carry out their wishes. Estate Planning Attorny, Ethne Hedren takes the time to talk to you about your family, your goals, and the assets you brought into the marriage. We help determine the best plan to preserve the assets for your children as well as your options for health care directives, powers of attorney and other estate planning directives that can impact your family.
Martin & Wagner, P.A. attorneys offer a free ½ hour consultation. To schedule e-mail or call 763-425-6330.
From our Rogers law office, we provide legal representation to clients throughout the Greater Twin Cities area including but not limited to, Albertville, Anoka, Buffalo, Elk River, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Monticello, and St. Michael and other communities within Hennepin County, Wright County, Stearns County, Sherburne County, and Anoka County.
Parents of minor children who are planning on traveling away from home for an extended period of time, military personnel who are deploying who have minor children to care for, and parents or guardians who are facing scheduled medical procedures that may involve extended recovery time, may have a need to temporarily delegate parental rights over their minor children.
There are two statutory provisions in Minnesota which allow a parent or guardian to temporarily delegate parental and custody rights over a minor child for a limited time. The process for delegating parental authority to a custodian pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 257B is more involved than that identified in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 524 and requires the approval of a MN court at some point during the process.
The first provision is identified in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 524 and is as follows:
The second provision is identified in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 257B:
A parent or guardian of a minor child may temporarily delegate any powers regarding the care, custody, or property of a minor child (except the power to consent to marriage or adoption) by designating a "temporary custodian" for such minor child. If the parent of a minor child will be unavailable for more than one year, this procedure may be their only option.
Martin & Wagner, P.A., offers a free ½ hour consultation with our experienced lawyers in the matters relating to designation of temporary guardian.
From our Rogers law office, we provide legal representation to clients throughout the Greater Twin Cities area including but not limited to, Anoka, Buffalo, Elk River, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Monticello, and St. Michael and other communities within Hennepin County, Stearns County, Wright County, Sherburne County, and Anoka County.
For parents, having a Will is the single most important thing you can do to make sure your child is cared for by the people you choose if anything should happen to you. Regardless of the presence of an ex-spouse, a single parent Will want to assure transfer and management of non-probate assets for their minor child.
If your minor child is named as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy or retirement plan, that property will pass outside of probate directly to your child. In your Will, you may want to consider appointing a separate guardian for your child's property or establishing a contingent trust.
Creating a Will is an extremely personal process and can sometimes be difficult to think about. It's easy to put off creating a Will, especially if you're young; however, the decisions you make concerning who will care for your children, how property will be distributed, and your wishes regarding end-of-life health care should be taken seriously.
When you work with Martin & Wagner, you are ensuring that your children are taken care of and that your assets are protected and distributed to beneficiaries according to your wishes.
Our attoneys can help you make educated decisions and offer experienced, compassionate legal advice as well as personal attention from lawyers who genuinely care about your needs, your values and your goals.
Our attorneys offer a free ½ hour consultation in the matters relating to single parent Wills as well as other estate planning needs including designation of temporary custodian and health care directives. Contact Martin & Wagner by e-mail or call 763-425-6330.
From our Rogers law office, we provide legal represenation to clients in the matters relating to single parent wills throughout the Greater Twin Cities area including but not limited to, Albertville, Anoka, Buffalo, Elk River, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Monticello, and St. Michael and other communities within Stearns County, Hennepin County, Wright County, Sherburne County, and Anoka County.
If you die without a valid Will while residing in the State of Minnesota, you are said to have died "intestate" and your children or heirs will receive an "intestate share" of your property. The size of each share depends on how many children or heirs you have and whether or not you are married. In this circumstance, in order to determine who will receive your property, the State of Minnesota has established a number of laws known as "intestacy laws" or "laws of intestate succession," in essence the State of Minnesota creates a Will for you.
Only assets that would have passed through your Will are affected by intestate succession laws. Usually, that includes only assets that you own in your name alone. Many valuable assets aren't affected by MN intestate succession laws. Here are some examples:
These assets will pass to the surviving co-owner or to the beneficiary you named, whether or not you have a Will.
Our attorneys take the time to understand your unique needs, values and goals and take a personal, practical approach to your individual case.
Martin & Wagner, P.A. attorneys offer a free ½ hour consultation with our experienced lawyers in the matters relating to Intestate Estates and matters relating to estates when a person dies without a Will.
From our Rogers law office, we provide legal representation to clients throughout the Greater Twin Cities area including but not limited to, Albertville, Anoka, Buffalo, Elk River, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Monticello, and St. Michael and other communities within Hennepin County, Wright County, Stearns County, Sherburne County, and Anoka County.
A contingent trust, also known as a testamentary trust, is a trust created in your Will that goes into effect after your death or under other circumstances specified in your Will. A contingent trust is generally used to appoint a trustee to both manage and distribute assets used for the comfort, care, and education of minor children until those beneficiaries have attained a specified age.
Contingent Trusts are very flexible and can be customized to suit the parents' wishes for how they want property distributed to their children as well as specify uses for the property before full distribution, such as education expenses, health care, down payments on houses, etc. These trusts also ensure that the money in that trust is protected from creditors of the children - at least until the money has been distributed.
Contingent Trust can be affordable to set up and the long-term benefits outweigh the cost. Because it is Will-based, a contingent trust in MN does not avoid probate, and will not supersede beneficiary designations on your financial accounts, retirement assets, or life insurance.
Our estate planning attorneys discuss your specific situation and your estate planning goals so you can decide if a Contingent Trust is right for you. You may find that establishing several different types of trusts would suit your needs.
Contact Martin & Wagner, P.A., by e-mail or call 763.425.6330 to schedule a free ½ hour consultation with an experienced Rogers, Minnesota, trusts lawyer.
From our office in Rogers, Minnesota, we provide legal representation to clients throughout the Greater Metropolitan area, including but not limited to, Maple Grove, Albertville, Elk River, Buffalo, St. Michael and other communities North and West of Minneapolis.
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