Handling a Probate Case without a Will in Minnesota

Handling a Probate Case without a Will in Minnesota

Don’t think that because the deceased passed on without a will that your family can avoid having to deal with Minnesota probate law.

The truth of the matter is that you may find the situation to be far more reliant on the laws in this land of 10,000 lakes compared to cases that have a will. As a positive suggestion, because of the state in which this case is being held, you may want to look into seeing if an executor can be brought into help be a voice for the family. Below, you’ll find explanations on some of the perks and unique qualities of probate cases here in MN.

Executor Potential

One advantage of living in Minnesota is that if someone dies without a will, someone can petition to be the executor of the estate. The role doesn’t automatically fall to an administrator, and in the case that no one contests the petition to be an executor, the request may pass. That said, the person who wants to become the executor should be the one who opens the probate case and the party to provide the death certificate. It’s recommended, as such, to decide who the executor should be before anyone carries out these tasks.

However, even if someone becomes the executor of the estate, that doesn’t mean that they can make decisions regardless of the laws that are in place. Normally, the property will pass to the closest relations in situations where a will is absent. Whether that’s the deceased’s offspring or their spouse, the close family will most likely automatically receive a larger portion of the inheritance. Note that there should be ways to handle estates where the deceased leaves behind both children and a spouse, and assets can still be passed onto relatives down the family tree.

How to Divide

Since families can vary in how they’re constructed, laws can accommodate for those particular situations. If the surviving spouse and the deceased had no children to give assets to, everything should simply transfer to the living husband or wife. The same situation should occur in the case that there are absolutely no descendants and the wife or husband is the only surviving relation to the deceased. Marriage has its perks.

It’s when other relatives are included in the picture that things tend to get more complicated. If a spouse isn’t involved in inheriting anything, the surviving descendants should be able to get everything and the estate will probably be divided among themselves. As for when there are other descendants and a spouse, then the spouse will normally be able to lay claim to roughly fifteen-hundred thousand dollars worth of the estate’s assets. What remains of the estate may be then divided among the remaining descendants.

No One Remaining

Minnesota law is designed to help any potential beneficiaries inherit the Minnesota intestate estate. This is especially important for cases without a will, as wills are often the main document for listing beneficiaries of the estate. Even if the collective of beneficiaries might have distant cousins, it doesn’t matter if they’re a niece, nephew, parent, or sibling. The executor should only start to become worried about the estate’s well-being when no one who is related to the deceased can be found. Blood relations should be fully researched to any reasonable extent, and anyone who might be related by state law should also be investigated before the executor stops looking.

The executor should by no means consider that they can neglect their duties, especially when it comes to finding beneficiaries. It’s the standard for the executor to do qualitative research on any and all potential leads. Going and researching family heritage lines should come as no surprise. This may even involve placing an ad in the local newspaper. Assume that you must ask every potential candidate before you can take a break.

Nothing to Probate

A handful of Minnesota probate estates can be summarized, meaning that they don’t need to go through the full probate process. However, these cases still allow for beneficiaries to receive from the estate. Summarizing the estate doesn’t change whether or not assets can be inherited. The two big concerns which may change the situation are the deceased’s debts and their estate planning for the remaining assets. These are two issues that can make or break a probate case regardless of there being a will.

The former is simple to explain. If there are too many debts, there might not be enough assets or cash to pay them down. So, everything may be sold to pay the debts off. Concerning the issue of estate planning outside of a will, it’s possible that the deceased crafted irrevocable trusts for their assets. And since the contents of these documents aren’t impacted by probate, there might not be assets to inherit outside of the trusts. It’s possible that other matters may need to be dealt with still, but any asset that’s legitimately in an irrevocable trust might just go from one owner to the next. As a side note, it’s not just Minnesota residents who have to take these two factors into account during probate. They can modify probate cases regardless of which of the fifty states that you reside in.

Minnesota Probate Lawyers

Working on a probate case in Minnesota may take having a Minnesota probate lawyer from this state of winters and waters. How much this state’s laws modifies the case will vary for each case. Though, if there truly isn’t a will to go on, you may want to work on having as much help through the steps that you can have.

In case you talk to anyone about this situation, 612-424-0398 is the number that you can use to find help.

See if Flanders Law Firm LLC can be where you find resolution to the matter at hand so that you can move forward with this case and settle things properly. You may not have a will to go on, but you can have an attorney to work with.