When you begin to plan your Minnesota estate, you may have questions about whether your assets will go through probate. The probate process involves a court process for of asset distribution to your intended heirs.
Review the probate requirements in Minnesota to inform an estate plan that serves your wishes and goals.
Probate for real estate
The state requires all real estate holdings in your estate to go through probate with a few exceptions. If you create a trust and place real property or other assets into the ownership of the trust, the trust holdings will bypass probate. If you own real estate with others, joint tenancy with the right of survivorship often applies. For example, a home you own with your spouse will pass directly to him or her without probate when you die. A transfer on death deed may avoid probate.
Probate for other assets
Just as property held in a trust is probate-exempt, Minnesota recognizes other probate exemptions. Life insurance proceeds, retirement accounts, and other investment and bank accounts do not require probate if you designate a beneficiary in your account paperwork.
Probate will apply to any assets in your estate without a probate exemption. If the total value of these assets is less than $75,000, your heirs can use a basic court affidavit to collect their inheritance without going through probate.
Established more than 100 years ago, Quinlivan & Hughes ranks among the oldest and largest law practices in Central Minnesota. The full-service law firm has growing legal teams in the areas of employment law, business law, government law, insurance defense, trust and estate planning, and general litigation.
