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Probate & Trust Law Section Conference Manual ... - Minnesota CLE

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PROBATE INSTITUTE 2013<br />

HARD TIMES:<br />

TEN-AND-A-HALF TIPS TO GET THE ATTORNEY<br />

PAIDEVEN WHEN THE ESTATE IS BUST<br />

“It is known, to the force of a single pound<br />

weight, what the engine will do; but, not all the<br />

calculators of the National Debt can tell me the<br />

capacity for good or evil, for love or hatred, for<br />

patriotism or discontent, for the decomposition<br />

of virtue into vice, or the reverse.”<br />

– Charles Dickens, Hard Times<br />

INTRODUCTION: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING ESTATE<br />

A. Declining Value of Assets<br />

B. Longevity of Testator<br />

C. Health Insurance Costs<br />

D. Aggressive Public Assistance Recapture<br />

E. Inter Vivos Gifting<br />

F. Misappropriation by Fiduciaries or Others<br />

TIP ONE: USE ATTORNEY FEE PRIORITY<br />

AMONG CLAIMS<br />

A. Minn. Stat. § 524.3-805 prioritizes “costs and expenses of<br />

administration” (which includes attorney’s fees) above all other<br />

debts or distributions.<br />

B. Taxes, public assistance claims and funeral expenses are all<br />

subordinate to administrative expenses.<br />

1

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