Spring is a busy time. How does one complete and file a tax return, caddie for Tiger in the Master’s, throw out the first pitch on the Twin’s opening day and run the Boston Marathon?

Create time, that is. Work smart and utilize the excellent work of a diligent group of probate practitioners and practicelaw staff, who’ve spent the winter months preparing the second phase of practicelaw’s “core set” of probate forms.

Since rolling out the original set of forms, we’ve received kudos and several requests for additional forms. We kept track of those requests and polled practitioners to determine other forms to develop. Thus the new set includes claims-related forms, forms for successor personal representatives, and a long-awaited set of forms related to petitions for decrees of descent.

As with the first set, we evaluated forms used in Minnesota and other jurisdictions to determine what worked best, and we wrangled with statutory requirements, wording, format and style. The result? Well-designed, drafted and vetted probate forms to assist Minnesota probate practitioners in serving their clients in a competent, cost-efficient manner.

We will post all 42 new forms, in groups, starting today and continuing each Monday into June. In the end, the core set of forms will nearly double to 86. And by the time you’ve watched your horse win the Kentucky Derby, joined the Governor at the Minnesota Fishing Opener and crewed the pit stop at the Indy 500, the new forms will also be included in mndocs, the MSBA’s document assembly system.

So get out there and enjoy spring. But wait, before April and National Poetry Month ends, we announce the new forms with a little more flair (and our deepest apologies to Edgar Allan Poe):

Once upon a midnight dreary, while you pondered weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious section of the UPC
While you nodded, nearly roasting, suddenly there came a hosting
As of some one gently posting, posting to your work PC
‘Tis practicelaw’ you muttered, ‘hosting probate forms for me’

Happy Spring!