Something special about the trust accounting guides is that last year we decided to make them available to the public. The change was partly inspired by Minnesota Legal Ethics, which we also published last year, and also motivated by the overarching desire to better the legal profession. You can read more about the decision here.

So, if you want a copy of the guide:

Members can download the guide here.

Non-members go here and fill out the form to request a guide. You will receive an email with a link to download the guide.

The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board has more general information about keeping trust accounts in  Appendix 1 to the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct (Maintenance of Books and Records).

What accounting software (if any) do you use for your trust accounting? Did you get help setting up your trust accounting or figure it out on your own?

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Post tags: IOLTA, Trust Accounting

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Lots happening to impact the practice of family law…

New Rules

Amended family law rules went into effect on May 1. You can read the amendments here.

Of note, the changes update terminology, streamline proceedings, and create three new forms. The changes came out of Divorce Camp 2009, with goals of making the rules reflect current practice in the District Courts and of making the rules more user-friendly for pro se litigants.

New Forms

The new rules require three new forms for all actions pending on the effective date of May 1 and to those filed thereafter.

1. Parenting/Financial Disclosure Statement
2. Certificate of Settlement Efforts
3. Initial Case Management Statement

These new forms are available at the Minnesota Judicial Branch website.

H.F. 322: Presumption of Joint Custody

This controversial bill is currently in the Senate. From the MSBA’s Capitol Connection email and blog:

JOINT PHYSICAL CUSTODY BILL ADVANCES IN SENATE

HF322, a bill that would alter Minnesota’s parenting time baseline presumption, was heard for a second time in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was re-referred after being altered in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. The Judiciary Committee voted to send the bill, which is opposed by the Family Law Section, to the Senate Finance Committee without a recommendation. The version of the bill that passed the House last month would raise the current presumption of 25% physical custody to 45.1%, and would only allow the presumption to be overcome by proving, to a clear and convincing standard, the type of mistreatment that would trigger child protection proceedings. The presumption would therefore override the longstanding “best interests of the child” factors in most contested cases. The Senate Judiciary Committee eliminated most of the House language and set the presumption at 35%.

The Senate Finance Committee passed the bill today and sent it to the Senate floor. If the bill becomes law, a wave of custody modification requests is expected to strain the court system, but no plan has been offered to cover the increased costs, which, because of delayed effective dates, may not occur until the state’s next fiscal biennium.

Future updates will be posted here.

South Dakota recently rejected a similar bill. Consider contacting your local elected official to express any concerns about this bill.

practicelaw Family Law Forms and Advisory Group

I’m working on expanding the family law forms library on practicelaw. Of note:

1. A few months ago we added a Complaint to Establish Paternity (FAM-300), thanks to Central Minnesota Legal Services. Last week we updated it to reflect the new Rule 314 (Parentage Proceedings).
2. We are planning to add forms regarding custody outside of a dissolution,  adoption (step and international), and third-party custody, plus a few other miscellaneous forms.
3. The J&D is regularly reviewed and updated. If you have a suggested change, please let me know. The form is here (FAM-680)

We need help with our new forms! We are in need of forms for international adoption and a financial affidavit for child support – if you have one that you would be willing to share, we will edit and format and give you credit on practicelaw.

We would also like to assemble a group of family law practitioners who we (I) can consult from time to time to ask questions as I update our forms. If you are interested in answering questions or reviewing language occasionally, please let me know. You can contact me by email.

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Post tags: Judgment and Decree

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The Roadmap covers many topics, from choosing a business entity, to establishing prudent office procedures, to developing a marketing plan. One of MLM’s strengths is ethics, thus the Roadmap also illustrates how and where to focus your efforts and how to identify malpractice risks. The process of going through the topics will enable you to think through many of the issues that need to be addressed to establish a safe and successful practice.

This is a valuable resource for lawyers who are starting a law firm or contemplating doing so. Additionally, the site is a great resource for new associates looking to establish prudent practices and start on a path to success. Click here to access the Roadmap. For more information, check out MLM’s Roadmap blog.

For Minnesota-specific startup information, check out practicelaw’s guide to Launching a Law Practice in Minnesota (PM-050). While there, check out Jump Starts, IOLTA accounting guides, and retainer agreements.

As always, we like to hear from you. Let us know what you think of the new resource, and if there’s anything we can add to practicelaw to help you work better.

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Lindquist and Vennum’s Bob McLeod has been instrumental in the current revision process, as he was in the initial development of the forms and subsequent revisions. Many of the substantive updates are a result of his expertise, and we are very grateful to be working with him during this process.

For more information on what has changed and why we decided to revise the forms, see our first post announcing the revised forms.

Revised Forms

The forms are on 3 pages: Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Joint Guardianship and Conservatorship (with forms for minors on each page). Revised forms posted in November are:

• GC-12G – Notice of Intent to Dispose of Clothing, Vehicles, Furniture, or Other Personal Effect
• GC-13s through 14s – forms regarding Discharge of Conservator
• GC-16s – Orders Allowing Final or Annual Accounts, Discharging Conservator
• GC-17s through GC-20s – forms regarding Emergency/Temporary Guardianship/Conservatorship (minor and adult)
• GC-21s through 24s – various forms regarding the sale of real estate in a Conservatorship. Note: The 21-series forms were renumbered. Previously they were GC-21JTxx, and they are now GC-21Cxx, which is more consistent with the fact that these forms pertain only to conservatorships. They will still appear on the joint guardianship and conservatorship page as they may be needed for a joint proceeding.
• GC-25s through GC-27s – forms regarding Restoration to Capacity
• GC-28C – Notice of Claim
• GC-28G – Petition for Termination of Guardianship and Discharge of Guardian
• GC-29G – Order Confirming Termination of Guardianship and Discharge of Guardian
• Misc-4 and Misc-5 – In Forma Pauperis forms

Click here for a list of forms revised in June, and here for a list of form revised in September.

How can you check whether the form you’re using is updated? Check the date in the footer of the form. June 2011 and later are revised.

Other Important Revisions

The Order Appointing Conservator (GC-08C and GC-08JT) was republished with new paragraphs in the Conclusions of Law. Prior versions stated that the Respondent was incapacitated. This is the requirement for a guardianship but not a conservatorship, so the orders were updated to reflect the appropriate standards under the conservatorship statute.

The Petitions and Affidavits of Service, which were published in June and September, respectively, were updated to change new language from “interested parties” to “interested persons.”

Retired Forms

Please note that we’ve taken down several forms, mostly due to duplication. These forms were also retired:

• GC-21JTV – County Assessor’s Market Evaluation
• Misc-1 and Misc-2 forms – Petitions and Orders for New Letters. These were a holdover from the transition to the new statutes under the UPC in 2003. All guardianships and conservatorships should have been transitioned by now.
• All PDFs (All duplicates of the Word forms, and had low usage. More information in our earlier post.)
• Several joint guardianship/conservatorship forms which were identical to conservatorship-only forms.

If you are looking for one of the retired JT (joint guardianship and conservatorship) forms, look for the form with the same number but with a C instead of the JT designator. These forms have always been identical except for the caption, and on this round of editing we decided that even the caption did not need to be different — it is appropriate to say just “conservatorship” on these matters even if there is also a guardianship.

As always, let us know if you have any comments, questions, or feedback on the new forms!

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Post tags: conservatorship, guardianship

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Or are you still looking for a job but starting to think about opening your own firm instead?

This week we’re welcoming many new graduates to our profession. If you’re one of them and are thinking about flying solo, we want to help you get started on the right foot. 

Whether you’ve already taken your first steps or are still considering your options, we’d like to cordially invite you to join PracticePack, a group created exclusively for new solos by the Minnesota State Bar Association.  PracticePack started last year and is a great resource, giving new lawyers a chance to learn the ropes from experts and from each other. Our new year kicks off at our next meeting in November.

Who?  PracticePack focuses on lawyers going straight from law school to solo or small firm practice, whether they’ve just graduated or have been job-searching. If you’ve already been working as a lawyer, this might not be the group for you since we not only work on getting your firm off the ground but we also provide support for those who have never practiced before.

What? Monthly meetings with your peers and guest speakers to get your firm up and running. At our November meeting we will cover the practical basics of actually getting your firm in place (filing with the Secretary of State, setting up a bank account, malpractice insurance, etc.). Members from last year’s group will also field questions about what they’ve learned about the realities of solo life such as budgeting and dealing with student loans.

Some of the topics we have planned for future meetings include: trust accounts and bookkeeping; tech on a budget; building your own website (we’ll be building them at the meeting); and practical ethics. In addition, there’ll be time to ask questions about what’s happening in your practice (including that question that you think is “too dumb” to ask other lawyers).

In between meetings, the MSBA will sponsor a private forum (sort of like a Facebook feed) just for PracticePack participants where you can chat, network, and ask for help.

When? November 15, and the plan is to have all meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of every month. This meeting is planned for 7:30-9:30 am. We may revisit the time for future meetings, but the meetings tend to take up a full two hours and we don’t want to eat half your day.

Where? TBD.  Sign up (link below) and we’ll keep you posted by email.

Why? Because we want you to succeed!

How? Sign up is located at this page:  www.mnbar.org/practicepack

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Post tags: PracticePack

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