Judge Kathleen Gearin’s order, issued yesterday, keeps core government functions open in the event of a shutdown. Overview at Star Tribune, MinnLawyer Blog.

Minnesota Management & Budget’s website, BeReadyMN.com, can be monitored for bulletins and media publications. Currently, it looks like most information is posted under 2011 State Government Contingency Planning.

The Minnesota Secretary of State announced today that it will be open. It has also extended its hours today until 8:00 p.m.

The Minnesota Department of Health will post a list of approved critical services and contact information at their website, which will be updated periodically if there are any changes. In a letter sent to the MSBA Family Law Section yesterday, Steve Elkins, the State Registrar, said that if services are not approved as critical, and the office is closed, “phones and faxes will be turned off and mail will not be delivered. We will be unable to process requests for replacement birth records after adoptions or paternity actions. We will also not be able to process Father’s Adoption Registry searches nor registration applications of putative fathers.”

What will be open, closed: Star Tribune.

Shutdown FAQ: NPR (6/20/11).

If you have more information, please post it in the comments below.

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I am quite sure that Bryan Lake and Lloyd Grooms, who both lobby on behalf of the MSBA, would agree they have a tougher job. Regardless of your politics, this year will be particularly difficult for at least a few reasons:

• Big hole – $6.2 billion budget deficit
• Lots of newbies – approximately one-third of senators and more than one-fourth of representatives are beginning their first term
• The big switcheroo – Republicans control both chambers for the first time in decades, but must deal with a Democratic governor

The MSBA speaks for lawyers at the state Capitol and monitors developments to keep members informed. During the 2011 session the MSBA will join with other voices to continue to advocate for adequate justice system funding, as well as other major profession-wide issues.  The MSBA also promotes numerous technical updates to various laws that are drafted by MSBA sections.

To keep members informed on the association’s advocacy work, MSBA staff recently created MSBA Advocacy, a site that:

• Outlines MSBA positions on legislative initiatives;
• Tracks legislation that would impact attorneys and their practices, not just in substantive practice areas, but in more global ways (e.g., tax on legal services, justice system funding);
• Allows members to sign up to receive regular updates on important legislative developments.

Last year, Bryan Lake published a weekly “Capitol Connection.” This year he will blog rather than email a weekly newsletter. You’ll get information faster and can visit the Advocacy site and sort the blog posts by subject matter area.

Check it out, sign up for email updates or get the latest news through the blog’s RSS feed. While it is a stretch to say that MSBA lobbyists have a task as easy as Billy Graham, we’ve made their task of communicating with members a whole lot easier.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Advocacy, Legislative Work, Policy

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The Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Service has information on  2010 legislation and specifically on laws with August 1 effective dates. The 2010 Session Laws are now online. See index and Table 1 (Session Laws Amended, Repealed, Etc.) and Table 2 (Statutes New, Amended or Repealed).

We’ve blogged previously about the changes to landlord tenant law, and we’ve been busy revising some of practicelaw’s Guardianship and Conservatorship forms to insure their compliance with legislation effective August 1. The outline of those changes will be posted on Monday.

Also, the most recent edition of MSBA’s Bench and Bar, has an article detailing the 2010 legislative action.  For another take on those pieces of legislation effective Sunday, see the Pine City Community Blog.

So read up to stay up-to-date. And don’t forget to enjoy a piece of raspberry cream pie.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: conservatorship, guardianship, New Laws

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I. Estate tax issues

II. Emergency and temporary conservators

III. Parent-child relationships in the probate code

Arguably, these statutes are the most important changes to the probate code in the last few years. Yet despite their overwhelmingly strong support in both bodies of the Minnesota Legislature, the new statutes may cause controversy among probate attorneys. Critics will be quick to point out that one simple section in the probate code dealing with parent-child relationships has now ballooned to eight substantially more complex sections. Probate attorneys will need to review the statutes carefully and become familiar with new terms and family law concepts. Nevertheless, given the rising prevalence of non-traditional families, even critics will appreciate the clarity (albeit, complexity) that the statutes provide in many of these situations.

In brief, the new statutes include the following:

• Fourteen new definitions related to adoption or assisted reproduction. (Section 524 .1-201)
• A new section barring parents from inheriting from or through a child if parental rights have been terminated or if, with certain limitations, the parental rights of the parent could have been terminated. (Section 524.2-114)
• The establishment of a parent-child relationship in certain adoption situations even where one of the adopting parents dies prior to the completion of the adoption. (Section 524.2-118)
• More robust provisions regarding the relationship between an adoptee and the adoptee’s genetic parents. (Section 524.2-119)
• Extensive provisions covering children conceived by assisted reproduction. (Section 524.2-120)

The estate tax and emergency conservator provisions are already in effect. Thankfully, the changes to the parent-child relationship provisions are effective August 1st, giving attorneys time to prepare.

Tips on How to Prepare for the Changes

• Read the new statutes. The red-lined version of the session law can be found at the Revisor of Statutes website. Be sure to note the new definitions found in Section 524.1-201 (e.g. “functioned as a parent of the child”, “intended parent”, “relative”, “third-party donor”).
• Revise your intake questionnaires. If your probate and estate planning questionnaires don’t already contemplate children by adoption in non-traditional families and children of assisted reproduction, take time to do so now.
• Family law and probate attorneys:  take each other out to lunch. There has always been a nexus between family law and probate law, and now more than ever. Family law attorneys will need to understand the implications of adoption and assisted reproduction with respect to inheritance issues. Probate attorneys will minimally need to become more familiar with the process of adoption.
• While you’re at it, take a litigator to lunch. There are a few areas in the new statutes that will invite litigation. For example, consider that under Section 524.2-118, the phrase “in the process of being adopted” could permit an individual to be treated as a child of a deceased-but-not-yet-adoptive parent for intestate succession purposes, even where no petition for adoption has been filed. Another example is language under the new 524.2-114. In that section, a parent could be barred from inheriting from a child if the child dies before reaching age 18 and there is clear and convincing evidence that the parental rights of the parent “could have been terminated under law of this state” immediately before the child’s death. Note that the statute says “could have been terminated” not “would have been terminated.” The statute then lists potential grounds for the hypothesized termination of parental rights. Finally, note the inclusion in Section 524.2-120 of a new concept to Minnesota probate law: rights given to a man who functioned as a parent of the child or intended to function as a parent of the child. Granted, these examples apply only to very limited situations, yet they will surely be future sources of heated litigation. Be sure to read the statutes carefully,
• Consider making the new parent-child probate statutes your niche. Many attorneys have found that focusing on a niche area of the law has helped their law practice grow. In years past, probate was a niche practice. That might not be the case anymore. Particularly in the Twin Cities, a practice merely focusing on probate may be too broad to be considered a niche now that so many attorneys practice in this area. With the new legislation, there is an opportunity for an attorney (or firm) to become very well-versed in these statutes and focus their practice on probates involving these issues.

Sooner or later, if you practice much in the areas of probate or estate law, you’ll encounter the issues addressed by the new statutes. Take time to study these new laws in order to be prepared to effectively counsel your clients when the issues arise.

© boyd for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Probate

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• Receipt for cash payments. A landlord who receives rent in cash must immediately provide a written receipt to the tenant or, if the tenant was not present at the time of payment, must provide a written receipt within three business days;
• Rebuttable presumption of rent paid from money order receipts. A rebuttable presumption of rent paid arises if a tenant produces copies of money orders payable to the landlord, dated appropriately, and that add up to the total amount of rent due. The landlord can overcome the presumption if the landlord produces a business record showing that the tenant did not actually pay the rent.
• Limit on late fees. Late fees are capped at a maximum of eight percent of overdue rent. In addition, late fees cannot be charged unless a written lease provision allows for it. For the landlord, allowable late fees are now specifically defined by law not to be “interest or liquidated damages.” These provisions apply only to leases entered into or renewed after December 31, 2010.
• Tenant recovery of attorney fees. If a tenant prevails in an action brought by the landlord and the lease allowed the landlord to recover attorney fees “in the same type of action, under the same circumstances,” the tenant is by law entitled to recover attorney fees from the landlord. This provision does not become effective until August 1, 2011 for new leases and August 1, 2012 for lease renewals.
• Sale of a tenant’s personal property. For personal property left in an abandoned rental unit, a landlord must wait 28 days from the time of abandonment before selling or otherwise disposing of the tenant’s property, a reduction from the 60 day requirement in current law.
• Punitive damages. Punitive damages against a landlord for the landlord’s failure to return a tenant’s personal property that had earlier been removed from the premises has increased from $300 to twice the actual damages or $1,000, whichever is greater.
• Changes to applicant screening fees. In addition to significant changes in the way a landlord can collect and handle an applicant screening fee, a new provision has been added that gives a landlord a right of action for damages, attorney fees, and civil penalties if the tenant provides materially false information on a rental application.

The new law also provides for temporary additional protection for tenants who currently rent leased property that is in foreclosure or is subject to a cancellation of a contract for deed. This provision essentially makes state law consistent with newly enacted federal laws. While somewhat complex depending on the underlying circumstances, the provision essentially gives tenants in foreclosed properties at least 90 additional days to reside in the property after the period of redemption (or termination of contract for deed if applicable), so long as the rent continues to be paid to any successor and the tenant abides by the lease. If an existing lease on the property extends beyond 90 days, the tenant has a right to reside in the property until the end of the lease and must also receive at least 90 days notice to vacate prior to the end of the lease. These new provisions, which are significant, are effective for any lease entered into prior to December 31, 2012, after which time the provision sunsets.

For some attorneys and courts, a few of the changes are not real changes at all, as they reflect practices that already exist in some jurisdictions (such as requiring written receipts for cash payments of rent or written lease provisions for the charging of late fees). But the new foreclosure protections, as well as the attorney fee “shifting” provision for tenants, are substantial changes that generally alter the push-me-pull-me legal relationship existing between landlord and tenant. Landlord-tenant attorneys should become familiar with the new legislation as soon as possible, as many of the changes become effective in August.

© Gregory Luce for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Landlord, Tenant

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