ISLN: 907684013
Member
Email: [email protected]
Phone:  651 484-5550

Practice Areas

Probate Administration; Estate Planning; Living Trusts; Wills; Decedents
Estates; Estate Administration; Elder Law; Estate Planning for the
Elderly; Living Wills; Powers of Attorney

Admitted: 1977, Minnesota; 1978, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota

Law School: Hamline University, J.D. 1977; L.L.M. Master 0f Laws (Taxation) William Mitchell College of Law, 1992.

College: Moorhead State University, B.A., 1969

Member: Ramsey County Bar Association (Probate & Trust Section); Minnesota State Bar Association (Probate & Trust Section).

Biography:  In each of the following teaching opportunities – I was a teacher or presenter:

Teacher – presenter: Continuing Legal Education for attorneys: “Planning for Medical Assistance Eligibility for the Elderly,” April 1992, sponsored by Concordia College of St. Paul;

Teacher – presenter:  Elder Law,” September 1992, sponsored by Ramsey County Bar Association;

Teacher – presenter:  “Conveying Real Estate to Qualify for Medical Assistance and to Avoid Probate,” February 1993 & September 1997, sponsored by Minnesota State Bar Association;

Law School Adjunct Professor: “Estates & Trusts,” William Mitchell College of Law, Fall Semester 1995;

Teacher – presenter:  “Estate Planning & Tax,” March 1997 and September 1997 as visiting lecturer, Hamline University School of Law;

Teacher – presenter:  “Tax Considerations, Real Estate and Powers of Attorney in Spendown to Eligibility for Medical Assistance,” Continuing Legal Education Seminar, November 2001;

Teacher – presenter:  “Revocable Living Trusts: How to Draft, Fund and Administer,” Continuing Legal Education Seminar, October 30,2003;

Teacher – Presenter:  “Minnesota Elder Law: Take Control of the Planning Process,” Continuing Legal Education Seminar, January 8, 2004;

Teacher – Presenter:  “Best Practices for Estate Planning and Recovery for Elderly Clients in Minnesota,” Continuing Legal Education Seminar, August 2005;

Teacher – Presenter:  “Estate, Financial and Health Care Planning for Elder Clients,” Continuing Legal Education
Seminar, January 10, 2008; “Powers of Attorney,” Seminar for the Hennepin County Bar Association, February 25, 2008;

Teacher – Presenter:  “Refining Your Probate Skills,” Continuing Legal Education Seminar, September 12, 2008;

Teacher – Presenter:  “Fundamentals of Trust Administration,” a nationally advertized and attended webcast seminar for attorney’s continuing legal education, sponsored by National Business Institute, broadcast nationally on October 2011.

Teacher – Presenter:  “Estate Administration Procedures:  Why Each Step is Important,” a nationally advertized and attended webcast seminar for attorney’s continuing legal education, sponsored by National Business Institute, broadcast nationally on January 17, 2012.

Teacher – Presenter:  “The Probate Process from Start to Finish,” a seminar prepared for attorneys and other professionals (in which my part pertained to probate administration from the initial filing up to the final account), sponsored by National Business Institute, held on May 8 & 9, 2015.

Teacher – Presenter:  “Estate Planning from A to Z,” a seminar prepared for attorneys and other professionals (in which my part pertained to trust preparation and administration), sponsored by National Business Institute, held June 22 & 23, 2015.

Born: Thief River Falls, Minnesota, September 26, 1946

Military Service: Criminal Investigator, U.S. Army, 1969 – 1973

Prior to limiting my practice to Estate Planning and Probate, I was certified by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a Real Estate Specialist. My experience as a real estate attorney continues to benefit my Estate
Planning clients who have homes and other investments in real estate. I often have the privilege of  assisting clients in the structuring of their trusts. There are many differing uses of trusts. Regardless of the client’s purpose in having a trust, it is common that their real property (land and homes) is transferred to themselves as trustee of their trust or to whomever they have chosen as their trustee. Among many purposes of a trust is simply to avoid the cost, cumbersome rules and delays of probate, often needed on account of the real estate they own.
I prepare deeds to trusts regardless of the primary purpose of the trust.

My real estate background is frequently beneficial in the probate process, transferring the real estate to the heirs or assisting the personal representative in selling of real estate in the probate.

My experience teaching Estates and Trusts at William Mitchell College of Law as an adjunct professor has been of particular benefit to my clients in estate planning (wills & trusts) and probate. I am no
longer a professor of law, but I continue to find that experience beneficial to my clients in their estate planning and the preparation of their wills or trusts, or to my clients who have the task of being a personal representative or as trustee for someone who has passed away.

My advanced law degree in Taxation (LL.M degree – Master of Laws) earned at William Mitchell College of Law is of particular benefit in estate planning and in probate and trust administration. Many decisions in these fields of practice have important tax implications.

SPECIAL PROFESSIONAL HONOR:  I am honored by my colleagues in the practice of law who have given me an “A” rating for my legal ability, and a “V” rating which denotes “very high” adherence to professional standards of conduct, ethics, reliability and diligence.  This rating is the result of a peer review system based upon the confidential opinions of practicing attorneys and members of the judiciary.  This rating is the most prestigious and highest available and provides me with a presence in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers – the guide to America’s leading lawyers and law firms.