- Divorce
- Child Support4. Child support, if applicable, should be determined. Effective January 2007, Minnesota adopted an Income Shares approach to setting child support. If you can estimate the gross income of each parent, and approximately how much time each parent will have with the child or children, you can insert a few additional details and determine likely child support using the online Child Support Calculator on the Minnesota Department of Human Services website.
- Child Custody and Visitation
- Adoption
- Paternity
- Premarital AgreementThis outline will summarize information you will need to know regarding antenuptial agreements. This outline is intended to give the basics, and is not a substitute for specific questions regarding a particular case.
- GuardianshipI specifically direct that no trust should be established in favor of my children whereby money can be given to them at appropriate ages. Rather, I insist that any funds allocated to my children be held in a conservatorship or guardianship account and that my spouse or other caretaker holding such funds be obligated to report to the Court the status of said funds each and every year. In addition, I specifically request that funds allocated to a child be immediately released to said child upon their 18th birthday, even though they may not be mature enough to handle funds at that stage. I specifically waive the right to establish a simple trust to care for the children and to delay payment until an appropriate age.
- Spousal Support8. You should determine whether either spouse will receive spousal maintenance (also known as alimony). Many times the spouses will waive the spousal maintenance claim from the other.
- Corporate LawPrior to taking the bar exam, Doug continued his work for that firm in many areas including divorce, corporate law, real estate, and litigation. He joined the firm as an associate upon admittance to the Minnesota Bar on November 1, 1981.
- Business DisputesMuch like a CPA performs a financial audit of a company, a business law attorney can conduct a legal audit of any business entity to prevent legal problems before they arise. While the scope of a legal review depends upon the type and size of the business, a basic legal audit would include the following...
- Workers Compensation
- Employment LitigationHis business practice includes forming new companies, real estate work, contracts, litigation, employment issues, buying and selling of businesses, and many other areas important to business owners. Doug has helped clients in all walks of life with wills and other estate planning documents.
- Sexual Harassment4. Employee Handbooks and Company Policies: Confirm that the company has established appropriate written policies on a variety of issues including wages and hours, non-discrimination, rules against sexual harassment, employee benefits, any bonus plans, and a wide range of other matters. Often these policies need to be updated to conform with statutory and case law changes. A business law attorney will normally have templates to use for preparing a customized statement of company policy.
- Real Estate Litigation
- Real Estate TransactionsArbitration: Arbitration is generally recognized as a more formal process than mediation, where an arbitrator is jointly selected by the parties to actually make a ruling in the case. Each side is allowed to "present" their case. Arbitrators even have subpoena power in most situations. Many arbitrations are governed by the guidelines from the American Arbitration Association, which has a pre-designated set of rules for arbitration, plus a set of rules for selecting an arbitrator. A typical example would be salary arbitration in baseball, where the arbitrator's decision is binding. Arbitration is also a frequent clause in real estate purchase agreements.
- Personal InjuryGenerally speaking, a party in most civil lawsuits is entitled to a jury trial. This includes collection disputes, contract lawsuits, and personal injury lawsuits. The right to a jury applies to any serious criminal case. Jury trials are not available in divorce actions, juvenile proceedings, or probate proceedings; those matters are determined solely by a judge acting without a jury.
- Estate PlanningWith apologies to David Letterman, below are the top ten mistakes people make in their estate planning, starting with the most crucial (and obvious) and working down from there.
- WillsOlder, Doug's estate planning business has grown. Many executives and professionals now need tax planning wills or trusts, and almost everyone needs at least a simple will. Doug has handled wills, trusts, and probate matters throughout his career. These materials on Wills and Estates are provided for your general information.
- TrustsRevocable Lifetime Trust: Some people refer to this as a "living trust" because it is a trust established while a person is still alive. The most typical pattern is to transfer all assets owned by the individual into the revocable trust. Then, upon the death of the person who established the trust, assets are transferred not via probate but simply by designating a successor person to control the trust assets. This type of trust is also extremely helpful if an individual owns real estate in more than one state; without such a trust to hold title to the property, a probate may be required in each state where the decedent owns real estate. The two primary advantages of the revocable trust are: (1) avoidance of probate; and (2) maintaining confidentiality of financial information, as compared to a full probate filing which is open to the public. However, the revocable trust is not for everyone. It takes significant planning and effort to transfer all assets into the revocable trust. The single biggest disadvantage is that if even one asset is not transferred into the trust, then it may be necessary to open a probate file, defeating the entire purpose of the trust.
- Power of Attorney7. No Power of Attorney: A Power of Attorney is necessary so that someone can handle your financial affairs if you become mentally incapacitated. Your will may provide great instructions, but is applicable only upon your death. A Health Care Directive applies only with respect to medical issues. A valid Power of Attorney, if properly drafted, can allow your spouse, family member, or close personal friend to act as your attorney-in-fact and transfer certain assets or complete certain transactions which you may not be able to do yourself.
- Probate
- ForeclosureDoug has been contacted by many veterans who received a demand letter from the VA requesting payment on a deficiency claim following a VA foreclosure. This interest was due to his role as an attorney for military veterans in a class action against the VA. The purpose of the class action was to try to set aside deficiency claims made by the VA following non-judicial foreclosure of VA mortgages on Minnesota real estate. This portion will provide a brief history of the case.
- Tax LawTax Planning Will: A tax planning will is recommended for individuals whose overall estate exceeds $1,000,000, the point at which Minnesota estate taxes kick in. In determining the "size of the estate," all assets are counted by the IRS, including homestead, other real estate, stock investments, retirement assets, personal property, and proceeds from life insurance policies owned by the decedent. Tax planning can be extremely technical, and often the advice of an attorney and CPA is advised. The wide variety of options available for tax planning is beyond the scope of this summary. However, one recognized technique is the "A-B Trust Will" in which a person's estate is divided into a portion for the children calculated as the largest amount of assets which can transfer free of estate tax, with the balance going in trust to the surviving spouse. The disadvantage of preparing any trust will for tax planning is that a longer amount of time is needed to consider the plan, and an extremely careful list of assets and valuations must be made, resulting in a greater expense to the client. However, the few thousand one may pay for a tax planning will is greatly exceeded by the amount of extra taxes paid without such a will.