Resource Center

Below are a number of legal tools available on estate and end of life planning. This information is relavant to the State of Minnesota. Factsheets are also available in Spanish, Hmong, Hmoob, and Somali/Soomaali. 

Planning Ahead: Planning ahead as you age is important in managing your affairs. It helps make sure that what you want is carried out by your doctors and your family members. Planning Ahead properly makes it easier for your family to handle your estate after your death. 

These are some questions to think about: Who will make medical and financial decisions for you if you can no longer make decisions for yourself? What if you have to go to a nursing home? How do you make sure your property gets to your heirs after you die?

There are a few legal documents you can do yourself to help with emergencies and end-of-life planning. At a minimum, you should have a Health Care Directive that appoints someone you trust to make medical decisions for you if you become incapacitated.

Assisted Living Bill Of Rights: The Assisted Living Bill of Rights is a law that protects you if you are in an Assisted Living Facility. You can find this law and other protections related to Assisted Living in the MN statutes at Sec. 144G.91 MN Statutes. This fact sheet covers some of the most important rights you have under the law.  

Living Trusts: A living trust is one way to manage your property. You get the full benefits while you are alive, and your "successor trustee" can manage your property for you if you become incapacitated. If properly funded, a living trust also lets you pass your property to your loved ones (or charities) after your death without having to go to probate. 

A living trust is set up during your life. Certain property is transferred into the trust while you are still living. After you die, the property can be transferred to your beneficiaries without probate.

Remember, a living trust only covers the property put into it. A “pour-over will” should always go along with a living trust. A pour-over will is a legal document that makes sure your remaining assets automatically transfer to a trust you set up. If the pour-over will is invoked, you may still need probate.  

Be Careful With Life Estates: Are there any problems with life estates? Yes, there are many problems that you should know about before you add someone to the title of your home. While a life estate would avoid probate, the problems you could have might easily outweigh this benefit. It is very important that you talk to a lawyer so you fully understand the risks before you add a name, or names, to the title of your home. You cannot simply remove or change a name once it is on a deed to real estate like you can change the beneficiary on a life insurance policy or bank account.

About the organization: Legal Services State Support (State Support) is a project of the Minnesota Legal Services Coalition (MLSC), a group of seven legal aid programs that help low-income residents with a variety of legal matters. State Support manages this website, ProJusticeMN.org for advocates, and MNLegalAdvice.org, a statewide legal advice website.