In a recent Wright County, Minnesota, case, Henningson & Snoxell, Ltd. attorneys, Mark V. Steffenson and Susan T. Peterson-Lerdahl, successfully represented a client who was short-changed in the distribution of her mother’s estate by her brother, the duly-appointed personal representative. The personal representative’s position was that the client’s distributive share of the estate should be reduced because the client still owed the decedent money under an old contract for deed arrangement between decedent and client. After a three-day evidentiary hearing, the court determined that the contract for deed carried contractual damages which had been satisfied when the client defaulted under the contract for deed and the property was sold and that the client should receive her equal distributive share of the estate. Further, the court held that the personal representative acted unfairly by reducing the client’s distributive share and that the personal representative breached his fiduciary duty by using undue influence over decedent in making codicils and by improperly administering the estate. The personal representative was removed for cause from service as personal representative.

As always, for any of your estate planning or elder law needs, feel free to contact one of Henningson & Snoxell, Ltd.’s estate planning and elder law attorneys: Susan T. Peterson-Lerdahl, Adam J. Kaufman, Eric J. Lilly, David T. Estle, and Rachell L. Henning.