Payable on death accounts. Your institution probably issues them on a regular basis, but how much do you really know about them? Whether you’re a banking veteran or new to the game, it’s always a good time to familiarize yourself with what they are, what they are for, and what you, the financial institution, do...

Many landowners might have read the headlines about the Supreme Court’s wetland decision this year – Sackett v Environmental Protection Agency – and breathed a sigh of relief: “Finally, we can fill a little puddle on our own property without the government intruding on our private property!” But despite this decision, grain farmers and other...

The drum beat toward renewable energy continues. Recently, Minnesota enacted new legislation requiring that 100% of the State’s energy be produced from carbon-free sources by 2040. This is not a distant, far-off goal. Though some new technologies might fill the gap, the obvious sources to meet this goal are wind and solar, which are expected...

Real Estate often serves as the primary collateral for a loan, and for good reason. Compared to personal property, real estate tends to depreciate less, cannot be absconded with, and oftentimes is simply more valuable than items of personal property. For this reason, lenders usually take significant efforts to ensure they obtain a first priority...

The Minnesota Court Supreme Court recently issued a decision concerning which watercourses in the state could be treated as “public waters” under various state statutes and regulations. The case arose out of a petition to improve Renville County Ditch 77 by cleaning the outlet into a stretch of Limbo Creek. Historically this section of Limbo...

The success of cash crop farming in Minnesota is due in large part to the work our ancestors in this state did to convert wet and even flooded property into dry farmland. Through systems of open ditches and buried pipe, land was made farmable by quickly draining water from the landscape allowing it to be...

The distinction between a security interest and a mortgage is easy to understand: a security interest under Article 9 of the UCC is used for personal property, and a mortgage is used for real estate. Rarely is there any confusion between these two. However, there is a third category of collateral which blurs the lines...