With the federal estate tax exemption currently at $11.58 million for individuals ($23.16 Million for married couples) and the Minnesota estate tax exemption at $3 million, non-tax considerations generally prevail when selecting a particular trust arrangement for the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next. However, income taxation is still an important and...

When you are forming your business, the choice of entity is always an important decision – will you incorporate, or form a limited liability company? Will you operate as a partnership – general or limited? What you may not know is that if you are operating in certain professional service fields (medicine and surgery, physician...

Last week, four federal agencies ­–– the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency–– along with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors issued a joint statement providing financial institutions with much-needed guidance on lending to hemp-related...

Minnesota has two statutes that seemingly set the standard for courts to decide whether to modify an order for parenting time. Minnesota Statute Section 518.175 governs parenting time, and subdivision 5(b) provides that the court shall modify parenting time if the modification would not change the child’s primary residence and if the modification would serve...

When times are good, the farmer-lender relationship usually is positive or perhaps even an afterthought for most farmers.  However, when times are tough, the relationship can quickly become strained, especially when there are misunderstandings about the legal obligations owed under the terms of the farmer’s loan.  This article provides information to help avoid some of...

The amount of personal and financial information stored and communicated electronically on a daily basis in United States is staggering. This trend will only increase as new technologies develop and integrate into mainstream society. As a result, legislatures are making data privacy and cybersecurity laws a higher priority. Although there is no unified federal law...

Agricultural contracts, such as those entered into between livestock integrators and growers, are often fairly complex and may contain language which neither party has carefully considered beyond the basic terms such as those dealing with compensation and the quantity of animals involved. Sometimes parties will use a contract form which they have obtained from another...