Court of Appeals Affirms Foreclosure Decision
In Leeco, Inc. v. Cornerstone Bank, 2017 WL 2836097, a Naegeli Court Reporter of Appeals affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Cornerstone Bank which had foreclosed its mortgage on property owned by Leeco. Leeco argued that (1) the mortgaged property consisted of “separate and distinct tracts” as so should have been auctioned separately under Minn. Stat. 580.08; and (2) that the Notice of Foreclosure Sale misstated the amount due on the mortgage under Minn. Stat. § 580.04(a)(3). Leeco argued that the lakefront property consisted of separate tracts because it included four tax parcel identification numbers... Read More
Becoming Disabled After a Work Injury
When your work-related injuries or illness are too severe to go back to work, you have several options to replace your lost income. You could consider permanent total disability through work comp, long term disability through a STD/LTD insurer, and Social Security Disability Insurance. At Farrish Johnson Law Office, we routinely help our clients with their disability cases. If you are considering going on disability, give us a call to get more information about your options. As mentioned above, when you are at the point where you do not think you could go back to work in the foreseeable future... Read More
America’s 10 Most Dangerous Occupations and How Work-Related Fatalities are Treated by the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation System
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics December 16, 2016, Economic News Release, there were a total of 4,836 recorded work injuries that resulted in death in 2015, which amounted to an overall rate of fatalities of 3.38 per 100,000 full-time workers. While there are multiple contributing factors, like workers’ age, training and experience, based on the government statistics, your chances of getting killed on the job are much higher if you work in the following occupations: 1. Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations – 25.3 (deaths per 100,000 workers) 2. Supervisors of construction and extraction workers – 16.1 3.... Read More
New Minnesota Estate Planning Legislation
The Minnesota legislature recently enacted legislation that impacts estate planning. Two of the more interesting new laws include: A prohibition of using the location of a taxpayer’s attorney in determining the residency of a tax payer and The tax bill raises Minnesota’s estate tax exemption to $2.1 million for 2017 (retroactive to January 1) and an additional $300,000 each year until it hits $3 million in 2010. Unfortunately, one proposal we closely watched failed to make the cut: Allowing married farm couples to retain agricultural homestead status despite splinting their property into two trusts. If you have questions about this... Read More
Governor Dayton Signed Amendment to Disability Accomodation Legislation
On May 23, 2017, Governor Dayton signed critical legislation to protect Minnesota businesses from “drive-by” ADA lawsuits. The amendment will affect lawsuits alleging “architectural barriers” at places of public accommodation. Now, before filing a lawsuit, a person’s attorney must send a “safe harbor” notice to the business giving the business 60 days to remove the noted barrier (and up to an additional 30 days if weather prevents timely removal). Although no such notice is required to bring a claim under federal ADA law, this amendment may significantly reduce so-called “drive-by” ADA lawsuits plaguing Minnesota businesses by taking away a “drive-by”... Read More
Henrietta Lacks, Oprah, Science and the Right of Privacy
Oprah’s HBO movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, based on the New York Times bestseller, highlights the issues between ethics, race, medicine and the right of privacy. Henrietta Lacks, a poor, black, cancer-stricken woman had tissue taken from her without her consent in the 1950’s. Her cells, known as HeLa, became an important part in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, in vitro fertilization, cloning and gene mapping and have been used in the medical field since the early 1950’s for medical research. For years her own family had no idea her cells were being used in this... Read More
Update! Revocable Trust Reporting
In March, Farrish Johnson Law Office let you know about pending Minnesota legislation regarding revocable trust reporting to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (find the article here). Now, Governor Dayton recently signed legislation providing that the trustee of a revocable trust with respect to which either the settlor, the settlor’s spouse, or both, are the primary beneficiaries during the settlor’s lifetime shall not be required to file with the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture a corporate farm application seeking approval to allow the trust to hold agricultural real estate during any period that the trust is revocable. This legislation... Read More
Federal Real ID Laws in Minnesota
Minnesota is one of the last states out of compliance with the Federal Real ID Law which sets minimum security standards for state issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. The deadline to come into compliance is early 2018. If Minnesota fails to come into compliance, Minnesotans risk losing access to commercial aircrafts and to federal and military facilities. While there are issues of privacy, the primary issue in the legislature appears to be the requirement to prove citizenship. Republicans generally oppose providing driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. Democrats argue having to prove citizenship would prevent undocumented immigrants from getting even... Read More
Is it Time To Review Your Liability Waiver?
Many businesses use liability waivers – a release signed by customers to prevent them from suing the business in the event they get hurt. At least, they are supposed to. In a recent Minnesota case, Price v. Fitness Together Maple Grove (Minn. App. 2017), a health club member was seriously injured after her personal trainer purportedly dropped a weight on her head. She sued the health club for her injuries. The health club relied on a waiver the member signed and argued that the waiver precluded the lawsuit. The Minnesota Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that the language of the... Read More
Revocable Trust Reporting to Minnesota Department of Agriculture
There is legislation currently working its way through both chambers of the Minnesota legislature that would eliminate the requirement that a revocable trust holding title to agricultural real estate register with the Minnesota Department of Agricultural. The Minnesota corporate farm statute limits the type of entities that may legally own agricultural real estate. The statute lists a number of exceptions to the corporate ownership prohibition. One of these exceptions is farmland held by revocable trust. Current law requires the trustee of a qualified trust to file an application with the Department of Agriculture for a certificate of compliance. If approved,... Read More