HF3536 Summary

• Allows courts to bar a surviving spouse, heir, or devisee from inheriting if they committed financial exploitation under Minnesota Statutes section 609.2335 against the decedent, with the estate passing as if the exploiter predeceased the decedent.

• Court may find financial exploitation by preponderance of evidence even without a criminal conviction, considering factors including crime severity, use of harassment or coercion, the relationship between parties, and the decedent's wishes.

• Bars exploiters from receiving benefits including intestate shares, elective shares, homestead rights, exempt property, family allowances, joint tenancy rights, life insurance proceeds, and bond benefits.

• Insurance companies must withhold policy proceeds when notified in writing that the insured may have been exploited and the beneficiary may be responsible, with distribution determined by court order.

• Permits courts to issue emergency orders to protect the decedent's property, including freezing assets, holding property in trust or escrow, or restricting sales and transfers, with ex parte orders requiring notice within 48 hours and a hearing within five days.

• Effective August 1, 2017, applying only to probate cases filed on or after that date.