Serves Stearns County from its Saint Cloud office, which offers personal estate planning, business and succession planning, and tax advising. The firm's Private Client Services group administers estates and trusts and represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in disputes over will and trust validity, fiduciary duties, undue influence, and removal of a trustee.
Cold Spring is in Stearns County.
More Estate Law Firms in Stearns County
Serves Otter Tail, Douglas, Becker, Wadena, Beltrami, and Stearns counties from four offices and four client service locations. Its estate, trust and probate group prepares probate petitions, inventories, accountings, and estate tax returns, and has represented clients in will contests through trial and appeal. The firm traces to an 1883 Fergus Falls partnership.
Serves Stearns County and clients across the Upper Midwest from St. Cloud. Handles estate litigation arising from will contests and disputes over trust administration, and drafts wills, trusts, health care directives, powers of attorney, guardianships, and conservatorships. Many of its estate clients own farms and large businesses, and its planning covers business succession and farm land trusts.
Serves Stearns County and Central Minnesota from St. Cloud. Handles probate and estate administration and litigates probate and trust disputes, including challenges to wills and deeds for lack of capacity or undue influence and disputes over a personal representative's management of an estate. Planning covers wills, trusts, estate-tax minimization, and business succession.
Serves Hennepin County and the Twin Cities from Bloomington, and Stearns County from a St. Cloud office. Guides personal representatives through Minnesota probate and successor trustees through trust administration, and handles guardianship, conservatorship and estate tax planning. Gold Winner of the 2025 Minnesota's Best Reader's Choice Award for estate planning.
Probate in Stearns County
Probate Court Record
Stearns County District Court
Stearns County · Seventh Judicial District
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM
Office
725 Courthouse Square, St. Cloud, MN 56303
Website
E-filing
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Stearns County →
Verified October 15, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Stearns County? →Settling an estate in Stearns County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Minnesota
Free Minnesota forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Minnesota.
$12/month
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Last Will and Testament
In Minnesota, a will is signed before 2Minn. Stat. § 524.2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyMinn. Stat. § 524.2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source.
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Healthcare Power of Attorney
Minnesota allows a choice for a healthcare power of attorney: 2Minn. Stat. § 145C.16Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses or a notary.
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Financial Power of Attorney
Minnesota requires explicit durability language for a power of attorney to survive incapacityMinn. Stat. §§ 523.01, 523.02, 523.05, 523.07, 523.075, 523.08, 523.17, 523.18, 523.20, 523.23, 523.231, 523.24Verified Oct 21, 2026View source, and it is signed before a notaryMinn. Stat. §§ 523.01, 523.02, 523.05, 523.07, 523.075, 523.08, 523.17, 523.18, 523.20, 523.23, 523.231, 523.24Verified Oct 22, 2026View source.
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Pour-Over Will
In Minnesota, a pour-over will is signed before 2Minn. Stat. § 524.2-502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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Free
Transfer on Death Deed
In Minnesota, a transfer on death deed is signed before a notaryMinn. Stat. 507.071Verified Oct 18, 2026View source, then recorded with the county before the owner's deathMinn. Stat. 507.071Verified Oct 18, 2026View source. Minnesota does not recognize a Lady Bird deed.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Minnesota
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Minnesota: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for Minnesota.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
In Minnesota, a will-based plan pays probate attorney fees of typically 1.9%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.1%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; a funded revocable trust keeps those assets out of probate and off that fee.
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Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Probate in Minnesota takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate and charges attorney fees of typically 1.9%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.1%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate; assets held in a revocable trust skip both.
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How Much Does Probate Cost?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in Minnesota costs an estimated $26,108Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source. Attorney fees run 1.9%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.1%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate under a reasonable-compensation standard.
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What Are the Estate Laws in My State?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in Minnesota costs an estimated $26,108Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source and takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate, with attorney fees of typically 1.9%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.1%Modeled estimate under Minn. Stat. § 525.515 (just and reasonable compensation; no statutory percentage; review under § 524.3-721): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate. Estates under $75,000Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201Verified Sep 8, 2026View source can use a small-estate procedure instead.
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How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in Minnesota: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 180 daysMinn. Stat. §§ 524.3-706, 524.3-708Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 4 monthsMinn. Stat. §§ 524.3-801, 524.3-803, 524.3-805, 524.3-806Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 4 months to 6 months.
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What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Minnesota runs $3,530Estimate: 10 hours at $353, Clio's Minnesota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $5,295Estimate: 15 hours at $353, Clio's Minnesota Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $1,035Estimate: 3 hours at $345, Clio's Minnesota Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $2,070Estimate: 6 hours at $345, Clio's Minnesota Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.
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