Minnesota: Spousal Elective Share Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and system

Minnesota uses a four-part augmented estate under §§ 524.2-201 through
524.2-215. Unlike Colorado's two-step formula, Minnesota directly applies a
marriage-duration percentage to the augmented estate and then uses a separate
$75,000 supplemental calculation when listed spouse resources fall below that
amount.

Eligible spouse and who may elect

The ordinary right belongs to the surviving spouse of a decedent domiciled in
Minnesota and may be exercised only during the spouse's lifetime. For a
protected person, § 524.2-212 requires a court order finding that the election
is needed for adequate lifetime support and is consistent with the interests of
the natural objects of the spouse's affection.

Section 524.2-215 creates different rules when the spouse receives medical
assistance. The spouse's personal representative may act, and a guardian or
conservator must elect without a separate court order when election produces a
larger estate share than the will or intestacy.

Share amount and marriage length

The schedule begins with only the supplemental amount before one year of
marriage. It then rises by three percentage points per completed year through
30% at ten years, and by four points per year thereafter, reaching 50% at 15
years.

The supplemental amount is not simply an automatic $75,000 minimum. Section
524.2-202 subtracts the specific spouse-side and payment-source amounts named
in the statute from $75,000.

Estate base and nonprobate transfers

Under § 524.2-203, the augmented estate combines the decedent's net probate
estate, decedent nonprobate transfers to others, decedent nonprobate transfers
to the spouse, and the spouse's own property and mirrored nonprobate transfers.

Under § 524.2-205, the base includes survivorship property, life insurance,
annuities, pensions and retirement accounts, retained-possession and retained-
income transfers, general powers of appointment, and specified transfers during
the two years before death. Under § 524.2-206, decedent-to-spouse nonprobate
transfers enter the base, while § 524.2-207 supplies the spouse-side mirror.
Otherwise-uncovered two-year gifts enter only to the extent aggregate transfers
to one donee in either year exceeded $10,000.

Deductions, exclusions, and valuation

Under § 524.2-204, the probate component subtracts funeral and administration
expenses, homestead, family allowances and exemptions, liens, mortgages, and
enforceable claims. Under § 524.2-208, nonprobate transfers supported by
adequate consideration or made with the spouse's written joinder or consent are
excluded.

Mortgages, liens, and enforceable claims reduce each included nonprobate
category. Present and future interests are commuted. A spouse's life estate or
trust interest is valued at one-half of the underlying property unless proof
establishes a higher or lower value. Overlapping property is included once at
the highest value.

Deadline, extensions, and withdrawal

Under § 524.2-211, the ordinary deadline is the later of nine months after
death or six months after probate of the will. A petition filed after month nine excludes the
decedent's nonprobate transfers to others unless the spouse requested an
extension within nine months, notified persons interested in those transfers,
and obtained the extension.

The ordinary election may be withdrawn before final determination. For a
medical-assistance spouse, § 524.2-215 instead permits election or an extension
request any time before the listed distribution decree, order, or closing
statement.

Filing, service, and court procedure

The spouse files a court petition and mails or delivers it to the personal
representative, if any. The spouse must give hearing notice to persons
interested in the estate and to distributees and augmented-estate recipients
whose interests would be adversely affected. After notice and hearing, the
court fixes the elective and supplemental amounts and orders payment or
contribution.

Waiver and agreement requirements

After marriage, § 524.2-213 permits whole or partial waiver by a signed written
contract, agreement, or waiver after fair disclosure. Unless the document says
otherwise, “all rights” language waives only the elective share, not homestead,
exempt property, or family allowance.

A premarital waiver must comply with current § 519.11: full and fair disclosure,
a meaningful independent-counsel opportunity, writing, two witnesses,
acknowledgment before an oath-authorized person, voluntariness, and substantive
fairness. Signing at least seven days before marriage creates an enforceability
presumption; signing later shifts the burden to the proponent rather than
automatically voiding the agreement.

For a medical-assistance spouse, ordinary waivers do not bar the statutory
rights. Section 524.2-215 preserves only the effect of a valid antenuptial
agreement that actually waived them.

Payment sources and recipient liability

Section 524.2-209 first credits probate property passing by will or intestacy,
nonprobate property passing from the decedent to the spouse, amounts the spouse
disclaimed, and the applicable scaled portion of spouse-side property. The next
tier proportionally charges the probate estate and main nonprobate categories;
the remaining two-year-transfer categories follow.

Under § 524.2-210, original nonprobate recipients and donees who still hold
property or proceeds can owe proportional contribution. A liable person may
return the proportional property received or pay its value.

Effect of election and other spousal rights

The statute does not make the election a renunciation of the will. Testate,
intestate, and even disclaimed amounts that would have passed to the spouse are
credits under § 524.2-209.

Homestead rights and the allowances under §§ 524.2-402 through 524.2-404 are
additional and are not charged against the elective or supplemental amounts.

What trips people up

• The $75,000 provision is a formula, not a simple floor. The statute
  subtracts specified resources already available to the spouse.
• The later deadline can shrink the estate base. Filing after nine months
  without the timely extension strips decedent-to-others nonprobate transfers
  from the calculation.
• A disclaimer does not erase a credit. Property that would have passed to
  the spouse but was disclaimed is still applied first under § 524.2-209.
• Medical assistance changes the ordinary rules. Timing, representative
  authority, and waiver effect all differ under § 524.2-215.

Common questions

Is the share 30% after ten years?

Yes. Minnesota's schedule reaches 30% of the augmented estate at ten years,
then rises to 34%, 38%, 42%, 46%, and finally 50% at 15 years.

Does the spouse lose homestead rights by electing?

No. Section 524.2-202(c) says the specified homestead rights and allowances are
additional to the elective and supplemental amounts.

Can the spouse elect after dying?

Ordinarily no; § 524.2-212 makes the right lifetime-only. Section 524.2-215(c)
creates an exception allowing the personal representative of a medical-
assistance spouse's estate to act.

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. §§ 524.2-202 through 524.2-208 — percentage schedule,
  supplemental formula, augmented-estate components, deductions, exclusions,
  and valuation. Official §
  524.2-202, official §
  524.2-203, and official §
  524.2-208 (accessed
  2026-08-02).
• Minn. Stat. §§ 524.2-209 through 524.2-212 — credits, payment order,
  recipient liability, deadline, extension, notice, withdrawal, and protected-
  person election. Official §
  524.2-209, official §
  524.2-211, and official §
  524.2-212 (accessed
  2026-08-02).
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-213 and § 519.11 — postmarriage and premarital waiver
  requirements. Official §
  524.2-213 and official §
  519.11 (accessed 2026-08-02).
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-215 — medical-assistance spouse exceptions. Official
  text (accessed
  2026-08-02).