Complex Will with Trust - Minnesota

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

WITH TESTAMENTARY FAMILY TRUST

of

[TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Testator and Family Information
2. Revocation and General Intent
3. Personal Representative and Estate Administration
4. Specific Gifts
5. Residuary Estate and Testamentary Trust
6. Family Trust Terms
7. Trustee Administration
8. Guardian Appointment
9. Fiduciary Remedies and Dispute Provisions
10. General Provisions
11. Physical, Witnessed, and Self-Proved Execution

1. TESTATOR AND FAMILY INFORMATION

1.1 Testator

I, [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], residing at [ADDRESS], declare this instrument to be my Last Will and Testament. I am at least eighteen years of age and of sound mind as required by Minn. Stat. § 524.2-501.

1.2 Family

My spouse is [SPOUSE FULL LEGAL NAME / “I am not married”].

My children are:

1. [CHILD 1 FULL LEGAL NAME], born [DATE];
2. [CHILD 2 FULL LEGAL NAME], born [DATE]; and
3. [ADDITIONAL CHILDREN OR “None”].

For this Will, “descendants” includes individuals treated as descendants under applicable Minnesota law. “By representation” means division among descendants in the manner Minnesota law applies to the dispositive provision at issue unless this Will states a different method.

1.3 Survival Requirement

Except where this Will expressly provides otherwise, a beneficiary must survive me by [30] days to take under this Will. A beneficiary who does not satisfy that requirement shall be treated as having predeceased me.

2. REVOCATION AND GENERAL INTENT

2.1 Revocation

I revoke all prior wills and codicils made by me.

2.2 Dispositive Intent

I intend to dispose of property over which I have testamentary power, subject to enforceable debts, expenses, taxes, surviving-spouse rights, ownership rights, beneficiary designations, and other mandatory rules that apply at my death.

2.3 Governing Law

This Will and each testamentary trust created by it shall be governed by Minnesota law, except where another jurisdiction's mandatory law applies to particular property or administration.

3. PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

3.1 Appointment

I nominate [PRIMARY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE NAME], of [ADDRESS], as Personal Representative of my estate.

If that person does not serve or ceases to serve, I nominate [SUCCESSOR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE NAME], of [ADDRESS], as successor.

A person given priority by a probated will has first appointment priority under Minn. Stat. § 524.3-203, subject to statutory qualification and court proceedings.

3.2 Bond

I do not require my Personal Representative to furnish bond. This direction remains subject to Minn. Stat. § 524.3-603 and any bond the court or another mandatory rule requires.

3.3 Duties and Powers

My Personal Representative shall settle and distribute my estate expeditiously and efficiently, consistently with the estate's best interests and the fiduciary duties in Minn. Stat. § 524.3-703.

Except as restricted by this Will, another mandatory rule, or a court order, the Personal Representative may exercise the powers in Minn. Stat. § 524.3-715, including authority to:

1. retain, invest, acquire, sell, exchange, lease, mortgage, manage, improve, partition, or abandon estate property;
2. deposit funds, borrow money, insure property, pay valid claims and expenses, and compromise obligations;
3. employ attorneys, auditors, investment advisers, and other agents;
4. prosecute or defend claims and proceedings;
5. continue or incorporate a business within the statute's conditions; and
6. distribute assets under the applicable estate-distribution rules.

3.4 Debts, Expenses, and Taxes

My Personal Representative shall pay enforceable debts, funeral and administration expenses, and taxes properly chargeable to my estate. Minnesota counsel shall insert or confirm any intended tax-apportionment direction before execution: [TAX APPORTIONMENT TERMS].

4. SPECIFIC GIFTS

4.1 Listed Gifts

I make the following gifts, subject to valid liens and ownership rights:

1. [DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY OR AMOUNT] to [BENEFICIARY];
2. [DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY OR AMOUNT] to [BENEFICIARY]; and
3. [ADDITIONAL GIFTS OR “None”].

If a beneficiary of a specific gift does not survive me as required by Section 1.3 and this Will does not provide a substitute recipient, that gift becomes part of the Residuary Estate, subject to any mandatory anti-lapse rule.

4.2 Separate Tangible-Property List

I may leave a written statement or list under Minn. Stat. § 524.2-513 disposing of items of tangible personal property other than money, coin collections, and property used in a trade or business. To qualify under that section, the list must be referred to in this Will, be in my handwriting or signed by me, and describe the items and devisees with reasonable certainty. If different writings dispose of the same item to different persons, the most recent writing controls.

5. RESIDUARY ESTATE AND TESTAMENTARY TRUST

5.1 Residuary Gift

I give all the rest, residue, and remainder of my probate estate to the Trustee named below, IN TRUST, to be held as the “[TESTATOR SURNAME] Family Trust” under Sections 5 through 7 of this Will.

5.2 Creation and Funding

The Family Trust is a testamentary trust created at my death. Its property consists of the Residuary Estate and any other property validly transferred to it.

5.3 Trustee Appointments

I appoint [PRIMARY TRUSTEE NAME], of [ADDRESS], as Trustee.

If that person does not serve or ceases to serve, I appoint the following successors in order:

1. [FIRST SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE NAME];
2. [SECOND SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE NAME]; and
3. [CORPORATE FIDUCIARY OR SELECTION METHOD].

If a required vacancy remains, it shall be filled in the order provided by Minn. Stat. § 501C.0704: this Will's designated method, unanimous agreement of qualified beneficiaries, a qualifying nonjudicial settlement agreement, and then court appointment.

5.4 Trustee Bond

This Will does not require a Trustee to give bond. Under Minn. Stat. § 501C.0702, bond is required only if the court finds it necessary to protect beneficiaries or this Will requires it and the court has not dispensed with the requirement.

6. FAMILY TRUST TERMS

6.1 Spouse's Lifetime Share

If my spouse survives me as required by Section 1.3, the Trustee shall administer the Family Trust during my spouse's lifetime as follows:

1. distribute all net income to my spouse at least quarterly;
2. distribute as much principal as the Trustee determines advisable for my spouse's health, education, maintenance, or support; and
3. consider my spouse's other resources only to the extent the Trustee considers appropriate.

If I am not married at death or my spouse does not survive me as required, the Trust shall proceed directly under Section 6.2.

6.2 Division After Spouse's Death

At my spouse's death, or immediately at my death if Section 6.1 does not apply, the Trustee shall divide the remaining Trust property into equal shares, one for each then-living child of mine and one for each deceased child of mine who has then-living descendants.

The share allocated to a deceased child shall pass among that child's descendants by representation. If that child has no then-living descendants, the share shall be reallocated among the other shares in the same manner.

6.3 Separate Trust for a Child or Descendant

Each share allocated to a child or descendant shall be held as a separate trust. The Trustee may distribute income and principal for that beneficiary's health, education, maintenance, or support.

Subject to the Trustee's authority to retain a reasonable reserve, the Trustee shall distribute:

1. one-third of the beneficiary's separate trust at age [25];
2. one-half of the remaining balance at age [30]; and
3. the remaining balance at age [35].

If the beneficiary has already reached a stated age when the separate trust is created, the corresponding distribution shall be made after the Trustee completes a reasonable administrative review.

6.4 Death Before Final Distribution

If a beneficiary dies before receiving the beneficiary's entire separate trust, the remaining property shall pass:

1. to that beneficiary's then-living descendants by representation;
2. if none, to the then-living descendants of the nearest ancestor of that beneficiary who is also my descendant; or
3. if none, to [ALTERNATE BENEFICIARY OR CHARITY].

6.5 Spendthrift Provision

Each beneficiary's interest is held subject to a spendthrift trust. Both voluntary and involuntary transfers are restricted before receipt to the extent provided by Minn. Stat. § 501C.0502 and the other mandatory creditor-rights rules.

6.6 Perpetuities Savings Clause

Minn. Stat. § 501A.01(f) substitutes a 500-year period for the statute's 90-year alternative for a trust created on or after August 1, 2025, unless the trust requires a shorter vesting or termination period. This Will intentionally uses a shorter period.

Every trust created by this Will shall terminate no later than twenty-one years after the death of the last survivor of my spouse and my descendants who are living at my death. If no such person survives me, every trust shall terminate no later than twenty-one years after its creation. The Trustee shall distribute the remaining property to the persons then entitled to receive or benefit from it in proportions that most closely carry out this Will. A court may apply the reformation authorized by Minn. Stat. § 501A.03.

7. TRUSTEE ADMINISTRATION

7.1 Governing Duties

The Trustee shall administer each trust in good faith according to its terms, purposes, beneficiary interests, and applicable law as required by Minn. Stat. § 501C.0801. The Trustee owes the beneficiaries the loyalty duty in § 501C.0802 and shall exercise the reasonable care, skill, and caution required by § 501C.0804.

7.2 Trustee Powers

Subject to those duties, the Trustee may exercise the powers in Minn. Stat. §§ 501C.0815 and 501C.0816 without prior court authorization except where this Will, a mandatory rule, or a court order provides otherwise. Those powers include authority to:

1. collect, acquire, sell, exchange, partition, lease, improve, or abandon Trust property;
2. deposit Trust funds, borrow money, and mortgage or pledge Trust property;
3. continue or create a business, exercise ownership rights, and insure Trust property and appropriate persons;
4. pay or contest claims, taxes, compensation, and administration expenses;
5. employ attorneys, accountants, investment advisers, and other agents;
6. make fair and reasonable loans or distributions for beneficiaries as the statute permits;
7. resolve appropriate disputes through mediation, arbitration, or another alternative-dispute procedure;
8. prosecute or defend actions and claims;
9. divide or distribute Trust property in cash, in kind, or both; and
10. terminate and wind up each trust.

7.3 Information and Annual Reports

The Trustee shall keep qualified beneficiaries of each irrevocable trust reasonably informed and respond to information requests as required by Minn. Stat. § 501C.0813, subject to any valid express variation permitted by that section.

In addition to the statute's information duty, this Will requires the Trustee to provide at least annually to the current distributees or permissible distributees, and to other qualified beneficiaries who request it, a report of Trust property, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, Trustee compensation, and a listing of Trust assets with reasonably available values.

7.4 Compensation

The Trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances under Minn. Stat. § 501C.0708 unless Minnesota counsel inserts a reviewed compensation schedule here: [COMPENSATION TERMS OR “Reasonable compensation under applicable law”].

8. GUARDIAN APPOINTMENT

If I am a parent of a minor child for whom my appointment may operate, I appoint [PRIMARY GUARDIAN NAME] as guardian and [SUCCESSOR GUARDIAN NAME] as successor guardian under Minn. Stat. § 524.5-202.

This appointment remains subject to the rights of either parent, the guardian's timely acceptance and notice, any objection, court confirmation, and the other statutory procedures.

9. FIDUCIARY REMEDIES AND DISPUTE PROVISIONS

9.1 Removal and Remedies

This Will imposes no mandatory notice-and-cure period before a person seeks relief for breach of trust. Trustee removal is governed by Minn. Stat. § 501C.0706. Remedies for a breach that has occurred or may occur are governed by § 501C.1001 and may include compelled performance, injunction, restoration, accounting, suspension, removal, reduced compensation, and other appropriate relief.

9.2 No Blanket Exculpation or Indemnity

This Will does not create a blanket indemnity or relieve a Trustee from liability for breach of trust. Any exculpatory term remains subject to Minn. Stat. § 501C.1008, including its limits for bad faith, reckless indifference, abuse of a fiduciary or confidential relationship, and Trustee-drafted terms.

9.3 Personal Liability to Third Persons

A Trustee's personal liability on contracts, for torts, and for obligations arising from ownership or control of Trust property is governed by Minn. Stat. § 501C.1010. Nothing in this Will converts those conditional rules into a blanket limitation of all liabilities to Trust assets.

9.4 No Mandatory Arbitration or Jury Waiver

This Will does not require arbitration and does not waive any jury right that may otherwise exist. Minn. Stat. § 501C.0816(22) authorizes a Trustee to use mediation, arbitration, or another alternative-dispute procedure for an appropriate trust-interpretation or administration dispute. Minn. Stat. § 524.1-306 preserves a jury trial when duly demanded on a controverted fact question for which a party has a constitutional jury right.

9.5 District Court Proceedings

An interested person may petition the Minnesota district court regarding the trust matters listed in Minn. Stat. §§ 501C.0201 and 501C.0202. The petition must identify whether in rem or in personam jurisdiction is invoked, and notice is governed by § 501C.0203. This Will does not create exclusive venue in a county that would conflict with applicable jurisdiction and venue rules.

10. GENERAL PROVISIONS

10.1 Digital Assets and Electronic Communications

Under Minn. Stat. § 521A.04(b), I consent to and allow disclosure to my Personal Representative and Trustee of all digital assets in which I have a transferable right or interest, including the content of electronic communications, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. My fiduciaries may identify, preserve, manage, transfer, or dispose of those assets for estate or Trust administration.

This direction remains subject to a qualifying online-tool direction that overrides a contrary direction in this Will under § 521A.04(a), the personal-representative disclosure conditions in §§ 521A.07 and 521A.08, the trustee provisions in §§ 521A.11 to 521A.13, applicable federal law, and the scope of my own rights. It does not authorize circumvention of security controls.

10.2 Contest Clause

Except when Minn. Stat. § 524.2-517 makes a penalty clause unenforceable because probable cause exists for a proceeding, a person who contests this Will or institutes another proceeding relating to my estate shall forfeit that person's gift under this Will and shall be treated as having predeceased me. Minnesota counsel shall tailor this clause to the intended scope and substitute disposition before execution.

10.3 Severability

If a provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions shall remain effective. A court may apply any reformation or equitable remedy authorized by law; this Section does not itself enlarge a court's authority.

10.4 Entire Will

This instrument contains my testamentary directions, together with any later codicil executed with the formalities required by law.

10.5 Physical-Execution Form; Electronic-Will Caution

The execution block below is designed for a written will signed and witnessed while the Testator, witnesses, and officer are physically present under Minn. Stat. §§ 524.2-502 and 524.2-504.

Minn. Stat. § 524.1-201 also recognizes an “electronic will,” defines electronic signing, and permits qualifying simultaneous audiovisual “presence” for the will statutes. Do not convert this physical-execution form to an electronic or remote process without Minnesota counsel confirming compliance with all current definitions, execution rules, identity, record-integrity, and notarization requirements.

11. PHYSICAL, WITNESSED, AND SELF-PROVED EXECUTION

State of Minnesota

County of [COUNTY]

I, [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], the Testator, sign my name to this instrument on [DATE] and, being first duly sworn, declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my Will; that I sign it willingly or willingly direct another to sign for me; that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in this Will; and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

Testator signature: ___________________________________

Printed name: [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME]

We, [WITNESS 1 NAME] and [WITNESS 2 NAME], the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first duly sworn, and declare to the undersigned authority that the Testator signs and executes this instrument as the Testator's Will; that the Testator signs it willingly or willingly directs another to sign for the Testator; that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the Testator, signs this Will as witness to the Testator's signing; and that, to the best of our knowledge, the Testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged in my presence by [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], the Testator, and subscribed and sworn to in my presence by [WITNESS 1 NAME] and [WITNESS 2 NAME], witnesses, this [DATE].

Officer signature: ___________________________________

Official capacity: [NOTARY PUBLIC / OTHER AUTHORIZED OFFICER]

Official seal: [SEAL]

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Minn. Stat. § 524.1-201 — Definitions, including electronic will, presence, signing, and writing
• Minn. Stat. § 524.1-306 — Jury trial
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-501 — Capacity to make a will
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-502 — Execution of witnessed wills
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-504 — Self-proved will
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-513 — Separate tangible-property writing
• Minn. Stat. § 524.2-517 — Penalty clause for contest
• Minn. Stat. § 524.3-203 — Personal representative appointment priority
• Minn. Stat. § 524.3-603 — Personal representative bond
• Minn. Stat. § 524.3-703 — Personal representative duties
• Minn. Stat. § 524.3-715 — Personal representative powers
• Minn. Stat. § 524.5-202 — Parental appointment of guardian
• Minn. Stat. §§ 501C.0201 to 501C.0203 — District-court trust proceedings
• Minn. Stat. § 501C.0502 — Spendthrift provision
• Minn. Stat. §§ 501C.0702 to 501C.0708 — Trustee office
• Minn. Stat. §§ 501C.0801 to 501C.0816 — Trustee duties and powers
• Minn. Stat. §§ 501C.1001, 501C.1008, and 501C.1010 — Remedies and liability rules
• Minn. Stat. § 521A.04 — User direction for digital-asset disclosure
• Minn. Stat. §§ 521A.07 and 521A.08 — Personal representative digital-asset disclosure
• Minn. Stat. §§ 521A.11 to 521A.13 — Trustee digital-asset disclosure
• Minn. Stat. §§ 501A.01 and 501A.03 — Perpetuities rule and reformation
• 2026 Minn. Laws ch. 56, § 38 — § 524.3-715 amendment effective August 1, 2026 under Minn. Stat. § 645.02

END OF DOCUMENT