2025 Session Last amended: 1986 session

§ 524.3-201 — Venue for First and Subsequent Estate Proceedings; Location of Property

Plain-Language Summary

This section sets the proper county (venue) for probate and estate proceedings in Minnesota. The first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceeding after a person dies is brought in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death, or, if the decedent did not live in Minnesota, in any county where the decedent's property was located at death. Later proceedings generally stay in the county where the first one occurred (unless transferred), and the section also provides rules for figuring out where assets such as debts and instruments are considered to be located.

524.3-201 VENUE FOR FIRST AND SUBSEQUENT ESTATE PROCEEDINGS; LOCATION OF PROPERTY.

(a) Venue for the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceedings after a decedent’s death is:

(1) in the county of the decedent’s domicile at the time of death; or

(2) if the decedent was not domiciled in this state, in any county where property of the decedent was located at the time of death.

(b) Venue for all subsequent proceedings within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court is in the place where the initial proceeding occurred, unless the initial proceeding has been transferred as provided in section 524.1-303 or (c) of this section.

(c) If the first proceeding was informal, on application of an interested person and after notice to the proponent in the first proceeding, the court, upon finding that venue is elsewhere, may transfer the proceeding and the file to the other court.

(d) For the purpose of aiding determinations concerning location of assets which may be relevant in cases involving nondomiciliaries, a debt, other than one evidenced by investment or commercial paper or other instrument in favor of a nondomiciliary, is located where the debtor resides or, if the debtor is a person other than an individual, at the place where it has its principal office. Commercial paper, investment paper and other instruments are located where the instrument is. An interest in property held in trust is located where the trustee may be sued.

History:

1974 c 442 art 3 s 524.3-201; 1986 c 444

History: History: 1974 c 442 art 3 s 524.3-201; 1986 c 444

Practical Notes

If you are starting a probate or estate proceeding, file it in the county where the deceased person lived at the time of death. If the person lived outside Minnesota but owned property here, you can file in a county where that property was located. Once a proceeding has begun in one county, related matters typically continue there unless the court transfers the case to another county.

Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes