{ CASE PREPARATION Preparing probate cases to submit to the Office of Hearings and Appeals Mandy Priester

 Starting with keeping things organized, your probate case files  Keeps yourself and your team on the same page  Broken into 6 sections (6 part folder) Case File Setup

 Starting the Genealogy Research for your probate case  Getting in contact with the family  Using online resources Now Putting together the Family Tree

 Keep a Phone Log  Able to quick write down phone number for future contact  A place for tracking voic messages  Keeps notes on what you talked about and when  Able to look back for call information – “For the Record” documentation Tips – Getting in contact with the Family

Date and Time Name Number Message (and Probate it’s regarding) Example Call Log

 Keep an Electronic Log of ALL your research  Shows the Judge how much research you have done and how far you have looked for necessary documents.  Keeps yourself up to date (especially when working on many casefiles)  Keeps your team up to date (whether checking on case status or taking over)  A place to summarize your back up documentation for missing records Tips – Getting in contact with the Family

 Update ProTrac And Casefile Log with each contact with family (mail and phone)  Scan into ProTrac all Incoming and Outgoing documents  Research addresses for ALL related parties (e.g. family, witnesses)  Verify location of possible heirs by sending AFH letter to each. Tips – Getting in contact with the Family

 Keeping In Contact  Via Affidavit of Family History (AFH) Letters  Send up to 3 notices and update letters as you go  Via Telephone  Promptly return calls and call to check in Tips – Getting in contact with the Family

 Find Birth and Death Records  Find Census Rolls  Find Marriage and Divorce Records  Find Whereabouts for family and other related parties Using Online Resources

 Examples:  Ancestry.com  MNHS.org (Minnesota Historical Society)  Minnesota Official Marriage System  MN Trial Court Public Access Using Online Resources

 Be careful of the sources you use from online  Where and when does the information come from?  What to use and what not to use??? We’ll go over this more in detail in our Best Evidence section Using Online Resources

 Make sure everything is in ProTrac  All family is linked to your Decedent  All related parties have been added Getting ready to Submit to OHA Formatting the OHA-7

 Make sure everything is in ProTrac Cont.  All financial information has been entered  Will information has been entered (beneficiaries, witnesses, scriveners)  Once the OHA-7 is generated, verify all information has come through Getting ready to Submit to OHA Formatting the OHA-7

Getting Ready to Submit to OHA  First: Putting our ducks in a row… Reviewing our case files to verify we have all needed documentation.  Certified Death Certificate for the Decedent  Birth Records for possible heirs  Marriage/Divorce Documentation  Enrollment Verification for possible heirs (especially AIPRA)   Judge may ask about enrollment of the parents of possible heirs as well, and parents of the decedent. Include completed BIA ID Request is applicable.

Getting Ready to Submit to OHA  First: Putting our ducks in a row… Reviewing our case files to verify we have all needed documentation. (Cont.)  Financial Information (Signed certified inventory and IIM Account summary)  Other important documents:  Prior Probates (parents, spouses, children)  Your search log  Using the OHA-7 for reviewing: Fact-Checking every column for every row  Organizing our documents according to the OHA- 7 (see example OHA-7 with fictional information)

 Look at the Best Evidence Checklist  Goes in order, starting with the “best”.  If you have the best evidence and it contains all the necessary information, you “should be” good to go. Wait….  Birth Certificate list both parents?  Death Certificate list cause of death?  Family given information contradict your information?  And if you do have the best evidence and it contains all the necessary information, do not include unnecessary extra documentation.  Example: Have a complete Birth Certificate? Then put aside the state birth index. Getting Ready to Submit to OHA What is the Best Documentation to Use?

 Document ALL search Efforts  Both Successes and Failures  Pre-AIPRA/Older Cases  Here is where multiple pieces of evidence and sources might be key  Look at our Evidence Example:  Marriage Evidence  DOB/Parentage Evidence  Whereabouts Attempts  Will Issues  AIPRA/Newer Cases  **Birth Certificates**  Due Diligence  Again, Document Efforts Getting Ready to Submit to OHA What if we do not have the “Best”?

 What not to submit in the probate package: Non- Evidence disguised as evidence  Information is not from a record (especially if we do not know the source of information and who is providing the information)  Ojibwe.info  PeopleFinders.com  Anishinaabe.net  Clear and LexisNexis  It is okay to use for preliminary research, whereabouts, and may give you a place to start  Example: We would use Clear for researching whereabouts for family, but would not use Clear report as evidence for DOB  Examples of evidence that are based on records:  Ancestry.com sources that do come from records: State Birth Index, SSDI, US Indian Census Roll, US Federal Census Getting Ready to Submit to OHA What is Acceptable Evidence?

THOUGHTS? QUESTIONS? Mandy Priester