Legal Memorandum: Liquor Licenses in MN

Issue: According to municipal law in Minnesota, can the existence of an unsatisfied judgment result in the suspension/nonrenewal of an establishment’s liquor license?

            In New York, licensed attorneys who serve both as legal counsel and executor to an estate are entitled to reasonable compensation for their legal representation in addition to a statutory commission for their services as executor.  N.Y. SCPA § 2307.  In order to provide sufficient “indication that the issue of fiduciary compensation was squarely put before the testator,” however, SCPA § 2307-a demands a written acknowledgement that the testator understood that the attorney-executor would be so compensated.  In the Matter of Gurnee, 16 Misc. 3d 1113A, 847 N.Y.S.2d 896 (Surr. Ct. 2007) (unpublished).

Under SCPA § 2307-a, an attorney who prepares a will in which he or she will also serve as an executor must inform the testator that:

(a)        subject to limited statutory exceptions, any person, including the testator’s spouse, child, friend or associate, or an attorney, is eligible to serve as an executor;

(b)        absent an agreement to the contrary, any person, including an attorney, who serves as an executor is entitled to receive an executor’s statutory commissions;

(c)        absent execution of a disclosure acknowledgment, the attorney who prepared the will, a then affiliated attorney, or an employee of such attorney or a then affiliated attorney, who serves as an executor shall be entitled to one-half the commissions he or she would otherwise be entitled to receive; and

(d)       if such attorney or an affiliated attorney renders legal services in connection with the executor’s official duties, […]

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