Good to know first: you don't need to do any of this to ask us for a number, and a title company handles the closing paperwork. This page is here if you want the background.

Informal or formal: what is the difference?

You'll see these two words everywhere. In plain terms, informal means a registrar handles an application, and formal means a court handles it with notice to the people who have an interest.

Minnesota side

Informal is an informal proceeding with applications to the registrar.
Formal is conducted before a court, with notice to interested people.

Wisconsin side

Informal is administration without continuous court supervision, with the registrar acting on the application.
An informally appointed representative generally proceeds without court orders but can ask the court to settle questions.
Douglas County lists seven types of probate, including transfer by affidavit.

Which one fits depends on the will, the family, and whether anyone objects. That is the first thing to ask an attorney.

Time marks in Minnesota

Mark	What the statute says
After the death	The registrar can appoint once at least 120 hours have passed and the required findings are made.
Outer limit to start	Three years after death for most informal or formal proceedings, with listed exceptions.
Creditors	Claims are barred four months after published notice, or one month after service on a known creditor if later. A one-year backstop applies, but it doesn't cut off state Medical Assistance claims.
Closing the estate	After informal appointment, a representative can close by sworn statement no earlier than four months after appointment.

These are the law's marks, not a schedule anyone can promise. Your own case can run longer.

Duluth offices

The courts sit in county courthouses but are a state division, so court questions go to the Minnesota Judicial Branch, not the county. We couldn't read the court's own pages to confirm its counter hours or phone, so check those on the court's website.

Recorder and Registrar of Titles

Duluth Courthouse, 100 N. 5th Ave. W., #101, Duluth, MN 55802

Records deeds and gives no legal advice. Land here is either Abstract or Torrens, and that changes which side of the office handles it.

Death certificates

Ordered through the County Recorder, with a "tangible interest" rule on who can ask for one.

Law Library

100 N. 5th Ave. W., #15, Duluth. A staff person helps you find legal resources, which isn't the same as legal advice.

Auditor (property tax)

Duluth Courthouse, Room 214. The place to ask what is owed on the house.

Justice North

Nonprofit civil legal aid with a Duluth office, for people with low incomes. Its page doesn't say whether it takes inherited-house questions, so ask.

If the person lived in Superior

Wisconsin has its own office and its own rules. The Douglas County Register in Probate is at 1313 Belknap St., Room 304, (715) 395-1220, and staff there can't give legal advice.

Do I need an attorney?

The law doesn't make you hire one for every informal case, but we won't tell you that yours is simple. It is worth paying for an hour when there is a contested will, a sibling in the house, a Medical Assistance claim, or a title problem. When you call, have the death certificate, the will if there is one, and the last deed in hand. Those are the things anyone will ask for first.

Probate in St. Louis County and Douglas County