With 25+ years of real estate experience and a Minnesota State Bar Association Real Property Law Specialist on staff, we can serve all your real estate needs. Rae R. Bentz is versed in many different activities, including buying and selling homes, drafting of deeds, filing liens, handling boundary and zoning disputes, and even assisting families in court when threatened with foreclosure. Some of our services include:

• Residential and Commercial Real Estate Transactions
• Purchase and Sale Agreements
• Contracts for Deed
• Title Examinations
• Evaluation of Title Exceptions And Negotiation of Title Insurance Policies
• Easement and Access Issues
• Tenants’, Renters’ and Homeowners’ Rights
• Property Development
• Zoning and Land Use

Proper estate planning (good personal and financial planning) can help to protect your assets from Medicare or nursing home liens, gain preferential tax treatment, or protect your privacy by planning around the probate system. Defenbaugh Law Office provides a full range of estate planning services, beginning with fundamental documents that serve as the foundation for all types of planning. Some of our services include:

• Wills
• Power of Attorney
• Advance Health Care Directives
• Trust Administration
• Special and Supplemental Needs Trusts
• Medical Assistance Planning
• Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts
• Life Estates
• Estate and Gift Taxes
• Cohabitation Agreements

If you have lost a loved one, probate is the process that gives recognition to a will, appoints the person who will administer the estate and distribute assets to the beneficiaries. The probate process includes notifying creditors and publishing legal notices, guiding executors on how and when to distribute assets and how to take creditors' rights into account, determining estate taxes/gift taxes/inheritance taxes, and more. Having a will doesn't avoid probate, and the need for probate depends on the property you own and if you own it alone or with other people. Some of our services include:

• Probate Administration
• Trust Administration
• Conservatorships
• Guardianships
• Probate and Trust Litigation

If you or a loved one have suffered from an auto accident, injury due to a defective product, injury in a slip and fall, have suffered from a dog bite, or were injured due to other reasons, Defenbaugh Law Office is dedicated to recovering adequate and fair compensation. In addition to the physical and emotional trauma experienced, injuries can also rapidly drain victims and their families of their financial resources. That's why you need someone on your side that knows the law and can help in restoring you and your finances to pre-injury levels. Some of our services include:

• Car and Other Vehicle Accidents
• Product Liability/Defective Product Cases
• Product Liability
• Slip and Falls
• Insurance Disputes/Bad Faith Denial of Benefits
• Wrongful Death
• Dog Attacks and Bites

If you’ve been arrested and accused of a crime, you need a good criminal defense attorney to protect your rights. The criminal justice system can be a frightening experience; depending on the severity of the offense, being found guilty can result in jail time, restitution, fines, probation, community service or the loss of driving privileges. DWI conviction, for example, can result in the loss of the car’s license plate, your driver’s license, and even forfeiture of the vehicle you were driving, whether a car, boat, snowmobile, or ATV.

With 25+ years of experience, we help protect you from a wrongful conviction and pursue the facts. We work to get charges reduced or even dropped. We can also negotiate for minimum and alternative sentencing with the prosecution and probation department if a conviction can’t be avoided. We discuss, with the client, the pros and cons of going to trial against negotiating a reasonable plea agreement. Some of our services include:

• DWI/DUI
• Other Traffic Violations
• Drug Crimes
• Fraud/Theft/Financial Crimes
• Domestic Assaults
• Wildlife Offenses (Angling or Hunting without a license, taking an animal out of season, exceeding a bag limit, etc.)

How do I protect my interests in a divorce? How do I support myself after a divorce when my spouse was the primary income earner? How do I fight for custody of my children? Should I have a prenuptial agreement? What should I be aware of when considering adoption? How do I get an order for protection? When facing these circumstances, you need a law firm that can handle your case compassionately, give you honest answers to your questions, and provide the advice you need to make informed decisions about your future. Some of our services include:

• Separation
• Divorce and Annulment
• Child and Spousal Support
• Child Custody and Visitation
• Paternity/Parentage
• Domestic Violence
• Guardianship
• Civil Harassment
• Prenuptial Agreements