Ed Hellekson | Baxter Criminal Lawyer

Whether it is estate planning, retirement planning, business planning, executive compensation or criminal law, Hellekson Law has the experience to meet your personal or business needs.

Ed has represented small businesses to publicly traded companies.  He is an effective attorney that will help you get results.

Ed has focused his career on providing legal, tax and financial guidance to seniors, businesses and families throughout the United States for over ten years. Ed has represented publicly traded companies and families with a net worth of up to a half a billion dollars. Ed is formerly an Advanced Marketing Attorney for Securian Financial Group.

Prior to his private practice, Ed was Legal Counsel to a consulting firm. He was a nationally sought after drafter of Individual Retirement Accounts, Roth and Education IRAs to over 9,000 financial organizations nationwide. He provided tax, legal and compliance guidance to leading financial organizations regarding IRS and ERISA issues that impact seniors. Ed provided training, consulting and auditing of Department of Labor and IRS compliance and tax matters for Bankers, Brokers and Financial Advisors. He has been elected to the Order of Barristers for excellency in appellate advocacy. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctor. Ed earned his Bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of North Dakota and a Certified Life Underwriter designation from the American College.

Currently, Ed is focusing his practice on retirement planning, executive compensation plans and providing business and tax guidance to executives, businesses and people approaching retirement.

Position	Organization	Location	Duration
Attorney	Hellekson Law	Baxter, MN	Present

School	Degree	Major	Graduation
UND	Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.)	Tax Law	1991

State / Court	Date
MN	1994

• Certified Life Underwriter-American College, 2000
  Order of Barristers

• Ed is a nationally sought after speaker who has conducted over 200 lectures on issues such as:
  
  Estate Planning;
  Divorce Proofing Assets for Younger Generations;
  Business Continuation Strategies;
  Efficient Wealth Transfer Solutions;
  Retiring with Confidence;
  Executive Compensation, ERISA & Taxation;
  Charitable Planning Strategies.

• State v. Fairbanks (1st Degree Murder) State v. Hathaway (Assault May 15, 2012 Not Guilty)

• June 26, 2012
  By Ed Hellekson, Attorney at Law
  Who Will Take Care of Your Children and How Will Your Assets Be Divided?
  If you don’t have a will, the state has made one for you.  Whether young or old, there are FOUR common reasons to have a will.  First, if you have young children, you will want to name guardians that will take care of your children should you pass away.  If you don’t have a will, the court will decide who raises your children.  Secondly, if you do have minor children, a trust should be created upon death through your will so the money does not go directly to your minor children.  You can name a trustee to distribute the assets as needed by the children for support, education and other needs, not wants.  If you don’t have a will, the child can spend the money however they wish, perhaps a new motorcycle.  Third, a will can establish a credit shelter trust.  The purpose of the trust is to exercise your estate tax exemption.  Why pay more taxes than necessary.  Fourth, and most importantly, I assume you would like to direct who gets your assets when you pass away.  If you die without a will, the court will decide how assets are split.  In certain circumstances, even an ex-spouse may inherit.  A well drafted will should address all four of these concerns.
  
  If You Become Incapacitated, Who Will Make Health Care Decisions?
  A Health Care Declaration sets forth your wishes about how you want to be cared for when you can no longer make decisions for yourself.  It can be as simple as a life-changing car accident.  What now about your quality of your remaining life?  Who is going to make a decision about pain medication or whether to have an invasive surgery that won’t necessarily prolong your life?  A Health Care Declaration allows you to appoint a Health Care Agent.  This would typically be a spouse or a family member.  A good Health Care Declaration will carefully document how you feel about certain procedures and situations, in other words, under what conditions you would want life prolonged and at what expense and quality of life.  If nothing else, a two page document will do.  However, the more detailed your wishes, the more control you have over what happens to you if you should become incapacitated.
  
  Who is Going to Make Legal and Financial Decisions?
  You need a document called a Power of Attorney to appoint an attorney-in-fact.  An attorney-in-fact is someone that you trust, your spouse or a family member, to make legal and financial decisions for you if you are incapacitated or unable to do so yourself.  Don’t make the mistake, just because you are married does not give you the power to do all transactions on behalf of your spouse.  Bank accounts, investments, property, safe deposit boxes, real estate all have different requirements.  A good Power of Attorney will allow your appointed attorney-in-fact to access assets and do legal transactions on your behalf if you are unable to do so.  You can limit the power that the attorney-in-fact has to certain actions or assets.  What happens if you have a car accident and can’t conduct your affairs?  Your loved one will have to go to court to have a guardian appointed.  It may not necessarily be someone that you trust or want to have make decisions on your behalf.  Take control now, while you can.
  
  Your attorney should be well-versed in Wills, Health Care Declarations and Power of Attorney documents to avoid pitfalls should you become incapacitated or die.  Ask your attorney up front about the fees for the documents.  Make no mistake, it is much cheaper to have these documents drafted than having to go to court to sort things out.  Take control of your assets, your health care wishes and your children, get started today.  You may be wondering, can I just draft my own documents?  There are certainly online aids and kits you can purchase.  However, why risk one mistake that could cost you loss of quality of life, assets or increase the amount of taxes you have to pay?  I have had educated middle-class and high net worth clients make such mistakes, some of them are difficult to undo and can create higher legal costs.
  
  Ed Hellekson is an attorney located in the Brainerd lakes area, 14391 Edgewood Drive, Baxter, MN and offers free initial consultations.  He can be reached at Hellekson Law at 218-454-4555.
   
  

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