piers109uk/MN-Statutes huggingface dataset:
573.17 REAL PROPERTY DESCENDED; LIEN OF JUDGMENT.
If it appears that the real property so descended was not alienated by the heir at the time of the commencement of the action, the court shall order that plaintiff's debt, or the proportion thereof which the plaintiff is entitled to recover, be levied upon such real estate, and not otherwise; and every judgment rendered in such action has preference as a lien on such real estate, to any judgment obtained against such heir for a personal debt.
574.19 COST OF SURETY BONDS; PROPER EXPENSE ITEMS.
Any receiver, assignee, trustee, committee, guardian, executor, administrator, or other fiduciary, required by law to give bond as such, may include as a part of lawful expenses such actual sum paid for such suretyship, not exceeding $10 per annum when the amount of the bond is not more than $1,000, and not more than one percent per annum on the excess when over $1,000, as the head of the department, court, judge, or officer by whom, or the court or body by which, the fiduciary is appointed allows; and in all actions or proceedings the party entitled to recover costs may include therein the reasonable fees of such company for executing or guaranteeing any bond or undertaking therein. The several county and town boards, and the governing body of any city, or school district, may allow the treasurer of the municipality such reasonable sum, not exceeding the amount herein specified, as may have been paid by the treasurer for such suretyship, to be paid out of the general revenue fund of the municipality. The officers required by law to approve such bill may first designate the surety company to be employed, if its charges be as low as those offered by any other responsible company.
577.11 DEFINITIONS.
(a) The definitions in this section and in section 576.21 apply throughout this chapter unless the context requires otherwise.
(b) "Assignee" means the person to whom the assignment property is assigned.
(c) "Assignment property" means the property assigned pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(d) "Assignor" means the person who assigns the assignment property.
(e) "Time of assignment" means the date and time endorsed by the court administrator pursuant to section 577.14.
578.05 PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.
The return day of the notice shall be not less than 30, nor more than 60, days after its date. The court shall order the notice to be published once in each of three successive weeks in one or more newspapers within the state, and to be posted in two or more conspicuous places in the county within the state where the absentee last resided or was known to have been either temporarily or permanently, and upon each parcel of land named in the officer's schedule, and a copy to be mailed to the last known address of such absentee. In all cases where the absentee is not a citizen of the United States, a copy of the notice shall be ordered by the court to be served within such time, by mail, on the consular representative of the foreign country of which the absentee is a citizen, if there be one in this state, otherwise on the secretary of state, who shall forward the same to the chief diplomatic representatives of such country at Washington. The court may order other and further notice to be given within or without the state.
572B.22 CONFIRMATION OF AWARD.
After a party to the arbitration proceeding receives notice of an award, the party may file a motion with the court for an order confirming the award, at which time the court shall issue such an order unless the award is modified or corrected pursuant to section 572B.20 or 572B.24 or is vacated pursuant to section 572B.23.
574.20 BONDS, BY WHOM APPROVED.
Except as otherwise provided by law in particular cases, bonds shall be approved as follows:
(1) the official bonds of all state officers, including those of the treasurers, superintendents, and other officials, and employees of the several public educational, charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions belonging to the state, shall be approved, as to form, by the attorney general, and in all other respects by the governor;
(2) the official bonds of county, town, city, and school district officers and employees by the governing body of the political subdivision for whose security they are, respectively, given; and
(3) those required or permitted by law to be given in any court, by the judge or justice of the court in which the proceeding is begun or pending.
No officer, official, or employee required to give bond shall enter upon duties until the bond is duly approved and filed.
573.18 PERSONAL LIABILITY; ALIENATION BEFORE SUIT.
If it appears in the action that before the commencement thereof the heir has aliened the real property descended to that heir, or any part thereof, that heir shall be personally liable for the value of that aliened; and judgment may be rendered therefor, and execution awarded, as in actions for personal debts. No real property aliened in good faith by an heir, before action commenced against the heir, shall be liable to execution or in any manner affected by a judgment against the heir.
574.205 BONDS; STATE OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES EXCLUDED.
On and after July 1, 1971, and notwithstanding any law to the contrary, elected state officials, appointed state officers and other state employees are not required to give and file surety or fidelity bonds, except when federal law or rule requires such a bond as a condition precedent to receiving federal grants.
573.19 HEIRS AND DEVISEES; LIMIT OF RECOVERY.
In actions brought against several heirs or several devisees jointly, the amount of plaintiff's recovery shall be apportioned among all the heirs of the ancestor, or all the devisees of the testator, in proportion to the value of the real property descended or devised, and such proportion only can be recovered of each.
577.12 REQUISITES.
A person may execute a written assignment of property to one or more assignees for the benefit of creditors in conformity with the provisions of this chapter. Every assignment for the benefit of creditors subject to this chapter made by an assignor of the whole or any part of the assignor's property, real or personal, for the benefit of creditors, shall be: (1) to a person eligible to be a receiver under section 576.26, in writing, subscribed and acknowledged by the assignor, and (2) filed by the assignor or the assignee with the court administrator of the district court of the county in which the assignor, or one of the assignors if there is more than one, resides, or in which the principal place of business of an assignor engaged in business is located. The district court shall have supervision over the assignment property and of all proceedings under this chapter. The assignee shall be deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the district court.
572B.23 VACATING AWARD.
(a) Upon motion of a party to the arbitration proceeding, the court shall vacate an award if:
(1) the award was procured by corruption, fraud, or other undue means;
(2) there was:
(A) evident partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral;
(B) corruption by an arbitrator; or
(C) misconduct by an arbitrator prejudicing the rights of a party to the arbitration proceeding;
(3) an arbitrator refused to postpone the hearing upon showing of sufficient cause for postponement, refused to consider evidence material to the controversy, or otherwise conducted the hearing contrary to section 572B.15, so as to prejudice substantially the rights of a party to the arbitration proceeding;
(4) an arbitrator exceeded the arbitrator's powers;
(5) there was no agreement to arbitrate, unless the person participated in the arbitration proceeding without raising the objection under section 572B.15, subsection (c), not later than the commencement of the arbitration hearing; or
(6) the arbitration was conducted without proper notice of the initiation of an arbitration as required in section 572B.09 so as to prejudice substantially the rights of a party to the arbitration proceeding.
(b) A motion under this section must be filed within 90 days after the movant receives notice of the award in a record pursuant to section 572B.19 or within 90 days after the movant receives notice of an arbitrator's award in a record on a motion to modify or correct an award pursuant to section 572B.20, unless the motion is predicated upon the ground that the award was procured by corruption, fraud, or other undue means, in which case it must be filed within 90 days after such a ground is known or by the exercise of reasonable care should have been known by the movant.
(c) In vacating an award on a ground other than that set forth in subsection (a)(5), the court may order a rehearing before a new arbitrator. If the award is vacated on the ground stated in subsection (a)(3), (4), or (6), the court may order a rehearing before the arbitrator who made the award or the arbitrator's successor. The arbitrator must render the decision in the rehearing within the same time as that provided in section 572B.19, subsection (b), for an award.
(d) If a motion to vacate an award is denied and a motion to modify or correct the award is not pending, the court shall confirm the award.
578.06 HEARING BY COURT; DISMISSAL OF PROCEEDING; APPOINTMENT AND BOND OF RECEIVER.
The absentee, or any person who claims an interest in any of the property, may appear and show cause why the prayer of the petition should not be granted. The court may, after hearing, dismiss the petition and order the property in possession of the officer to be returned to the person entitled thereto, or it may appoint a receiver of the property which is in the possession of the officer and named in the schedule. If a receiver is appointed, the court shall find and record the date of the disappearance or absconding of the absentee; and the receiver shall give a bond pursuant to section 576.27. In the appointment of the receiver the court shall give preference to the spouse of the absentee, if the spouse is eligible to serve as receiver under section 576.26.
573.20 DEVISEES, WHEN LIABLE; LIMITATIONS.
Devisees made liable to creditors of their testator by the provisions of this chapter shall not be held liable unless it shall appear that the testator's personal assets and the real property descended to the testator's heirs were insufficient to discharge the debt, or that after due proceedings before the district court the creditor has been unable to recover the debt, or any part thereof, from the personal representative of the testator, or next of kin, legatees, or heirs. In either of these cases, the amount of the deficiency of the personal assets, and of the real property descended to satisfy the debt of the plaintiff, and the amount which the plaintiff may have failed to recover from the personal representative, next of kin, legatees, and heirs of the testator, may be recovered of the devisees, to the extent of the real property devised to them, respectively. Nothing in this section shall affect the liability of the devisees for a debt of their testator which was charged by will exclusively upon the real property devised, or made payable exclusively by such devisees, or out of the real property devised before resorting to the personal property or to any other real property descended or devised.
574.21 PLACE OF FILING BONDS.
Except when otherwise especially provided by law, the bonds of public officials shall be filed as follows:
(1) those of all state officers, including the officials and employees of the several departments and institutions thereof, with the secretary of state, who shall record and retain the same;
(2) those of all county officers, and of all other officials or persons, given to the county, with the county recorder;
(3) those of all city officers, with the court administrator of such municipality;
(4) those of school district officers, with the court administrator of the district.
572B.24 MODIFICATION OR CORRECTION OF AWARD.
(a) Upon motion filed within 90 days after the movant receives notice of the award in a record pursuant to section 572B.19 or within 90 days after the movant receives notice of an arbitrator's award in a record on a motion to modify or correct an award pursuant to section 572B.20, the court shall modify or correct the award if:
(1) there was an evident mathematical miscalculation or an evident mistake in the description of a person, thing, or property referred to in the award;
(2) the arbitrator has made an award on a claim not submitted to the arbitrator and the award may be corrected without affecting the merits of the decision upon the claims submitted; or
(3) the award is imperfect in a matter of form not affecting the merits of the decision on the claims submitted.
(b) If a motion filed under subsection (a) is granted, the court shall modify or correct and confirm the award as modified or corrected. Otherwise, the court shall confirm the award.
(c) A motion to modify or correct an award pursuant to this section may be joined with a motion to vacate the award.
577.14 DUTY OF COURT ADMINISTRATOR.
The court administrator shall endorse the day, hour, and minute of the filing of the assignment. The assignment shall be entered in the court administrator's register, and all papers filed and orders made in the matter of the assignment shall be noted therein as in the case of a civil action.
573.21 DEVISEES; APPLICATION.
The provisions of this chapter with regard to heirs, and to proceedings by and against them, and to judgments and executions against them, are applicable to actions and proceedings against devisees, and they must in like manner be jointly sued.
574.22 COURT PROCEEDINGS.
All bonds required or permitted by law to be given in actions or proceedings in any court shall be filed in such court, unless especially required by law to be filed, delivered, or deposited elsewhere, or unless the judge or justice of such court shall, by written order, direct some other disposition thereof.
578.07 TRANSFER OF PROPERTY TO RECEIVER.
After the receiver gives its bond the court may order the sheriff or a deputy to transfer and deliver to such receiver the possession of the property under the warrant, and the receiver shall file in the office of the court administrator a schedule of the property received.
572B.25 JUDGMENT ON AWARD; ATTORNEY FEES AND LITIGATION EXPENSES.
(a) Upon granting an order confirming, vacating without directing a rehearing, modifying, or correcting an award, the court shall enter a judgment in conformity therewith. The judgment may be recorded, docketed, and enforced as any other judgment in a civil action.
(b) A court may allow reasonable costs of the motion and subsequent judicial proceedings.
(c) On application of a prevailing party to a contested judicial proceeding under section 572B.22, 572B.23, or 572B.24, the court may add to a judgment confirming, vacating without directing a rehearing, modifying, or correcting an award, attorney fees and other reasonable expenses of litigation incurred in a judicial proceeding after the award is made.
577.15 ASSIGNEE AS LIEN CREDITOR; REAL PROPERTY RECORDING.
As of the filing of the assignment, the assignee shall have the powers and priority of a creditor that obtained a judicial lien at the time of assignment pursuant to sections 548.09 and 550.10 on all of the assignment property subject to satisfying the recording requirements as to real property described in subdivision 2.
If any interest in real property is included in the assignment property, the assignment shall be effective as a deed. A notice of lis pendens shall be recorded as soon as practicable with the county recorder or registrar of titles, as appropriate, of the county in which the real property is located. The priority of the assignee as lien creditor against real property shall be from the time of recording of the notice of lis pendens, except as to persons with actual or implied knowledge of the assignment under section 507.34. A short form of the assignment acknowledged by the assignor and assignee and a deed executed by the assignee shall be recorded with the county recorder or registrar of titles, as appropriate, of the county in which the real property is located, and upon execution of the deed by the assignee shall be prima facie evidence of the authority of the assignee to convey the real property described in the assignment. The short form of the assignment shall contain the following information:
(1) the identity of the assignor and assignee;
(2) the legal description of the real property;
(3) the date of the assignment; and
(4) a statement that the assignor has made an assignment under this chapter, and that the assignment has been accepted by the assignee.
572B.26 JURISDICTION.
(a) A court of this state having jurisdiction over the dispute and the parties may enforce an agreement to arbitrate.
(b) An agreement to arbitrate providing for arbitration in this state confers exclusive jurisdiction on the court to enter judgment on an award under sections 572B.01 to 572B.31.
574.23 EXAMINATION OF ACCOUNTS OF PUBLIC OFFICERS.
In case of the filing of a new official bond or other security, the expiration of the term of office, or the death, resignation, or removal of the officer, the officer, board, committee, or body required or permitted to accept or approve such bond or other security, having jurisdiction or being authorized or required to examine the accounts of such officer, shall make or cause to be made a thorough examination of the bonded officer's accounts and, if any shortage or irregularity is discovered, shall at once notify such officer and sureties of the amount claimed to be due, or the nature of the irregularity. Such statement shall be in writing, and be served upon such officer and sureties, or their agents or attorneys, by mail, addressed to their residences, if known; but failure to make the examination or give such notice shall not discharge the sureties.
578.08 ADDITIONAL PROPERTY; RECEIVER TO TAKE POSSESSION.
The receiver, after filing a petition, may be authorized and directed to take possession of any additional property, including a business concern, within or without the state which belongs to such absentee and to demand and collect all debts due the absentee from any person within or without the state and hold the same as if it had been transferred and delivered to the receiver by the officer. The receiver, after filing a petition, may also be authorized and directed to exercise any rights under a life insurance policy or an annuity contract which the absentee could have exercised, including, but not limited to, the right to borrow against it, surrender it for its cash surrender value, or continue it in force by payment of premiums.
577.16 NOTICE.
The assignee shall give notice of the assignment to all creditors and other parties in interest actually known to the assignee by mail or other means of transmission within 21 days after the time of assignment. The notice of the assignment shall include the time of assignment and the names and addresses of the assignor, the assignee, and the assignee's attorney, if any.
572B.27 VENUE.
A motion pursuant to section 572B.05 must be filed in the court of the county in which the agreement to arbitrate specifies the arbitration hearing is to be held or, if the hearing has been held, in the court of the county in which it was held. Otherwise, the motion must be filed in any county in which an adverse party resides or has a place of business or, if no adverse party has a residence or place of business in this state, in the court of any county in this state. All subsequent motions must be filed in the court hearing the initial motion unless the court otherwise directs.
578.10 CARE OF PROPERTY; LEASE; SALE; CONTROL OF BUSINESS.
The court may make orders for the care, custody, leasing, and investing of all property and its proceeds in the possession of the receiver. If any of the property consists of assets subject to likely rapid decline in value or live animals or is perishable or cannot be kept without a great or disproportionate expense, the court may, after the return of the warrant, order such property to be sold at public or private sale. After the appointment of a receiver, upon the receiver's petition and after notice, the court may order all or part of the property, including the rights of the absentee in land, to be sold at public or private sale to supply money for payments authorized by sections 578.02 to 578.21, to preserve value, or for reinvestment approved by the court.
The court may make orders for the management of an absentee's business in possession of the receiver. The court may authorize the receiver or person designated by the receiver to operate the business in conformance with sound business practice. Upon the receiver's petition and after notice, the court may authorize the sale of the business to supply money for payments authorized by sections 578.02 to 578.21, to preserve value, or for reinvestment approved by the court.
574.25 LEAVE TO BRING ACTION; ENDORSEMENT ON EXECUTION.
Before an action shall be brought by a plaintiff other than the state or body politic named in the bond, leave shall be obtained of the district court of the county in which the action is triable, or a judge thereof, by the production of a copy of the bond and an affidavit showing the delinquency; and, if the delinquency be such that, if established on the trial, it would entitle the applicant to recover, leave shall be granted. Upon the execution issued on a judgment recovered upon the official security of a public officer, against the officer and a surety, there shall be endorsed a direction to the officer to whom the same is delivered to collect the same out of the property of the principal, if sufficient can be found, and, if not, out of the property of the surety.
578.09 WHERE NO CORPOREAL PROPERTY; RECEIVER; BOND.
If the absentee has left no corporeal property within or without the state, but there are debts and obligations due or owing to the absentee from persons within or without the state, a petition may be filed, as provided in section 578.02, stating the nature and amount of such debts and obligations, so far as known, and praying that a receiver thereof may be appointed. The court may thereupon issue a notice, as above provided, without issuing a warrant, and may, upon the return of the notice and after a hearing, dismiss the petition or appoint a receiver and authorize and direct the receiver to demand and collect the debts and obligations specified in the petition. The receiver shall give bond, as provided in section 576.27, and hold the proceeds of such debts and obligations and all property received, and distribute the same as provided in chapter 576. The receiver may be further authorized and directed as provided in section 578.08.
577.17 REMOVAL OF ASSIGNEE.
The court may remove the assignee and appoint another assignee by application of the standards and procedures under section 576.37. The order of removal and appointment shall transfer all of the assignment property to the new assignee, and with respect to real property may be recorded in the same manner as the initial assignment.
574.24 OFFICIAL BONDS, SECURITY TO WHOM; ACTIONS.
The official bond or other security of a public officer, whether with or without sureties, shall be security to all persons severally for the official delinquencies against which it is intended to provide, as well as to the obligee designated therein, and when no other provision is made by law it shall run to the state. When a public officer, by official misconduct or neglect, forfeits the bond or renders the officer's sureties liable thereon, any person injured thereby, or who is by law entitled to the benefit of the security, may bring an action thereon, in the person's own name, against the officer and the sureties, to recover the amount to which the person is entitled by reason of the delinquency; and a judgment in favor of a party for one delinquency does not preclude the same or another party from an action on the same security for another delinquency.
572B.28 APPEALS.
(a) An appeal may be taken from:
(1) an order denying a motion to compel arbitration;
(2) an order granting a motion to stay arbitration;
(3) an order confirming or denying confirmation of an award;
(4) an order modifying or correcting an award;
(5) an order vacating an award without directing a rehearing; or
(6) a final judgment entered pursuant to sections 572B.01 to 572B.31.
(b) An appeal under this section must be taken as from an order or a judgment in a civil action.
577.18 APPLICATION OF CHAPTER GOVERNING RECEIVERSHIPS.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an assignee shall be treated as a general receiver, the assignment property shall be treated as receivership property, and all proceedings following the filing of the assignment shall be governed by sections 576.21 to 576.53.
572B.29 UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION; NO-FAULT AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE ACT; CONFLICT; PREVAILING LAW.
(a) In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
(b) When provisions of sections 572B.01 to 572B.31 are in conflict with provisions of sections 65B.41 to 65B.71, the provisions of sections 65B.41 to 65B.71 shall prevail.
572B.30 SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Sections 572B.01 to 572B.31 do not affect an action or proceeding commenced or right accrued before sections 572B.01 to 572B.31 take effect.
578.11 ADVANCE LIFE INSURANCE PAYMENTS TO ABSENTEE'S BENEFICIARY.
If the beneficiary under an insurance policy on the life of an absentee is the absentee's spouse, child, or other person dependent upon the absentee for support and advance payments under the policy are necessary to support and maintain the beneficiary, the beneficiary shall be entitled to advance payments as the court determines under section 578.12. "Beneficiary" under this section includes an heir at law of the person whose life is insured if the policy is payable to the insured's estate.
574.261 PUBLIC WORK; SECURITY.
With the approval of the commissioner of administration and if the amount of the contract is not more than $5,000 a person may make a contract with the state to do public work and in place of giving the bonds required by section 574.26, submit to the commissioner of administration for deposit with the commissioner of management and budget (1) a certified check or cashier's check in the same amount as is required for a performance bond as security to protect the state, and (2) a certified or cashier's check in the same amount as is required for a payment bond for all persons furnishing labor and materials under or to perform the contract. The deposits are security for the payment, as they become due, of all just claims for labor and materials and for the performance and completion of the contract according to its terms.
Whenever Laws 1994, chapter 419, or other law or home rule charter requires a performance bond from a contractor doing a public work project of under $50,000 for a public body, the public body may permit the contractor to provide, in place of the performance bond, an irrevocable bank letter of credit in the same amount as required for the bond and subject to the same conditions as the bond.
A person entitled to the protection of the deposit in place of a payment bond and wishing to take advantage of its benefits shall, no later than 120 days after the person's last contribution of labor and materials was furnished to the public work that is the subject of the contract, notify in writing the commissioner of administration and the commissioner of management and budget of the person's claim, giving the names of the parties involved and the amount and nature of the claim. If an action is commenced to obtain the benefit of the deposit in place of a payment bond, a judgment must not be entered within 30 days after giving the notice of the claim and the state or any person entitled to the protection of the deposit may be admitted on its motion as a party to the action and the court shall determine the rights of all parties in the premises. In such suit in which the commissioner of management and budget is a party, the court may order the commissioner to make payment among the parties to the suit entitled to payment. If the amount of the deposit is insufficient to pay the claims in full, the court may direct that they be paid on a prorated basis. The deposit in place of a payment bond made with the commissioner under this section shall be held by the commissioner for 120 days after the last item of labor and materials was furnished to the public work that is the subject of the contract. If a claim is not filed within the 120-day period, the deposit shall be returned to the person making it. If a claim is filed within the 120-day period, the deposit shall be disbursed by the commissioner of management and budget under an order of the court.
Money deposited with the commissioner of management and budget under this section is annually appropriated to the commissioner of management and budget to carry out this section.
578.12 HEARING BY COURT; DETERMINATION OF RIGHT TO ADVANCE LIFE INSURANCE PAYMENTS.
A petition may be filed requesting a hearing to determine entitlement to advance payment under an insurance policy on the life of an absentee. The petition shall contain the beneficiary's name, address, relationship to absentee, and the grounds justifying advance payment.
Upon the filing of the petition, the court by certified mail shall notify the insurer who issued the policy of the date, time and place of the hearing. The insurer may appear at the hearing as a party in interest.
The petitioner has the burden to show by a fair preponderance of the evidence that:
(1) the absentee is missing, and there is reason to believe, dead;
(2) the beneficiary is a spouse, child, or other person dependent upon the absentee for support and maintenance; and
(3) the beneficiary has no source of income sufficient for support and maintenance at an adequate level.
The court shall order periodic advance payments in appropriate amounts taking into consideration the needs of the beneficiary, the likelihood of the absentee's death, the amount payable under the policy, the possibility of the beneficiary providing the insurer with security for any reimbursement that may be required under section 578.13, subdivision 2, and any other relevant factors.
Payment made by the insurer under a court order shall discharge it from any liability to any party for the amounts paid.
574.262 SMALL BUSINESS.
To carry out the programs, established elsewhere by law, for awarding certain portions of state construction and procurement contracts and subcontracts to small businesses and small businesses owned by economically and socially disadvantaged persons, the commissioners of administration and transportation may, when deemed appropriate, arrange, through competitive bidding or negotiation, to partially indemnify bonding companies which provide bid, performance, and payment bonds covering all or any part of the construction and procurement contracts or subcontracts which are designated for award to small businesses and small businesses owned by economically and socially disadvantaged persons. The amount of the indemnity for all the bonds on each contract shall not exceed $100,000. Bonds which are subject to indemnity shall be provided to contractors at a cost which shall not exceed the cost of bid, performance, and payment bonds if purchased in the usual manner by other businesses for similar contract work or procurement.
No small business or small business owned and operated by economically and socially disadvantaged persons shall be eligible for bonding pursuant to this section for a period of more than five years from the date that the small business or small business owned and operated by economically and socially disadvantaged persons received its first bond pursuant to this section.
MS 1988 [Repealed, 1989 c 155 s 5]
Agreements of indemnity entered into pursuant to subdivision 1 shall not be subject to encumbrance requirements imposed by other provisions of law.
572B.31 RELATIONSHIP TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT.
The provisions of sections 572B.01 to 572B.31 governing the legal effect, validity, and enforceability of electronic records or electronic signatures, and of contracts performed with the use of such records or signatures, conform to the requirements of section 102 of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.
578.13 REAPPEARANCE OF ABSENTEE.
If an absentee is declared dead after advance insurance payments have been made pursuant to section 578.12, the amount payable under the policy shall be reduced by the total amount of payments made under section 578.12.
If an absentee is found to be living after advance insurance payments have been made to a beneficiary pursuant to section 578.12, the absentee and beneficiary shall reimburse the insurer the amount of the payments made.
If the insurer is unable to obtain full reimbursement, the amount payable under the policy shall be reduced to the extent necessary to allow full reimbursement. Failure of the absentee and beneficiary to reimburse the insurer upon demand for payment sent by the insurer by certified mail to the last known address of the absentee and beneficiary shall be sufficient to show the insurer's inability to obtain reimbursement.
574.263 NATURAL RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
For the purposes of this section and section 574.264, "natural resource development project" includes site preparation by discing, shearing, rock raking or piling, patch scarification, or furrowing; prairie restoration; creation of wildlife openings and other wildlife habitat improvements; landscape clearing; tree planting; tree seeding; tree pruning; timber stand improvement by thinning or clearing existing forest trees by manual, mechanical, or chemical techniques; or construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of Department of Natural Resources trails, public accesses, water control structures, fish barriers, sewage treatment systems, roads, and bridges.
A contract with the state for a natural resource development project may require a performance bond at the discretion of the commissioner of natural resources. If the commissioner determines that a performance bond is required, it shall not be less than five percent of the contract price.
For a contract made by the commissioner for a natural resource development project, the commissioner may require a bid deposit in place of a performance bond for charges that may accrue because of doing the specified work and to enforce the terms of the contract. The commissioner may set the amount of the bid deposit, but it may not be less than five percent of the contract price.
A contract with the state for a natural resource development project may require a payment bond at the discretion of the commissioner of natural resources. If the commissioner determines that a payment bond is required, the commissioner also has the discretion to decide whether the bond may be in the form of securities in place of a bond as provided in section 574.264. If so, the securities cannot have less value than five percent of the contract price.
578.14 USE OF PROCEEDS.
The court may order the property or its proceeds acquired by mortgages, lease, or sale to be applied in payment of charges incurred or that may be incurred in the support and maintenance of the absentee's spouse and minor child or children, and to the discharge of such debts and claims for maintenance, as defined in section 518.003, subdivision 3a, as may be proved against the absentee.
572.31 MINNESOTA CIVIL MEDIATION ACT, CITATION.
Sections 572.31 to 572.40 may be cited as the "Minnesota Civil Mediation Act."
578.15 CLAIMS; ADJUSTMENT BY RECEIVER.
The court may authorize the receiver to adjust by arbitration or compromise any demand in favor of or against the estate of the absentee. The court may authorize the receiver to pay all taxes for which the absentee is liable and all taxes assessed on the absentee's property.
574.264 NATURAL RESOURCE PROJECT; SECURITY.
In place of a performance or payment bond or bid deposit for a state contract for a natural resource development project less than $100,000, the person required to file the bond or bid deposit may deposit in a local designated state depository or with the commissioner of management and budget a certified check, a cashier's check, a postal, bank, or express money order, assignable bonds or notes of the United States, or an assignment of a bank savings account or investment certificate or an irrevocable bank letter of credit, in the same amount that would be required for the bond or bid deposit. If securities listed in this section are deposited, their value shall not be less than the amount required for the bond or bid deposit and the person required to file the bond or bid deposit shall submit an agreement authorizing the commissioner to sell or otherwise take possession of the securities in the event of default under the contract or nonpayment of any persons furnishing labor and materials under, or to perform, the contract.
Securities in place of payment bonds are subject to claims as provided for other deposits in section 574.261, subdivision 2.
574.27 BIDDERS TO HAVE RIGHT OF ACTION IN CERTAIN CASES.
A public body may require that a bidder provide a bid bond or other security as a proposal guaranty that the bidder will enter into a contract if its bid is accepted. Any bidder upon any public work or public improvement of any kind in this state where bids are received and where, in connection with such bids, a deposit of money, or a certified check, or bid bond or other security must be provided with the bid, the public body causing such public work or other public improvement to be made or done shall be liable to such bidder for a return of the money, certified check, or other thing of value so deposited if the bidder's bid on such public work or improvement is not accepted, or if the bidder's bid is accepted before the bid expires, after the bidder enters into a contract for the work and provides acceptable security in connection with it. This liability exists even though the failure to return the money, certified check, or other thing of value is due to the defalcation or unlawful conversion of the thing of value by the officer of the public body charged with the custody of it.
572.33 DEFINITIONS.
When used in sections 572.31 to 572.40 the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them.
"Mediator" means a third party with no formal coercive power whose function is to promote and facilitate a voluntary settlement of a controversy identified in an agreement to mediate.
"Agreement to mediate" means a written agreement which identifies a controversy between the parties to the agreement, states that the parties will seek to resolve the controversy through mediation, provides for termination of mediation upon written notice from either party or the mediator delivered by certified mail or personally to the other people who signed the agreement, is signed by the parties and mediator and is dated.
"Mediated settlement agreement" means a written agreement setting out the terms of a partial or complete settlement of a controversy identified in an agreement to mediate, signed by the parties, and dated.
"Nonprofit regional alternative dispute resolution corporation" has the meaning given in section 480.24, subdivision 5.
574.28 APPROVAL AND FILING OF BOND.
Before beginning work on the contract for the public work, the contractor on whose behalf the payment and performance bonds were issued must file both bonds with the treasurer, board, or officer having financial management of the public body named in the bonds. The payment and performance bonds must list the address of the contractor on whose behalf the bonds were issued and of the surety providing the bonds. The payment and performance bonds, if acceptable in form and content, must be approved by the board or officer having financial management of the public body, or by the public body's treasurer. The public body must make the payment and performance bonds available for inspection and copying upon request. An assignment, modification, or change of the contract, or change in the work covered by the contract, or an extension of time to complete the contract, does not release the sureties on the bonds.
578.16 PRESUMPTION OF DEATH FROM ABSENCE.
An absentee who is missing for a continuous period of four years, during which, after diligent search, the absentee has not been seen or heard of or from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained, shall be presumed, in any action or proceeding involving the property of the person, contractual or property rights contingent upon the absentee's death or the administration of the absentee's estate, to have died four years after the date the unexplained absence commenced. If the person was exposed to a specific peril of death, that fact may be a sufficient basis for determining that the absentee died less than four years after the date the absence commenced.
578.17 HEARING BY COURT; DETERMINATION OF DEATH OF AN ABSENTEE.
A person in interest may request a hearing in the following circumstances:
(1) if an absentee is absent from the domicile without being in communication after being exposed to a specific peril and a diligent search has been made; or
(2) if an absentee has been absent from the domicile for a period of four consecutive years or more without being in communication and a diligent search has been made; or
(3) if unforeseeable or changing circumstances necessitate court authorization for action in respect to the management or disposition of the absentee's business or property.
The person requesting the hearing shall file a petition stating name, address, relationship to the absentee, and the specific grounds for the hearing requested.
Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall notify all proper persons in interest of the date, time and place of the hearing.
The notice shall in all cases be served as follows:
(1) by publication in the county in which the petition is filed once in each of three successive weeks, in a newspaper designated by the court; and
(2) upon all persons in interest by ordinary mail.
The court, if satisfied by the evidence adduced at a hearing in support of a petition alleging the absentee is missing after being exposed to a specific peril or that an absentee has been absent for four or more consecutive years, shall enter an order establishing as a matter of law the death of the absentee and the date thereof. The court shall order the distribution of the absentee's property to the persons and in the manner prescribed in chapters 524 and 525.
Upon a hearing brought pursuant to subdivision 1, clause (3), the court shall have full power to make orders appropriate to conserve the absentee's property or business or to protect the rights of the persons in interest.
572.35 EFFECT OF MEDIATED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
The effect of a mediated settlement agreement shall be determined under principles of law applicable to contract. A mediated settlement agreement is not binding unless:
(1) it contains a provision stating that it is binding and a provision stating substantially that the parties were advised in writing that (a) the mediator has no duty to protect their interests or provide them with information about their legal rights; (b) signing a mediated settlement agreement may adversely affect their legal rights; and (c) they should consult an attorney before signing a mediated settlement agreement if they are uncertain of their rights; or
(2) the parties were otherwise advised of the conditions in clause (1).
In addition to the requirements of subdivision 1, a mediated settlement agreement between a debtor and creditor is not binding until 72 hours after it is signed by the debtor and creditor, during which time either party may withdraw consent to the binding character of the agreement.
574.29 FAILURE TO GET PAYMENT BOND.
If the state or other public body fails to get and approve a valid payment bond or securities in place of a payment bond as required by the act, the public body for which work is done under the contract is liable to all persons furnishing labor and materials under or to perform the contract for any loss resulting to them from the failure. The public body is not liable if the bond does not list the proper address of the contractor on whose behalf the bond was issued or of the surety providing the bond.
578.18 DEGREE OF BURDEN OF PROOF.
The burden of proof is on the party bringing the action to declare the absentee dead. If there is a showing that the absentee was exposed to a specific peril at the time of disappearance the burden of proof shall be by a fair preponderance of the evidence. If the absentee was in no unusual danger or peril at the time of disappearance, the burden of proof shall be by clear and convincing evidence.
572.36 SETTING ASIDE OR REFORMING A MEDIATED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
In any action, a court of competent jurisdiction shall set aside or reform a mediated settlement agreement if appropriate under the principles of law applicable to contracts, or if there was evident partiality, corruption, or misconduct by a mediator prejudicing the rights of a party. That the relief could not or would not be granted by a court of law or equity is not ground for setting aside or reforming the mediated settlement agreement unless it violates public policy.
574.30 INSOLVENT OR INSUFFICIENT SURETIES.
When, in the public body's judgment, a surety on a bond required by the act is insolvent, or for any cause is no longer a proper or sufficient surety, the public body may require the contractor to furnish a new or additional bond within ten days; and thereupon, if so ordered by the public body, all work on the contract must cease until the new or additional bonds are furnished. If the bonds are not furnished within the ten days, the public body may, at its option, terminate the contract and complete the same as the agent, and at the expense of the contractor and its sureties.
578.19 DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE.
If the court finds the absentee dead in accordance with section 578.17, the absentee's marriage is dissolved. The court shall enter the conclusion of law dissolving the marriage on the order which establishes the death of the absentee as a matter of law.
572.37 PRESENTATION OF MEDIATOR TO PUBLIC.
No individual may act as a mediator pursuant to the Minnesota Civil Mediation Act for compensation without providing the individuals to the conflict with a written statement of qualifications prior to beginning mediation. The statement shall describe educational background and relevant training and experience in the field.
Nothing in this section shall limit the pursuits of professionals consistent with their training and code of ethics; nor shall this section apply to service provided through a governmental agency. The requirement of this section may be satisfied by a nonprofit corporation on behalf of its service providers by providing a statement of the education, training, and experience requirements for eligibility on its mediation panel.
A person who violates this section is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
578.20 COMPENSATION OF RECEIVER; TITLE OF ABSENTEE LOST AFTER FOUR YEARS.
The receiver shall be allowed compensation and disbursements as provided in this chapter. If, within four years after the date of the disappearance or absconding, as found and recorded by the court, the absentee appears, and has not been declared dead under section 578.17, or an administrator, executor, assignee in insolvency, or trustee in bankruptcy of the absentee is appointed, the receiver shall account for, deliver, and pay over to the absentee the remainder of the property. If the absentee does not appear and claim the property within four years, all the absentee's right, title, and interest in the property, real or personal, or the proceeds thereof, shall cease, and no action shall be brought by the absentee on account thereof.
If the absentee is declared dead pursuant to section 578.17 and appears before the expiration of four years, the absentee shall have no right, title and interest in the property, real or personal, or the proceeds thereof.