MINNESOTA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Minnesota Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
Snapshot: Minnesota is a UBE jurisdiction, so the exam itself tests national majority law—these distinctions matter chiefly for practice and for the rare localized fact pattern. The headline departures from the national defaults are the six-year tort/contract limitations period, the commence-by-service rule, the Frye-Mack expert standard, the Torrens land-title system, modified 51% comparative negligence, and a UPC estates regime that nonetheless rejects in-state holographic wills.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE state · MBE/MEE/MPT weighted 50/30/20 · minimum passing score 260 (out of 400) · score transferable to/from other UBE jurisdictions within the transfer window · plus MPRE and character/fitness review · no separate state-law essay component · because it is UBE, essays are graded on national majority law—do not write Minnesota-specific rules unless a question localizes.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE
General six-year SOL for torts AND contracts (§541.05) · fraud 6 yrs with discovery rule · defamation 2 yrs · med-mal 4 yrs · action commences by service of summons and complaint, NOT by filing—the "hip-pocket" service rule, so service (not filing) stops the limitations clock · filing may follow later · Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure closely track the Federal Rules · district courts are courts of general jurisdiction · long-arm statute (§543.19) reaches the due-process minimum-contacts limit · venue proper where a defendant resides or the cause arose.
3. EVIDENCE
Own Minnesota Rules of Evidence, patterned on the FRE and largely parallel in numbering · novel scientific evidence admitted under Frye-Mack (general acceptance + foundational reliability), NOT Daubert · statutory physician-patient privilege (§595.02) with no FRE analog · spousal, clergy, and attorney-client privileges also statutory · state rules govern in state court, FRE in federal court.
4. FAMILY LAW
Pure no-fault: the sole ground is irretrievable breakdown; fault is irrelevant to the grant and generally to property/maintenance · equitable distribution (not community property)—marital property divided justly, not necessarily 50/50 · nonmarital property (premarital, gift, inheritance) stays separate but is invadable for unfair hardship · income-shares child support (both parents' incomes, children, parenting time) · spousal maintenance temporary or permanent under §518.552 · rebuttable durational maintenance guidelines tied to marriage length.
5. WILLS / TRUSTS / ESTATES
UPC state (ch. 524) · valid will needs a writing + testator's signature (or signature by another at the testator's direction in the testator's presence) + two witnesses to the signing or acknowledgment · NO in-state holographic wills—a departure from the UPC, though a holograph valid where executed is honored · self-proving affidavits allowed · sliding-scale augmented-estate elective share (rises with marriage duration up to roughly one-half) · UPC intestacy: spouse takes all if all descendants are also the spouse's; otherwise base amount + fraction, balance to descendants per capita at each generation · strong homestead protection (generous acreage/value) for surviving spouse and minor children, largely exempt from creditors.
6. REAL PROPERTY
Race-notice record