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Squatters and vacant property in Minnesota: what the law says

Minnesota gives an owner no shortcut. You file an eviction case, the hearing is set seven to fourteen days out, a judge signs the removal order, and an officer — not you — puts the person out. Being inside a dwelling without the owner's consent is a crime here, but it is a misdemeanor, and Minnesota's own rules of criminal procedure tell an officer to write a citation and release the person unless certain things are true. The statute also gives someone claiming to be a tenant a faster emergency remedy than it gives you. Every answer below is quoted from the statute or rule it came from.

Every answer on this page is quoted from the statute it came from and linked to the source, so you can read the law yourself. Last checked against the statutes on 2026-07-14.

What to do now — this part is ours, not the law

There is no 30-day rule. Nobody becomes a tenant by standing in your house long enough — not in thirty days, not in ninety. They are not a tenant on day one and they are not a tenant on day ninety. What time does change is how hard they are to remove, and how much of your money it takes. That is a reason to move today, not a deadline you have already missed.

If someone is in the property right now

  1. Do not go in, and do not change the locks. It is the first thing everyone wants to do and it is how the owner becomes the defendant. Read that question above before you touch anything.
  2. Call the police non-emergency line. Ask them to look at it as a criminal trespass rather than a landlord–tenant dispute. Those are different outcomes and the words matter.
  3. Have your proof of ownership in your hand when they arrive — the deed, a recent tax bill, your ID. The officer's whole decision turns on whether he believes you own it.
  4. Photograph everything, and write down every date. When you last saw it empty. When you found them. What was said. Who you called, and when.
  5. Call a lawyer the same day. Not next week. The clock on every route above has already started.
The full checklist — what to record and what to ask →

If it has not happened yet

Everything on this page gets easier the earlier you do it. Photograph the property empty, keep the utility bills, and write down who is allowed inside — before you lock up and walk away. None of that is expensive. All of it is worth more than it looks at 2am.

The checklist for leaving a property vacant →

Is a squatter a tenant — and what rights do they have?

Minnesota has no statute saying a squatter is not a tenant. What it has is a definition of a tenant built on a lease or a contract someone pays for — plus a clause reaching "all other regular occupants", which is the clause a person with a forged lease will point at. You still go through the eviction court to remove them: that section reaches a person who unlawfully occupied or took possession, tenant or not.

Read the law — 2 provisions

If a trespasser counts as a tenant, the owner is routed into housing court and every fast option closes.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.001, subd. 12 — "residential tenant" defined (2025 edition)

"Residential tenant" means a person who is occupying a dwelling in a residential building under a lease or contract, whether oral or written, that requires the payment of money or exchange of services, all other regular occupants of that dwelling unit, or a resident of a manufactured home park.

Read the middle clause before treating this as a clean "no": the definition also sweeps in "all other regular occupants of that dwelling unit". It hangs off a dwelling unit that someone IS occupying under a lease or contract — but the reach of that clause is a question for a Minnesota lawyer, not for us, and it is the clause a person with a forged lease will point at. Note also § 504B.001, subd. 4: "Evict" or "eviction" means a summary court proceeding to remove a tenant OR OCCUPANT from or otherwise recover possession of real property by the process of law set out in this chapter.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.301 — eviction action for unlawful detention (2025 edition)

A person may be evicted if the person has unlawfully or forcibly occupied or taken possession of real property or unlawfully detains or retains possession of real property.

This is the whole section — one sentence. It sits in Chapter 504B, "Landlord and Tenant", which is why a Minnesota squatter case runs on the eviction track rather than a separate squatter statute. Minnesota has no statute that says in as many words that a trespasser is not a tenant, and we do not put one in its mouth.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

Can I just change the locks?

No. In Minnesota only an officer holding a court order puts anyone out of a building — the statute says no person may take possession of property except where the law allows, and never by force. The person in your house will claim to be a tenant, and it is a court, not you, that decides whether they are. If a court agrees with them, locking them out costs you triple damages or $500, whichever is greater, plus their lawyer — and it is a misdemeanor.

Read the law — 4 provisions

Lawful in a handful of states, a crime in most. Getting this wrong turns the victim into the defendant.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.281 — forcible entry and unlawful detainer prohibited (2025 edition)

No person may occupy or take possession of real property except where occupancy or possession is allowed by law, and in such cases, the person may not enter by force, but only in a peaceable manner.

This is the whole section. Note who it binds: "no person". Every other provision below is written about a LANDLORD and a TENANT, and this one is not.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, subds. 1(a) and 5 — execution of the writ; penalty (2025 edition)

The officer who holds the order to vacate shall execute it by demanding that the defendant, if found in the county, any adult member of the defendant's family who is occupying the premises, or any other person in charge, relinquish possession and leave, taking family and all personal property from the premises within 24 hours. … Unless the premises has been abandoned, a plaintiff, an agent, or other person acting under the plaintiff's direction or control who enters the premises and removes the defendant's personal property in violation of this section is guilty of an unlawful ouster under section 504B.231 and is subject to penalty under section 504B.225. This section may not be waived or modified by lease or other agreement.

The ellipsis joins subdivision 1(a) to subdivision 5 of the same section, in order, with nothing omitted from within either sentence. Read what the section assigns and to whom: the officer holds the order, the officer makes the demand, the officer removes.

Read it at the source →

3 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.231(a) — damages for ouster (2025 edition)

If a landlord, an agent, or other person acting under the landlord's direction or control unlawfully and in bad faith removes, excludes, or forcibly keeps out a tenant from residential premises, the tenant may recover from the landlord treble damages or $500, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.

NOTE THE SCOPE, AND NOTE WHY IT DOES NOT SAVE YOU. This section, and the misdemeanor at § 504B.225 ("A landlord, an agent, or person acting under the landlord's direction or control who unlawfully and intentionally removes or excludes a tenant from lands or tenements … is guilty of a misdemeanor"), are written about a LANDLORD and a TENANT. The person who hands an officer a forged lease is asserting exactly that relationship. Whether these sections reach a person who was never a tenant is a question we could not resolve from the statute, and the person who finds out which it is will be the defendant. DeedProof does not advise on this and never will.

Read it at the source →

4 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.375, subd. 1(a), (c) — unlawful exclusion or removal (2025 edition)

This section applies to actual or constructive removal or exclusion of a residential tenant which may include the termination of utilities or the removal of doors, windows, or locks. … If it clearly appears from the specific grounds and facts stated in the verified petition or by separate affidavit of the residential tenant or the residential tenant's attorney or agent that the exclusion or removal was unlawful, the court shall immediately order that the residential tenant have possession of the premises.

The ellipsis joins paragraph (a) to paragraph (c) of the same subdivision, in order. Paragraph (e) then directs the order to the sheriff, who "shall execute the order immediately". Read this beside the answer above it: the statute names the removal of doors, windows or locks as the thing it is aimed at.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

If police do act, what is the charge — and can they arrest for it?

Depends — and often the officer writes a ticket and the person stays in the house. Being inside a dwelling without the owner's consent is trespass here, but it is a misdemeanor, and Minnesota's court rules tell an officer to issue a citation and release the person unless certain things appear. An arrest without a warrant needs the officer to see it happen. There is a felony route — burglary — but it turns on proving what the person intended when they went in.

Read the law — 5 provisions

A charge that only supports a citation does not remove anyone from a house. This is the link that killed the previous market.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 609.605, subd. 1(b)(4) — trespass (2025 edition)

A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if the person intentionally: … (4) occupies or enters the dwelling or locked or posted building of another, without claim of right or consent of the owner or the consent of one who has the right to give consent, except in an emergency situation;

The ellipsis omits clauses (1) to (3), which cover other conduct. Clause (3) is the one that requires a demand first — "trespasses on the premises of another and, without claim of right, refuses to depart from the premises on demand of the lawful possessor" — and clause (4), the dwelling clause, does not. "Dwelling" is defined in subd. 1(a)(2) as "the building or part of a building used by an individual as a place of residence on either a full-time or a part-time basis."

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 609.605, subd. 1(b) — the grading (2025 edition)

A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if the person intentionally:

THIS IS THE LINK THAT KILLED A PREVIOUS MARKET ELSEWHERE — an offense graded so low that the arrest power runs out. Minnesota grades this a misdemeanor, and the next two links are what Minnesota law does at that grade. Read them in order. (The gross-misdemeanor grades in this section, at subds. 2 and 5, are for shelters for battered women and for posted agricultural land.)

Read it at the source →

3 · Minn. Stat. § 629.34, subd. 1(c) — when arrest may be made without warrant (2025 edition)

A peace officer or part-time peace officer who is authorized under paragraph (a) or (b) to make an arrest without a warrant may do so under the following circumstances: (1) when a public offense has been committed or attempted in the officer's presence; (2) when the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in the officer's presence; (3) when a felony has in fact been committed, and the officer has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it; (4) upon a charge based upon reasonable cause of the commission of a felony by the person arrested;

Read what clauses (2) to (4) are limited to: FELONIES. The remaining clauses of subd. 1(c), which we have not quoted here, extend the felony-style power to a short, closed list of specific offenses — certain gross misdemeanors under §§ 609.52, 609.595, 609.631, 609.749 and 609.821, restraining-order violations, and nonfelony domestic abuse within the preceding 72 hours. Trespass under § 609.605 is not on that list. So for a trespass the operative clause is (1), and it turns on the officer's presence.

Read it at the source →

4 · Minn. R. Crim. P. 6.01, subd. 1(a) — mandatory citation issuance in misdemeanor cases

In misdemeanor cases, peace officers who decide to proceed with prosecution and who act without a warrant must issue a citation and release the defendant unless it reasonably appears: (1) the person must be detained to prevent bodily injury to that person or another; (2) further criminal conduct will occur; or (3) a substantial likelihood exists that the person will not respond to a citation.

THIS IS THE LINK THAT DECIDES WHETHER ANYONE LEAVES THE BUILDING TONIGHT, and it is a rule of court rather than a statute — which is why almost nobody writing about squatters in Minnesota mentions it. The rule continues: "If the officer has already arrested the person, a citation must issue and the person must be released, unless any of the circumstances in subdivision 1(a)(1)-(3) above exist." We fetched this from the Revisor's court-rules server on 2026-07-14; unlike the statutes above, the Revisor does not publish a year-versioned URL for the court rules, so confirm the current text before relying on it. We draw no conclusion about what an officer must or may do here. Read it and decide.

Read it at the source →

5 · Minn. Stat. § 609.582, subd. 3(a) — burglary in the third degree (2025 edition)

Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever enters a building without consent and with intent to steal or commit any felony or gross misdemeanor while in the building, or enters a building without consent and steals or commits a felony or gross misdemeanor while in the building, either directly or as an accomplice, commits burglary in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

We publish this link because the two links above it turn on whether the offense is a felony, and this is where a felony could come from. We draw no conclusion from it. The intent element — "with intent to steal or commit any felony or gross misdemeanor" — is a question of FACT about the person in the building, and it is not established by the mere fact that they are in it. Whether it is present is for the officer and the prosecutor, and never for us.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

What decides whether police arrest or walk away?

Consent — whether the officer at the door believes the owner let this person in. The trespass law turns on it in as many words, and to weigh it the officer also has to know who the owner is. Minnesota gives the person claiming to be a tenant a documented way to get a court to act immediately. It gives nobody a way to check that you own the building.

DeedProof solves this

We verify you own the property and file your notarized statement where police can check it. How it works →

Read the law — 3 provisions

Every other question here is downstream of this one. The whole encounter, in one decision, made in a doorway in the dark.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 609.605, subd. 1(b)(4) — the words the offense hinges on (2025 edition)

occupies or enters the dwelling or locked or posted building of another, without claim of right or consent of the owner or the consent of one who has the right to give consent, except in an emergency situation

"Consent of the owner" is the element, and it cannot be weighed without knowing who the owner is. A lease produced at the door is an assertion that consent was given — and it is an assertion about a person the officer cannot identify.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.375, subd. 1(c), (e) — the occupant's emergency remedy (2025 edition)

If it clearly appears from the specific grounds and facts stated in the verified petition or by separate affidavit of the residential tenant or the residential tenant's attorney or agent that the exclusion or removal was unlawful, the court shall immediately order that the residential tenant have possession of the premises. … The court shall direct the order to the sheriff of the county in which the premises are located and the sheriff shall execute the order immediately by making a demand for possession on the landlord, if found, or the landlord's agent or other person in charge of the premises.

The ellipsis joins paragraph (c) to paragraph (e) of the same subdivision, in order. Read the asymmetry rather than the mechanics: the fastest sworn-paper remedy in Minnesota's landlord-and-tenant chapter belongs to the person claiming to be a tenant, not to the owner. Subdivision 2 lets the landlord move to dissolve the order — after it has been executed.

Read it at the source →

3 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1(a) — what the complaint must state (2025 edition)

To bring an eviction action, the person complaining shall file a complaint with the court, stating the full name and date of birth of the person against whom the complaint is made, unless it is not known, describing the premises of which possession is claimed, stating the facts which authorize the recovery of possession, and asking for recovery thereof.

A CLAIM ABOUT OUR OWN SEARCH, NOT ABOUT THE LAW: on 2026-07-14 we read the full section list of Minn. Stat. ch. 504B and read §§ 504B.001, 504B.281, 504B.285, 504B.301, 504B.321, 504B.345, 504B.365 and 504B.375 in full, in the Revisor's 2025 edition, together with § 609.605. We looked for any provision telling an officer, a clerk, a judge or a sheriff how to establish that the person asserting ownership actually owns the building — a deed check, a recorder's lookup, a registry, anything. We found no such provision. Confirm it against the official code before relying on it.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

What is the lawful way to get them out?

An eviction case in court — the same track a landlord uses, and there is no faster one. You file, the hearing is set seven to fourteen days out, and if you win the court signs the removal order immediately and an officer gives them twenty-four hours to be gone.

Read the law — 4 provisions

The route sets the real cost. A summary track is weeks; a full civil suit is months.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.301 — eviction action for unlawful detention (2025 edition)

A person may be evicted if the person has unlawfully or forcibly occupied or taken possession of real property or unlawfully detains or retains possession of real property.

This section is the squatter ground. The separate grounds in § 504B.285, subd. 1 — holding over after a sale, after a foreclosure redemption period, after a lease term, or after notice to quit on a tenancy at will — are the tenant and post-foreclosure grounds, and they are not this.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1(c) — the appearance (2025 edition)

The appearance shall be not less than seven nor more than 14 days from the day of issuing the summons, except as provided by subdivision 2.

Subdivision 2 is the EXPEDITED track — five to seven days — and read what it is for: an action brought under § 504B.171 (the covenant against unlawful activities) or "on the basis that the residential tenant engages in behavior that seriously endangers the safety of other residents, or intentionally and seriously damages the property of the landlord or a tenant". It is written about a residential tenant. Whether it reaches a person who was never one is not something the statute says, and we do not say it either. Misusing it carries "a civil penalty of up to $500 for abuse of the expedited hearing process."

Read it at the source →

3 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.345, subd. 1(a), (d) — judgment; execution (2025 edition)

If the court or jury finds for the plaintiff, the court shall immediately enter judgment that the plaintiff shall have recovery of the premises, and shall tax the costs against the defendant. The court shall issue execution in favor of the plaintiff for the costs and also immediately issue a writ of recovery of premises and order to vacate. … the court shall stay the writ of recovery of premises and order to vacate for a reasonable period, not to exceed seven days. This paragraph does not apply when the court has issued a default judgment.

The ellipsis joins paragraph (a) to paragraph (d) of the same subdivision, in order. Paragraph (d) opens by excepting actions under § 504B.171 and safety-endangerment actions, and it does not apply to a default judgment — that is, where the person in the building does not show up.

Read it at the source →

4 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, subd. 1(a)–(b) — execution of the writ (2025 edition)

The officer who holds the order to vacate shall execute it by demanding that the defendant, if found in the county, any adult member of the defendant's family who is occupying the premises, or any other person in charge, relinquish possession and leave, taking family and all personal property from the premises within 24 hours. If the defendant fails to comply with the demand, then the officer shall bring, if necessary, the force of the county and any necessary assistance, at the cost of the plaintiff. The officer shall remove the defendant, family, and all personal property from the premises and place the plaintiff in possession.

Note the four words at the end of the second sentence: "at the cost of the plaintiff". The owner pays for the force that carries out the order he won.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

How long does it take, and what does it cost?

Weeks, not days, and months if they fight it. The statute sets the hearing seven to fourteen days out, the court can hold the removal order for another week, and then the officer gives them twenty-four hours. On money: if you win, the court orders them to pay the court's costs — but not your lawyer. Minnesota's attorney-fee rule is written around a lease, and a person who was never your tenant never signed one. Assume you pay your own lawyer and do not get it back.

Read the law — 3 provisions

The two numbers every owner wants, and the one nobody warns them about: you do not get it back.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.321, subd. 1(c) — the appearance (2025 edition)

The appearance shall be not less than seven nor more than 14 days from the day of issuing the summons, except as provided by subdivision 2.

That is the date of the first appearance, not the date anyone leaves. § 504B.335 governs the answer and the trial, either party may demand a jury, and § 504B.371 provides for an appeal — which is where "weeks" becomes "months" for the person reading this page.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.345, subd. 1(d) — the stay (2025 edition)

the court shall stay the writ of recovery of premises and order to vacate for a reasonable period, not to exceed seven days. This paragraph does not apply when the court has issued a default judgment.

The 24 hours is in § 504B.365, subd. 1(a): the officer executes the writ "by demanding that the defendant … relinquish possession and leave, taking family and all personal property from the premises within 24 hours."

Read it at the source →

3 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.172 — recovery of attorney fees (2025 edition)

If a residential lease specifies an action, circumstances, or an extent to which a landlord, directly, or through additional rent, may recover attorney fees in an action between the landlord and tenant, the tenant is entitled to attorney fees if the tenant prevails in the same type of action, under the same circumstances, or is entitled to costs under section 549.02, and to the same extent as specified in the lease for the landlord.

A CLAIM ABOUT OUR OWN SEARCH: we read Chapter 504B's section list and this section in full on 2026-07-14 and found no provision awarding an owner his attorney's fees against a person who was never his tenant. What we did find is § 504B.345, subd. 1(a): the court "shall tax the costs against the defendant" and "shall issue execution in favor of the plaintiff for the costs". Costs are not fees. NO DOLLAR FIGURE APPEARS ON THIS PAGE, and that is deliberate: Minnesota's eviction filing fee and its sheriff service fees are set outside this chapter, and every fee figure on this site appears verbatim in a document we fetched or it does not appear.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

Can a sheriff remove them on the owner's affidavit alone, with no court?

No — not under Minnesota's eviction chapter. The order comes from a court, and only then does an officer carry it out. That chapter also says, in one sentence and about everyone, that no person may take possession of property except where the law allows it.

Read the law — 3 provisions

Where a state has passed this, it hands the owner the whole mechanism for free. This field tracks the existential risk.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.345, subd. 1(a) — judgment; execution (2025 edition)

If the court or jury finds for the plaintiff, the court shall immediately enter judgment that the plaintiff shall have recovery of the premises, and shall tax the costs against the defendant. The court shall issue execution in favor of the plaintiff for the costs and also immediately issue a writ of recovery of premises and order to vacate.

Note that a jury may decide it. § 504B.335 provides for a trial, and § 504B.351 and § 504B.355 provide for what happens when a jury fails to reach a verdict and for the form of the verdict. This is a court case, not a sworn page handed to a deputy.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.365, subd. 1(a) — execution of the writ (2025 edition)

The officer who holds the order to vacate shall execute it by demanding that the defendant, if found in the county, any adult member of the defendant's family who is occupying the premises, or any other person in charge, relinquish possession and leave, taking family and all personal property from the premises within 24 hours.

Read it at the source →

3 · Minn. Stat. § 504B.281 — forcible entry and unlawful detainer prohibited (2025 edition)

No person may occupy or take possession of real property except where occupancy or possession is allowed by law, and in such cases, the person may not enter by force, but only in a peaceable manner.

A CLAIM ABOUT OUR OWN SEARCH, NOT ABOUT THE LAW: on 2026-07-14 we read the complete section list of Minn. Stat. ch. 504B in the Revisor's 2025 edition and read every eviction section in it. We looked for a provision letting a sheriff remove an occupant on the owner's sworn affidavit with no court order — the kind of section Florida, Texas and Georgia have enacted since 2024. We found none. TWO THINGS WE COULD NOT CHECK, AND WE SAY SO RATHER THAN GUESS: whether any bill introduced in the current legislature would create one (the Revisor's bill-keyword search returned nothing we could fetch on that date), and whether a section outside Chapter 504B does it. Confirm against the official code and the legislature's own bill-status pages before relying on this.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

How long before they can claim they own it?

Fifteen years — and Minnesota adds a condition most summaries leave out: for a parcel that is taxed on its own, the person claiming it must also have paid the property taxes on it for at least five consecutive years.

Read the law — 2 provisions

The thing an owner of an empty building actually fears. Pure state statute.

1 · Minn. Stat. § 541.02, first paragraph — recovery of real estate, 15 years (2025 edition)

No action for the recovery of real estate or the possession thereof shall be maintained unless it appears that the plaintiff, the plaintiff's ancestor, predecessor, or grantor was seized or possessed of the premises in question within 15 years before the beginning of the action.

A CLAIM ABOUT OUR OWN SEARCH: the statute states the fifteen years and nothing about what the occupier must prove. Minnesota courts require far more than the passage of time — the elements Minnesota lawyers recite are judicial, not statutory. We could not fetch a Minnesota appellate opinion stating them on 2026-07-14, and we do not put words in a court's mouth. Do not read the bare fifteen years as the whole rule; ask a Minnesota lawyer what the elements are.

Read it at the source →

2 · Minn. Stat. § 541.02, second paragraph — the tax-payment condition (2025 edition)

Such limitations shall not be a bar to an action for the recovery of real estate assessed as tracts or parcels separate from other real estate, unless it appears that the party claiming title by adverse possession or the party's ancestor, predecessor, or grantor, or all of them together, shall have paid taxes on the real estate in question at least five consecutive years of the time during which the party claims these lands to have been occupied adversely.

Read the third paragraph too: this tax condition "shall not apply to actions relating to the boundary line of lands, which boundary lines are established by adverse possession, or to actions concerning lands included between the government or platted line and the line established by such adverse possession, or to lands not assessed for taxation." We quote the statute and draw no conclusion about how it applies to any particular building.

Read it at the source →

These are the provisions, in order. We have not drawn a conclusion from them — that is not ours to draw.

This page is the law. What it costs you in Minnesota — the filing fee, the sheriff’s bill, the months, and whether you ever see the money again.

Your deed proves you own it. It does not prove you never rented it.

That is the officer’s real question, and the lease in their hand does not contradict your deed. You can swear it is a forgery — but a statement you write the morning after, against a lease dated last year, is worth very little. The version that counts has to already exist.

How DeedProof verifies owners and files the affidavit in advance →

› Every source on this page (14)

DeedProof is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. We cite primary sources; we do not interpret them for your situation. Laws change — confirm current requirements with the relevant government office or a licensed attorney.