Divorce is always a challenging and emotional experience. The goal of a divorce is to move on to the next stage in your life with as little disruption and expense as possible. If you need a divorce in Minnesota, a family law firm can help you achieve your goals for child custody, spousal maintenance, and property division.
Olson Law LLC is a family law firm serving the Twin Cities and St. Cloud, Minnesota. When you ask us for help with your divorce, we’ll be here to help you get through this process as soon as possible while achieving your goals.
The legal term for divorce in Minnesota is “Dissolution of Marriage.” You can file for a Dissolution of Marriage in Minnesota if you or your spouse has lived there for at least 180 days. If neither of you has been living in Minnesota for 180 days, you can still file for divorce if one of you is serving in the military and has legal residency in Minnesota. If you meet the residency requirements, you don’t need to be a U.S. citizen to file for divorce in Minnesota.
You don’t need a lawyer to get divorced in Minnesota, but a divorce can be challenging without a lawyer. The court will expect you to know the law, meet deadlines on time, and file all your forms correctly, even though you do not have any legal training.
The first step to filing for divorce in Minnesota is to determine which forms you need to file. If you and your spouse agree on the terms of your divorce, you can fill out a Joint Petition With or Without Children or a Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution. You can only file a Joint Petition for Summary Dissolution if:
If you and your spouse don’t agree on the terms, you must file a Petition for Divorce, either With or Without Children, depending on your situation.
You can also file forms for temporary orders to resolve issues like child support or custody until the court finalizes the divorce.
After filing for divorce, you must have your spouse served with divorce papers by a third party. If you don’t know where your spouse is, you won’t be able to have them served with divorce papers. However, you can ask a judge for permission to serve notice to your spouse by alternate means.
How long it takes to get divorced in Minnesota depends on whether you and your spouse agree on all the divorce terms. If you agree, the divorce could be complete in as little as two months. If you don’t agree on the terms, the divorce can take as long as several years. There are many steps to go through, including:
Filing the divorce petition
Serving papers on your spouse
Waiting up to 30 days for your spouse to respond or file a counter-petition
Exchanging information about your assets and finances
Going through mediation
Negotiating a divorce settlement
Going to trial if you can’t reach a settlement
Divorce is always faster if you can agree to terms with your spouse. The process takes much longer if you can’t agree on a settlement.
In a Minnesota divorce, courts will normally divide all marital property equitably. This means the court will try to divide your property fairly but not necessarily equally. The court will determine whether each piece of property is marital property or belongs to either spouse individually. Your lawyer will help ensure that all marital property is accounted for and divided fairly between you.
Child custody issues are often the most emotional aspect of a divorce. In Minnesota, the court will decide on child custody based on the best interests of the child. The factors the court will use to determine the best interest of the child include:
The child’s emotional, physical, spiritual, and cultural needs
The child’s medical and mental health needs
The child’s reasonable preferences, if they are old enough to communicate this
Any history of domestic abuse
Any issues the parent has that may affect the child’s safety
The parenting history of both spouses
The ability of both parents to provide for the child’s needs
The effect any changes in custody would have on the child
The effect any changes in custody would have on the child’s family relationships
The benefit to the child of maximizing parenting time with both parents
The willingness of both parents to support a healthy relationship between the child and the other parent, except in cases of abuse
The court may award sole custody to either parent or joint custody to both. The court may also give one parent physical custody while awarding joint legal custody to both. If you’re having a child custody fight with your former partner, a lawyer can help you achieve your goals and preserve your relationship with your children.
Courts do not award spousal maintenance or alimony in all divorce cases. In Minnesota, a court will only award spousal maintenance if:
The spouse requesting maintenance does not have enough property to provide for their own needs.
The spouse requesting maintenance does not have the means to support themselves to the standard of living that they had during the marriage.
The spouse requesting maintenance is caring for children and cannot work outside of the home at this time.
The court can order transitional or indefinite maintenance. Transitional maintenance is temporary. For instance, the court may order spousal maintenance for a period of time needed for education or job training. Indefinite maintenance has no fixed end date.
Minnesota courts usually base any award of spousal maintenance on the length of the marriage. For example:
Courts don’t usually award any spousal maintenance if the marriage lasted less than five years.
If the marriage lasted more than five years but less than 20, the court will award maintenance for no more than half as long as the length of the marriage.
If the marriage lasted more than 20 years, the court is likely to order indefinite maintenance.
A divorce lawyer can help you resolve any spousal maintenance issue in your divorce.
Reaching a settlement in your divorce can be a lot faster and less expensive with mediation. Mediation is a process in which an impartial mediator helps both parties resolve their disagreements without a trial. A neutral third-party mediator can help you:
Express your needs
Understand your ex’s needs
Find areas of agreement between you and your ex
Improve communication between you and your ex
Generate options for a mutually agreeable solution to your disagreements
Minnesota requires mediation before a divorce trial. Many attorneys are also trained to perform mediation, but you cannot use the same lawyer for mediation and representation in your divorce.
If you’re going through a divorce in the Twin Cities or St. Cloud, Minnesota, Olson Law LLC can help. We are here to listen and to help. When you tell us what you want to accomplish in your divorce case, we will do everything in our power to help you achieve those goals. Contact Olson Law LLC today.
