Times are tough. Many families and individuals have struggled the past few years because home values have dropped and jobs are difficult to come by. Financial problems add to or are the cause of marital discord. Not surprisingly, when couples decide to divorce, many find the idea of hiring an attorney distasteful, if for… Read more »
In July 2012, the Uniform Law Commission approved of the Uniform Deployed Parent Custody and Visitation Act, to address issues that arise when a family court matter involves a parent serving in the military. The Uniform Law Commission (ULC), established in 1892, is responsible for such Acts as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement… Read more »
Divorce can be a challenging process. After the initial difficult decision of whether to pursue a dissolution action, many parties wonder where to begin in sorting through the many pieces of the marital relationship. One helpful place to start is to realize that there are two main issues that apply to every divorce and two… Read more »
For the most part, parties involved in a divorce, custody, or parenting time dispute are required to attempt Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) prior to bringing their issue(s) to court. Because Rule 114 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice allows parties to “create an ADR process” by agreement, in theory the possibilities are literally… Read more »
There are many reasons one or both parties may choose to end an marriage. Not surprisingly, most of the time one or both of the parties points to the other’s behavior as the main reason the marriage cannot continue. Affairs, drug and alcohol dependency, addictive behaviors, intra-family violence, poor money management skills … the list… Read more »
There is no way to foresee exactly how a divorce will unfold. Some divorces are very complex and the parties and their attorneys can anticipate at the outset that the road will be long and difficult. Other divorces are relatively simple and can be accomplished easily and quickly. Most divorces fall somewhere in between. Below… Read more »
Common-law marriage is a marriage in which there is no license issued by a governmental agency, there is no marriage certificate filed with the government, and there is no solemnization of the marriage in the presence of witnesses. The title of this post is ironic, because Minnesota does not recognize common-law marriage. The Minnesota legislature… Read more »
If you want to terminate your marriage, you need a divorce. If you want to nullify the marriage, you need an annulment. Under Minnesota law, a marriage can be annulled under the following circumstances: (a) One spouse lacked the mental capacity to consent to the marriage at the time of the wedding, unbeknown to the… Read more »
Collaborative law is the practice of proceeding with a marriage dissolution without going to court (other than submitting a written stipulation settling all issues in the divorce). The parties contract with each other and their attorneys to refrain from using the court process to litigate or contest disputes. If the parties and their attorneys sign… Read more »
When you are involved in a family court matter, particularly a contested dispute in family court, reality and truth will serve you well. Fictional reality and engineered truth will not serve you well. The family court’s goal is to make findings based in reality and truth; consequently, the party seeking to engineer the truth, or… Read more »