Family Law Blog

What is a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO)? An HRO is a Court Order that stops someone from harassing you and that the harasser have no contact with you—unless contact is specifically permitted [...]

On New Year’s Day, many people like to start the New Year with resolutions about what they would like to see changed for the new year. For some, that could mean re-examining their relationships. [...]

With the advent of science and at-home DNA testing kits, understanding your ancestry is becoming increasingly easier. Sometimes, you find out more about your ancestry than you anticipated. [...]

If my spouse and I are both pursing an action in Minnesota, does it matter who files a divorce or custody action first? No, it does not matter to the Court which party pursues a family law [...]

Imagine that you’re in the midst of a divorce with your spouse and you two are attempting to stay in your marital home together to save money until the divorce is resolved. Not surprisingly, you [...]

Telling your child that you and your spouse are getting a divorce may be one of the most difficult conversations if you have with your child. Even if your child is mature, it doesn’t mean your [...]

In a family dynamic where there are separated parents, a child benefits most from constant contact with both of his or her parents. To move out of Minnesota with your child, the relocating parent [...]

An unmarried Mother has all the control concerning the care and custody of her child born out of wedlock until the Father has his paternity adjudicated and his custody established. In Minnesota, [...]

Financing a college education is tricky, but maybe more so for divorced parents. If your child requires student aid, divorce may affect your child’s eligibility. To get federal aid, students must [...]

Divorce is hard on parents; it is especially hard on children. Parents should strive to never place their kids in the middle of their divorce—either while it is occurring or after. Sometimes, [...]

There is no such thing as a stereotypical domestic abuse victim. Big Little Lies, the HBO TV series that is based on a book of the same name, illustrates that domestic abuse can happen to anyone. [...]

A parental break up can be hard on kids. After a break up, some parents have started to “nest” or “birdnest” to avoid discomfort in their children’s lives. “Nesting” is when parents keep the [...]

During a divorce, you may not see your soon-to-be-ex in the best light, and you may hope your ex-spouse receives little of the marital pie that you two had accumulated during your marriage. [...]

What should you do with your social media account during a divorce or separation? It may be in your best interest to stop posting to your social media accounts because anything you share could [...]

Would you take a divorce selfie with your ex-spouse? Last year, the world was introduced to the divorce selfie trend on Instagram and Twitter, which was coupled with the hashtag #divorceselfie. [...]

With current divorce rates at 50% or more, it is no wonder that the dynamics of a family are ever changing.  Family is often no longer a nuclear definition of only two parents.  When a mother or [...]

During the divorce process or even the custody process, there are many types of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options.  The purpose of ADR is to help you and your ex-partner find [...]

If you are planning to file for divorce, there are three simple steps that you can do now that will greatly help when you are in the actual divorce process. Know Your Finances.  This is more [...]

News reports continue to discuss an upward shift in the amount of baby-boomers and long-time marriages that are ending in divorce. For those of us who practice in family law, we have long been [...]

We ran across the article below which advises people what NOT to do after a breakup.  http://www.today.com/health/divorce-7-things-not-do-after-breakup-t107167 Some of those items were as [...]

Divorce is stressful. There is no way around that. The questions become, how much and how heavy is your stress, and how do you handle it? While researching this topic, the following article [...]

Short answer…Yes. A recent Minnesota Appellate Court case was released, although unpublished, stating that although a person may have passed away, they still have an obligation to fulfill their [...]

A recent case from our neighbor next door, Wisconsin, raised an interesting legal argument – can an ex-fiancé be entitled to additional compensation after a break-up if she helped build a [...]

Prior to a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision, most family law attorneys would have advised a client that the standard to get an Order for Protection (OFP) is an “imminent fear” of domestic [...]

Sometimes in a child’s life, there is someone besides the parent, like a Grandparent, Aunt, or Uncle, who is involved in his or her life. In Minnesota, a third party can petition the Court for [...]

Commencing January 1, 2019, there will be a major change in how family law attorneys discuss spousal maintenance. Spousal maintenance has always been a hot topic issue with divorcing couples. [...]

Illinois is joining Alaska in the acknowledgement that a divorcing couple’s pets mean more to them than a dining room table set. Starting January 1, 2018, Illinois Judges will be able to look at [...]

In many dissolution cases, it often needs to be decided who, if anyone, wants the marital homestead and if someone does, what happens to the mortgage? Generally speaking, it is common practice to [...]

A semi-recent article found at the Huffington Post discussed “8 Biggest Relationship Killers” as according to divorce attorneys. While reading the article, as a divorce attorney, we concur. Many [...]

Sometimes the hardest part of the case is helping parents figure out how to communicate in a post-separation, post-order world when the Court is not hovering over them and attorneys are no longer [...]

There are times in life when you need some temporary help in supporting, caring and raising your children. These are life instances that do not warrant a change in custody or any kind of [...]

In this day and age, it is quite common that your spouse has an ex-wife, ex-husband or ex-partner that will impact your life. There are a few ways to come to look at your spouses’ ex. While [...]

An article was written earlier this year about the “5 Reasons Marriage Doesn’t Work Anymore.” After reading it, 3 of the 5 reasons are related to social media and electronic devices. As a [...]

Music icon, Prince, died over a year ago. His divorce from 2007 was unsealed and now his divorce is public record for all to read, review and make assumptions about. Many articles have been [...]

In Minnesota, pets are not given any consideration about what is best for them in a divorce proceeding under the statutes. Pets are divided as if the same as a kitchen table, couch, etc. The idea [...]

Minnesota is an equitable division state. Meaning that more often than not, things are split 50/50, but there can be an “equitable” division if it is warranted. So then the questions becomes, [...]

No. Under the MN Stat. 518.18, there are five (5) different ways to have a Court order a change of custody. The most often sited prong of the statute does refer to the finding of endangerment [...]

The resounding answer is generally yes. An overwhelming amount of people will “stay together for the children.” Is that really the right thing? You have to decide that for your family; but [...]

To some it may not seem like a big difference, but in the eyes of the law, the distinction makes all the difference.  When asking the Court to change custody, there must be an endangerment to the [...]

When you are separating from a partner, sometimes the hardest thing to do is communicate.  Whether it’s about who is paying what bill, parenting time or anything really, the person that was once [...]

In an effort to streamline requirements for Court proceedings, the Minnesota legislature has created a new way of certifying Court documents.  MN Statute 358.116 allows for the language, “I [...]

A wise law school professor of Family Law once stated, “You are not just counselors at law, but counselors of the human spirit when you practice family law.”   After practicing for many years, no [...]

On May 19, 2016, Governor Dayton signed into law a major reform in spousal maintenance.  

In an effort to find a blog topic, a simple google search of “how to win a custody battle” brought up so much bad advice, misconceptions and sad notions of what parents can/will do to each other, [...]

We recently came across an article on MSN.com which cited what the author feels are six safe reasons for divorce. The six issues the article highlights are: When your partner is an addict Your [...]

Every year brings a new legislative session.  Some years they touch on areas that are near and dear to those of us who practice family law.   One such area is child support.

This is really a thing. Who knew, right? The question is – is this a day of celebration, angst, anger, sadness, etc.?

Simple answer is no – there are no written rules/codes; but a real answer is yes.

Each year the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women produces a report regarding the homicides from the year that were as a result of domestic violence.  In 2015, 22 women died from domestic [...]

I was reading an article recently on the Huffington Post about surviving the holidays, surviving a divorce and dealing with the idea of this is the first in this new life of divorcing or [...]

Good, bad, right or wrong, we all know someone or are connected someway with someone who is heading into a divorce, or in the middle of the divorce.  It can be very difficult to know what to say [...]

Stage One: “I used think we were forever” – Taylor Swift Your spouse may have just said they wanted the divorce or maybe you were just served.  Generally you are in shock, disbelief and confused.  

No one goes into marriage thinking they are going to get divorce.  Most people going into a relationship hoping that this will be the one that will last.  However, sometimes things do not work [...]

It’s fall and the kids are officially back to school!  While this can be a joyous time or a crazy busy time – maybe a little bit of both – I found an article that was very interesting.  

The Huffington Post ran this article authored by a top divorce lawyer – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-m-kessler/top-5-things-to-ask-your-_b_8240184.html?utm_hp_ref=divorce-laws The [...]

Minnesota Statute Sec. 518.17 (1)(b)(4) states that “the court shall not consider conduct of a proposed custodian that does not affect the custodian’s relationship to the [...]

When? An Order for Protection is an emergency order you can request from the Court when you are in fear of immediate physical harm.  This harm can be because your significant other or family [...]

During your divorce, it is arguably going to be one of the most challenging and emotional times of your life.  Sometimes the absolute last thing you want to do is talk to your former spouse, but [...]

You have spent the last months (maybe years) fighting over every detail of your divorce settlement or maybe your divorce trial has completed and you just got the signed divorce decree from the [...]

Minnesota is an “equitable” division state.  Meaning, according to Minn. Stat. §518.58, the Court will make a “just and equitable division of the marital property of the parties.”  What does that [...]

If you have recently started a family law case, whether it be a divorce, custody case, etc., you are likely being bombarded with various acronyms from the Court as well as attorneys.  Below are a [...]

In short, a parent who has a custody and parenting time arrangement established via court order with the other parent cannot move out of state without permission/consent of the other parent or [...]

There are three major areas in which taxes can effect a divorce resolution. These are Spousal Maintenance, Child Support, and Child Dependency.

When people separate, whether married or in a relationship, and there are children involved, the first thing parents worry about is spending enough time with the children after the separation. [...]