Category: Family Law
Can I File for Divorce in Minnesota if I Don’t Know Where My Spouse Is?
May 16, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingSometimes a divorce happens because a spouse simply abandons the family. Sometimes families start with a separation, only for a spouse to go MIA. Sometimes, a spouse even hides from another spouse, thinking that this is the best way to avoid being served with divorce papers. However, you can get a divorce even if you don’t know where your spouse is. Minnesota allows for service of divorce papers through alternate means when all reasonable avenues have been tried to find and serve your spouse through normal means. Service by publication requires a court order, but the order will be granted if you provide facts sufficient to prove that you cannot find your spouse. Once the papers have been served through alternate means the divorce will continue. Your spouse has a certain amount of time to file an Answer to your petition for divorce. If your spouse fails to file an Answer then the courts will usually move forward with a “default” Judgment of Divorce. The issues of the divorce will be settled, most likely as you request, and you will no longer be married. If your spouse is missing you should not assume that your divorce will be uncontested, however. Strange things can happen at the last minute. This is not the time…
Read MoreWhen Does Child Support End in Minnesota?
May 13, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingWhile you might feel like your child support obligation is going to go on forever there is an ending date. In Minnesota, your child support will end when all of your children from the marriage have turned eighteen, or when they graduate from high school, whichever is later. Child support obligations do not extend past the age of 20 even if the child has not graduated from high school. There’s only one exception to this: if you have a special needs child that is unlikely to be physically or mentally capable of meeting his or her own needs. Each of these cases is determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration receipt of social security or other financial benefits available to the child. [maxbutton id=”1″ url=”https://bgs.com/contact-us/?july” text=”Get Legal Help Now” ] What about college? You and your spouse might agree to send a child to college together, but you’re not obligated to do so unless you and your spouse signed something to that effect during your divorce settlement. Child support ends automatically. You don’t have to go back to court. You can simply stop paying the support unless you had an income withholding order. If you did, you’ll need to make sure that your case manager knows the child’s 18th birthday or high…
Read MoreWhat Happens to My Business During a Divorce in Minnesota?
May 9, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingIf you opened or created a business during a marriage in the state of Minnesota, the business is marital property. That means that it counts as one of the assets that will be factored into the divorce settlement. If you continued to work at a business created prior to the marriage, the business will have aspects of non-marital and marital value, which may be tricky to determine. Minnesota law demands that marital property be divided equitably (though not necessarily equally). This does not mean you will necessarily lose your business, however. It simply means that the business is an asset which must be taken into account. Business valuation is a complicated process. It’s complicated even when you simply want to sell the business. It can get even more complicated during a divorce. You have to understand this because your business value may be larger or smaller than you think it is. Business valuation takes many factors into account, including the company inventory, the company assets, the income received by the business, and even intangible factors like “customer goodwill.” Two business valuation agents may not even entirely agree on what a business should sell for, even if they look at the same set of books and the same set of factors, all things being…
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