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Making Custody Arrangements Work at a Special Time of Year

January 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Christmas tree

Note: Dear Reader, your author has been in a nearly 2 week long family law trial that has taken a great deal of time prepping for.  I thought I posted this prior to Christmas, but it turns out I did not.  So, instead of being a month late, I like to think I am 11 months early! Home for the Holidays Many divorced parents can attest to the headache and hassle that can accompany a visitation schedule involving frequent shuttling of the kids back and forth between the parents’ homes.  In the holiday season, these difficulties can be amplified by a hectic flurry of …

Filed Under: General, Mediation Tagged With: , ,

Recovering Attorney Fees in a Minnesota Divorce

October 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Tired of paying for the “pleasure” of divorcing? Recovering Attorney Fees in a Minnesota Divorce For a variety of reasons, most states in America follow what is called the American Rule regarding the payment of each party’s attorney fees in litigation:  Which means each party must pay their own attorney fees.  This is in contrast to the English Rule, which generally requires the losing party to pay the winning party’s attorney fees.  The American Rule, however, can bring hours of frustration (and a huge expense) when your ex makes yet another motion seeking to be awarded some obscure item of …

Filed Under: Basic Divorce Questions, Finances and Divorce Tagged With: , , ,

What If You Can’t Afford A Divorce (Lawyer)?

June 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

With the economy down lately it’s fairly common I get a several calls during a week from people seeking a divorce, but they say they can’t afford it and just want a few tips. I have to say I always chuckle and think what other profession can you call up and hope to get a few tips, for free? I normally chat for 15 minutes or so and consider it part of my pro bono duty for the week. But, it does lead into a more serious question and that is, what can a person possibly hope to learn in …

Filed Under: Alternatives to Divorce, Divorce Mistakes, Finances and Divorce, General, Settlement Tagged With: , , ,

Mediation & Divorce

June 11, 2012 By 2 Comments

In Minnesota the rules for family law require you to at least contemplate mediation prior to filing motions and going to court. The new rules now (Rule 303) requires that you certify your efforts to the court, that your lawyer and your spouses lawyer have conferred (either in person or by the phone) to talk about mediation efforts. This blog post is going to discuss the benefits and costs associated with mediation and other ADR requirements. BENEFITS costs of divorce We often say that when parties go to trial there are only two winners, the two lawyers involved. And this …

Filed Under: Alternatives to Divorce, General, Mediation, Post-Divorce Issues, Pre-Divorce Issues Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Handle Mother’s or Father’s Day After Divorce

June 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We are now officially in the season for Mother’s and Father’s Day in Minnesota. Normally a time of finding dad that perfect tie or finding mom the new waffle iron she’s been asking about, but for more and more moms and dads, it is a time of stress and conflict because of the problem with Ex’s. Over the years as a divorce Minnesota lawyer I’ve seen some great parents and not so great parents and and I’ve put together a few tips of what seems to work and doesn’t in the world of blended and divorced families. 1. Your new …

Filed Under: General, Post-Divorce Issues Tagged With: , ,

Divorce and Suicide

May 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

Today I learned one of my former family law clients killed himself. He had a 3 year old son. The reason I thought I would share this is because I have had a lot of “high-conflict” clients over the years, clients who I have had serious concerns for their mental health. Angry clients, clients who were aggressive, who hated their ex-spouse and told me about it on a daily basis. This client was not one of those. His case was fairly standard, a few periods of conflict, notably during temporary relief motions, some nasty letters and then we finally settled …

Filed Under: Alcohol & Drug Issues in Divorce, Current Divorce Events Tagged With: , ,

2 Year Waiting Period For A Divorce!?!? (Maybe…)

February 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You can count on some strange laws being proposed every election cycle and 2012 is no different.  A law has been proposed in the Minnesota Senate last week to 1) allow contested divorces with minor children and 2) required a 2 year waiting period if their are kids. If this law goes through it will a monumental change in the way divorce is handled in Minnesota.  Currently, you only need to have lived in Minnesota for 6 months and claim an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage to be divorced.  Or to put it another way, one party says “I want out”. The proposed law …

Filed Under: Current Divorce Events Tagged With: , , ,

Changing Your Child’s Name

February 27, 2012 By 3 Comments

Changing Your Child’s Name In today’s world with marriage rates down, divorce rates up and many of the old customs gone it’s not uncommon to want to change the name of your child. Maybe the baby paternity was in doubt, your remarried or your ex has remarried, there are many reasons why you may want to change your child’s name. As is often the case we have laws in Minnesota to help decide if this can be done. Minn. Stat. 259.10 gives us some guidance. Generally, you have to be in Minnesota for 6 months and then you can file …

Filed Under: Adoption, Child Custody Tagged With: , ,

How Can I Save Money On My Divorce? (secret contained below!)

February 24, 2012 By 3 Comments

Divorce On The Cheap In Minnesota Your relationship with your spouse has hit the point of no return, and you know you can’t work it out.  A divorce is looming.   But the last thing you want to spend your hard-earned money on is a divorce!  How can you keep costs down to reduce the negative impact of an already painful time in your life? First, keep in mind that there are good ways to save money during a divorce and bad ways to save money during a divorce.  That is, not all cost-saving is beneficial to you, even if it …

Filed Under: Divorce Mistakes, Finances and Divorce, Pre-Divorce Issues Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Divorce and bankruptcy—Minnesota law

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Divorce and bankruptcy together:  sometimes life just isn’t going well.  When these two issues collide, there are extra legal consequences to be aware of.  There are two possibilities to consider here—(a) when the bankruptcy comes first, and then the divorce, and (b) when the divorce comes first, followed by bankruptcy.  If you end up filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 different areas come into play. Bankruptcy followed by divorce: First, what happens when you are already in the process of bankruptcy when you become involved in a divorce?  As you might already know, filing for bankruptcy triggers something …

Filed Under: Basic Divorce Questions, Divorce and Bankruptcy Tagged With: , ,
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