Updated: May 2025
Understanding property division is crucial when navigating family law matters.How To Divide Marital Property if Your getting Divorce in Minnesota
Dividing property in a Minnesota divorce might feel a bit like you need a label maker to divide your property. Some things are clearly yours, some clearly theirs, and others… well, you’ll both claim that 2012 canoe you used once.
When a Minnesota court handles property division, it sorts everything into two main buckets: marital and non-marital property. Let’s take a deep dive into what those categories mean, how the law treats them, and what it could mean for you.
What is Marital Property?
You know that mountain of stuff you somehow accumulated during your divorce that is in your attic, garage, shed, and possibly a storage unit you forgot you had? That’s probably marital property.
The Legal Definition of Marital Property
Marital property is anything you and your spouse acquired during your marriage, regardless of who earned or paid for it. Think:
- The house
- Retirement accounts
- Cars
- Investment portfolios
- Furniture, appliances, and yes, even that Peloton you barely used
Even if something is only in your name, if it was bought or acquired during the marriage, it’s presumed marital property in Minnesota.
That often means equal, but not always. Courts can deviate based on various factors like earning ability and contributions to the marriage.
What is Non-Marital Property?
Non-marital property is the opposite of marital property; It’s property that belongs to you alone — or at least, that’s what you’ll argue. (here’s the actual law if you want to read it Minnesota Statute 518.003)
Examples of Non-Marital Property In a Divorce
- Property you owned before the marriage
- Gifts given solely to you
- Inheritances
- Assets acquired with non-marital funds (that can be traced)
Example: If you inherited $20,000 from Grandma Sue and used it to buy a car, that car may be non-marital if you can trace the money back to the inheritance.
Tracing and Co-Mingling of Non-Martial Assets in a Divorce
Here’s where things get tricky. The burden is on you to prove that an asset is non-marital. This usually involves tracing the asset back to its original non-marital source.
If you mixed inherited funds into a joint checking account, used it to pay for a family vacation, and then bought a car, you may have trouble convincing a judge that it’s purely non-marital.
Still, Minnesota law doesn’t require absolute financial segregation. Reasonable commingling won’t automatically ruin your non-marital claim, but the clearer your paper trail, the better.
Pro Tip: Keep separate accounts for non-marital funds and avoid using them for shared expenses If Your Contemplating A Divorce.
Debt: The Other Side of the Divorce Property Coin
When people think about dividing property, they tend to forget about the less-fun side: debt. But courts divide that too, and it’s actually treated just like assets.
Marital vs. Non-Marital Debt
Just like property, debt is either:
- Marital (incurred during the marriage)
- Non-marital (received before the marriage, a gift from outside the marriage)
If your spouse had a loan on that sweeeeet 1989 Mustang GT and is still paying it well into the marriage, well, that may be non-marital. But credit card debt from Target, groceries, and family trips? That’s marital.
Note: Only marital debt is considered when calculating the marital estate. Your spouse’s solo student loans? Probably on them.
Why It Matters
Non-marital debt won’t reduce the value of the marital estate. So if you’re hoping to offset your share of the assets because you have massive personal debt, prepare for disappointment.
How to Actually Divides the Property
Step 1: Inventory Everything
Start by listing every asset and debt you and your spouse have. This includes:
- Real estate
- Vehicles
- Bank accounts
- Retirement and investment accounts
- Debts (credit cards, loans)
Step 2: Classify as Marital or Non-Marital
Each item gets sorted into one category or the other. Disputes about classification are common. Your attorney will help you make the strongest case for your claims, but you need to be ready to help her or him with records and details
Step 3: Value the Property
This could involve bank statements, appraisals, or expert valuations. Both parties can present their own evidence and fight over values.
Check out my post on how a court actually values property, it’s not quite as easy as you might think, but the general concept is the court is required to use Fair Market Value, this could be Facebook Marketplace, listing stuff for sale online or just selling to people willing to give you a fair price.
One point to keep in mind is that there is no “true” value, the values of items and property tend to change on a daily basis and it depends on what a person would pay for taht item.
Step 4: Divide the Marital Property
Generally, the court is going to divide marital property equally, which means a 50-50 division. The actual law in Minnesota (518.58) says it must be divided equally. This means that while the court usually just goes 50-50 if there are compelling reasons, it’s possible to argue that the division should be more like a 60-40 split (if there are good enough reasons.
PRACTICAL TIP: I’ve been doing this 25 years and I can say that I have seen a non 50-50 split of marital property only a handful of times, so if you are hoping to to argue 60-40 or somethign like that it will be an uphill battle.
What About Prenuptial Agreements?
A prenup or antenuptial agreement (if you want to get technical) is a great way to not argue about what’s non-marital or marital and how to divide things during the divorce.
Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements
If valid, and that’s sometimes a question, these will override the default rules. To hold up in court, the agreement must be:
- Voluntarily signed
- Based on full disclosure
- Not unconscionable at the time of signing
Last-minute prenups scribbled on napkins usually don’t make the cut.
Settlement Agreements
You and your spouse can negotiate a division yourselves, often with the help of attorneys and a mediator. If it’s fair and meets legal requirements, the court will likely approve it.
Arbitration: a way to divide the pots and pans
A new way to divide personal property, not the cars, retirement accounts, or real property, but the pots, pans, televisions, couches, chairs, etc., is to send that issue to arbitration. This is often done without an attorney!
It’s a great way to save on legal fees.
Real-Life Inspired Examples of dividing property in a Divorce
Example 1: A Roth IRA
Chris and Amy opened Roth IRAs after their wedding. After marriage, they each contributed monthly. At divorce, they claimed separate ownership, saying each of them had it only in their own name.
The court easily made the call to equally divided the IRA’s and didn’t care whose name was on each one.
Example 2: Grandma’s House
Sam inherited a lake cabin. Years after this and getting married, Sam and Lily spent marital money on renovations and rented it out.
The court found the cabin had become partially marital because of the improvements and joint financial involvement.
Five Mistakes to Avoid During Property Division in a Minnesota Divorce
- Assuming everything in your name is yours.
- Forgetting to value retirement accounts.
- Overlooking debt when valuing assets.
- Commingling funds without documentation.
- Letting emotion drive decisions.
Tip: Don’t argue over the crockpot. Really.
Final Thoughts: Equitable, Not Fancy
Dividing property in a divorce isn’t glamorous, but it’s important. The more you understand Minnesota law, the better equipped you’ll be to protect your interests.
Remember:
- Courts strive for equity, not perfection.
- Documentation is your friend.
- And if you must argue over who gets the snowblower, make sure it still works!
Information obtained in mankatofamilylaw.com may contain knowledgeable content about Minnesota Family Law that may be considered beneficial to some; however, in no way should this website or its contents be considered legal advice. Mr. Kohlmeyer is a Minnesota-licensed Attorney and cannot provide legal services or guidance to those outside of Minnesota.
That is something that I didn’t that some property will be considered non-marital and marital when dividing the land. If we were going to get a divorce then I would want to have my property divided so that it could be equal and fair. That way I could sell it and she could keep her part of the land.
I have been separated for nearly 2 years now and it was my husbands decision. I didn’t/don’t want it whatsoever. It is a no-fault divorce. Basically he decided he didn’t want to be married. With that being said, I was the one forced to move out of my home that we bought together because he has his business at the home location. He wants to do a mediator and then refinance and have my name taken off the mortgage and I will be free from the debt. As nice as it will be to have that debt not be on my shoulders I feel as though I am getting the raw end of the deal. So my question is, what are my rights in this? If I end up fighting this and wanting something for my assets will I end up with half of the debt of the property too? I just want to know what the best way for me to do this is. I would love to get something out of the home that I helped purchase and remodel which seems only fair but if I am going to end up with the debt too I guess it would be a better choice for me to just do the mediator and just get rid of the debt. At the same time, that doesn’t seem fair to me either. I appreciate any time and effort to answer my question.
Laura,
Thanks for the question.
I see this question a lot, the idea is that people will mediate and neither will hire a divorce lawyer, but the problem is that mediation isn’t a substitution for a divorce lawyer it is simply an additional tool to help settle these cases. The mediator has one job, to settle the case. They won’t (and can’t) give you any legal advice, they can’t tell you if you are getting screwed, they just try and settle the case.
I don’t know the details on your case but generally you make a column called His and Hers. Then list every asset and debt you’ve got and what the current value is. For the house it’s the equity of the house (Fair Market Value – mortage = Equity). List it all out and take a look at exactly what the values are.
For nearly everyone who either has kids or real property (real property means a house or land) it’s worth a few hundred dollars to have a divorce lawyer review the case and give you a written assessment. Good luck.
-Jason