- Divorce
- Child SupportMy first involvement with legislation was a successful one. In the late 80's, I had become annoyed with Appendix A, which had become pages and pages of small print attached to every divorce decree or court order that referred to child support. It originated when sweeping family law legislation was p
- Child Custody and Visitation
- Spousal SupportIf you have children or are making a claim to spousal maintenance, try to locate a few years of tax returns, and bring current paystubs.
- AnnulmentWhat is an annulment? Many people believe that annulment is common for short marriages, and that it is a proceeding that is easier and less expensive than divorce. Actually, annulment is more complicated than divorce. Annulment is a procedure to establish that a marriage was entered into improperly. For example, if a person was still married to someone else at the time of a marriage, that second marriage would be void. Other grounds for annulment are: marriage entered into under fraud or duress, or under the influence of substances; marriage while under age; or marriage with a partner who is incapable of having sexual relations. There are often strict time requirements as well. So in an annulment proceeding, a hearing is required to prove that the marriage should be nullified, whereas in divorce without children, no hearing is required unless the parties are in dispute. Different considerations apply when a religious annulment is sought through a church. 518.02, 518.01
- Traffic ViolationsOver the years, I processed many divorces where one of the spouses was missing. The statutes provided this could be done with service by publication, after receiving permission from the court. Permission was granted if the client swore that the spouse’s location was unknown. The problem I saw was that it was very costly to publish this summons in a legal newspaper, especially since the chances of the notice reaching the missing spouse were minimal. After all, how many people in St. Paul read the St. Paul Legal Ledger, let alone people out of the state or country? When I researched the background for these procedures, I realized that publication was constitutionally suspect. Specifically, the Constitution requires Due Process of Law, and that means you are entitled to receive notice of any legal proceeding that involves you. And the U.S. Supreme Court has said that means simply that notice should be reasonably calculated to notify the party of the proceeding. Service by publication is not reasonably calculated to notify a party–it is an arbitrary act 95% of the time. A more reasonable approach is to try to contact the party at his or her last known address and employer, and to notify people who know the person: relatives, friends, acquaintances who may have stayed in touch. I drafted the law accordingly, and with some tweaking it passed. My own experience with the law has been great. My clients no longer have to pay over $100 to publish a summons. They supply addresses where the missing spouse had some connection, and we mail the papers to those addresses. I have had contact with missing spouses through their relatives or through forwarding at an old address. I even had one where we mailed the papers to a San Francisco bar where she used to hang out. She was happy to sign the papers and send them back to me, thus speeding up the process. Under the old law, these people probably would not even know they were divorced. It really is a win-win-win: better process (and more constitutional), lower cost, faster conclusion. 518.11 (c)
- Restraining Order
- Personal InjuryNonmarital property: Be prepared to discuss if you want to make a claim that some of your property is nonmarital: given to you as an individual by someone other than your spouse, inherited by you, or deriving from a personal injury claim. Also, if you brought assets into the marriage, try to recall exactly what assets and liabilities each of you had at that time.
- ForeclosureSo I'm still "liable." What if he doesn’t pay the mortgage? Won’t they come after me? Possible, but highly unlikely. If he doesn’t pay, the mortgage company will serve a notice, then commence foreclosure. In Minnesota, there are two types of foreclosure, foreclosure by advertisement ( Chapter 580 ) and foreclosure by action ( Chapter 581 ). Under §582.30 Subd. 2, a deficiency judgment is not allowed (meaning they won't come after you personally) if foreclosure is by advertisement and has a redemption period of six months or less. In reality, the vast, vast majority of foreclosures are in that category, because that method is the quickest and cheapest way to get the property back for the mortgage company. Longer redemption periods exist for some agricultural property and properties with 1/3 of the original mortgage paid down. §580.23 Subd. 2. The rare foreclosure by action takes place when a huge deficiency is expected, e.g. an extremely expensive home has been trashed or the market value has sunk.