*Baer Family Law conducts trials in front of judges, not juries, and so this article is written accordingly. For most people, providing testimony in court is a very stressful and nerve-racking experience, especially when the proceeding is about your own life and children.  Preparing with your attorney and on your own can help ease at least some of your anxiety.  As with anything, preparation and expectations are key. The main purpose of testimony is to tell your story.  It is your opportunity to provide the judge the facts and information they will need to make decisions in your ..read more

At Baer Family Law, part of Rebecca’s holistic approach to family law is caring about your family and your children during the divorce process and after your divorce is final.  Yes, if you have children, you remain a family after you are divorced. Studies show that the way parents conduct themselves throughout the divorce directly impacts their children.  Even when parents believe they are shielding their children from the conflict, it is very likely the child is catching on to a lot more than the parent realizes.  You think those nasty posts on social media aren’t affecting you ..read more

Either party may request a name change as part of a divorce proceeding.  Contrary to a common misconception, a party may change his or her name to a name they desire, even if different than a prior name.  In other words, a party is not limited to simply a name restoration. Whether or not to change your name is a personal question entirely up to you.  There is no right or wrong way to handle whether to change your name during a divorce.  And, your spouse cannot compel you to change your name or prevent you from doing so. Name changes in divorces are routinely granted (assumi ..read more

Many divorces involve at least one piece of real estate, most often the family home.  Parties may also own rental property, vacation homes, commercial real estate, land, industrial property or any other type of real estate interest. Each property owned by one or both spouses will need to be identified and addressed in a divorce.  It is important to understand your options and the implications of each option when you are considering what to do with real estate that you own. The most common ways real estate is dealt with in a divorce include awarding the property to one spouse, selling ..read more

As if parenting school-aged children – especially in 2020 – were not challenging enough, being a divorced or separated parent presents additional issues and questions.  Thankfully, Minnesota has laws in place to protect and assist both parents when it comes to making decisions and remaining involved in your child’s education after a separation. Custody and Decisionmaking In most custody cases, parents will be awarded joint legal custody.  This means that major decisions such as where your child will go to school and what services he or she may receive must be made together.  If ..read more

It is expected that the beginning of a divorce or custody proceeding will be difficult to say the least.  With the start of litigation, relationships and the way people act toward each other change immediately. Tensions are high and the uncertainty is beyond stressful.  But what many people do not anticipate is the chaos that comes with beginning these proceedings. Besides certain restraining provisions included in the Summons, you and your spouse/the other parent are left in limbo until your case concludes and you have final orders.  There are no “orders” in place governing how ..read more

If you are involved in a custody or parenting time proceeding, you will hear the phrase “best interests of the child” repeated throughout various pleadings, conversations and court proceedings.  While the term may generally sound self-explanatory, it encompasses a variety of quite specific considerations that form the basis for your custody and parenting time case. Minnesota law requires that the court consider the best interests of the child whenever custody and parenting time are being established or modified.  The best interests factors are set forth in Minn. Stat. § 518.17 as fol ..read more

Rebecca R. Baer has been selected to the 2020 Minnesota Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by pract ..read more

If you find yourself in a new divorce or paternity matter, upon filing, one of the first documents you will most likely receive from the court will be a Notice of what is called the “Initial Case Management Conference”.  You will hear attorneys refer to this as the “ICMC”. All metro counties in Minnesota conduct ICMCs.  If you are in a rural county, you may not receive a Notice of ICMC.  You should contact your local court or an attorney if you have questions about whether your case qualifies for an ICMC in your county. ICMCs were developed as part of the court’s early case inte ..read more

I hear things fairly often like, “My spouse had an affair, but I know Minnesota is a no fault divorce state,” or, “My spouse left me x number of years ago, but I know the court won’t care about that because we are still legally married.” Not so fast. It is possible the court will care about these bad behaviors so long as their effects are relevant to your specific case.  Marital misconduct may affect property division, spousal maintenance, custody and parenting time, and even attorney fees. What does no fault divorce mean? No fault divorce simply means that a party does not need to prove ..read more