Stepparent adoption in Minnesota involves several basic steps: Step 1: Terminating Parental Rights Under Minnesota law, a child may only have two legally recognized parents. Assuming that both biological parents are still alive, this means that before a stepparent can adopt, the parental rights of one of the biological parents must be terminated. Note: Terminating parental rights also terminates parental responsibilities, including the obligation to pay child support. If the biological parent is not involved in the child’s life, he or she may be willing to terminate parental rights voluntarily ..read more

Under Minnesota law, an unpaid child support obligation becomes a judgement as a matter of law on the day it is due. In other word, if your decree states that child support is due on the first of the month and it is not paid on that date, it legally becomes a judgment that is due. To collect on that judgment, however, you need to take action. First, you need to need to file an affidavit of default with the court. This affidavit must contain certain information, including the date or dates payment was due and not received and the total amount of the judgments to be entered and docketed. In addi ..read more

It's getting near the end of the year, which means that it will soon by time to start thinking about taxes. If you are getting divorced, one of the things you need to think about is who gets the dependency exemptions for your children. Divorce decrees often address which parent is allowed to take the tax dependency exemption for their children. If the decree is silent, then the IRS regulations govern. If a parent has the child in their care for more than half of the year (183 days or more), they are entitled to claim the dependency exemption on their income taxes. The other parent (non-custodi ..read more

In divorces, certain issues may need to be addressed early in the case, prior to a final resolution. In such instances, a party can bring a motion for temporary relief, sometimes called a temporary motion. Some potential issues for such motions are: custody parenting time child support who will live in the home who will get to use other assets such as cars. It is important to realize that the decisions made in temporary hearings are only binding during the divorce proceeding. The final outcomes may or may not be the same. For example, one person may be allowed to live in the home during the ..read more

Most divorcing couples attempt mediation at some point in the divorce process. This involves meeting with a trained neutral to try to come to an agreement with which both parties can live. You can attend mediation with or without attorneys, but if you do so without, you should have an attorney look over the proposed agreement before you sign it. Although it is not appropriate in all cases, participating in mediation does offer many benefits. Mediation is voluntary The mediation process is voluntary and you cannot be compelled to reach an agreement if you do not believe it is acceptable. You al ..read more

Very few divorce cases go to trial because most cases are settled earlier. If your case does go to trial, the general process is laid out below. Before the trial, the Court issues a Trial Order. This gives details about the date of trial, how long it will last, and when you and the other party need to exchange exhibits. Pay attention to the deadlines in the Trial Order. If you do not follow them, you may not be able to fully put on your case at trial. Exhibits are things you want the court to look at during the trial. You need to get these documents together before the trial and give copies to ..read more

It is no secret that we have weathered some trying economic times in the last few years. Many people who thought that their jobs were safe, suddenly found themselves unemployed or making less money. What happens to a child support obligation when the person paying loses their job or has their income drastically reduced? Although child support is, and should be, a priority, the Courts understand that sometimes parents suffer setbacks. The good news is that if you lose your job or suffer a significant reduction in income, through no fault of your own, you may be able to reduce your child support ..read more

Antenuptial agreements (also called prenuptial agreements) are contracts and are typically used to protect assets that an individual brings into a marriage. Without such agreements, state law sets general rules for such things as dividing property or awarding spousal maintenance (also called alimony). An antenuptial agreement can alter these rules, and change what each party is to receive upon divorce or death of a spouse. It is not uncommon for couples to enter into antenuptial agreements when they get married, especially if one or both parties have significant assets. Although many people pr ..read more

When you’ve been married for any length of time, you accumulate “stuff,” and the longer you’re married, the more “stuff” you typically have. If you divorce, dividing many of the items may not be problematic, but in many cases, there are at least a handful of things that both parties want. Obviously, the preferred option is to compromise and come to an agreement, but sometimes that just isn't possible. To be clear, we are talking about personal property that is marital. Marital property is essentially anything that the two of you acquired during the marriage that wasn’t a gift or inheritance. P ..read more

When parents decide to divorce, one of the toughest and most-dreaded things they need to do is tell their children. While this is never easy, here are a few tips to help you navigate the process. Work Together If at all possible, you and your spouse should jointly tell your children about the pending divorce. This allows you each to hear what the other parent is saying and can help prevent conflicting messages. In addition, it reinforces the message that their feelings and concerns are important to the two of you and that you still love them, even if the two of you will no longer be married. H ..read more