Minneapolis Divorce Attorney

No Fault Divorce

In Minnesota, Marriage Dissolution proceedings, or divorces, are viewed as "no fault" proceedings. This means that a spouse does not have to prove the other spouse was at fault or did something wrong to get divorced. Either spouse may commence a divorce action by simply alleging that there has been "an irretrievable breakdown in the marriage relationship" - in other words, in their opinion, the marriage is dead and there is no chance of reconciliation. The “fault” or conduct of any party, absent conduct dissipating assets in anticipation of divorce, is not relevant to a divorce proceeding in Minnesota.

Commencement of the Divorce Action

Once a decision to start a divorce action is made, one party will serve two documents, one titled "summons" and the other titled "petition". The person starting the action is referred to as the petitioner; the other party will thereafter be referred to as the respondent. Occasionally, however, in very amicable divorces the parties may agree to act as "co-petitioners." A petition traditionally is served by having a person other than the petitioner hand a copy of the petition to the respondent. Many times today, however, service is accomplished by agreement of the parties alternatively, with the respondent signing a document acknowledging that they have been served.

Summons & Petition

The summons is a legal notice that a divorce action has been commenced, advising of the time to respond to the petition with an answer, which is required to be filed within thirty days by the respondent, and containing certain restraining orders prohibiting the disposition of assets or the cancelation of insurance pending further order of the court. The petition itself typically follows a simple format, which is not designed to argue your case in detail, but rather only provides "notice" to the other side of the very basic facts of the case, such as the parties’ names and ages, the children’s names and ages, the date of marriage, a very basic summary of known assets and a request for relief, or what the petitioner wants the court ultimately to do, including the request to dissolve the marriage. 

Initial Case Management Conference (ICMC)

In most counties in Minnesota, after the petition is filed, a judicial officer is assigned (in several counties including Hennepin and Ramsey this officer, either a judge or referee, will preside over your entire case through settlement or trial) and an Initial Case Management Conference is scheduled within three to four weeks. The ICMC is a brief conference of a half hour or less, giving you the opportunity to meet your judicial officer, and giving the court the opportunity to briefly discuss the issues of the case, with a strong emphasis on encouraging the parties to utilize the many alternative dispute resolution processes available, such as Social and Financial Early Neutral Evaluations, with the goal of helping you economically resolving the issues in your divorce.

Immediate Issues: Temporary Hearings

In the past, many parties participated in temporary hearings, with each side submitting lengthy affidavits, to resolve issues such as temporary custody, temporary possession of the home, and temporary maintenance and child support. Today, more often than not, the parties are able to resolve many of these issues themselves without litigation. If they cannot, most ICMC orders provide for an informal process of short affidavits and letter arguments to the court, which will then issue a temporary order as to these issues. Occasionally, upon request when complex issues are presented, the court may grant a formal temporary hearing.

Early Neutral Evaluations

Many counties in Minnesota now ask the parties to consider early neutral evaluations, either Social (SENE’s) or Financial (FENE’s). These processes expedite the mediation of custody, parenting, and financial issues. SENE’s are a process involving the retention of a gender-neutral panel of a male and female custody evaluator to quickly hear the parties’ positions as to custody and parenting time, render an opinion as to an expected determination of custody and parenting, were the parties to invest four to six months in a full evaluation, and then allows the parties upon hearing this feedback to try to agree as to custody and parenting time. Approximately 70% of parents participating in this program will successfully resolve the issues of custody and parenting time.

FENE’s involve selecting a financial neutral, usually an accountant. The neutral will then control discovery, requesting financial information from each party, reviewing that information, and determining which other information, such as appraisals of real estate, is needed. The financial neutral may themselves value business interests or may propose another neutral to value business interests. The financial neutral will also consider or will trace themselves non-marital claims. The financial neutral will then prepare a balance sheet and cash flow schedules, and will either themselves meet with the parties once or over several sessions to try to reach a settlement agreement, or may work with another mediator and the parties. 

Both of these processes are fairly informal, take place either by Zoom or in the neutral’s office, and are very effective methods of cost-effectively resolving your social and financial issues.

Discovery

Prior to most of the forgoing processes, either the neutrals or the attorneys will engage in what is known as discovery, to assure that all assets, debt, and income have been fully disclosed, identified or valued. This is a process in which the lawyers may utilize numerous techniques for obtaining the financial information necessary to fairly identify and value all income and assets. The lawyers may serve "Interrogatories" and "Requests for Production of Documents” which are formal questions and requests for financial information and documents, such as tax returns, bank statements, financial statements, and other information, which must be answered and sworn to under oath, within thirty days. The attorneys may also notice the depositions of the parties themselves, or other people who may have relevant information, such as bankers and business associates. At a deposition, the witness is sworn under oath, and the attorneys ask questions of the witnesses, which testimony is preserved in writing by a court reporter. The attorneys may also employ experts, such as "vocational evaluators", in the event it is alleged that a spouse who has not been working or who has only been working part-time, is able to earn income to contribute to their support. They may also employ accountants or other business valuation experts to appraise family-owned or closely-held businesses. They may also employ other experts to appraise other assets such as real property and personal property, such as furnishings, jewelry, and artwork.