Divorce & Family Law · Dundas · Northfield · Faribault
Divorce in Minnesota
Your marriage is ending. Before you decide anything, you need to know what a court is likely to do with your house, your income, and your children.
How it works
Minnesota is a no-fault state. The only ground for divorce is that the marriage is irretrievably broken (Minn. Stat. § 518.06). Nobody has to prove wrongdoing, and the court divides property without regard to marital misconduct (§ 518.58). An affair is not a bargaining chip. Money spent on one can be.
One of you must have lived in Minnesota for at least 180 days before the case starts (§ 518.07). The case starts when one spouse serves the other with a summons and petition. The other spouse has 30 days to answer (§ 518.12). If the two of you agree on everything, you can file together and skip service.
From the day the summons is served, both of you are under the same rules. Neither may dispose of assets except for the necessities of life, to earn income or preserve assets, by written agreement, or to hire a lawyer. Neither may harass the other. All insurance stays in place with no change in coverage or beneficiary (§ 518.091).
What the decree decides
- Custody and parenting time. Who makes the major decisions, and the schedule the children live on. How custody is decided.
- Child support. Calculated from both incomes and the parenting schedule.
- Property and debt. What is marital, what is not, and who leaves with what. How property is divided.
- Spousal maintenance. Whether one spouse pays the other, how much, and for how long.
On maintenance, the law changed on August 1, 2024. An award is now either transitional or indefinite, and the length of the marriage sets the starting presumption: under five years, none; five to twenty years, transitional maintenance for up to half the length of the marriage; twenty years or more, indefinite (§ 518.552). Each presumption can be rebutted. Many agreements drafted from older forms have not caught up.
How cases end
Most divorces settle. Many Minnesota counties bring both sides in front of the judge early and offer early neutral evaluation, where experienced neutrals hear a short version of the case and say how it is likely to come out. A case that does not settle goes to trial before a judge. There are no juries in family court.
I handle the filing, service, financial disclosures, temporary orders, negotiation, mediation, and trial. If the district court gets the law wrong, I handle the appeal.
Questions people ask first
How long does it take?
An agreed divorce can finish in a matter of weeks once the paperwork is right. A contested one usually takes many months, and longer when custody or the value of a business is in dispute.
Do we have to go to court?
Often not. When both spouses sign a complete agreement, the judge can usually approve it on the papers.
Does it matter who files first?
Rarely. The spouse who files presents first at trial. The law that applies is the same.
What should I bring to the first conversation?
Three years of tax returns, recent pay stubs for both of you, the latest statement for every account and every debt, and any court order that already exists between you. If you do not have all of it, bring what you have.
General information about Minnesota law, not advice about your case. Statutes checked November 2026.
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