Wasche Corner – From the Experts

A co-habitation agreement is a written agreement between two domestic partners that choose to live together without getting married.  Such an agreement can describe the property rights and anticipated cash flow of living together.  A co-habitation agreement can set...

If you have an existing custody arrangement, and you think that arrangement is putting your child in danger, you may want to initiate a modification to your custody arrangement. A motion must be made before the court requesting the modification, and evidence must be...

If a child’s parents are divorced or separated (or even never married at all), support is be paid from one parent to the other to provide for the child’s care and well-being. Traditionally it is one parent seeking child support payments from the other parent of the...

In a custody case, both physical custody and legal custody must be agreed upon or determined by a judge. Legal custody specifies which parent, or both parents if joint legal custody, has the right to  make important decisions for the child(ren) including education,...

Minnesota is a no fault state, which means that a party can ask for divorce without any specific reason other than irretrievable breakdown of marriage. However, being a no fault state also means that having an affair is not typically considered in the issues reviewed...

Custody arrangements should be arranged based on the best interest of the child. If parents cannot negotiate a custody settlement agreement outside of court, the court will review the facts of the case and look at specific factors in their evaluation. Those factors...

When looking at divorce, many people are concerned with how assets will be divided post-divorce, but another item of concern is how the parties' debts will be divided post-divorce. Any amount of money you and your spouse owe could be subject to division when going...

In an unpublished opinion filed December 2, 2019 (Jacob Kanake M'mujuri v. Beatrice Kamathi Kanake, A19-0148), the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision to deny the Appellant's motion to withdraw from a property settlement agreement that...

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed and remanded part of a district court’s case involving modifying child custody on September 3, 2019 in the case of Adam C. Steele, Appellant vs Sarah M. Held, Respondent. The Appellant had filed a responsive motion with the...

Generally when a couple is getting a divorce, the most valuable asset is the home. The court will take into account the length of the marriage, any prior marriages, age, health, occupation, etc. when determining how to split up marital assets, including the home. One...

In a divorce or child custody/support proceeding, there are three commonly used alternative dispute resolution methods used prior to proceeding with court: mediation, arbitration, and early neutral evaluation. Mediation is the most common method that provides an...

Spousal maintenance, also known as alimony, is granted by the court for either spouse if it finds that the spouse seeking maintenance (1) lacks sufficient property, or (2) is unable to provide adequate self-support. When determining if spousal support is to be...

A Parenting Consultant (PC) is a neutral third party who is hired by a contract to help advocate for the best interests of children in a custody case. Both parents must agree to the hiring of a parenting consultant, and then the court can order the appointment of a...

Minnesota does recognize the rights of grandparents to visit with their grandchildren. When there are situations in which a grandparent's own child is dead or absent or has their own parenting time restricted, or even if the grandparent and their child are simply...

Mediation is a great alternative to completing a divorce proceeding without having to attend court, however it is not right for all people and their situations. Below is a list of reasons why mediation may not be right for you: One or both parties have unrealistic...

If the parents of a child were never married, the mother has sole legal and physical custody until a court order says otherwise. It is presumed that the mother is the parent of a child, but unless the father and mother are married, there is no presumption for the...

Not only is divorce often times a sour event, but it can also be expensive, outrageously so if you aren't careful. Sometimes in a divorce case, a party doesn't want to partake in the process, or outright refuses to participate in the legal process. As much as a person...

Minnesota is a "no-fault" divorce state, which means if you or your spouse believe that your marriage is irretrievably broken (meaning, so badly damaged that it can't be saved), and the judge agrees, then the court will issue a divorce order. There's no need to get...

This week the MN Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's decision in 1) denying appellant's request for an evidentiary hearing, 2) modifying legal custody without an evidentiary hearing or adequate findings, and 3) restricting her parenting time without adequate...

This week the Minnesota Court of Appeals decided a case where a son sued his father because he fell out of a deer stand on his father’s property.  The son was deer hunting on the father’s land in Pine County, Minnesota.  A landowner’s duty of care and duty to warn...