The venue for a divorce, generally, refers to the location where dissolution proceedings will be heard.

If you are filing for divorce in the State of Minnesota, venue refers to the county in which your divorce will be handled.

The first step in initiating divorce proceedings in the State of Minnesota involves the service and filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.

In order to file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, either you, or your spouse, must have been a resident of the State of Minnesota for a period of at least 180 days.

If both you and your spouse live in the same county, the venue issue will be a fairly simple one: that county will serve as venue.

On the other hand, you may live in one county, while your spouse lives in another. In such a situation, you may decide in which county you want to file for divorce. It’s a race to serve the other side and file with the court.

While the laws of custody and marital dissolution do not differ from county to county, the manner in which you are treated could.