Many of our current and former clients are entrepreneurs – owners of small businesses, including restaurants, hair salons, trucking entities, vending services, auto repair shops, construction companies and web design firms. Important to keep in mind that even if the business was started and managed by just one spouse, it may be “marital” in nature.
Under Minnesota law, the parties, or the court, can seek the appointment of a parenting time expeditor as part of a divorce or paternity proceeding. Parenting time expeditors can save the parties time and money by keeping parenting time disputes out of the court system entirely. No attorney to pay. No motion filing fee to
Child custody can be a controversial issue; it is common for both parents to want physical custody – or for one parent to seek sole custody over a joint custody arrangement.
The disagreements can go on and on, and that means the court has to intervene with the custody evaluation process. A custody evaluator is
Thanks to Mark Pfenning, a divorce lawyer and author who has published many articles geared toward helping parties through the divorce process. His recent article, Divorce Courtroom Tips, provides some helpful strategies and a useful summary of the basic rules of decorum in family court. Here’s what Mark has to say:
Many divorces involve alimony, child support and the division of assets – all of which involve taxation issues. Litigants tend to overlook the impact that these provisions will have on their taxes. As lawyers, however, we consistently take the tax consequences into account in determining what is fair and equitable under the circumstances.
Alimony payments
More and more Minnesota counties are providing divorce litigants with an opportunity to resolve their financial issues through a process known as “Financial Early Neutral Evaluation.” Settlement success rates in the FENE model are astonishing – as high as 75% in some jurisdictions.
An FENE involves a half-day session (or two, or three, or four)
In addition to homes, automobiles, bank accounts and furniture, retirement plans may be “marital property,” subject to an equitable division among the parties to a divorce.
Many twenty-pound books have been written about the methods of valuing, and dividing, retirement interests. In fact, some lawyers make their living handling only the orders associated with slicing
Statistics show that there will be about a million divorces in the United States this year. Interestingly, 75% are filed by women. More and more, attorney Robert Mues says, his male clients are telling him that they were completely “blind-sided” by the divorce situation. These are individuals in long-term marriages who have honored their wedding
Michelle Lore, a contributing author to the Minnesota Lawyer Blog recently authored a post about the custody decision in Maryland involving…a dog. She reports:
A judge in Maryland recently decided a custody battle with a twist — it was over a beloved pet. A childless couple heading for a divorce could not agree on who
Tax season is in full swing. Thanks to Jeanne Hannah, Michigan divorce lawyer, for her summary of the IRS tax resourcesthat may be of interest to current, and former, divorce litigants.
Hannah’s recent post provides links to the IRS forms and publications that address an individual’s filing status, exemptions, tax interceptions and claims for