OK, I admit that the title of this blog is a stretch.  I tried and tried to think of a way to relate spousal maintenance to a certain Pirsig novel, but couldn't put anything together.  I suppose I could say that as a reader of this blog who is interested in the inner-workings of the family law process as it applies to your situation instead of just participating from afar and simply trusting in other's knowledge, you may have learned a valuable lesson from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  Or maybe you just found this on a google search and were curious.  Either way, here's the scoop on spousal maintenance (formerly known as alimony) in Minnesota:

The last time I checked (and it has been a while), there are something in the neighborhood of 18,000 divorces filed in Minnesota every year.  I can't even imagine the court resources that would be required if every one of those cases went to trial.  In fact, if even ten percent of those cases went to a full-blown trial, the family court system would be incredibly overwhelmed and it would take years, not months, to get through a common divorce in Minnesota. 

After practicing law for some time, it has become abundantly clear that many, if not all, of my non-attorney friends have an overly glamorized vision of what an attorney does for a living.  I'm guessing they are basing their view on whatever legal show or courtroom drama movie is popular at the time (which in my case would definitely be Judge Judy).  People seem to think that every courtroom appearance includes heartfelt closing arguments, testimony peppered with objections, and the a-ha moment when the glove does not, in fact, fit.  While we do sometimes get to have those hearings, there are so many more hearings that are procedural in nature and would never make for good television or movie material.  Trust me, nobody would be tuning in to "ICMC : Hennepin County" even if it did star Sam Waterston.

The other day I was out with several of my non-lawyer friends and as much as we try to avoid it, conversation usually turns to work at some point. Some time during the conversation, I nonchalantly commented on the fact that in Minnesota, unmarried fathers do not have legal or physical custody rights unless they establish them through the court. The typical response was general shock. Regardless of your views on the issue, it's important to understand the implications of such a law and the affect if may have on you or the people in your life.

So you've made the final decision to go forward and file for divorce and (hopefully) have found an attorney that you are comfortable working with.  Now what?  The Petition for Dissolution is the first document that is drafted, and once served upon your soon-to-be ex (along with a summons and a few other miscellaneous forms) and filed with the court, gets the proverbial ball rolling on the divorce process. 

So you've made the difficult decision to go forward and file for divorce.  Now what?  The first step should always be to find a family law attorney that fits your needs.  There are no shortage of attorneys in this country, and especially not in the Twin Cities with four major law schools pumping over a thousand new attorneys into the system every year.  So how do you know which attorney to choose?  Running a random google search or throwing a dart at the nicest yellow pages ad (do people still use the yellow pages?!?) may not net the right attorney for you.  Even though I obviously am more than a little biased, I'd like to set forth some pointers on separating the proverbial wheat from the chafe.

I'm sure all of our loyal readers have been waiting with bated breath for part two of our explanations of the Minnesota child custody labels.  Good news to both of you - I finally have a few minutes free to sit down in front of the blog machine with a cup of green tea and my thinking cap on.  So, without further ado...

I'm hoping that this will be our only blog post in history to quote an Olivia Newton-John song in the title.  I couldn't help doing it though - with the number of custody cases that we handle, it seems that we hear "Let's get physical (custody)"  quite often in our office.  Unfortunately, it seems that the extreme importance many parents place on the physical custody label are a result of an outdated understanding of the term, or a misunderstanding of what physical custody actually accomplishes in Minnesota.  Hopefully I can help provide a basic understanding of what physical custody actually means in Minnesota, and what effect is has on the current and future parent-child relationship as established in a divorce or child custody case.

An open letter to: State Senators David Hann, Gretchen Hoffman, Dan Hall, and Michael Jungbauer

RE: Senate Bill SF1966

Dear Senators,

I am writing to sincerely thank you for your introduction of Senate Bill SF1966 which would impose a two year waiting period or require a showing of “fault” for couples with children wishing to obtain a divorce. It is about time somebody took a stand and made the divorce process more difficult, expensive, and emotionally draining that it currently is. As a divorce attorney, I am truly sick of all the happy-go-lucky people skipping in to my office every day.

As an attorney that deals with family court on a very regular basis, it can be easy to get caught up in the special jargon used by lawyers and judges during a divorce or custody case.  Go to an ICMC and get ordered to participate in a FENE and SENE?  Obviously!  Of course, not everybody speaks in acronyms and obscure Latin phrases in their regular lives, so it is helpful to take a step back and explain exactly what Early Neutral Evaluation (or ENE) is all about.