Divorce/Separation

Deciding to end your marriage or being on the receiving end of that situation is going to be difficult, therefore it is important to have an advocate, who is not emotionally connected, to look out for your best interests. Divorce is a long process in Minnesota, while it takes days to get a marriage, it might take month's to end a marriage. In Minnesota, a divorce is called a "Dissolution of Marriage."

Requirements:
  1. One of the spouses must live in the state for at least 180 days preceding filing.
  2. Must be a legal marriage
  3. You must serve your spouse so that they may answer
  4. You must file with the county courthouse
  5. You need the filing fee
However, you do not need a reason to get a divorce in Minnesota because Minnesota allows a "no-fault" divorce. Bachelani Law Office is here to help you from the initial petition and serving your spouse to custody arrangements. The paperwork may be complicated, so it is important to have a legal professional help you through it. When it comes to the actual hearing, many things will be decided by a judge, these include:
  • Date of dissolution
  • Attorney's fees
  • Custody of the children
  • Child Support
  • Spousal Maintenance
  • Division of Property
Many of these areas may be eliminated during negotiation between the two parties. An agreement between the two parties may save time, attorney's fees and come to the best arrangement for both parties. There are also two other arrangements that you might want to look at; Annulment and Legal Separation.

An annulment nullifies a marriage, making it void. There are many reasons that a marriage may be voided, these include but are not limited to; lack of capacity to consent to marriage, lack of capacity to consummate the marriage and was under the age for marriage. However, if the parties both voluntarily cohabitated after the parties reached the age of consent.

A legal separation is different than a divorce, this allows the couple to still be legally married but for all other purposes they are apart. There are many couples who do not want to divorce for religious reasons, so they come before the court to divide property, talk about custody or obtain protection from abuse.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.