Minneapolis Family Law Blog

Traditionally in Minnesota and across the country, it was nearly always the husband who would end up paying alimony after a divorce, now known as spousal maintenance, to his ex-wife. This was a reflection of the demographic and cultural norms of the last few decades. The traditional family with a stay-at-home mother and full time working father can still be found in the Twin Cities. But dual income families are much more commonplace than they were in the past.

As progress continues in reducing the inequity between the incomes of male and female workers, it is not uncommon for a wife to earn more than her husband. This can lead to a reversal of the traditional notion of an ex-husband paying an ex-wife spousal support. An increasing number of divorces involving spousal support involve the husband receiving the support.

Many married couples in Minneapolis and St. Paul can benefit from couples counseling. It can be invaluable to learn better ways to understand each other and communicate effectively. But traditionally 'marriage counseling' had the singular goal of maintaining the marital relationship. For some couples, staying in the marriage is just not the best option. So even if these couples entered into marriage counseling, it would only be after that style of therapy 'failed' that they could pursue the best possible outcome, an end to the marital relationship.

There is a new style of counseling that is being pioneered by professors at the University of Minnesota. This therapy, referred to as 'discernment counseling,' explicitly helps couples determine whether it is better for them to try to salvage the marriage or consider a divorce.

In recent decades there has been a trend towards people waiting until later in life to get married. Despite this trend, a majority of marriages involve individuals younger than 30. But the married life for couple's in their twenties can be very challenging. Both spouses are likely just getting started in their professions and may have significant professional demands placed upon them, maybe even a need to relocate. Additionally, as people move through this first decade of adulthood, they may find that they are still in a period or radical personal development.

All of these factors can lead a spouse to reconsider their youthful marriage and explore whether a divorce may be appropriate. When a person maries at a relatively young age, and then has a short term marriage, they may find themselves newly single at an age when many people have not yet even begun to consider marriage.

In order to determine an equitable division of property during a divorce, each financial account must be identified and taken into consideration. Once the accounts are identified and a final determination is made as to how they are to be divided, it is generally fairly straightforward to split, liquidate, or transfer the assets in the account as appropriate. But not all financial accounts can be as easily split or transferred.

Other than their primary home, retirement accounts are likely the largest set of assets that most couples have when they consider property division in a divorce. Retirement accounts require a more formal process to change the beneficiary to an alternate payee. In order to change to establish an alternate payee for a retirement account, the plan administrator must be provided with a document from the court. This document is known as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, more often know by its acronym QDRO (pronounced 'quadro').