Divorce Lawyers Washington County, MN

Divorce Lawyers Washington County, MN

No matter how straightforward your divorce seems at the outset, it’s important to recognize that the nature of divorce is such that your plans to keep things civil can fly out the window at literally any moment. Even if your divorce remains amicable throughout, however, it’s always in your best interest to seek the professional guidance of experienced divorce lawyers in Washington County, MN. 

Your Future Finances

Those divorce terms that relate to your finances, including the division of marital property and alimony (if applicable), set the course for your post-divorce finances, which makes getting them right very important. 

Division of Marital Property

In Minnesota, marital property – those assets that you accumulate while married – is meant to be divided equitably in the event of a divorce, and this means fairly in relation to the situation but does not necessarily mean equally. Further, the line between marital property and separate property – those assets that you brought into the marriage with you – can quickly dissolve and complicate the matter even further.

Alimony

Alimony in Minnesota is based on relative post-divorce financial need. If one ex experiences such a need and the other has the resources to help, the court may award alimony to the ex with the financial deficit. The longer your marriage and the more significant the financial disparity involved; the more likely alimony becomes.  

Your Ongoing Parental Rights

Those terms that relate to your parental rights include your child custody arrangements and child support, and both can have a profound effect on your ability to parent and to support your children post-divorce. 

Your Child Custody Arrangements

Child custody comes down to legal custody and physical custody (or parenting time). Legal custody pertains to who will be making the important decisions that affect your children moving forward, including:

• Decisions about your children’s schooling 
• Decisions about your children’s health care
• Decisions about your children’s religious education
• Decisions about your children’s extracurriculars

This decision-making power can be either joint or sole.

Physical custody pertains to the schedule by which your children go back-and-forth between the two of you. Physical custody can also be sole or joint but, only if the circumstances are particularly dire, the judge might even deny a parent’s right to some form of visitation. The court is always guided by the children’s best interests, and spending time with both parents is considered an important element of this. 

Child Support

The child support payments that one parent pays the other are intended to balance each parent’s responsibility to his or her children’s financial support with that parent’s financial ability to pay. Generally, the higher earner pays child support to the other parent – even if the children’s visitation schedule splits their time with each parent equally. 

Experienced Divorce Lawyers in Washington County, MN, Are on Your Side

The dedicated divorce lawyers at Atticus Family Law in Washington County, Minnesota, are driven by their commitment to helping clients like you achieve divorce terms that work for them. To learn more about how we can also help you, please don’t wait to contact us today.