Minnetonka Divorce Lawyer

Minnetonka Divorce Lawyer

Divorce represents a challenging emotional journey, but it is also an important legal matter that will guide your financial and parental rights. If you are heading toward a divorce, working closely with an experienced Minnetonka divorce lawyer is the best way to help ensure you obtain divorce terms that work for you.

Your Rights as a Parent

If you and your divorcing spouse share children, there are important matters related to your parental rights to be determined. One of these is your child custody arrangements. In the State of Minnesota, child custody is divided into both legal custody and physical custody (or parenting time). 

Legal custody determines how you and your ex will address the matter of primary parenting decisions, such as the following:

• Where your children will attend school
• The medical care your children will receive
• The religious education your children will receive 
• The extracurricular activities your children will participate in

You and your children’s other parent have options when it comes to tackling this important parental responsibility, including:

• You can negotiate each of these decisions between yourselves. 
• You can negotiate each of these decisions between yourselves, but one of you will have the authority to break a tie if it becomes necessary.
• You can divide the decisions between you according to category.
• One of you can take on sole legal custody and make each of the decisions yourself. 

Physical custody determines when the children will be with you and when they will be with their other parent. If one parent has the children the majority of the time, he or she becomes the primary custodial parent. Otherwise, you and your ex will divide your parenting time more evenly. 

Parents are required by law in the State of Minnesota to continue supporting their children financially post-divorce, and as such, child support is calculated according to careful state guidelines. While these guidelines take many variables into consideration, the most important issues are the amount of time each parent spends with the children and each parent’s earnings. Ultimately, the higher earner among you is likely to pay child support to the other. 

Your Financial Rights

Your financial rights are addressed by both the division of your marital property and alimony (when applicable). Marital property refers to those assets that you and your spouse accumulated together as a married couple, and upon divorce, they must be divided between you in a manner that is determined to be fair (in relation to a wide range of relevant considerations). 

Alimony is only an issue in those divorces in which one spouse is left with a financial setback, and the other spouse has the financial ability to help offset that setback. Alimony is generally ordered only in an amount and for a duration that allows the recipient to gain greater financial stability. 

Don’t Wait to Reach Out to an Experienced Minnetonka Divorce Lawyer

The trusted divorce lawyers at Atticus Family Law have a wealth of experience successfully guiding cases like yours toward beneficial resolutions, and we’re also here for you. To learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.