Woodbury Family Law Blog

The financial aspect of the dissolution of a marriage in Minnesota can unfortunately be difficult to navigate. Fortunately, specific steps may help people who are going through divorce to manage their money effectively. The more prudent they are from the start, the more likely they are to remain on solid financial footing long after the divorce process.

A particularly wise financial move during and after a divorce is to create a strong budget, including post-divorce expense and income information. Staying on track with the budget might certainly be challenging. However, the budget may give its creator an accurate look at his or her finances, which can help with making informed purchase decisions.

When it comes to getting divorced, two individuals could opt to go to trial. Alternatively, they could attempt to reach an agreement on matters like property division through processes such as mediation or informal negotiations. Here are a couple of factors that are important to consider when deciding which divorce process option to choose in Minnesota.

The first key factor to take into consideration is time. The reason for this is that divorce trials could easily take at least a year. Meanwhile, two divorcing spouses may be able to arrive at a settlement agreement months after deciding to divorce. In light of this, an out-of-court settlement is a better option if two people would like to quickly finalize their divorce and thus move on with their independent lives. Still, divorce trial is the only option if the two parties cannot find common ground regarding their divorce issues.

Ending a marital union is far from a simple process emotionally. However, it can be just as daunting financially, particularly for couples who have high-value property. Here is a look at how the property division process works during a divorce proceeding in Minnesota.

Minnesota is an equitable distribution state, as are most states in the United States. This means that any assets that two married individuals have accumulated between their marriage and separation dates have to be divided in what a judge believes is a fair manner. As a result, one party may end up getting 70% of the assets, whereas the other party received 30% of them if they contributed less effort to attaining these assets.

Many couples in Minnesota opted to avoid a prenuptial agreement prior to walking down the aisle. Now, some are having second thoughts about this decision because it appears they may be headed for a divorce down the road. The good news? It is not too late to create this type of marital contract after the marriage. Postnuptial agreements are essentially prenups that are executed after the wedding day. 

A postnuptial agreement can address how the parties will divide their assets in the event that they get divorced in the future. This is an especially helpful agreement for those who have accumulated significant assets after tying the knot. For instance, perhaps an inventor's creation becomes increasingly popular, or a writer's novel becomes a bestseller. If these individuals increase their net worth rather quickly, a postnuptial agreement may come in handy for protecting their assets from their spouses as much as possible if divorce is inevitable in the future.