There are several statutes that were updated relating to family law matters, effective August 1, 2024.  Here is what you need to know:

 

Urgent Issues

 

In the past, there were only limited circumstances in which a court would quickly hold a hearing to address time-sensitive issues in a dissolution, primarily as it relates to child safety issues.  The new law expands the scope of the issues to be considered.  Now, a hearing must be held within 30 days of a request by a party in situations where a party has been unreasonably denied parenting time with the joint child(ren) for at least 14 consecutive days, and/or where a party has been unreasonably denied access to necessary financial resources during the pendency of a dissolution.

 

Custody and Parenting Time

 

The new laws on custody and parenting time provide more protections for parents who have been denied parenting time, including granting compensatory parenting time to the aggrieved party or ordering the offending party to pay attorney’s fees and sanctions.  A court may now even modify custody in favor of the parent whose parenting time was withheld.

 

The new laws also clarify that determinations of custody and parenting time must consider the contact between a parent and child prior to the initiation of the court action.  If contact was unreasonably withheld or restricted, then the court will allow a child the opportunity to develop a relationship with each parent.

 

The general intent of these updates to the custody and parenting time laws is to foster a child’s relationship with each parent when such a relationship is in the best interests of the minor child.

 

Spousal Maintenance

 

One of the biggest updates to the family law statutes pertains to the issue of spousal maintenance (also known as alimony).  Up to this point, the issue of spousal maintenance has been somewhat ambiguous in terms of amounts and duration of spousal maintenance, as well as who is eligible for spousal maintenance.  Now, there are much clearer guidelines on how to determine this. 

 

The presumption for the duration of spousal maintenance has now been clarified as follows:

 

Married < 5 Years:                  No maintenance should be awarded.

Married 5-20 Years:               Transitional maintenance should be awarded for a period no longer than one-half the length of the marriage.

Married 20+ Years:                 Indefinite maintenance should be awarded.

 

This presumption can still be rebutted, however, depending on the circumstances.  Maintenance will now also be terminated upon the death of the obligor or remarriage of the obligee, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties.

 

Additional factors that will also be considered moving forward include whether or not the lifestyle established during the course of the marriage was funded by debt, and the financial benefits (i.e. income, seniority, employment opportunities, benefits, etc.) that the spouse seeking spousal maintenance has given up in order to support the other spouse or children.

 

Antenuptial (Prenuptial) and Postnuptial Agreements

 

Minnesota statutes pertaining to Antenuptial Agreements (also known as Prenuptial Agreements) and Postnuptial Agreements have also been updated under the new law.

 

The new law clarifies that any two individuals, not just a man and a woman, of legal age intending to be married can enter into an Antenuptial Agreement or Postnuptial Agreement.  It also provides further clarification on what is defined as “full and fair disclosure” of the financial circumstances of each party, and what is deemed as “substantive fairness” in order to enter into such agreements.

 

While prior laws did not provide a specified deadline in which an Antenuptial Agreement must be completed, the new laws state that any Antenuptial Agreement must be executed no less than seven (7) days prior to the date of marriage.  A Postnuptial Agreement is still found to be invalid if a spouse pursues a legal separation or divorce within two years of entering into the Postnuptial Agreement.

 

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For further information on how these changes to family law may impact you and your case, please contact Jenna at (651) 603-4733 or jenna@midwestfamilylaw.com.