Minnesota Divorce Sorted With the Right MN Divorce Forms and DoNotPay
The faster, easier, and cheaper your divorce is, the sooner you and your spouse can move on with your lives. Divorce in Minnesota can be a relatively straightforward process, but you need to get your paperwork sorted to make sure you don’t hit any roadblocks.
DoNotPay shows you how to get and use the correct MN divorce forms and what you can do to make your Minnesota divorce as painless as possible!
Minnesota Divorce Laws Explained
Minnesota is a no-fault divorce state, so you do not have to prove your spouse did anything wrong to file for divorce in MN.
If you or your spouse claim that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, that is considered sufficient grounds for divorce.
This is also an important factor in how your divorce settlement will be adjudicated if your spouse decides to contest the divorce. A Minnesota court will not take your or your spouse’s behavior into consideration when deciding who gets what.
The only legal requirement to file for divorce in Minnesota is that you or your spouse need to have lived in the state for the last 180 days.
How Do You Get the Divorce Ball Rolling in Minnesota?
As in most other states, the divorce process requires a certain amount of paperwork.
The Minnesota divorce papers you require are dependent on whether you and your spouse have children and whether the divorce process will be:
- Summary
- Uncontested
- Contested
Summary
The easiest route to divorce in Minnesota is a summary dissolution of your marriage.
This requires no court appearance and is available if you and your spouse have:
- Been married for eight years or less
- No children
- No real estate
- Assets worth less than $25,000
- Debts totaling less than $8,000
Uncontested
An out-of-court settlement agreement being in place would classify your case as an uncontested or friendly divorce.
In such cases, you can file joint divorce papers—you will probably have to appear once in court for the judge to review your papers, after which your divorce will be granted.
Contested
If there are still unresolved issues in your divorce settlement before you file for divorce, the proceedings will automatically be considered contested and will go to court.
Contested divorces in Minnesota can last between six months and two years to finalize and will require several court appearances.
What Are the Required Divorce Papers in MN?
Once it is clear what kind of divorce you are expecting, you can download the correct document set from the Minnesota Judicial Branch.
Each set of Minnesota divorce forms will be specific to your circumstances but will include:
| Type of Divorce | Forms Included |
|---|---|
| Joint petition for marriage dissolution with children |
|
| Contested petition for marriage dissolution with children |
|
*These documents are replaced or removed if no children are involved.
Once you have downloaded and filled out the correct set of forms, you will need to:
- Serve them on your spouse if you are filing for a contested divorce
- File them with the clerk of your county court
How Can You Wrap Up the Divorce Process Easily in Minnesota?
The most crucial factor in making your divorce as quick, cheap, and painless as possible is your divorce settlement agreement.
Under ideal circumstances, you and your spouse should agree on your settlement before you file for divorce—in such cases, you will only need one court appearance, and you shouldn’t need legal representation.
Your divorce settlement agreement refers to the financial affidavits you have included in your divorce papers and sets out how the following should be handled after your divorce:
- Child custody, shared parenting, and child support or maintenance
- Division of assets and liabilities
- Alimony or spousal support payments
If the judge is happy that your settlement is fair and equitable, your divorce should be granted with no difficulty.
Where Can You Get a Settlement Agreement?
Your options for drawing up your settlement agreement are as follows:
| Settlement Agreement Resource | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Lawyer | While this is the traditional route, MN lawyers charge $232 per hour on average, meaning that your total costs could escalate quickly—uncontested divorces can cost around $4,500 per spouse, the majority of which is made up by lawyers’ fees.
If you and your spouse agree on your settlement, a lawyer may be unnecessary. Even if some points need to be cleared up, you can opt for mediation instead of letting lawyers negotiate. A trained mediator should be able to facilitate a settlement at a fraction of the cost |
| Online | Many companies offer online settlement agreement templates for you to download and fill out. Caution is advised, though—many of these templates are generic and might not cover your exact needs adequately |
DoNotPay is the answer to your needs—our Divorce Settlement Agreement product can give you an airtight, fully customized settlement document in a few clicks!
DoNotPay Has You Covered in Minnesota!
If you want to streamline your uncontested divorce in Minnesota, DoNotPay is the partner you need!
Our Divorce Settlement Agreement feature can help you finalize the most important step in your divorce—your settlement. We can create exactly the document you and your spouse have agreed on in a few clicks—here’s how:
- Sign up with DoNotPay in any web browser
- Go to our Divorce Settlement Agreement product
- Give us the details you want to be included
Once we have all the points of your settlement, we will create your agreement in an instant.
You can sign it together with your spouse in the presence of a notary. Don’t worry if you can’t find a notary in your area—DoNotPay has that covered, too, with our online notarization service!
If you live there, we can also help you with specialized info on the divorce process in Anoka County.
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