Loftness Law Office, P.A.

Changes to Spousal Maintenance Law in Minnesota

2024-07-17T04:00:18Z

The issue of spousal maintenance (also referred to as “alimony” or “spousal support”) is often the most difficult issue to resolve in divorce cases. Why? There are several reasons, but in my opinion, one of the biggest reasons is that historically there has not been much guidance provided in the statute. Unlike the laws applicable to child support, the Minnesota statutes do not provide spousal maintenance “guidelines” that direct us to apply basic fact patterns (e.g., incomes of the spouses) and then calculate dollar figures to be paid from one party to the other. When there isn’t a lot of statutory guidance, you tend to see a wide range of differing opinions among judges. Suffice it to say that our spousal maintenance statute has needed an overhaul for a long time. This is not to suggest that our statute has not provided any guidance at all. Indeed, there are several factors for the courts to consider when analyzing claims for spousal maintenance, including the parties’ ages, health, education, past employment/training, the length of the marriage, whether they have children, the ability to prepare for retirement, and the overall standard of living established during the marriage. For the most part, these elements all remain as equally important factors to be considered. So, what has changed? While I won’t explore every change made to the law in 2024, it is clear that we now have quite a bit more guidance available than we had previously. Terminology Previously, spousal maintenance, if ordered at all, was labeled either as “temporary maintenance” or “permanent maintenance.” Temporary maintenance was for a fixed/limited time period, while permanent maintenance had no scheduled end date. It is not surprising that many former spouses who were ordered to pay permanent maintenance were extremely concerned about the concept of their maintenance obligation being “permanent” as it was often misperceived as being an obligation that would last until they died. But that was never the intended meaning. Rather, a “permanent maintenance” obligation was simply intended to mean that the obligation would not have a predetermined end date, and the court would retain its jurisdiction (authority) to modify or terminate the obligation at a later date. The future is always unknown, and there are many things that could cause a permanent maintenance obligation to either change or to end altogether. Still, it was quite unsettling to many former spouses who found themselves subject to a financial obligation that was preceded by the word “permanent.” The terms “temporary maintenance” and “permanent maintenance” have now been replaced with the terms “transitional maintenance” and “indefinite maintenance.” Will this simple change in terminology provide former spouses with a better understanding and higher comfort level? That remains to be seen, but as a family court attorney, it’s a change that I’ve hoped to see for a very long time. Length of Obligation We have more guidance in the statute now than we ever had previously. In addition to the factors that courts are directed to analyze when considering claims for spousal maintenance, there are now several rebuttable presumptions that apply to the duration of spousal maintenance based on the length of the parties’ marriage. In summary:

For marriages less than five years, it is presumed that no maintenance should be ordered;
For marriages more than five years and less than twenty years, if spousal maintenance is ordered, then it is presumed that the maintenance will be transitional, and it should be for no longer than one-half the length of the marriage. That is not to say that maintenance for marriages between five and twenty years must be ordered, or that if it is ordered, it must be for half of the length of the marriage. Rather, it just means that if the marriage is between five and twenty years, and if maintenance is ordered, it is presumed that it should be ordered for no longer than half the length of the marriage; and,
For marriages longer than twenty years, if spousal maintenance is ordered, then it is presumed that the maintenance will be indefinite. Again, this does not mean that maintenance must be ordered in all divorces following marriages longer than twenty years, or that it cannot be transitional maintenance if the marriage was longer than twenty years. Rather, it just means that if maintenance is ordered after a marriage of over twenty years, it is presumed that it should be indefinite.

These changes alone should provide divorcing spouses, attorneys, and judges with far more guidance than we’ve ever had from the statute before. However, it is important to note that the recent changes to the maintenance statute do not include any further guidance regarding the actual amount of spousal maintenance to be ordered in situations where it is determined that maintenance will be ordered. Perhaps that would be taking things too far, and we are better off looking at each case as a unique situation that warrants a close analysis of all the statutory factors. In any event, even with these helpful changes, I expect that the issue of spousal maintenance will remain one that is widely and vigorously contested in divorce cases. What Happens at Retirement Another big change made to the maintenance statute provides us with guidance for reviewing spousal maintenance obligations when a party retires. It is now recognized that maintenance can be modified upon retirement, which means it can be reduced, suspended, reserved, or terminated altogether. The statute now includes factors for the courts to consider when reviewing a request to modify maintenance in connection with a decision to retire, and includes a new presumption, which provides that when the retiring individual has attained either the age of eligibility for full Social Security retirement benefits, or the customary age for retirement in that person’s occupation, it is presumed that they will use both income and assets to meet their needs. While we still won’t know exactly what will happen when those with spousal maintenance obligations reach retirement age and seek modification of their obligations, this addition to the statute specifically recognizes those situations, and provides at least some guidance where we previously had none.

How to Divide Personal Property in a Divorce

2024-02-19T05:58:27Z

When going through a divorce proceeding in Minnesota, the law requires an equitable division of marital property and debts. In most divorce proceedings, emphasis is placed on how to structure the overall division of large assets, such as your home, your investment and retirement accounts, and your vehicles. But what about all your other things? How do you equitably divide all your furniture, appliances, artwork, electronics equipment, hunting and fishing gear, etc.? Each of these individual items probably doesn’t carry as much value as the “big ticket” items, but they do have value nonetheless, and replacing these items after your divorce proceeding can be an expensive endeavor. Most attorneys will advise you not to have them spend a lot of time on the issue of dividing your personal property items. Indeed, attorney fees can add up quickly, so they should be advising you not to “throw good money after bad,” as you will find yourself spending more in attorney fees arguing over the division of your personal property than those items are even worth. Still, sometimes divorcing couples can get hung up on how to accomplish the task of dividing these smaller items things in a fair and equitable manner. If your attorney advises against getting them involved with that, then how do you get it done if you can’t reach agreements with your spouse? Here are a few suggestions that can help.

Watch out for the games people play. Over the course of nearly three decades, I’ve witnessed a lot of game playing with the issue of dividing personal property, especially when it comes to assigning values to the items. People tend to place a low value on the items they want and a high value on the items they know you want, with the obvious objective of maximizing their share of the overall division. Steer clear of the arguments that come across as “that item is worth a lot, but I don’t want it” or “this item isn’t worth anything, but I have to have it.”

Use this (almost) fail-safe method. There are different methods of dividing personal property equitably, but my personal favorite method, which I believe is effective almost every time, is what I call the “auction method.” Here’s how it works:

- First, see how many items (if any at all) can be divided fairly between you without much discussion/debate. Remember, it’s about the overall value, not the total number of items. You need to do this in such a way that you can call it “fair” as to what has been divided thus far.
- Then make a list of the items of personal property that are in dispute, and make sure each party has a copy of the same list of items.
- Next, each spouse takes their list and writes down what each item is worth to them, and they decide for themselves how they come up with the value they assign to the items. The value you assign to an item can be based on anything that makes sense to you – from sentimental value, to what it would cost to replace it with something new, to how much you could sell it for, to what an appraiser told you. It doesn’t matter how you came up with those values, so long as you accept the values that you’ve assigned. Simply put, you are writing down what each of the disputed items is worth to you.
- You can conduct the above method either by “secret ballot” (which is my preference), in which you don’t show the other spouse your values until the end, or through an open discussion, in which you each tell each other how much you value each item as you go along.
- After you each have assigned values to each of the various items, compare your list with your spouse’s list, with the understanding that each of the disputed items will go to whoever valued it the highest, and they will be taking it at their own assigned value. That way, the item will remain with whoever values it the highest, while eliminating the game playing that was described earlier. This is why it is important to accept the values you’ve assigned to the items when going through your list, as you will be bound to those values later.
- The last step is to add up the total value of all items of property going to each spouse, and then make up the difference (equalize), if necessary. Most likely, one spouse will end up with a higher total value of their items of property than the other. That’s okay, as long as you either agree that its “close enough” or equalize the difference with some cash paid at the end. How do you calculate what is needed to equalize? Just subtract the lower total from the higher total, and then divide the result by two.

Here's a simplified example as an illustration:

Items	Spouse A's values	Spouse B's values	Item goes to
Dishes/silverware	X	X	Already divided
Large TV	$800	$500	A
Small TV	$200	$300	B
Jewelry	$2,000	$4,500	B
Furniture - living room	$5,000	$4,000	A
Furniture - bedroom 1	$3,000	$3,500	B
Furniture - bedroom 2	$3,000	$2,500	A
Lawnmower	$300	$150	A
Power tools	$400	$200	A
Camping equipment	$150	$300	B
Hunting/fishing gear	$150	$300	B
Artwork	$1,000	$600	A
Espresso machine	$600	$300	A
Each Spouse's total	$11,100	$8,900
Equalize	-$1,100	+ $1,100
Final	$10,000	$10,000

Under this scenario, each party will receive the respective items that they valued the highest, as indicated in the chart. The total value of all of Spouse A’s property is $11,100, and the total value of all of Spouse B’s property is $8,900. Of course, if the parties agree that the two figures are close enough in value, they can call it “fair” and be done with it. If instead they wish to make it exactly equal, then calculate difference between the two totals ($2,200), and divide that by two ($1,100). So, Spouse A would pay half of the difference ($1,100) to Spouse B to make it equal.

Still can’t agree? Then go to binding arbitration. There are neutral professionals out there (many of whom are attorneys) who are willing to meet with you and your spouse, discuss the disputed items of personal property, and determine how to divide them. In most cases, you will spend only an hour or two, and that should be more than sufficient time for the arbitrator to hear what you have to say and make a decision. You can discuss (and argue) why you think various items should go to you, or how certain items should be valued. The process is mostly informal, and the arbitrator will make a binding decision. You will spend only a fraction of what it would otherwise cost in attorney fees, and only a fraction of the amount of time it would otherwise take to proceed with a formal court trial.

If you would like further assistance with the process of dividing your assets and debts, or if you would like me to serve as an arbitrator for your personal property dispute, contact me for more information.