By: Steven d. winkler

July 14, 2020

You often see highly emotional client exchanges on TV shows about lawyers –  they are wanting to give their soon-to-be-ex spouse “exactly what they deserve.”  But is that really how that works?

Not in Minnesota.  Minnesota is an equitable division state.

Minnesota law states that the Court shall make a “just and equitable” division of property, without regard to marital misconduct.[1]  There are a number of factors for the Court to consider when making a decision on dividing property in a divorce.  However, one spouse’s wrongdoing is not one of those factors.  Some of the relevant factors are: the length of the marriage; prior marriages; a person’s age, health, job, and income; their skills; and if they have assets that will generate income in the future.  Another important factor is each spouse’s contribution in acquiring the property, including a homemaker’s contribution.  The Court presumes that while living together as husband and wife, each spouse made a substantial contribution in acquiring income and property.

So, what does that mean?  Quite frankly, it does not really matter that “he’s a horrible person” or that “she cheated”.  Those are not things the Court looks at when making its decision.  What matters is that each spouse contributed to acquisition of property during the marriage in some way, whether that was by being the main income earner or staying home so the other spouse could work.

Additionally, “just and equitable” does not always mean equal.  There may be reasons to divide property unequally, such as a large difference in incomes.  However, in many, if not most, cases, each spouse ends up with the same or similar amount of assets and debts (in dollars).

[1] Minn. Stat. §518.58, subd 1

*Please note, the content of this post is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered legal advice.